During the early days of the Dutch conquest, this meant working against a single-shot musket, the objective being to avoid the first shot and then the bayonet. The objective was to infiltrate so close to the enemy that he could not use his rifle. The traditional styles were adapted to modern combat first against the Dutch and later the Japanese. Even today, there are more knife and sword designs in Indonesia than any other place in the world. The blade was emphasized over the empty hand or blunt instruments.
Except for primitive decapitating moves practiced with mandau jungle knives by the Dyak tribes of Borneo, virtually all Indonesian styles had developed martial arts techniques for various weapons. Its principal weapons were the staff and various bladed tools.īy the time of the Dutch conquest, Indonesian martial arts had already developed into complete systems. It provided self-defense techniques against wild animals, bandits, madmen and foreign invaders. The original system of pentjak silat dates back 4,000 years, and the first moves copied the strikes of animals such as monkeys, tigers and snakes.
The martial arts techniques had to be taught in secret.
Needless to say, firearms ownership was forbidden to native Indonesians, and even metal, from which edged weapons could be made, was restricted. Indonesian patriots fought the company as best they could, using silat's traditional weapons against Dutch firepower. Eventually the Dutch monopolized the spice trade, setting up the East Indian Company, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie. In 1596 the Dutch, under the command of Cornelis de Houtman, solidified their hold on the islands, forcing out Portugal and the other European colonialist traders. In the 15th century, European colonial powers turned their eyes to the "East Indies," which they saw as the "Spice Islands" because of their natural supplies of clove and nutmeg. The Majapahit Empire extended all the way to the southern Philippines, where an interchange of martial arts occurred as the Filipinos adopted the kris (Indonesian dagger) and Malay-style fighting arts before integrating the rapier and dagger techniques of Spanish conquerors. The two major kingdoms prior to the Muslim takeover were the Sriwijaya Empire, beginning in the fifth century with its capital in Jambi (South Sumatra), and the Majapahit Empire, which began in the 13th century with its capital in Java. 12, Islam having first been introduced by merchants from India and Persia.
While Bali has a unique Hindu-Buddhist culture, the rest of the islands are Muslim, a result of proselytism and military incursions between A.D. The Indonesian archipelago is made up of 13,677 islands, the best known of which are Java, Sumatra, South Borneo, West Irian (New Guinea) and Bali.
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