Thursday, November 24, 2005
Unmasking the mysterious game
By Jade S. Violeta
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
PENCAK silat what?
The uninitiated needs an answer and fast, especially that this sport is one of the events Cebu will host in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games (Seag) on Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 at the Cebu Coliseum.
The sport traces its roots to countries in the Malayan peninsula like Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.
RP team member Emmanuel Baesa, a silver medalist in the 2003 Vietnam Seag and gold medalist in the Paris, France Open, explained that pencak (read pentjak) silat is a contact sport involving Indonesian martial arts where the fighters aim for the trunk of an opponent to score a point.
Baesa, also the Singapore World Championships bronze medalist, said two forms of pencak silat are seni or art form, and tanding, or the full-contact bout comprised of the different weight categories.
In seni, participants are given three minutes each to display their forms to the judges, who grade them according to their performances.
In tanding, there are three rounds per bout where a round lasts for two minutes. A fighter is only allowed to hit an opponent’s trunk or sheen but never the head.
Baesa, a 25-year-old Bicolano, said the RP team members, who are under Indonesian coach Suhartono, are 100 percent ready for the competitions as they have trained hard the past several months, including their three-month stay in Cebu City to prepare for the event.
He added that they focused their training on kicking and catching their rival’s assaults.
“We are very optimistic of the team’s chances in ruling at least five of the 17 pencak silat categories,” said Suhartono.
Other bets of the Philippines are Jul Omar Abdulhakim, Adzhar Abdurasad, Vigor Anot, Ronnie Aranas, Radzkie Asmad, Christopher Bregera, Rodelyn Arlante, Marnel Dimla, Limuel Estrada, Jayrashly Kiram and Jegger Lagrosas.
Also in the team are Espada Neru, Ronald Perena, Victorio Sigua Jr., Edwin Simacon, Joemil Solomon, Christopher Yabut, Jonathan Zonio, Annaliza Bea, Nerlyn Hunda and Juvy Jumuad.
Their strong rivals include Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.
(November 24, 2005 issue)
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