Pencak Silat (シラット) is an Indonesian martial art specializing in decisive blows and guerrilla tactics. Pencak means Dance or Distraction, and Silat means Attack. Pencak Silat has a lot of styles, there are more than 900 styles in Indonesia. In Indonesia, Pencak Silat had already been developed from a thousand years ago or even more. But in the Kenichi series, it was developed to ward off suppression and succeeded at one point in driving invaders from Tidat, via a resistance led by Silkwat Jenazad. The style has a plethora of moves that could be considered "dirty", like the "Jurus", a set of 18 combo attacks meant to go for vital areas like the eyes, throat, and groin for kill. At least in the Kenichi series, there seems to be a large number of moves preceded by a jump, as well. Acrobatic maneuvers and complex sequences of hand-to-hand combat were also a trademark of the style.
It is a formidable martial art, showing strength against Karate, and being praised as "difficult to fight against" by Hayato Fūrinji. Likewise, Shō Kanō said that the style could adapt to anything, was freely changeable, had a large number of techniques, and was complicated and bizarre. But in the same breath he also pointed out that the moves were so complicated that sometimes they couldn't deal with the straightforwardness of other martial arts. Pencak Silat moves have a lot of rhythm and rhyme. Usually, jurus in Pencak Silat are demonstrated with music during training. Schools or places who train Pencak Silat are called "paguron" or "perguruan". Each perguruan has their own signature music with unique color and tempo. For a good example, when performing a slow move at the beginning there is a music theme called tepak dua, when performing a fast move at the end there is a music called padungdung. Each region in Indonesia has its own style of Pencak Silat and its own music during performance. In addition, the Bo Staff training was also strongly emphasized to further develop dexterity and hone both one’s mind and body to the point that a practitioner of this style was considered to be both adaptable to any situation or circumstances presented in live combat and to be quoted as being “a living weapon of near-absolute power and strength”.
List of Techniques[]
- Serangan Harimau (Literally: Attack of the Tiger): A pouncing style Jenazad's first known disciple Jihan used against Kenichi.
- Jurus: There are 18 styles of Jurus. A combo performed targets the vulnerable areas of the body such as the eyes, groin, etc.
- Kyūgeki Issatsu (Nine Strikes One Kill): Like Kenichi's Strongest Combos, Kyūgeki Issatsu (Nine Strikes One Kill) can vary in all attacks and sequences but uses one attack for each of the 10 different martial arts styles including Pencak Silat. The key to this move is such that the nine strikes can vary in order while the last move is always the Ichiei's.
- Seidō Gōitsu Kyūgeki Issatsu: Like the original technique, Kyūgeki Issatsu, Seidō Gōitsu Kyūgeki Issatsu can vary in all attacks and sequences but uses one attack for each of the 10 different martial arts styles. The key to this move is such that the nine strikes can vary in order while the last move is always the Ichiei's. The main difference between this technique and the original is the use of Seidō Gōitsu to enhance the overall power and destructiveness of the technique and to overwhelm the opponent to the brink of death. Because of the use of Seidō Gōitsu, this technique can be fatal to the user if overused.
External Links[]
- Pencak silat - A Wikipedia article about Pencak silat.