Introduction

In 2010, an Indonesian movie titled Merantau won Best Film Award at ACTIONFEST, a festival dedicated to action films from around the world.Footnote 1 Directed by the American Gareth Evans, this film presented a storyline based on the travels and conflicts encountered by a Minangkabau youth in his journey away from his home village in West Sumatra. The action scenes in the film used movements from silat, the traditional martial arts of West Sumatra, Indonesia. The leading actor, Iko Uwais, then an Indonesian unknown, became a star and went on to earn lead roles in Raid I and Raid II, both films by the same director, that also used silat movements. The action scenes in Merantau that drew so much attention were the fighting sequences choreographed following the motifs of traditional Minangkabau silat harimau (“tiger-style” fighting) movements. This genre was as yet unknown outside the martial arts scene because most of the choreography of fighting scenes in the film is based on Chinese or Japanese martial arts styles. Breaking away from that convention, the choreographer for the scenes in Merantau was Edwel Yusri Datuk Rajo Gampo Alam, a master and teacher of traditional tiger-style silat (or silek harimau) originating in West Sumatra. In the Minangkabau language, harimau means “tiger.” The word is also used in Bahasa Indonesia.

In the years following Merantau, Edwel Yusri has become a prominent figure in the pencak silat world and has been invited to national and international cultural events as an expert and performer. He has also been invited to speak at national and international seminars on silat.Footnote 2 His school, called sasaran in Minangkabau, is based in Jakarta and has attracted numerous youths. This sasaran has also attracted students from other ethnic groups in Indonesia and has become a magnet for foreign martial arts enthusiasts. The school is not merely a place, but it also stands as an effort to revitalize a cultural memory that has been passed down over generations.

Cultural memory acts as an interplay of the present and the past in the cultural context (Erll, 2008, p. 2). Thus, through silek harimau, cultural memory continues as a process of becoming as the past resonates in today’s performances and into new spaces of the imagination enabled by modern technology and environmental concerns. In addition, interest from local Minangkabau and national and international groups is expanding the geo-cultural range of these arts beyond its original homeland. Martial arts practitioners from outside Indonesia who studied silek harimau under the tutelage of Edwel Yusri at the school in Jakarta have established branches in the United Kingdom and Singapore. Students in Europe and Australia are also forming groups on the basis of the silek harimau style learned from Edwel Yusri. This international network has gradually expanded since the guru’s earliest days as a young silat athlete performing in sports events organized by Indonesian Pencak Silat Association (IPSI), the national pencak silat organization in Indonesia, and as an actor in Indonesian films.

In 2012, Edwel Yusri and Madia Patra Ismar launched a collaborative effort to combine silek harimau and contemporary dance. Madia Patra Ismar, one of the writers of this chapter, is a Minangkabau residing in Jakarta, with a background in contemporary dance. The product of this collaboration was performed at the Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Center under the title Indahnya Hutan Kami (The Beauty of Our Forests) as part of Greenpeace Indonesia’s social awareness campaign for environmental sustainability. The performance expressed concern for the declining numbers of endangered tigers in the wild, a species on the brink of possible extinction. At the 2013 Indonesian Dance Festival, a contemporary dance titled In Between was performed. The choreography for this piece was inspired by the silek harimau co-created by Benny Krisnawardi and Davit Fitrik, both of whom are Minangkabau dancers, in collaboration with Katia Engel from Germany as artistic director and Helly Minarti as dramaturg. The source of In Between was the memory shared by Benny Krisnawardi and Davit Fitrik, both Minangkabau youths who migrated in the tradition known as merantau from West Sumatra to Jakarta. The performance used multimedia technology projecting visuals of the two dancers in low crouching movements and visuals of two tigers moving through a sand desert devoid of trees. Benny and Davit are lead dancers in the well-known Minangkabau contemporary dance group Gumarang Sakti, formed by the late Gusmiati Suid, a Minangkabau choreographer recognized as an Indonesian National Treasure. Benny Krisnawardi had stated that he had not studied the tradition of silek harimau. Rather, the movements in the dance were what he and Davit remembered, imagined, and interpreted from the movements of silek harimau intertwined with their impressions of tigers.

This chapter does not discuss the work of these Minangkabau choreographers as an artistic novelty, but rather traces the roots of these works embedded in silek harimau performance that has been passed down from generation to generation as part of an oral tradition. This chapter explores why the silek harimau remains important to the Minangkabau, and its performance as a form of cultural memory today.

Conversations with present-day Minangkabau youth leaders revealed that karate and taekwondo are now the more popular forms of martial arts. Belonging to adat or traditional custom, silek is generally viewed as backward or rural. However, the increasing adoption of silek harimau style in popular culture is contributing to greater interest in the tradition of silek Minangkabau in general. In her 1994 dissertation, Hildred Cordes maintains that silek Minangkabau has over 70 styles. Other literature on silek Minangkabau include those of Alexander, et al. (1972), Mason (2009), Maryono (2008), Kartomi (2012), Garcia et al. (2013), Abdullah (2013), and Wilson (2015). Research on the connections between silek Minangkabau and dance has been carried out by Nor (1986), Sedyawati (1981), Murgiyanto (1992), Ismar (1998), Minarti (2014), Mahjoedin in Paetzold and Mason (2016), and Utama (2012). Scholars who are known for their work on silek Minangkabau and performing arts are Barendregt (1995) and Pauka (1998). In addition, a compilation of works is carried out by Paetzold and Mason (2016). However, limited research has focused on the silek harimau as part of a living oral tradition.

Oral tradition can be understood as a system of verbally transmitted communication that encompasses cognitive knowledge, values, and norms passed down from one generation to the next. Among the most pertinent to this study is the work of Albert B. Lord with his influential literature on the theory of epics and oral formula in 1960, and further elaboration in 2000 (Lord et al., 2000). In terms of how bodily movements feature in oral tradition, Walter J. Ong, in Orality and Literacy (1982, p. 62), noted that oral expression may involve gestures. Roger Tol and Pudentia (1995, p. 2) argued that oral traditions not only contain folk tales, myths, and legend, but also store entire indigenous cognitive systems including histories, legal practices, adat law, and medication. David Rubin, in Memory and Psychology (1995), explained that oral tradition depends on human memory as a storage system and using oral ways for transmission that remain nearly unchanged over long periods of time, even though the stories change in the retelling. Thus, in the transmission of oral tradition, the songs, stories, and poetry can be stable in form over centuries even without the use of a writing system (Rubin, 1995, p. 3).

The works mentioned above offer a framework by which connections between oral transmission and bodily expression in the silek harimau can be understood, because they have been passed down over generations of masters. The verbal and kinesthetic interplay carries into and transforms the performative dimension of silek as a martial art. Field research shows that sacred ritual performances continue in preparation for the public performance of the silek. These rituals bind the silek harimau students to traditional beliefs that are still alive in Minangkabau society. Thus, it is hoped that this study offers an understanding of different aspects of silek harimau, not only as a staged performance but also of its operations as an inherently oral tradition. In our view, identifying the dynamics of this oral tradition, and how the communities that claim ownership of silek harimau understand the meanings embedded in the memories and rituals related to the traditional transmission, is necessary before discussing the shift to new choreographic practice.

Methodology and Data Collection

Literature has previously discussed the question of why silek movements are ingrained in Minangkabau creative dance. Well-known Indonesian scholars of choreography such as Sal Murgiyanto (1992), Edi Sedyawati (1981), Helly Minarti (2014), and Yulianti Parani (2011) show how Minangkabau choreographers incorporate patterns of silat movements into new movements of modern Indonesian dance. This patterning can be seen in almost all works produced by choreographers such as Hoerijah Adam, Gusmiati Suid, Arison (Tom) Ibnur, Dedi Luthan, Boi G. Sakti, Hartati, Benny Krisnawardi, Jefriandi Usman, Indra Zubir, Ali Sukri, and Ery Mefri. The bodily expressions of silek Minangkabau continue to emerge in their choreographies, although several have been toned down, blurred, and hybridized in an attempt to be more modern and thereby gain recognition as contemporary dance expression. Sal Murgiyanto (1992) and Helly Minarti (2014) wrote about the life experiences of Horeijah Adam and Gusmiati Suid as Minangkabau choreographers who created new dance works using movements developed from traditional silek. In her dissertation on the development of choreography in Indonesia, S.N. Kusumastuti (2017) wrote that “in accordance with an artists’ ambitions or visions of the ideal, existing work is crafted to deliver novelty in every particularity; this search can be so far reaching that the traces of older work are no longer perceptible” (Kusumastuti, 2017).

The research on which this chapter is based involves a qualitative approach through field observations and interviews, and secondary published resources and unpublished documentation of silek harimau. Ethnographic field research includes observations at the training site in the Tanah Abang area in Jakarta, Taman Ismail Marzuki Art Center in the Cikini area, and the Painan area located on the southern coast of West Sumatra. Interviews began with choreographers from Minangkabau and subsequently engaged gurus of silek harimau and their students (murid). Chance conversations with Minangkabau people are likewise included.

A few of the informants were Minangkabauans who believe themselves to be descendants of tiger spirits and those who told stories of seeing tiger spirits. Several interviewees declared that they were descendants of people possessed by tiger spirits. Mentions of these tiger spirits or descent often emerged in discussions regarding the silek harimau.

Participative observation was also carried out at the training practice in Jakarta, in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, and in Painan, West Sumatra. A further participative experience involved one of the researchers of this study, in collaboration with the guru silek harimau in Jakarta on a dance created from observations of distinct styles taught at the sasaran. The joint production was performed in Bogor in 2015 at one of the major masjids connected with a Minangkabau community. This collaboration contributed to the understanding of the actual bodily movements performed by the silek harimau and went beyond simple imagination. The possibility for collaboration was offered by Edwel Yusri in a continuation of earlier research that began when the guru realized that the researcher who frequently visited the school and conversed with him was trained in dance and choreography. The silek harimau guru in Painan also came to understand this when the authors carried out ethnographic work in the area, noting how quickly the same researcher picked up the movements. This guru likewise expressed interest in collaboration to produce a dance choreography based on silek harimau movements. For various reasons beyond our control, such collaboration has yet to take place.

To interpret the data collected on the silek harimau, we use Finnegan’s (2005, 2012) concepts on carrying out research on oral tradition and performance. This interpretation enabled the identification of connections between performances and different forms of oral transmissions. Finnegan (1992) asserted that in oral traditions, expanding the gaze beyond the Western performance model and literary canon is necessary (pp. 5–9). We also drew on the work of Adrienne Kaeppler (2000), who studied dance performances as structured movement systems that included those associated with religious and secular rituals, with which they share a creative process. Lord, et al. (2000) also noted the importance of deciphering differences between the creative artist and practitioners who are actually, as he says, “in the tradition” (p. 155). These concepts frame the present study and efforts to scrutinize the layers of different elements in silek harimau.

In gathering data for this chapter, the writers interviewed and followed the practice of silek harimau gurus who had migrated (merantau) to the urban space of Jakarta. These gurus continued their silek practice by teaching or performing their choreographic works or by becoming a source of inspiration for other artists. The study includes observations from the following gurus. Edwel Yusri Datuk Rajo Gampo Alam traveled from his kampung in Agam, Bukittinggi, in his search for silek harimau teachers in the different regions of West Sumatra. Sonsri Madjoindo, from Painan in the Pesisir Selatan coastal region of West Sumatra, migrated to Jakarta but has now returned to his home village to teach what he terms silek kampung or village silek. Arison Ibnur, a well-known choreographer who teaches Minangkabau traditional dance at the Jakarta Institute for the Arts, was also interviewed. He had learned the silek harimau buluah, or bamboo tiger silek, as a young man still living in Solok and Padang. Learning from the silek harimau guru there, Arison Ibnur mastered dance-like movements in this style and chose to concentrate on the dance aspects rather than on combat movements. His guru was the maestro in the dance tradition called randai ilau in Solok, a form closely associated with tiger rituals. Arison Ibnur had been an accomplished natural choreographer even before academically studying dance choreography. Field notes by Madia Patra in 1998 from a study in Lintau, Lubuk Jantan region of West Sumatra, also served as reference.

Edwel Yusri has become a celebrity because of the choreography he created for fight scenes in films, and because of his connections with the television and film industry. As a result, he has helped to increase awareness of silek harimau for popular culture not only among the Minangkabau but also among a wider public, even internationally. Meanwhile, the silek harimau guru in Painan is unknown and seems content to educate his students in the ancient heritage. These masters of the silek harimau oral tradition are literate, able to read and write either in the Western or Islamic form. However, the stories, myths, and legends stored in their memories and experiences of silek harimau performances that are part of rituals remain unwritten. These stories are commonly only verbalized through the esoteric practice of hidden ritual and through the transmission of movements from guru to murid, who are called anak sasian.

Silek Harimau and the Act of Merantau

The name Minangkabau refers to a matrilineal cultural group in West Sumatra, a volcanic region known for its rain forests and its animals. Perhaps the best-known animal is the panthera tigris, the Sumatran tiger or harimau of the silek harimau tradition. The Minangkabau people are known for a tradition of circular migration, called pai marantau or merantau, that carries them from their homeland to regions beyond. Thus, the Minangkabau people can be found in nearly all parts of the Indonesian archipelago and in many countries. In the past, the Minangkabau prepare their youth, specifically males, to endure the demands of travel, face possible dangers, and teach them how to conduct themselves in foreign lands through training in the art of silek self-defense.

The underlying philosophy of silek is reflected in the saying alam takambang manjadi guru manuruik alua jo patuik manggunoan raso jo pareso, alam basandi syarak, syarak basandi kitabullah (“The world of nature that unfolds is the Teacher, according to the path of the covenance, using the senses and thought. This world of nature is based on the principles of the sharia, and the sharia is based on Allah’s book”). These words reflect the close relationship between Islamic practice and the Minangkabau traditions. In past times, youths trained in silek were usually taught the ways of Islam at the surau, a small prayer house, as part of compulsory religious education. As such, most silek teaching is related to Islam and based on the Al Quran.

Silek has many forms and styles of self-defense movements inspired by elements found in nature. These silek styles and movements influence the artistic expression of the Minangkabau and are reflected in their theater and dance performances even today, whether in traditional or new creative dance. The silek harimau style of movement is found not only in a few communities but in the metropolitan capital of Jakarta, and its tradition has evolved into new choreographic forms for new audiences. In this way, the silek harimau has shown its capacity to survive, transcending the constraints of cultural and geographical spaces and opening new ones for its training grounds.

In addition to the basic martial arts movements and survival skills, silek harimau also comprises a specific pedagogy and compendium of knowledge contained in legends, myths, spiritual beliefs, proverbs, and herbal medicine. As a practice of self-defense, the teachings of a guru are transmitted orally in training systems without writing. Notably, this process is inscribed into movements that can be construed as bodily writing: the moving body serves as encryption of the oral tradition. In silek’s more esoteric aspect, meanings may thus be at once preserved and hidden in bodily movements.

In the worldview of the Minangkabau, the tiger has held a special place since pre-Islamic times. Admired for its physical strength and beauty of appearance and movement, the tiger is considered the king of beasts and guardian of the forests. For the Minangkabau people who hold traditional beliefs, the tiger also has a distinct place in their memories. Respectfully called inyiak or grandfather, the tiger is believed to be a source of wisdom, protector of human beings, and a guardian of human morals. This majestic animal is also seen as having mystical qualities that surpass the physical. Such spirituality connected to beliefs about the tiger can be traced back to certain artistic practices in particular oral traditions, including legends, myths, songs, and the narratives expressed in randai ilau, a song and dance drama performed to appease the spirits of dead tigers. This emphasis on the tiger spirit appeared in interviews with silek harimau practitioners, but also with artists and ordinary people.

Origin and Sacred Rites of the Silek Harimau

Through interviews carried out in Lintau and Padang, legends and stories told in silek harimau circles were collected. The stories state that this art of self-defense was initially taught to humans by tigers. The tiger spirit is believed to come to the surau in the middle of the night in animal form and show its stripes. An anak sasian is selected, and he then follows the tiger into a secluded space to be trained. At times, the tiger can also manifest itself as a spirit that bystanders may see as a mist or only its eyes. However, the chosen anak sasian believed he was actually parrying with the tiger inyiak. Several versions of silek harimau stories say that the art came from the Champa Kingdom and was brought by one of the royal guards to the ancient Minangkabau Kingdom. However, historical manuscripts provide no evidence of this provenance.

The silek harimau is traditionally considered an ancient esoteric practice in which the learning is hidden from outsiders. This view is still held fast in the sasaran in Painan, where strict rules govern contact with and entry. In the old days, silek harimau was used only in combat and only when under attack. By contrast, as the guru of silek harimau in Jakarta, Edwel Yusri has a more open view and continues to build his profile as an expert in the choreography of fight for films and trains actors starring in movies and popular television series. At his school, he teaches not only the technique and style of silek harimau but also passes on traditional values underlying silek that he learned from his own ritual gurus. His first guru was his grandfather, who passed down the heritage of silek harimau through family bloodlines. Edwel Yusri then traveled and learned silek harimau from seven gurus in different areas of West Sumatra. On traveling to Jakarta, he entered the world of modern silat through IPSI, where he gained international experience. In one interview, he stated that during this experience, he noticed performances that combined dance and martial arts. He was then inspired to open himself up to other forms of performing silek harimau. However, the sacred acts involved in preparing a student, the anak sasian, at his sasaran are obligatory and still practiced, serving to bind the student to the sasaran and the guru.

On August 24, 2017, during an interview at the Taman Ismail Marzuki Cultural Center in Jakarta, Arison Ibnur said that he had learned the style of harimau buluah, a small bamboo tiger, as a youth in his hometown of Padang. He said he remembers his guru silek, the late Mantijo Sutan, a master artist who performed the mourning ceremony randai ilau using silek movements, sung verse, and music whenever a tiger was killed for intruding into the villages (kampuang in the Minangkabau language) in the area of Solok. On September 13, 2017, during an interview in Jakarta, Edwel Yusri said that the randai ilau ceremony is called marojoh in Sawahlunto and is a performance of song and silek dance-like movements to appease the spirit of a dead tiger and to prevent other tigers from searching for it and intruding into the village. A secret mantra is sung, and the spirit of the tiger, highly central to the randai ilau performance, is invoked by a percussive instrument covered with a tiger skin standing in for the actual tiger’s body, if no dead tigers are available at the time of the performance. In her book, Musical Journeys in Sumatra (2012), Kartomi mentions the tiger song, were-tiger beliefs, and the functions of the guru silek as shaman.

Several Minangkabau people continue to believe in tiger spirits and were-tigers to this day. In Painan, we encountered a silek harimau community that believes that the tiger spirit that unites with that of the guru during rituals and silek harimau training is in fact an ancestor and is referred to as angku inyiak. However, today, this tiger belief is not talked about openly, but rather in hushed tones as part of an esoteric practice when it comes up for discussion in closed circles.

Most people show a disapproval of the practice, an attitude that is quite likely due to the recent rise and strengthening of Islamic puritanism. In Minangkabau history, this tension between the old practices and puritanical Islam can be traced back to the paderi war of the nineteenth century. Several Minangkabau talk of war leaders known as the harimau salapan, or the eight tigers. According to one source, tiger beliefs connected to the ceremony randai ilau as expressed in song, music, and movement are no longer found because the maestro had passed away, leaving only one or two murids who no longer practiced this art. The late master’s son is a well-known choreographer and is not interested in continuing the practice. He prefers to shine in the world of contemporary dance and travels to various countries with his performing group. Hence, this genre of silek harimau in the randai ilau performance has possibly disappeared, although Arison Ibnur mentioned one murid of Mantijo Sutan who may still remember how to perform.

Although general audiences can now enjoy the visual presentations of bodily movements of the silek harimau style in public spaces, these performances show no further than the expression in the form of dance or choreography. Meanings beyond the visual aspect can be discerned by an oral tradition perspective to investigate the primary significance behind the aesthetic expression. This understanding can offer a deeper comprehension of how the silek harimau oral tradition is understood by the communities that “own” it, and how they view the choreographic practice. The guru is “at once the tradition and creator,” and thus individual styles may differ. Nevertheless, in the composition of movement linked to the silek harimau tradition, a consciousness of the origin remains, which in itself is an act of preserving the memory of the magic of the tiger spirit.

The guru silek harimau is believed to have magic powers, and in the eyes of the Minangkabau community, the guru is also recognized as having the knowledge of meditative medicines and prayers to expel evil spirits and jinn. This belief was observed at various times during contact and interviews with the gurus themselves or with the anak sasian. The roots of oral traditional narrative are not artistic but religious in the broadest sense. As Lord says of oral tradition, “Its symbols, its sounds, its patterns were born for magic productivity not for aesthetic satisfaction. If later they provided such satisfaction, it was only to generations which have forgotten their real meaning” (2000, p. 67).

Transmitting Silek Harimau Memories and Movements Through Initiation Rituals

Different versions of the initiation ceremony mark the entry of a young person into the brotherhood of the silek harimau school. Drewes (1949) included a short narrative of the importance of this ritual in a young Minangkabau man’s life. The initiation ceremony in traditional silek communities may have different names, such as darahan, rajok, kaputusan, and bai’at. In Painan, the guru calls the ritual diduduakkan. The main differences are in the sequences of performance and content. The initiations observed in this study, and a few described in interviews, consist of ritualistic sequences, mantras, and religious prayers that involve symbolism, structure, performer roles, interrelations, specific moments, metaphysical atmosphere, improvisational energy, suggestive utterances, and audience response as witnesses.

In an interview about achieving silek harimau skills, a practitioner from Payakumbuh, who now lives in Jakarta, recited in a singsong voice, “go home to the kampuang, say the dzikirs and drink the limau water and the tiger spirit will come.”

The saying Adaik diisi, limbago dituang (When adat is fulfilled then so is culture) is the philosophical foundation of the bai’at ceremony for the silek harimau. The initiation rite observed in Jakarta used the following symbolic materials. First, a white cloth represents death but also a pure heart, reflecting that all actions must be done and purified by niat (pure intentions). A white cloth also means sincerity. Second, a knife carries the meaning that the higher the frequency of its sharpening, the better it would be to use for positive reasons as humankind has been appointed by Allah to be the Khalifah (steward or leader). Once the knife is sharp, it must be nan bungkuak makanan saruang (resheathed) and only used in times of dire need. Third, the Siriah langkok (a complete set of betel offerings) combines the tastes of bitterness, spiciness, and sweetness as a symbol of life. Fourth, coins signify that the student is not to become a burden on the teacher. A silek student must not become a burden on others and thus must be useful. The word Pandeka (warrior), often used for silek adepts, is interpreted as an abbreviation of pandai manggunokan aka, meaning “good at using one’s wits.” Fifth, the giriang rooster, a creature that is the first to wake before the break of dawn at subuh prayer times for sholat or Islamic prayers, is sacrificed in the Islamic way and shows the contents of the heart of the one who brings it to the bai’at ceremony. When its blood drops onto the earth, any arrogance is taken away and any ugliness in the heart is discarded. The meaning of this blood ritual is to willingly throw away one’s negative traits and to let go of evil knowledge through inner spirituality. The first sequence of the ba’iat involves reciting verses from the Qur’an while making the motions of ablutions to purify oneself. Evil lusts or passions are thus expelled. The blood symbolizes diseases of the heart, as for example the passion of anger, that drive actions of wrath and jealousy. Such passions are animalistic in nature, and the consequence of giving in to these emotions is a life ruled by one’s animalistic side, called maraji.

The ruh harimau (tiger spirit) is believed to be present during the ritual. In the Painan area, and according to several interviews with the anak sasian, the ancestral tiger spirit is believed to speak and act through the guru, who functions as a medium. The proper term for addressing the guru in this form is angku inyiak, a term of respect for an ancient one. The ancestral spirit of the tiger is believed to be the one who actually trains the selected murid, usually in the middle of the night. Dzikir prayers from the Qur’an are used but recited in the heart. The guru also distributes water that has been recited over if the murid is in danger of being overcome by the tiger spirit.

However, the bai’at in Jakarta has no event in which the silek harimau guru acts as a medium for the tiger spirit. The dzikir is recited, accompanied with repeated movements referencing the movements of wudhu (ablutions). Recitations of the verses from the holy Qur’an in a repetitive form provide improvisational energy as part of the bai’at. In the last sequence, performed at midnight, the murid (or anak sasian), guided through recitations and suggestive motivations by the guru, is suddenly and spontaneously able to execute difficult movements such as jumping while spinning and flipping to different positions, despite being previously unsure and unable to perform such stunts. This sequence of the entire bai’at ritual is a technique of exploring movement but is also a semi-hypnotic birthing of a harimau pandeka. Stories also tell of persons not taking part in the rituals nor even learning silek from the guru but spontaneously transforming into were-tigers when overcome by feelings of rage.

Attitudes toward beliefs in the tiger spirit are found to differ during research at the cultural space of the silek harimau guru of Sasaran Silek Harimau Tongga in Painan Pesisir Selatan, which has a different ritual structure. In Painan, before meeting the ancestor angku inyiak, one must be purified by wudhu (ablutions). The ancestral tiger spirit can then be spoken to after its entrance into the body of the silek harimau guru. Requesting permission of the ruh inyiak harimau is required before participating in the training. Taking part in this ritual is necessary before permission is granted to interact with the tiger spirit. For this reason, to interview this ancestral spirit through the guru, the researcher had to request permission by participating in the ritual. Observations of the learning and training by the anak sasian silek harimau Tongga in Painan during the day with the guru, and during midnight training with the tiger spirit, showed a change in his mannerisms and voice.

In being born through ritual, a silek harimau pandeka has to learn the silek harimau core movements. The participants are also believed to be filled with the angku inyiak spirit, and thus are taught to control and suppress or activate this presence based on the need. In contact with the angku inyiak spirit through the guru as medium, the anak sasian learn the core movements of silek harimau motifs that they can use in combative situations and in performances of the tari piriang randai theater performances. The movements are named in accordance with their functions, including tagak alif (Arabic letter alif, upright position), kudo-kudo harimau (tiger stance), pilin (twist), pitunggue (protective stance for the body), sambah (movements of respects to the earth, sky, and audience), langkah (core footsteps), gelek (dodge), lantiang (tiger jump), caka harimau (tiger claw), gampa (tiger slap), elo (pull), cakiak (throttle or choke), and maramuak lihia (neck crush).

Islamic Renditions in the Silek Harimau

The surau to which silek is commonly connected is a small prayer building that is traditionally situated on the grounds of the Minangkabau traditional long house, the rumah gadang. In the past, the surau served as a network for silek gurus and pupils, who learned to recite the Al Quran. In certain regions, silek movements became bodily inscriptions of the hijaiyah Arabic letters used in the Quran. The movements of silek were thus a form of bodily writing representing Arabic calligraphy. This concept is also practiced by the sasaran in Jakarta, Pesisir Selatan, and Lintau.

Although the connection between silek and surau is of cultural significance to the Minangkabau, few silek schools retain this connection to the surau.Footnote 3 However, a silek harimau performance at the Masjid Harakatul Jannah in Gadog, Bogor, shows that a masjid can be considered a continuation of the surau as a performance and is still considered important.

The Islamic religious concepts in the current study are derived from interviews with three silek harimau gurus and observation of initiation rituals between 2015 and 2017. The transmission of the silek harimau incorporated the use of Al Quran verses recited as dzikir, the Islamic act of recitation in which the name of God is repeatedly vocalized. The Arabic letters used in the Quran, that when combined spell the name of God, are embodied in the langkah or basic steps of the silek harimau. The Dzikir recitation is also accompanied by bodily movements in rituals for initiation of the murid into the sasaran. These sacred acts were performed when giving offerings to the guru; these symbolize the murid’s intention to be accepted and initiated into the group. Upon passing this ritual, the student would then be referred to by the silek harimau community as anak sasian.

Conclusion

In the stories told during initiations, the guru conveys the wisdom of learning silek. Edwel Yusri Datuk Rajo Gampo explains:

[F]or a Minangkabau, to learn silek is not just learning the langkah steps or movements, or gelek (avoiding attacks) but also to learn that silek means to learn the history (through the legends in tambo and kaba) and the heritage. Because to learn the background means you know your place, understand adat, understand religion, that both [i.e. adat and religion] are mutually supporting, mutually interweaving, upward and downward, to the left and to the right, to the front and to the back; these aspects cannot be separated. They encompass everything as a whole. That is what is called a living history, a history that never dies as long as this world exists. (Interview with Edwel Yusri Datuk Rajo Gampo Alam, 2016)

By contrast, the modern creative artist interprets silek harimau on the basis of his or her aesthetic imagination. Kaeppler (1972) carried out research on dance in Tongan society and observed, “If we are to understand (rather than to just appreciate) an aesthetic, or a society’s cultural form, it is essential to grasp the principles on which such an aesthetic is based, as perceived by the people of the society that holds them” (p. 154). Thus, as the silek tradition becomes increasingly intertwined with contemporary notions of dance, to resist a simplistic merging of indigenous concepts into modern ones enhances its importance.

The indigenous Minangkabau term mamancak (from ma-ancak), used to refer to the movements of the silek harimau, means “to move in beauty,” and is linked to pencak silat. Silek harimau practitioners move fluidly, using paw-like swings of the arms and legs, and propel themselves from a crouching position on the ground to spinning toward an opponent while gripping the throat or head for a deadly twist in one fluid motion. They also grapple with and throw the opponent to the ground, locking him into a position of immobility. Although the movements seem brutal, visually they are considered beautiful, though deadly. To see this performance is to witness a deadly dance.

The different styles of silek (Cordes, 1994; Ismar, 1998, p. 82; Kartomi, 2012; Mason, 2016; Minarti, 2014, pp. 104–108; Murgiyanto, 1992; Navis, 1986, pp. 263–274; Pauka, 1998, pp. 1–3; Sedyawati, 1981, p. 73; Utama, 2012) are further shaped by the natural environment. In the hinterlands, called the dare, where the landscape is dominated by volcanoes, the basic form is usually a stance called the kudo-kudo in which one leg is slightly raised, with only the toe touching the ground. This stance is perhaps influenced by the hard ground. By contrast, this stance is not practiced in coastal areas, perhaps because of the need to have both feet planted firmly on the ground in the shifting sand, hence the need for extra balance.

The values and norms of conduct of the silek harimau pandeka are learned through the rituals and instructions of the guru. In any combative situation, a silek harimau pandeka requires calmness. By being calm and collected, a pandeka can vanquish an opponent. Emotions that are out of control can bring difficulties and become a hindrance. This is different from modern choreography, where emotions are explored for their expression through movement. In dance, a conscious control accentuates the beauty revealed in bodily movement. By contrast, for a pandeka of silek harimau, the main function of movement is the efficiency of the skill, and beauty is an incidental aesthetic resulting from such functionality and prowess in technique. The rhythmic pauses of movement in silek harimau are functional, whereas in dance, the pauses, starts, and stops strengthen the expression of emotions and intentionally emphasize the aesthetic line of the body presented to the audience. The essence of the silek harimau spirit lies in performing the stages of rituals toward becoming a pandeka as opposed to the display of physical prowess in stage performance. In rituals, the transmission is a choreography of sequential moments, including the act of improvising with the tiger spirit of the ancestral angku inyiak within oneself to imprint the silek harimau into the pandekas and bind them to the group. However, the movements themselves also form core motifs of traditional Minangkabau dances such as the tari piring (dance with plates) and the randai dance drama.

The silek harimau is yet to fully realize its potential in the struggle to withstand the onslaught of time. The beauty of the silek harimau mancak movements and the high level of difficulty of bodily technique and skills necessary to execute these movements leave open further opportunities for development by the silek harimau community itself. The traditional performance space of the silek harimau comprises the elements of earth, water, night, and brotherhood, with the most important audience being the angku inyiak tiger spirit. However, with the passage of time, the potential for further artistic dialogue and shared ideas and dreams between modern dance choreographers and the silek harimau gurus is yet to be fully realized, though the seeds of renewal have been sown.