The Korean self-defense art Taekwondo was also not left behind. This particular sport added luster to the country, showing off terrifying technical kicks. Still fresh in my memory are Bruce Lee's films entitled "Enter the Dragon" and "First of Fury", which caused my sister and I to go home regretfully due to the fact that there were no more tickets left (and we are strong fans of Bruce Lee).
He also introduced the flying kick and popularized Double Stick (Nanchuca) and Jeet Kune Do: the concepts, techniques, training and fighting methods of Bruce Lee. Self-defense art themes in Japanese and Chinese films are very dominant and add to the development of these arts. I have had the opportunity to train in Judo, Kyokushinkai and Kung Fu and learned how to make use of Double Stick (as consequence of which, I have had an experience of getting injured on my head -- hit by the rebound I made, myself).
At the same time, if people talk about Pencak Silat (a traditional self-defense art which constitutes the authentic Indonesian one), no one would be proud of it. What they are thinking of is just protection, awkward and unpopular. Moreover, there is a joke saying that a traditional Silat athlete can only compete if he is accompanied by a drum. It is indeed true that drums are being utilized to accompany postures used in dances within this traditional self-defense art. However, it is only part of the art's movement and usually conducted only for demonstration purposes before an audience, whereas drums are actually not used at all at contest activities. Suddenly, in early 1987, one of the most popular sports media in Indonesia issued an editorial entitled "This is Tai Chi from Depok" as a joke title, since every body knew that Tai Chi originated from China while Depok was a remote spot and far from city bustle.
However, what is interesting is that the cover picture showed an old man throwing his opponent without touching him and an old woman throwing her opponent, a young boy, to his back as if by enormous power. Afterwards, all the fans of self-defense arts who had read the above mentioned story were surprised and doubtful - it was pretty unbelievable - including me, since logically it is impossible that one can throw his enemy without touching him. It was even said that one could make a blow from a long distance. The Editorial Section of the sport weekly was overwhelmed to receive phone calls everyday for several months to verify the reality of the news published, and the reply certainly confirmed that all the facts presented were authentic ones without deceit or camera tricks.
This was the initial introduction of inner power traditional self-defense art in Indonesia, never having been published openly beforehand. Inner Power in Indonesia called Tenaga Dalam. The enormous wave of fans of inner power self defense suddenly exploded. "Sin Lam Ba Inner Power Self Defense Institution", which became the news focus, has been overwhelmed by followers. Hundreds or even thousands of people in great numbers witness with their own eyes the reality of this inner power. Sport fans and even those who previously were not interested in self-defense art finally followed the training, since it is useful against attack by enemies as well as someone's bad intentions like pick pocketing, robbery, raping etc., and at that time, no days passed without inner power discussion.
Various discussions and inner power self-defense institutions which had previously not been in the public eye suddenly took part in producing articles in newspapers and magazines. Even journalists from foreign printing and television media were also hunting for discussions regarding inner power. It was really amazing. At that time, few inner power institutions were well known until today, such as Merpati Putih, Satria Nusantara, Panca Daya, Tapak Diri, Pusaka Jakarta, Bunga Karang etc.
They became famous and a primary topic of discussion for the defense sport fans as well as common self-defense arts not utilizing inner power. At that time, a relationship was been established, which seldom existed, in which one of the AIKIDO institutions invited an inner power self-defense institution to show a demonstration, since they did not believe the existence of inner power ( tenaga dalam ) which purely originated from Indonesia. The demo showed how an enemy is hit from a certain distance, an attacker thrown down from the front (or back as well), to break hard objects, to break tiles, to pull a car with the neck, to stand against fire, to throw a lot of opponents, etc.
Eventually, in the middle of April 1988, a sport weekly tabloid, having participated in introducing this inner power, published a special edition regarding this subject, although their typical focus was football, tennis and badminton news. In this special edition, inner power, how an opponent can be thrown away without being touched, and a lot of other questions were asked. Unfortunately, however, the question of the now popular inner power couldn't be totally explained. One inner power professor only declared that inner power is made up of eight, mysterious radiances. Some commented that inner power is mystical, and one of the chairman of the Indonesian Traditional Self-Defense Association advised, "It may happen, to feel greatly and then forget the Lord". The tabloid also published the experience of a women feeling more confident after mastering inner power science in order to anticipate crimes (which had become increasingly violent and unpredictable). She had also recovered from an illness and her stamina had drastically improved.
The what, why and how of inner power was the topic in that special issue, and it seemed only to reach a dead end before finding the answers, owing to the level of science and perception at that particular time. If some dared to inquire in detail, the teacher usually answered in a negative way and covered the facts. Some seminars and the interest of some State Ministers really has increased the popularity of this traditional self-defense which previously has been ignored. The fact that inner power has not yet been explained completely, and the precise explanations as to such things as enemies being hit without being touched....
This is still a big question mark to me, personally. The Ultimate Martial Arts for Self Defense Tridaya Inner Power !!!
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