Seni Pencak Silat Bakti Negara
By O’ong Maryono

On January 31, 1955 more than 100 pendekars and gurus from all over Bali held the first pencak silat congress in Bali under the leading of Pendekar Ida Bagus Oka Dewangkara, Pendekar Ida Bagus Oka Pahadewa, Pendekar Bagus Made Rai Keplak, Pendekar Anak Agung Rai Tokir, Pendekar Anak Agung Meranggi, and Pendekar Sri Empu Dwi Tantre. The aim of this congress was to reflect on the role of Balinese pencak silat after the indipendence from the Dutch and to consolidate cooperation among the various pendekars. After the Congress a number of perguruans were established among others Bakti Setia Budi, Perguruan Pencak Silat Tridarma and Perguruan Pencak Silat Bakti Barat. The pendekars mentioned above and Cokorda Bagus Sayoga from the upper (aristocratic) castes founded the Persatuan Seni Pencak Silat Bakti Negara. According to Pendekar Sri Empu Dwi Tantre ‘Bakti’ which in common language usually means devotion/loyalty has a precise mystical meaning as abbreviation of: B = Bawa (aura); AK = aksara (Balinese alfabet composed of the syllabus ha, na, ca, ra, kha, da’, tha, sya, wha, lha, pha, dha, dja, ja, na, ma, gha, ba, tha, ngha, symbolizing the life cycle, from life to death to life again); TI = Tunggal Ika (cosmological unity between macrocosmos and microcosmos which can be achieved by an individual through proper behavior and observance of the many taboos forbidding to kill God’s creatures, to be arrogant, angry, jelous, or rebellious; to discriminate and deceive others and to gamble. This behavior in Balinese is called yiame’n niame brate’ ). The same with ‘Negara’ which in common language means country but in mystical terms means kekuasaan or power. In other words, Bakti Negara which can be easily translated as Devotion/Loyalty to the Country has also a deeper meaning of reaching unity of an individual with the macrocosmos by living according to (Balinese) Hinduist teachings. The first ketua (chairperson) pendekar of Bakti Negara was Anak Agung Rai Tokir, who died in 1967 and was replaced by Bagus Made Rai Keplak, who died in 1977. From then until now his son, Dewa Bagus Alit Dira, has been the ketua pendekar . He improved the organization and established a hierarchy of belt levels, starting from red (with one, two or three stripes), blue (with one, two or thee stripes), yellow, purple, black, and ending with white (all these colours have also symbolic meanings, too complex to explain here). In 1982, Dewa Bagus Alit Dira was successful in integrating the various techniques used in Bakti Negara, namely Cimande, Cikalong, Cikaret, Melayu and Bugis in various series of movements which followed Balinese music and were given Balinese names. This collection of jurus, called kumpulan jurus Maya Buana, has become the standard technique of Bakti Negara. For those of you that understand Indonesian, below you can find some of the most common techniques:

Teknik Jangkar: kuda, kodok, kendung, silang, kembang, tunggal.

Posisi: jujur, seliwah

Jurus Batu: jujur, menghadang jalan, pohon tumbang, memaku jagad, genta mengalun, tundukan, sodokan, patukan, paduan hati, guntingan.

Jurus tapak: tapak mendatar, tebangan, tebasan, gibas, cucut, memetik buah, dua jari, menyembah Syiwa, bendungan, jepitan kepiting, teratai mengembang, teratai tertutup. Through this standardization process Bakti Negara can easily expand in society within the typical Balinese system of banjar(hamlet/neighbourhood): The Banjar is closely involved in most aspects of a person’s life, virtually from the time of birth until his spirit finally departs from this earth (Kim Streatfield, Fertility Decline in a Traditional Society; The Case of Bali, 1986:17). In almost every banjar in Bali there is a Bakti Negara branch which is supported with contribution from the hamlet’s funds. Because of this interconnection with the Banjar system, and his closeness to Hinduism and Balinese tradition, Bakti Negara is firmly rooted in Balinese society. The Balineses acknowledge pencak silat Bakti Negara as part as their local culture. This feeling of communal property has fostered the development of Bakti Negara. Bakti Negara atlets have often become national and international champions, among others I Wayan Mudra, I Wayan Wirawan, I Made Wahyuni, and Kadek Sudane. Bakti Negara nowadays is one of the richest perguruan in Indonesia, with its own padepokan (Padepokan Niyala Mandala Bakti Negara in the banjar Batu Makaem, Ubung Kajen, Denpasar) and temples, permanent financial resources from the Bakti Negara Foundation and through an extended network of Balinese aristocrats, and political support from the provincial government.

Motto: Hindu agamaku, Bakti Negara pencak silatku (Hinduism is my religion and Bakti Negara is my pencak silat)

www.silatindonesia.com

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