Cingkrik


Cingkrik silat is one of the traditional styles of pencak silat, an Indonesian martial art, of the Betawinese. The style originally came from the Rawa Belong area, which is now part of the Kebon Jeruk subdistrict, West Jakarta, Indonesia. It was created by Ki Maing around the 1920s. Cingkrik silat has now spread to various places in Jakarta through many silat schools opened by its practitioners.

Etymology

The name cingkrik itself is believed to be taken from the Betawi word jingkrak-jingkrik or cingrak-cingkrik, meaning agile, which describes the agile movements of a monkey. While maen pukulan mean play punch.

History

According to interviews with cingkrik silat elders, this style was created by Ki Maing around the 1920s. Ki Maing was told to previously had studied silat in the Kulon, but he was inspired to create his own silat school after paying attention to a monkey's movements. It was mentioned that there was a monkey that attempted to steal Ki Maing's stick, which evaded when attacked and quickly counterattacked back. The fast and agile attack movements become the well-known feature of the cingkrik silat forms or moves.
The three main students of Ki Maing were Ki Saari, Ki Ajid, and Ki Ali. From them, the style then spread out from the Rawa Belong area to various other places in Jakarta through the next generation of students.
Each of the cingkrik silat styles taught from the three main students have slightly different forms, which are continued to be developed further by their many students. However, in general cingkrik silat has twelve basic forms and three pair-up forms, while the differences occur only in steps and movements. For instance, steps and movements in cingkrik goning are wider, while in cingkrik sinan are short and not too wide.

Forms

Basic forms

Twelve cingkrik silat basic forms are as follows:
  1. Keset bacok
  2. Keset gedor
  3. Cingkrik
  4. Langkah tiga
  5. Langkah empat
  6. Buka satu
  7. Saup
  8. Macan
  9. Tiktuk
  10. Singa
  11. Lokbe
  12. Longok
A combination movement of the twelve forms is called bongbang, which is often shown in martial arts performances.

Pair-up forms

Pair-up forms are paired fight exercises; the three pair up forms are as follows:
  1. Sambut tujuh muka
  2. Sambut gulung
  3. Sambut habis, or sambut detik
These forms aim to train reflexes when dealing with repeated attacks.

Schools' lineage