Notes on Pencak Silat, Jakarta Selatan, October 2015

Friday nights. Like footy practise, mucking about with your mates
Thirty kids laughing and having fun
First the girls then the young kids
Then boys and teenagers
Serious, intense, passionate,
transformed into a disciplined unit, punching and slashing the air
Little groups huddled about talking and laughing
Lots of teasing and banter, showing off, competition
Transformation into semi-militaristic lines of tin soldiers,
Elements of Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do, Wushu and plain old having fun
Community kampung fun with pride in doing it well
Lots of concentration, self control, disappointment in missing a move
Watching others, trying to mimic their shape, their moves
Emphatic precision and directed energy
Each group has unity and purpose
Red and black belts, kris tucked in, peci on the head, soft black velvet
Seven to thirteen years old, prancing around under the fluorescent light tube hung from a pole
on the badminton court, beside the grey crumbling concrete
Next to the rubbish tip where scrawny chooks strut about the waste pecking for scraps