History of Silat in the USA, Part 3: Al-Azhar USA

America’s first encounters with Silat can be recounted through several parallel stories – each with its own unique narrative. In part three of this series, we will cover America’s initial exposure to Silat through Al-Azhar Pencak Silat.

In the early 1980’s, Kak Santosa “Ocenk” Basri and Kak Tonny Makmun came to Washington DC to study and for work (around the same time as Pak Herman Suwanda). Both Kak Tonny and Kak Ocenk were born in Palembang, the capital of Indonesia’s South Sumatra province. They were both members of the perguruan Perisai Diri and also had a background in other martial arts including Taekwondo, Kempo and Karate. Together with Kak Ricky Usman (Kak Ocenk’s cousin) and Kak Aynag Basri (Kak Ocenk’s younger brother) they started introducing Pencak Silat to America. 

Kak Ocenk was born January 9, 1960 . He came from a family of Pencak Silat practitioners – his older brother Kak Satria Basri was a well-known Silat practitioner in Indonesia. He first trained with his brother through Perisai Diri. However, there was a new Silat school that had been established at the prestigious Al-Azhar religious boarding school in Jakarta by a popular pesilat named Muhammad Sufiyono (Kak Yon) and Djauharul Abidin Bakir. When Kak Ocenk and Kak Tonny decided to start classes at the Indonesian embassy, they agreed to name the school his brother Kak Satria was now affiliated with: Al-Azhar Seni Bela Diri (ASBD) which was headquartered at Masjid Agung Al-Azhar in south Jakarta. Kak Satria was one of the master instructors and board members of ASBD in Jakarta, so Kak Ocenk decided to name the school in DC “Al-Azhar Indonesian Martial Arts”.

Two years after they arrived in America, they began teaching classes. Their first students were other Indonesians who were familiar with Pencak Silat (Kak Sugi, Kak Yuda, Kak Dennis and Kak Oho). Kak Tonny, who was also born in Palembang, convinced the Embassy to hold their classes there. With the official stamp of approval from the Indonesian Embassy, the word spread to other Indonesians who were established in the area, some of whom were diplomats. Al-Azhar team would conduct performances in the area at local Indonesian events. Soon, through word of mouth, non-Indonesians began learning about the classes held at the Embassy of Indonesia and students of Al-Azhar began increasing. 

In order to make a name for the school and more importantly the art of Pencak Silat, Kak Tonny and Kak Ocenk would encourage their students to participate in open martial arts tournaments. At these tournaments, martial arts practitioners of any style could compete using standard rules. The instructors would adjust the Pencak Silat training and curriculum to better compete against other styles at open martial tournaments, focusing more on strong kicking and striking, and less on the more deadly aspects of Pencak Silat. 

Their students soon became well-known in the martial arts community. Kak Francis “Cayoh” Soetopo joined Silat when he was around 14 years old in 1984. His talent was soon evident as he became a national phenomenon, winning tournament after tournament throughout the USA. Other students such as Kak Maria Soetopo, the Tobing brothers (Alex, Amir and Harris), Kak Poppy Budhiastuti, Kak Anton Soetopo also secured wins for the school. Although the instructors adjusted their curriculum to be competitive in the USA, they stayed true to their heritage of Silat by teaching all of the techniques in Indonesian language, even to non-Indonesian students including Kak Richard Subaran, Kak Jim Gancayco, Kak Brian Wood, and others. They would hold belt tests much like the traditional belt tests held in Indonesia – at remote areas for several days for an intense weekend of testing. Kak Jim, one of the non-Indonesians who became an instructor in Al-Azhar Silat around 1989, introduced the art to the Filipino community in the DC area. Kak Jim later became the captain of the martial arts team at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

As the school grew, Al-Azhar instructors started several branches in the Washington DC metro area. Kak Alex Tobing started a class at the Muslim Community Center (MCC) in Silver Spring, Maryland which attracted students from as far as Herndon, Virginia. Kak Cayoh also started a branch Friendship Heights Community Center. Years later, Kak Ricky Usman started a branch at the Indonesian restaurant called “Sabang” in Wheaton, Maryland.

Kak Richard, another non-Indonesian, started at the embassy in 1985 under the tutelage of Kak Ocenk and Kak Tonny. His talent was immediately evident and received his black belt in 1988, within 3-1/2 years.  He continues to teach till today at the Silat Martial Arts Academy in Rockville, Maryland, teaching techniques closer to the original curriculum taught at Al-Azhar USA. “Through intense training and always having instructors to look up to for their skill, kindness and focus pushed me to levels in my youth I could never have attained without them,” Kak Richard recalls. “I am forever indebted to them for their time and effort in how Silat has molded my life to this very day. It is with the greatest hormat that I thank them for their influence in my life and the life of all the students that I have taught over the last 33 years.”

One of Al-Azhar’s talented students was Kak Wona Sumantri, who began training at the embassy when he was 8 years old. Despite being successful in open tournaments, his quest to deepen his knowledge of Pencak Silat was strong. His father, a practitioner of traditional Cimande Silat, encouraged him to go deeper into his study of Pencak Silat. After years of going to Indonesia to train in traditional styles, he began to readjust the curriculum towards more traditional Pencak Silat training. 

Kak Abdul-Malik Ahmad was a student of Kak Alex Tobing, one of Kak Ocenk’s and Kak Tonny’s early students. He joined Al-Azhar Silat at the age of 15 at the MCC branch and earned his Pencak Silat black belt in 1996. He was also very competitive in open tournaments, yet like Kak Wona, yearned to learn more about authentic Pencak Silat. In 2008, he traveled to Indonesia with Kak Wona which opened a sea of information about Silat, including sport Silat, which merged easily with his former training for open tournaments. Kak Abdul-Malik was the first American to compete in a World Pencak Silat tournament.

Today, Kak Ocenk lives in the Washington DC area, and Kak Tonny moved back to Indonesia. Although they are not actively teaching anymore, they still support the development of Pencak Silat in the USA. Because their current active successors (Kak Wona, Kak Richard and Kak Abdul-Malik) were no longer using the classic Al-Azhar curriculum, they decided to stop using the name “Al-Azhar” for their respective schools. They currently teach a different curricula, each focusing on their respective interest in Pencak Silat. Kak Wona teaches a more traditional style of Pencak Silat augmented by his training in Satria Fighting Arts, Kak Richard’s curriculum is closest to the classic Al-Azhar curriculum, while Kak Abdul-Malik’s curriculum focuses heavily on sport Silat and traditional Pencak Silat fundamentals. Yet despite divergent curricula, they remain strong and united as fellow board members of USA Pencak Silat Federation, which was founded in 2013.

Read History of Silat in America – Part 2: Pak Herman Suwanda

^{Note: Kak, which means older brother or sister in Bahasa Indonesian language, is a term of respect used by the school for senior instructors.}