Indonesia is the dominant force in Pencak Silat today. They have routinely swept multiple international championships, with their athletes usually winning medals in multiple divisions and categories. With a population of 270 million, and the sport being native to the region, Indonesia has a vast talent pool to pull from. Population, however, is not a determining factor of success in a sport — France with a population of a meager 67 million was able to beat other countries with much bigger populations in soccer at the 2018 World Cup. Quality coaching plays an important role in any sport, and particularly Pencak Silat.
In 2018, I met with several coaches from the Indonesian team at the World Pencak Silat Championship in Singapore, including one of the longest serving national coaches: Dr. Indro Catur. Recently, I had a conversation with him about his experience as a national coach for arguably the world’s greatest Pencak Silat team.
Question: Being a coach for team Indonesia is a big honor. How did you become coach?
Well, my journey as a coach is not easy and quite long, I have gone through many things along this path. I started my career in this coaching area by becoming an athlete of Pencak Silat. I was a National pesilat (silat athlete) before becoming a coach, I have gone through the required tests and passed the National Selection by defeating the 1st Champion of PON. From this moment, I was included in B Class pesilat following the World Championship Team in 1994 in Hatyai, Thailand.
My achievement in the World Championship was a silver medal. In 1998, I became the first Champion in B class in the National Pencak Silat Round; however I then suffered with a fibula fracture leg injury. Around 5 months, I was following the Championship for the PON qualifying round in Jakarta, but I was failed due to my fibular bone which was not completely recovered. I did not give the best performance, I was unsuccessful, and then decided to quit being a pesilat.
During the dark times of life, remembering my failure in Pencak Silat Championship, when I was down, one of my friends suggested me to become Pencak Silat coach. And, by considering my friend’s advice, I decided to become a coach, starting from being a coach at the martial art college (perguruan) of Tapak Suci Indonesia, martial arts science based on Al-Islam, clean from shirk (syirik) and misleading, with mental attitudes and steps that are acts of holiness and prioritizing faith and morals, and rooted in Banjaran-Kauman, which is then developed methodically and dynamically. Then, since I was coaching here, overall, I won every grand championship between colleges of Pencak Silat. From this level, the government made me a coach at the city level of in Surakarta, my hometown. After that, I successfully brought the name of the city of Surakarta to the championship at the Central Java Province level and also won the grand championship. Considering my achievement, Dispora (Office of Youth & Sport) then gave me the opportunity to become a coach in Central Java Province in the national level student competition, and there my team also won the Grand Champion.
In 2001, the Kejurnas Dewasa (National Championship for Adults) was held and I was trusted to lead the Central Java Province team in the competition with minimal budget. Yet my team and I had high spirits to join the competition, and with this, we obtained more than our expectation — our team was the first Grand Champion in the competition. We had a great achievement in this although the pesilat were still newly debuted at that time.
From my achievement in the 2002 National Championship in Jakarta, then, I was considered to be included as one of the National coaches, since there were many athletes from the Central Java Province became part of the Indonesian National Team.
A list of my coaching events and championships:
- In 2002, World Championship in Penang Malaysia, the Indonesian team did not become the Grand Champion; however, the Indonesian athletes who came from Central Java donated a gold medal: Lutfan Budi Santoso class B Putra. In this Championship, Malaysia was the Grand Champion.
- In 2003, I became one of Indonesia’s national coaches again for the Sea Games in Vietnam. In this event, the Indonesian Team did not win the Grand Champion, but the Indonesian athlete who came from Central Java, Lutfan Budi Santoso once again contributed a gold medal for the Indonesian team. Here, Vietnam was the Grand Champion.
- In 2005, the Indonesian team’s performance was not good enough, our team suffered a defeat in the 2005 sea games event in the Philippines and Vietnam emerged as the Grand Champion.
- In 2006, I was again given the opportunity to become the national coach of Indonesia. This time, I was appointed as the Head Coach of the Indonesian National Team. And the results were:
- 2006 at the UK Open became the Grand Champion
- 2007 Belgium Open became the Grand Champion
- 2007 Sea Games in Thailand, Team Indonesia became the Grand Champion
- 2008 Asian Beach became the Grand Champion
- 2009 became the Grand Champion at the Asian Martial Arts Games in Thailand
- 2009 Sea Games in Laos, lost and the Grand Champion was Vietnam
- 2012 Belgium Open, became the Grand Champion
- 2012 Asean University Games in Laos, became the Grand Champion
- 2013 Belgium Open, won the Grand Champion
- 2013 Sea Games in Myanmar, became the Grand Champion
- 2015 Sea Games in Singapore, Indonesia 3 gold, Vietnam 3 gold, Malaysia 3 gold, Thailand 3 gold
- 2018 World Championship in Singapore, the results were: Singapore 7 gold, Vietnam 6 gold, Indonesia 5 gold
- 2019 Belgium Open, the Grand Champion
- 2019 World Martial Arts in Chungju, 2 gold results from all unsubscribed categories
- 2019 Sea Games in Philippine, also Grand Champion
- 2020 – 2021 is still one of the coaches of the Indonesian National Team, in preparation for the Sea Games, World Championship, etc.
It is an honor for me to be the coach of the Indonesian National Team Pencak Silat, and I am the longest serving coaches up until now, since I was chosen to be the coach of long processes and stages, as a coach from a region who was given the confidence to train due to the achievements of athletes in the region, who in the end had to place the position of national coach.
It becomes a satisfaction and pride for me, if the results achieved are in accordance with the targets given by PB IPSI/ country, but there is a separate experience when the team cannot achieve the maximum results. The recruitment of athletes who are selective and quality as well as objective, good planning and supported by team cohesiveness and sufficient financial support, are the keys to the success of an Indonesian National Team to become the best.
Question: Team Indonesia is currently number one in Silat in the world, how important is good coaching for this success – or do you just need strong athletes?
The role and quality of the coach really determines the success of a pesilat to become a champion, in addition to the quality of the athlete/pesilat to produce maximum achievement. For this, the recruitment of athletes or pesilat is very necessary, and the most important thing is by taking athletes or pesilat who become champions in the competition. This is the main key to success following the national or international championship.
If the competition is held more than two times, it will be even better; each winner in the competition is selected again to get the best pesilat, by bringing in a qualified and sporty referee jury. The coaches taken are also the best coaches based on the results of their athletes’ achievements and competence as a good coach.
Question: What advice would you give coaches in western countries where Pencak Silat is still growing?
Well, I can give some suggestions or advice to the coaches in the western countries where Pencak Silat is still growing in order to obtain athlete or pesilat who can compete in the World Championship are by:
- Bringing a trainer who has a clear reputation and achievements for the competition category and ganda and tunggal squad, to provide training / coaching clinic / workshop for prospective trainers.
- Not all good athletes make good coaches, but some good athletes can make good coaches too.
- A good coach is a coach who always produces and creates world champions athletes or pesilat who can compete and be prestigious in the world champion or other prestigious event. This is what a coach meant to be.
I hope this advices can give input to other coaches in western countries and encourage them to improve and develop Pencak Silat in the world.
Question: What is the hardest part of being a coach?
The most difficult parts, hardest things I gone through during a coach is if the policies made by the management are not in line with the expectation of the coach. The main task of the coach is to maintain a conducive atmosphere for the team led by maintaining good relations between athletes, coaches, managers and the main management of the organization.
If the management’s policies are in line with the managers and coaches, a conducive atmosphere will be created within the team. Thus, an objective policy and fair play are needed; there is no interest from colleges or regions for the selection of the best Pesilat to be selected as the Indonesian National Team.
Sufficient financial support is also an important factor for running a training program that has been created to achieve peak performance with predictable and set targets.
Question: What is the easiest part of being a coach?
The easiest part for me, as a coach, is if everything is done according to plan. For example: 1) good and selective recruitment of athletes, 2) the coach is selected according to the criteria 3) the program is executed according to plan. 4) The team atmosphere is conducive 5) management policies are in line with the trainers 6) there is a strong support team.
Written by A-Malik Ahmad, a former USA Pencak Silat head coach & international judge, author of the Training for Tanding course on Udemy.
