Most perguruans (Silat schools) aim to educate students in all four aspects of Silat, self-defense, art, culture and mental/internal aspects. Some perguruans, however, have their specialty. Pencak Silat Merpati Putih is most famous their unique ability to develop, harness, and control inner power, or what is known in the Silat world as Tenaga Dalam, which is known in other arts as chi, ki, prana or bio energy. Although the development of internal energy is renowned in Chinese arts such as Tai Chi and Qigong, Merpati Putih’s art provides very specific and patented series of body postures & breathing techniques which they claim can build internal power faster and in greater amounts than any other method known publicly.
Merpati Putih which translates to ‘white dove’ (a symbol of peace and justice), is one of the largest perguruans in Indonesia, with branches across the world. The origins of the art began around 1550 inside the Javanese royal kingdom, which was known as Mataram. For centuries, the knowledge of internal power trickled down through generations and restricted to family members only. When Rd. Saring Purnomo Hadi (the 10th heir) inherited this art, he mandated his two sons, Poerwoto Hadi Purnomo (often called Mas Pung) and Budi Santoso Hadi Purnomo (often called Mas Budi) to teach and develop this art to the public. On the 12th April 1963, the Merpati Putih organization was established in Yogyakarta, Central Java.
Although, the existence of tenaga dalam or chi energy has not been proven scientifically, there have been some studies that prove that internal energy can increase blood flow and body energy levels measured as heat, light and electricity. Merpati Putih practitioners assert that their techniques help in healing aspects and developing razor sharp focus and awareness. In 1973, the perguruan Merpati Putih together with the Indonesian National Armed Forces Academy System or the AKABRI conducted a study with 40 cadets. 20 were trained in a more established aerobic method while the other 20 were trained in Merpati Putih training methods. The outcome of the research showed similar results from both groups, however the cadets trained in Merpati Putih showed an additional level of explosive power. Further research was done in cooperation with Diponegoro University, then in 1977, masters from the Perguruans Merpati Putih were instructed to train members of the Indonesian elite forces.
Merpati Putih is not an exclusively internal martial art such as Tai Chi Chuan, Pa Kua Chuan, or Hsing-I Chuan, nor is it an exclusively external martial art similar to Karate, Tae Kwon Do, etc. They stress their training does not make use of the occult or magic. The complete education comprises of 12 training levels, from basic level to the core level 3. Their curriculum contains the following aspects:
- Tata Gerak – Movement systems that consists of specific forms or jurus and techniques
- Pernafasan – Breathing technique
- Getaran – Vibration training
On September 15th 1990, Merpati Putih designed a special curriculum for the blind. Using vibration training, blind people are taught to feel vibrations of varying objects. As a display of mastery of vibration technique, Merpati Putih often put on mind-boggling displays of blindfolded practitioners weaving their way through complex mazes and even driving blindfolded. In 1995, Mas Eddie, a member of the branch of Merpati Putih in South Jakarta, drove blindfolded from Bogor to Jakarta with his eyes closed. He set the record and got an award plaque from the Indonesian Record Museum (MURI) for the farthest drive with eyes blindfolded.
Merpati Putih is famous for their breath-taking breaking demonstrations where they often break concrete blocks, stacks of steel plates, well pump handles, carbon steel mill files, granite slabs, car suspensions and even sections of light rail train tracks. Yet, they are still very active in Pencak Silat competitions and have produced competitors that won in several world champions such as Andy Zulkarnaen from Thailand who won gold in 2005 Sea Games and at the Belgium Open Pencak Silat championships in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
