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Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I explore relational creativities of a practising Silat group in Vienna, Austria. The relational aspect will be explored between pairs through movement analysis during choreographic Silat sparring techniques, with the findings representing their kinaesthetic relationship.

Paper long abstract:

The Southeast Asian martial arts of Pencak Silat holds a long tradition and heritage of embodying mental-spiritual discipline, performative arts, ritual practice, social and cultural values, and self-defence.

Inspired by the myths surrounding the phenomenality of the ancestral tiger spirit, the origin of Silat Harimau, also known for its tiger style, comes from Southeast Asia in West Sumatra of Indonesia. The Austrian Silat group takes inspiration from their guru masters, and continues to perform and train together. The objective was to reveal how the transnational group makes sense of the embodied practice of Silat and what significance the culturally translated context plays in their social, physical, and learning experiences.

The study explores how the aesthetic and strategic forms of these movements are a transformative form of practice, as they continue to explore it creatively together as a community. I posit that there is a transmission process taking place that is realised in their own ways. With my findings, I demonstrate how the community engages with Silat through embodiment and transmission in a dedicated ritualised space to practice the different aspects of the art form.