Jokotole, de historie van de Pencak Silat stijl Jokotole

The Jokotole is a traditional pencak silat style originating from the isle of Madura. Initially its development took the same course as in the rest of Indonesia. After several conflicts between the sovereigns of Madura and Java, the people of Madura took the Dutch side, in exchange for a certain measure of independence. As a result of this alliance the Madurese people were allowed to have their own army. This is one reason why the Madurese pencak silat developed in its own way. Its styles are very practical. As a consequence its movements are less elegant. Partly due to the violent and hard character of the islanders, it has developed into an effective, quick and hard form of pencak silat. In the late seventies the first world championships were organized in Singapore. The present head of the Poras Jokotole, Mr Suheimy, played for Indonesia and became world champion. Two more Indonesian world champions followed, Mr Salehodin and Mrs Tuti. These victories earned the Jokotole great renown in Indonesia as well as abroad. Financial support of the Indonesian government made it possible to found an academy, in Kamal in Madura, the place where Mr Suheimy was born. He then was asked to train the Indonesian national team and the Jokotole was given the status of official Academy. In the past 25 years more than 80 persons have won national or international titles. In the Olah Raga (competitions) as well as in the Seni (style competitions) the Indonesians are still very successful. Next