Jemparingan: Javanese archery

Sooner or later if you are a consistent searcher you will find what you were looking for. After asking and walking around Jogjakarta I easily found jemparingan communities all around the city. In Tamantirto, at Sasana Wisangeni I started to practice it. When I moved out to other neighborhood, I found another place (sasana): Sasana Marto (Manunggal Rasa Tamtama). If you are wondering how can you join to these communities, it is indeed quite easy: you only need to come to a practice place and talk with the person in charge. Sometimes you do not even have to pay a little amount for registration, and if you do, it is only once time payment. Members of the community will teach you the technique and provide you with a bow and arrows for you to practice. If you are engaged to this activity and start enjoying it, you can acquire your own gendewo (bow) and anak panah (arrows). They will help you to get them at a reasonable prize: around 700 thousand rupias for the bow, and 300 thousand rupias f...

Beyond the Bullseye Jemparingan is more than just hitting the target. During these few months I have been exploring the symbolism embedded in this ancient art. The court, the target, the archer's position and movements, the bow and arrows, etc., have a deep meaning. At the beginning, I used to focus on the technique, acquiring a good technique to shoot arrows and get the target or the area close to the target. After a while, I realized that the disposition the shot arrows is a radiography of yourself: of your state of being, your expectations, your inner feeling, how calm you are, how focused you are... More important than getting on the target, became the idea of that all my arrows (4 of them in a round) should be targeted on only one spot. It shows you the level of your concentration and calmness of your heart. Breathing is essential: before releasing the arrow, you have to get one with the target (bandul), hold your breath and connect your heart ( manah ) with the target. It is ...

Jemparingan is a meditative practice. Physically, jemparingan is performed seated, in cross-legged position. The practitioner must perpendicularly face the target. When holding the bow, this must be leaned about 30 degrees, however it depends on the practitioner. When pulling the string, the hand must reach the right cheek, and usally count to three before releasing the arrow. If released too fast, patience must be studied, however if hold too long, the fingers or arm can get tired. It must be in the right time.  The target is known as bandul, set around 25-35 m far from the shooter. It is around 30 cm long and 3 cm wide, and it is suspended by ropes at 1,60 m from the ground. The white section of the bandul is called awak or body, and the red section is called sirah or head. Some people say it looks like a human being with head and body. But do not get a bad impression, it is just symbolic. Reaching the target could mean killing the own ego. Actually, all the activity itself has ...

 Jemparingan is a Javanese word used to name the art of archery in Jawa. What is peculiar of this form of archery is that must be done in a cross-legged sitting position (silo)  and the use of traditional Yogyakarta clothing such as blangkon/udeng, surjan, and jarik for men and kebaya for women. Anyone could learn and join this activity practiced in various sasana (jemparingan courts) all through Jogjakarta or even Central Jawa, yet everyone who takes part in this practice must be willing to sit down together, follow the rules and enjoy a communal experience letting go of all sign of competition and egos. To practice this archery is only needed a bow or gendewo and the arrows or anak panah . The arrows are shot towards a 30m-far-slim-target which is called bandhulan or wong-wongan. The large part of the target is white and is equal to 1   point, while the head of the target is red and it is equal to 3 points.  I have joined this activity 6 months ago from now, and I ...

 Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog! I am Edgar Freire and I am passionate about Javanese Arts. I am into traditional music, dance, theater... and Jemparingan. Years ago I was cycling around the area of Alun-alun Kidul in Jogjakarta, I entered the street Langenastran and surprisingly I saw a group of men practicing archery, but not in the Olympic style, instead, a traditional one. Curiosity has been always my ally and quietly I came in and looked at the archers. Javanese are friendly people; in a blink, one of them, pak Tono invited me to join the activity and I gave it a go of course. Believe or not, when I was a child I used to disguise myself as a ninja and loved the idea of some day ahead learning archery or martial arts. Magically, decades later I found myself learning traditional Javanese archery, at some place called Langenastro. Since then, I have been fond of this practice and in this blog I will write down my experiences and knowledge acquired about it. Are you curious? Y...