On January 17, 2009, the Muslim martial artists competed in the John Chung World Cup Finals held at the Sheraton Hotel in Reston, Virginia. The John Chung World Cup tournament brought anew level of competition with experienced students from well-established martial arts schools such as Jeff Smith Karate, students of the promoter Master John Chung, and hundreds of students coming from as far as Florida for the elite tournament.
The Al-Azhar team consisted of 38 competitors including Kak Terra Kurnia and Kak Abdul-Malik Ahmad who are the instructors of the Virigina branch of Al-Azhar Pencak Silat. Although some of the students had participated in previous tournaments, there were many who would be competing for the first time. Three of the newest and youngest team members included Maryam Elkoshiri, Tahmeed Ullah, and Taha Khan. Very enthusiastic about participating, they trained vigorously, attending extra classes as well as training at home daily leading up to the tournament.
As martial arts practitioners from various styles packed the hotel ballroom, it was clear that the competition would be intense. Divisions separated by age, gender, and belt level had an average of a dozen competitors. Al-Azhar students competed in forms, sparring, and breaking. Since it was an open tournament with many different styles of martial arts, judges analyzed each form based on the focus, accuracy, speed, agility, and enthusiasm of the competitor. Most of the judges were instructors in Tae Kwon Do and Karate styles and were, at best, vaguely familiar with the art of Pencak Silat.
Pencak Silat (pronounced pen-chak-see-lat) is a martial art developed by the Malay people in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and other countries in that region. Although the majority of Pencak Silat styles were developed by Muslims (including Al-Azhar Pencak Silat) students of all faiths are welcome to study the art.
The efforts of the students paid off, Alhamdulillah. The Al-Azhar school received around 30 trophies including the extreme breaking champion and first place trophy in traditional weapons won by Kak Terra Kurnia, as well as first place trophies won by the newest competitors Tahmeed, Maryam, and Taha. The other first place winners are Osama Elkoshiri, Nur Reda, and Amina Elkoshari.
Al-Azhar Pencak Silat school was ranked as #3 by a score of points won by the schools participating in the John Chung World Cup Tournament. The tournament was a learning experience for all the students who realized the importance of preparation and training for any competitive event. Some judges spoke highly of the discipline and respect displayed by the Pencak Silat students. Al-Azhar school hopes to continue competing in martial arts tournaments as well as organizing its own Silat tournaments with Pencak Silat rules and regulations, Insha’Allah.
Visit www.al-azharsilat.org/adams to learn more about Al-Azhar Pencak Silat.
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