Salam Perguruan,

It’s time for another community update (at last, I know this one’s been a little while in the making!)

Strategic Planning Update

First, thank you to all who participated in our March Strategic Planning meeting! We shared stories of what brought us to PGB and reflected on the values that keep us here. We began a process of exploring short and long term goals for the development of the PGB CA Organization. Participants ranked goals areas, and the top priorities included:

• Growing the Membership
• Continuing to develop Policies and Guidelines for the operation of the organization including staff roles and meeting procedures
• Developing the Website and Newsletter
• And slightly lower on the list, but with a good amount of attention: further the development training programs for younger people.

Organizational staff have started the process of working out the details for each goal area. If you have an interest in contributing to the development of any of these goal areas, please contact org@bayareawhitecranesilat.org and let us know where you want to get involved.

Our next public community meeting will be held later in June. An invite with further details will be sent out in advance next month.

Membership Update

Thank you to all those who have officially joined PGB California and contributed a membership fee. We want to encourage all Silat and Tao Kung practitioners and non-practicing folks who are interested in supporting the growth and development of PGB in CA to become members. We know that people in our community may be suffering from hardships related to the ongoing pandemic. If this fee would constitute a financial hardship for, or if there are other reasons the fee is an obstacle to joining the membership, please reach out to Jennifer, Membership Coordinator, at garzupeta@gmail.com. We want membership to be accessible and inclusive to all of our community.

Your fee for 2021 can be sent via Paypal or Zelle, on a $5 monthly basis (at the beginning of each month) or in a lump sum for the remainder of 2021. You can using the following methods:

• Paypal: baysilat@gmail.com, or
• Zelle bank: baysilat@gmail.com

Science Corner

Jaida has been compiling information from various discussions and some outside sources to help us consider the underlying philosophical, medicinal, and somatic aspects of our practice and how elements, animals, and emotions interrelate. Check out this simple guide:

Here is some additional commentary she recorded from Guru as pertains to training during the pandemic:

Guru referred to 5 elemental emotions when he explained that one should train liong bun (dragon gates) in order to manage and accept difficult circumstances over which you have no control, such as the COVID-19 pandemic:

1) Sadness is in our lungs;
2) We can’t love (feel joy) because we have to be distanced from others, we hate it;
3) We have anxiety (worry) because we have to be aware all the time of our surroundings and we’re always talking about > negative things;
4) So fear comes;
5) And then anger because we can’t go out, we have to wear masks, etc. So train liong bun to be at peace with something you can’t fight (such as the reality of a pandemic).

Training Schedule

There are so many opportunities with so many amazing trainers to train remotely, every darn day of the week! Here’s the updated schedule as of January 2021:

Sundays:

• 9:00 – 10:15 a.m. (PDT), Tao Kung for intermediate to advanced students, led by Cheryl* contact cheryl.f@gmail.com for link and passcode.
• 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. (PDT), Beginners’ silat, led by Jaida (jaidakim@me.com)
• 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. (PDT), Silat for all levels, led by Trisno (trisnosamudra@gmail.com)

Mondays:

• 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. (PDT), Silat for (intermediate) women, led by Antoinette (ac@acleoni.com), Cheryl (cheryl.f@gmail.com), Darcy (darcywdunn@verizon.net)

Tuesdays:

• 19:30 – 21:30 (7:30 – 9:30 p.m. EDT), Silat for students with more than 1 year experience, led by Fred* in person and zoom, instruction mostly in French; contact frederic@badereau.com before joining.

Wednesdays:

• 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. (PDT), Silat for (advanced) women, led by Jane; contact janesbrains@gmail.com for link and passcode.

Thursdays:

• 7:30 – 9:00 a.m. (PDT), Silat for intermediate and advanced students, led by Anitra; contact anitralav@gmail.com before joining.
• 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. (PDT)(= 7 a.m. Fridays Jakarta time) Tao Kung led by Hetty & Vieta, instruction in English/Indonesian;

Fridays:

• 10 – 11:30 a.m. (PDT), Beginner accessible, internally directed, healing oriented silat for female identified practitioners, led by Maggie*, also beneficial for seasoned practitioners who wish to refine their movements, balance and harmonize the body; men may participate with prior clearance from the trainer; contact silat.maggie@gmail.com for zoom link and passcode.
• 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. (PDT), Silat with discussion for intermediate and advanced pesilat, led by Wun Fie contact wunfie.loa@carii.com.

Saturdays:

• 6:30 – 8:30 a.m. (PDT) = (8:30 p.m. Jakarta time) PGB Pusat Joint International Silat Latihan for trainers and advanced students (red belt minimum), led by Kris M., James A., James M. and other PGB trainers, instruction in Indonesian/English, approximately every other Saturday; interested participants must register in advance of each session (see below).
• 6:30 – 8:30 a.m. (PDT) = (8:30 p.m. Jakarta time) PGB Pusat Joint International Discussion with Guru Gunawan Rahardja and Pusat trainers (mostly in English/Indonesian), held every 2-3 months (see schedule below); open to all PGB members worldwide; interested participants must register in advance of each discussion session (see below).

Pusat Saturday international zoom schedule for 2021:

Contact tcbogor@gmail.com if you are interested in attending the Pusat’s Saturday international latihan or discussion sessions. Registration links are sent out about a week in advance of each session via the PGB North American listserve. If you are not currently receiving messages from this listserve, please contact Jaida (jaidakim@me.com) or Jennifer (garzupeta@gmail.com) for assistance.

Age requirements & classes for young people:

All silat classes listed above are for adults 18+ years old. Contact Peter* pajemian@gmail.com for zoom silat classes for children and teens. Peter holds classes for tweens Mondays at 4pm, and Thursdays at 3pm for 5-10 yr olds.

Potential Tao Kung students who have not done silat should be 30+ years old unless cleared to participate by Guru.

Silat practitioners interested in beginning Tao Kung should be at least 40 years old.

PGB zoom class contributions:

If you attend any of the zoom classes or discussions, please make a contribution at the end of each month (suggested ~$20-$60 per month) via paypal to PGBNA108@gmail.com or Zelle Bank to baysilat@gmail.com; include a memo specifying how much is for Pusat Silat Bangau Putih, Pusat Tao Kung, or PGB North America. Contact Jeanette (pgbna108@gmail.com) or Jaida (jaidakim@me.com) if you have not been receiving monthly zoom class contribution reminders. * Some trainers may request separate donations or fees directly from students to offset expenses.

That’s a wrap for this month. See you soon on the Zooooom!

Organization Staff
Ross, Jeanette, Eric, Alison, Jennifer