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Rania Siegers puts Silat on the map at the World Championships in Abu Dhabi
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From her first trial lesson to the Pencak Silat World Championships in Abu Dhabi in just two years: Rania Siegers has made this dream come true. Together with her team-mates Samantha and Caithlyn she represented the Netherlands in the artistic competition form Regu. Her mother Yayah Siegers-Samaniri, herself a Silat practitioner, was there as assistant to one of the three national coaches and witnessed Rania's impressive performance. Together they look back on this remarkable experience.
How it began
Rania's first encounter with Silat came through her mother Yayah, who was taught in her youth by oom haji Samad Umarella almarhum, the founder of the Moluccan Silat style Pukulan Nusahitu Solemata. "I used to hear stories from my mother," Rania says. Even so, Rania only took the step into martial arts when a friend took her along to a Kung Fu demonstration. "I found it so impressive that I thought: I want to do a martial art too. I was about to sign up there, but then I realised: why not a martial art from my own culture?"
Rania joined the club Silat One in The Hague. Her years of dance experience gave her a head start in the artistic competition form of Silat called Regu. "Regu is a form in which you perform techniques and attacks that occur in a fight in a fixed order. It is important that the techniques are perfect and that the timing is right. The three of us perform it, but the judges have to see one person. So it is very technical," she explains.
The road to Abu Dhabi
Just two years after her first Silat lesson, Rania was selected for the World Championships. "I was enormously grateful to be given such a chance. My whole life revolved around Silat at that point. We trained intensively with the squad and learned to handle the tension and the level of the opponents."
The experience in Abu Dhabi was overwhelming and special. "The atmosphere was wonderful. It felt special that my mother was there as assistant to the national coach. That gave me confidence. And there were many Dutch supporters, including 10 of my family members, cheering us on." Although Rania did not win a medal, she looks back with pride. "The best in the world were there. It was an honour to be part of it."
Mother and coach
For Yayah the World Championships were a remarkable experience, both as coach and as mother. "It is of course extra nerve-racking when your own daughter is out there. I was incredibly proud, especially because Silat has always been a family thing in our community. I used to do it together with my little brother and sister, and now I am standing with my daughter at the highest tournament in this sport. That is very special."
As assistant to the national Artistic coach, Yayah helped with the artistic section. "It takes a lot of focus, because you have to know all the rules and details well. At the same time it is inspiring to see how other countries practise Silat and how high the level is."
A club like family
Rania hopes more people will discover Silat. "I recommend it to everyone. At our club Silat One in The Hague it felt like family straight away. You do not come only to train; it is also a piece of culture. Everyone recognises something of themselves in each other, and that creates connection. That makes me even more driven to go further in this sport."
Have you been inspired to try Pencak Silat yourself? Take a look at www.npsf.nl, the website of the Dutch Pencak Silat Federation, and see which school is near you.
