A cadre who exemplifies the spirit of sharing is Suhandani (Dani), from the Mutiara Abadi community of Yogyakarta. Dani and his students won medals at the Pencak Silat Tapak Suci Bupati Cup Championship at the IV Provincial level at GOR Tridadi Sleman Yogyakarta. 93 contingents, comprising 824 athletes from all levels of education, participated in the competition.
Dani has been involved in pencak silat at the Perguruan Tapak Suci since 2003 with his senior and fellow Wadah cadre, Dwi Yunianto. Initially, Dani pursued pencak silat to strengthen his motor skills. After quitting the pencak silat world for nine years, Dani eventually sought to reestablish his martial arts form in Sanggar Mutiara Abadi, which Nartukyo led. In 2017, he achieved the assistant coach rank in the Perguruan Tapak Suci.
Through his enthusiasm and consistency, with Dwi Yunianto as his coach, Nartukyo allowed Dani to become a pencak silat coach in the sanggar. The results were exemplary. Dani became a trainer with a strong mentality, character, and a fun coaching style.
Dani’s perseverance, consistency, and success as a pencak silat coach inspired the schools around the Merapi Slope to develop a pencak silat course in their schools. Consequently, Dani’s role and responsibilities as an assistant coach expanded. With his coach Dwi Yunanto, Dani began training students at SMP Muhammadiyah Ngemplak, SD Muhammadiyah Ngepring, SMK Muhammadiyah Cangkringan, and SMP Negeri 2 Pakem.
Concurrently, Dani participated in the Leadership Cadre Training (LKPTS) program held by the Regional Leader 03 of Sleman Regency to improve his ability as a trainer. He graduated after attending the LKPTS for approximately 6 to 8 months. Since then, he has become a coach at the young cadre level.
Dani realized that to be a pencak silat coach one must have exceptional skills. First and foremost, one must have mastered pencak silat materials, have a solid spiritual mentality, and uphold morality. The discipline ingrained from his early days of studying pencak silat became further honed when Dani became a trainer and attended the LKPTS training. In addition, he felt the positive impact of pencak silat, which enabled him to be stronger, more honest, resilient, and dignified.
With increasing responsibilities, Dani also realized the importance of time management. In addition to pencak silat responsibilities, Dani is an administrative staff member at SD Negeri Cancangan and a private math tutor. He is also a math and English tutor in the Mutiara Abadi community. Furthermore, Dani and his twin brother, Dono, have a car polishing business they hope will succeed so they may support their future economic needs.
Dani admits that he has benefited greatly since joining the Mutiara Abadi community, becoming more friendly, sociable, and humble.
“Pencak silat makes my body healthy, makes the soul think clearly, and helps me stay humble and not easily be provoked by emotions,” he said.
Dani feels comfortable joining Mutiara Abadi because its members respect each other, are happy to collaborate, and continuously extend the mindset that increases social awareness through Wadah’s values. This environment contributes to Dani finding his purpose in life.
Dani has successfully used opportunities which allowed him to impact his community positively. Through his role and responsibilities as a coach, his students benefited greatly, with their success culminating in winning medals and becoming champions of the Tapak Suci pencak silat in the DIY Province level. Moreover, Dani demonstrates that a successful and accountable coach is one who can transfer his knowledge to students who are in turn able to self-actualise with given opportunities.
Author: Wahyuning Ndraha
Editor: Paula Stela Landowero
