ORAL TRADITION
ULU AMBEK Ninik Mamak’s Crown of Authority
Sitting together Wewen
O
I
ne of the oral traditions that
Ulu ambek comes from the words ulu
ulu ambek movement to attack and fend
is still alive and thriving in the
and ambek. One player acts as a palalu
off, and the female ulu ambek function
Pariaman area, West Sumatra
(attacker) and another person is called a
to accompany the ulu ambek movement
is the ulu ambek, which is a kind of
paambek (fends off attack). Alternately,
when not attacking or parrying.
silat-like performance that pits two men
the two players pit their attacking and
performing pencak movements against
parrying skills in the form of motion
Ulu ambek is performed above laga-
each other. Uniquely, in the show, the
symbols. The two forms of presentation
laga and in the context of Alek nagari or
two fighters do not have direct physical
mentioned above are accompanied by
parties organized by the community of
contact. Therefore, this type of silat is
a vowel sound called dampeang. There
a nagari which are held for example in
also known as occult silat/shadow silat.
are two types of dampeang, namely male
the context of traditional events such as
dampeang and female dampeang. The
the appointment of a penghulu (chief) or
male dampeang serves to accompany the
for social and entertainment events. The
70 INDONESIANA VOL. 12, 2021
