Aditya Setyawan is known in the Indonesian community in South Philadelphia as a leader and a guru of Pencak Silat, an indigenous martial art from Indonesia and the surrounding geocultural areas of Southeast Asia. He is a member of the school, Perguruan IKS PI Kera Sakti (Monkey Magic), which instructs students in a combination of Kung Fu techniques and traditional Javanese teachings. While there, Aditya learned fast reflexes in various combinations, eventually earning a red belt and reaching level 2, with level 3 reserved for the absolute masters, who don belts with red and yellow stripes. At the red belt and up, there is an exclusive set of skills taught, which are not actively shared or exhibited to onlookers or novitiates.
Aditya started teaching Pencak Silat in South Philadelphia, where he opened up his own branch of Kera Sakti. They perform at the Chinatown Night Market and other community events. His hope is to make the initial skill sets of the traditional art available to anyone interested in learning a self defense practice rich with cultural meaning.
