Bangli, Peace and Harmony

Traditional Sport of Mejangka

There are many kinds of simple traditional sports that both children and adults play, which contrast with modern sports with their complicated rules and sophisticated facilities. Traditional sports can be played anywhere - in the house yard, temple yard, bale banjar (sub village hall), and sometimes in dusty and dirty places. Tens years ago, children ordinarily played these sports, until they recognized the modern sports that now begin to penetrate the villages. The government may have caused this through its campaign to promote sport to society.

Kinds of sport such as mekering-keringan, megala-galaan, metambak-tambakan, metembing and mejaran-jaranan are now becoming rare. Playing Soccer using jerungga (a very large citrus fruit) or kasti , a game similar to baseball using a plaited ball made from coconut leaves, do not exist anymore. A few children’s games, generally in the form of dolanan , still survive because of the government’s efforts to preserve them.
For example, mejangka traditional sport, can be played to commemorate certain events. According to Drs. I Nyoman Terus Arsawan, one of the members of staff of Bangli’s Education Office, who manages sport and youth, the traditional sport of mejangka is still played at Bangli’s Anniversary, the Proclamation Anniversary and other national holidays. Before the competition, just as with modern sport, a technical meeting is held to discuss the rules of the difficult traditional game and get the participant’s agreement.
Another traditional sport that is played on special days is metajog. Elementary school children are very fond of this sport. Metajog uses 2 bamboo sticks with pedals to hold the feet. Both players put their legs on pedals in the middle of the stick and then walk. Experts can make metajog look like walking naturally. (BTN/030)