Get to know the game Gobak Sodor – Sinaumed’s , do you still remember this Gobak Sodor game or maybe you know how it’s played but don’t know the name?
Sinaumed’s surely knows that our country, Indonesia, has a diversity of ethnic groups, so that the cultures passed on to the current generation are also diverse.
One of the cultures passed on to the younger generation today is traditional games. The existence of traditional games in ancient times became entertainment for people who at that time certainly did not touch the advanced technology as it is today.
In almost all regions in Indonesia, there must be traditional games that are characteristic of that area. Usually, a traditional game will utilize the natural resources around the area.
One of the many traditional games in Indonesia, there is a game called Gobak Sodor. This traditional game comes from Central Java. This game is quite respected by many people, both from children to adults.
So, if Sinaumed’s still doesn’t understand what and how the traditional Gobak Sodor game is played, let’s look at the following explanation!
Meaning of Gobak Sodor
What does the word Gobak Sodor mean? Why is this traditional game called that way?
Well, in the Big Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI), “gobak” means ‘a traditional game that uses a rectangular, checkered field, where each line is guarded by guards, those who want to enter must cross the line and if they are touched by guards, they have to change into guards. ‘
While the word “sodor” means ‘ thrust ‘. In this case, what must be proffered is our body and hands so that we can touch the opponent who is trying to cross the line.
This traditional game turns out to be quite well known by many people, you know…
Even in the Big Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI), this game has been registered as a noun which means ‘ children’s game’ consisting of two groups, one group as the guard of the fort and the other group trying to penetrate the opponent’s fort. ‘
In fact, this traditional Gobak Sodor game is often called Galah Asin , Galasin , and Gobag .
How to play Gobak Sodor
How do you play Gobak Sodor?
- Make guard lines with chalk. Make lines like on a badminton court, only the difference is that in Gobak Sodor there are no duplicate lines.
- Divide players into two teams, each team consisting of 3-5 members (optional, adjust to the total number of members). One team will be the “fortress guard” team and the other team will be the party trying to enter the fort.
- The team that becomes the “guard for the fort” must guard the field according to the horizontal and vertical lines. The horizontal line “guard” must try to block the opposing team that is moving to enter the boundary line. Meanwhile, for the “guard of the fortress” the vertical line is in charge of maintaining the entire vertical boundary line which is located in the middle of the field.
- Then, the opposing team must move across the line and the guards from start to finish.
As with other games, this traditional Gobak Sodor game also has its own rules, namely:
- Players are divided into 2 teams, each team consisting of 3-5 people (optionally, adjusting the number of participants participating in the game).
- If 1 team consists of 5 people, then the field to be used must be divided into 4 rectangular boxes with a size of approximately 5m x 3m (adjusting to the size of the field to be used).
- For the “fortress keeper” team, the task is to keep the “opposing” team from crossing or heading for the finish line .
- For the “opposing” team, they must move towards the finish line provided that they are not touched by the “guard” team and can enter the finish line provided that no members of the “opposing” team are still in the starting area .
- The “opposing” team will be declared victorious if one of its members manages to return to the start line safely or is not touched by the “guard” team.
- The “opponent” team will be declared defeated if one of its members is touched by the “guard” team or exits past the predetermined boundary line. If this happens, the team position will be replaced.
Benefits of Gobak Sodor Traditional Game
Without realizing it, this traditional Gobak Sodor game has many benefits, you know…
These benefits affect children’s development, be it social development, motor, personality, and others.
What are the benefits of this traditional game? Let’s look at the following reviews!
Benefits in Social Development
Indirectly, this traditional Gobak Sodor game trains children so that they are able to socialize well. In addition, it can also improve communication and train cooperation between team members.
This is because in a team, if they want to win, they must need cooperation by discussing with team members in advance what strategy to use in order to pass the “guard” to the finish line .
Benefits in Motor Development
This traditional game of Gobak Sodor certainly has benefits in motor development because it is clearly related to the movement of the human body. The benefits of the traditional Gobak Sodor game in terms of motor development are related to physical endurance and to train coordination between the leg and hand muscles.
In this case, of course, all players must move their limbs so they can escape from the “guard of the fort” to get to the finish line. Similar to the “guard” team, they also have to move swiftly to reflexes touch the “opponent” players.
Benefits in Personality Development
Meanwhile, the traditional Gobak Sodor game certainly has benefits that influence the development of children’s personality, namely increasing children’s self-esteem and self-confidence, fostering a sense of empathy in children, and can foster a child’s sense of sportsmanship.
In this case, it can happen if there are players who cannot penetrate the guard lines, then their team members must help by trying to outwit the “guard of the fortress” so that their team members can escape.
Apart from that, this traditional Gobak Sodor game can also teach children to be honest people, you know…
Of course this can happen when a child is touched by the “guard” team and immediately admits that he was touched. Then, the benefits of growing sportsmanship can be seen when children want to admit that they have lost.
Benefits in Cognitive Development
Then, the benefits obtained in the traditional Gobak Sodor game are related to children’s cognitive development. Without realizing it, this traditional game can train children’s concentration, increase children’s creativity in developing game strategies, and train children’s problem solving skills.
Of course this can happen if in the game the “guard” team is difficult to pass, then the members of the “opposing” team will inevitably rack their brains to think of how to get past the “guard”.
Benefits in Emotional Development
The last benefit that is obtained from the traditional Gobak Sodor game is related to the emotional development of children. Indirectly, this traditional game can train children’s patience and self-control, and can control children’s emotions.
Of course this can happen when the “guard” team is not provoked or influenced by the “opponents” who are trying to outwit them so that their friends can cross the line.
Traditional Role Play for Children
The existence of traditional games usually goes hand in hand with the subjects of Physical Education, Sports and Health (Penjasorkes) at school. This is because both of them have the same goal of maintaining the stability of the child’s physical fitness and instilling life values through his movements.
According to Nugroho (2016), a traditional game must contain positive values which include:
- Democracy, which relates to how to choose traditional games, must follow the rules or rules that have been agreed beforehand.
- Education, which is related to physical and spiritual aspects.
- Personality, related to the use of traditional games as a medium for developing and expressing a child’s identity.
- Courage, which relates to the child’s attitude to be brave in making decisions and taking into account certain strategies to win the game.
- Health, which can be seen from the agility of his body movements.
- Unity, which can be seen from the existence of solidarity in the group.
- Moral, which relates to children’s understanding of moral messages.
In this case, of course the existence of traditional games should be introduced to children so they don’t constantly play gadgets.
Even according to the opinion of some experts, traditional games are closely related to how children develop at an early age. Through traditional games, a child can optimize their physical, motor, mental, intellectual, creative and social abilities.
According to Karl Groos, playing has a function to strengthen children’s instincts which will be needed for survival in the future. Moreover, childhood should be filled with playing positive games. These positive games indirectly teach them about motoric, cognitive, language, social, emotional, artistic, moral, and other aspects.
However, nowadays many children prefer to be in front of gadgets rather than going out to play with their friends. In fact, these traditional games which are the legacy of these ancestors have educational value and are useful for stimulating children’s development.
Many parents rarely know about the benefits of traditional games so they cannot tell what knowledge is gained from the existence of these traditional games.
Therefore, we as the younger generation must preserve the existence of traditional games so they don’t become extinct. How to preserve the game can be done in many ways, for example by teaching it to our children, cousins, nephews, younger siblings, or neighbors who are still children; and conduct outreach activities regarding the preservation of traditional games.
In socialization activities for the preservation of traditional games, it is usually done through a poster distributed on social media. This activity was carried out with the hope that the community would have an understanding of the importance of preserving cultural heritage, especially traditional games which clearly have many benefits for future generations.
So, Sinaumed’s as a figure of young people in Indonesia, let’s help preserve the existence of this traditional game so that it won’t be consumed by the times! How can Sinaumed’s do this by teaching his younger siblings, nephews and neighbors who are still young to play this traditional game! Of course Sinaumed’s can play it with them!