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The Suwanda Academy
Heart of
Karambit Martial Skills
By Steve Tarani
The Fight for
Independence
In the midst of flying bullets,
swinging blades and battle cries, a
young Indonesian warrior winces from
a bead of sweat trickling down into
the cut above his right eye.
Stealthily as a cat he climbs a rope
hand-over-hand to the deck of a
Dutch warship careful not to give
away his position and his
intentions. Cursing the pain and
plunging himself deep into a
fiercely raging battle, a bullet
grazes his left leg as he buries his
blade deep into the belly of his
adversary.
Such
was one of many typical hand-to-hand
combat experiences for Uyuh Suwanda,
Indonesian Freedom Fighter and
founder of Mande Muda Pencak Silat -
the Suwanda family system.
During the fight for independence,
Guru Besar Pendekar Uyuh Suwanda (my
master's father) and other
Indonesian freedom fighters like him
in the 1940's, literally battled
tooth and nail for the independence
of their country. The personal
combat system of these remarkable
warriors was the indigenous and
efficient fighting system of
Indonesian Pencak Silat.
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Family Systems of
Pencak Silat
In particular, the Suwanda
family system, codified by
Pendekar Suwanda, can be traced
back to what is known as
Ma'en Po. Originating from
the indigenous Sundanese ethnic
group circa mid 14th
century, the backbone of this
unique fighting system was born
in the heartland of West Java.
Over the ensuing centuries,
neighboring villages
independently developed their
own systems and styles such as
Cikalong, Kari, Madi, Serak
and Syahbandar (from
Sumatra).
Each system has its own
specialty. Cipecut, for
example, emphasizes usage of
flexible weapons, whereas
Rikesan focuses primarily on
locks and pressure points. Still
other systems emphasize close
quarter combative elements like
striking such as Tanjakan
and on the more mental or
spiritual aspect Timbangan
and Ulin Napas (spiritual
breathing/ meditation). |
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Long
before the end of the Dutch
occupation, Pendekar Uyuh Suwanda
had realized the importance of
cross-training in the various Pencak
Silat village systems. Very similar
to the modern concept of Jeet
Kune Do as brought forth by
Bruce Lee in the 1960's and 70's and
Sifu Dan Inosanto in the 1980's
through today, the idea of "using no
way as way" and "take what is
useful" was a way of life for Pendekar Uyuh Suwanda.
At
the end of the war, he continued to
study with various Pencak Silat
Master instructors in research and
development of the Suwanda system to
the extent of combining key
combative elements of 18 individual
systems to form the Suwanda family
system which is known today as
Pencak Silat Mande Muda. |
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The Evolution of a
System
Literally translated as "a growing
and evolving art with its beginning
roots in Cimande", the idea behind Mande Muda Pencak Silat (the Suwanda
family system) is that any fighting
system worth it's salt, must
continue to change both from within
the system and from outside the
system. In other words, the same
boxing techniques used by John L.
Sullivan at the turn of the century
are not applicable to the world
boxing champions of today. Fighting
styles change and any effective
system will develop to adapt to
these changes. Much like the rifle
of Daniel Boone, although a superior
weapon for its time, is no match for
the modern M4 Carbine, so is it the
case for the ancient fighting arts
which must adapt to any newly
developed combat technologies. Pendekar Uyuh Suwanda recognized the
importance of this evolution and
thus designed the Mande Muda system
to be able to call upon the
battle-readiness of 18 individual
systems and easily morph the skills
of the fighter into whatever was
necessary to get the job done.
In
the early 1960's, my master a
then-young Herman Suwanda, the
eldest son of Pendekar Uyuh, was the
first recipient of this multi-system
training. He was trained not only by
his father, who continued to travel
to different villages in search of
effective systems, but also by other
masters who were invited by his
father to come to his village and
teach. It became quite taxing to
continually travel to each village
and try to train students at the
same time in all the different
disciplines. The solution was
simple, to create one school where
all the masters could come to teach
in one location. Back then, it was a
revolutionary concept and the dream
of the founder of Pencak Silat Mande
Muda International. |
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Unfortunately, Guru Besar Pendekar
Uyuh Suwanda, passed away before he
could begin the monumental effort
that it would take create such an
academy of training. However, the
idea planted a seed in the mind of
the heir to the Mande Muda system -
Guru Besar Pendekar Herman Suwanda.
Having begun his training in Pencak
Silat at age five, throughout the
sixties and seventies, Herman
Suwanda observed the teaching
methods of the ancients - backyards,
rice paddies, tea fields and if ever
in a large location it was usually
in the gymnasium of a college or
university (which was quite diluted
as any curriculum had to conform to
university policy). The true art of
Pencak Silat, the core substance,
was taught in living rooms. One
cannot open a Yellow Pages and find
a Pencak Silat school in Indonesia.
It is traditionally a family art,
passed down from grandfather to
father to son/ daughter.
Asked
by his father to travel from village
to village and gather the knowledge
of the masters over the decades,
Herman Suwanda never forgot the
dream of his father. He too
recognized the tremendous advantage
of having it all in one place - the
masters, the traditional training -
all without any compromise of
integrity as a result of government
or university policies. It was a
noble dream for both father and son
and a necessity for the continued
freedom of self, family, village,
and a sovereign nation. |
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In
the nineteen seventies, many
attempts were made by Pendekar Uyuh
Suwanda to set the wheels in motion.
Acquiring the property and the
financial backing to establish such
a facility proved to be an enormous
task. Imagine the continual uphill
battle in trying to ask the
government or some massive
industrial corporation for a grant
or loan to develop property for such
non-profit and esoteric usage. The
dream appeared unattainable, the
ideal was too high and even if it
was the best way to preserve the old
teachings, it wouldn't generate any
substantial revenue, so why would
any government or private enterprise
invest in such an unprofitable
endeavor? |
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A Family Tradition
Spreads Beyond Borders
Years later, after the passing of
his father, Guru Besar Pendekar
Herman Suwanda, while continuing to
expand Mandu Muda from 18 to 24
sub-systems, single-handedly
disseminated the Mande Muda system
throughout the United States and
Canada. After many years of teaching
seminars to countless interested
Americans, Mande Muda is now
considered the most widely practiced
Pencak Silat system in North
America. |
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Mande
Muda Pencak Silat emphasizes the
physical fighting techniques (Buah),
Jurus (forms) and Kembangan
(combination forms) or Ibing (Sundanese
for Kembangan). However, the most
important element of the Mande Muda
system is nothing you can put your
fist through. It is as elusive as
the wind and as difficult to train
as a wild tiger - this is the
character of the student. Only about
3/4 of the Mande Muda system offers
the student training in the physical
arts of striking, locking, throwing,
grappling, jumping and weapons. The
remaining 1/4 of Mande Muda are the
chisel and hammer (meditative
breathing drills) given to the
student in which to carve the raw
granite of self into a disciplined
practitioner. The ultimate goal of
Mande Muda Pencak Silat is to create
enough mental and spiritual
discipline in a student to develop
noble character and understanding of
self. It is an important principle
of Mande Muda that skill is not as
important as being of noble
character. |
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On
March 21,2000 my master Guru Besar
Pendekar Herman Suwanda and his wife
Shannon passed away as the result of
an automobile accident in Germany.
The ongoing construction of the
Suwanda academy, the dream of his
father and one of the most important
goals of his life is now completed. |
A Legacy Lives On
The Suwanda Academy, finally
completed after the passing of my
master, located in Indonesia, is
comprised of 9 bedrooms, 5
bathrooms, a kitchen facility and a
massive training hall where the
masters conduct classes five days a
week according to the old
traditions. This provides an
excellent opportunity especially for
foreigners who are interested in
total immersion training in Pencak
Silat - the core of Karambit
training - in West Java. |
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Long
before even the plans for the
academy were drawn up, we used to
train in Guru Besar's back yard in
Lembang. Now, fortunately, those who
wish to study the ancient arts of
Indonesian Pencak Silat are provided
with an excellent and rare
opportunity to train hands-on at
this impressive and pristine
training facility. |
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There are two branches of
instruction available in the Mande
Muda family system today. One is
Mande Muda Pencak Silat
International, by which Pendekar
Herman Suwanda's family members are
available for scheduled seminars at
your school or dojo. The other is
direct training in Indonesia under
the few remaining masters in person
at the Suwanda Academy located about
90 miles southeast of Bandung, West
Java in the small village of Cibodas
(this name literally translates to
"white waters").
It is a rare
and unique opportunity to train at
the Suwanda Academy. As an
Indonesian-trained instructor
directly under the tutelage of Gur
Besar Suwanda it is my honor and
privilege to lead students (who are
truly seeking) to the source. Those
interested may contact the Suwanda
Academy directly at
www.suwandaacademy.com
for more information. |
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So
where can you go today to learn more
of the core martial arts training
that is the heart of Karambit
skills?
Click Here |
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