Pukulan Cimande Pusaka

Pukulan Cimande Pusaka (PCP) is a style of Indonesian Pencak Silat developed and taught by Pendekar William Sanders. Pencak Silat is a general term used to describe martial arts that come from the island nation of Indonesia.

"Pukulan" denotes "hitting" or "striking". "Cimande" is a well known style of Pencak Silat in West Java [Draeger] . "Pusaka" can be translated as "sacred heirloom".

Pukulan Cimande Pusaka is a full-range martial art. It includes the use of edged and impact weapons, fighting while in a grounded position, grappling and multiple opponents training. The style of fighting is distinguished by free flowing, writhing movements, off-timing, integrated footwork and draw stance strategies. It is also characterized by a close fighting position and fast continuous hitting. The strategy is to close with the opponent such that it is possible to sweep them to the ground in a violent way, then follow this attack with some kind of finishing technique. There is heavy emphasis on attacking the limbs of the opponent, and delivering fast disorienting strikes to the face, followed by more substantial strikes to the head and body. [Principles of Destruction, Volume 1 and 2]

Style Content

The style is organized around the use of five primary animal techniques- monkey, tiger, snake, crane and dragon.

The monkey (Monyet, Kera) portion of the style uses slaps, grabs, punches and elbows, changing position from high to low.

The tiger (Pamacan) utilizes a very low stance, and seeks to smash the opponents limbs and drag him down to continue the fight on the ground. The tiger also fights in a full supine (Harimau) position where the practitioner is lying fully on the ground.

The snake (Ular) style comes in two varieties, cobra (Sendok) and python (Sawa). The cobra style uses half-fists to deliver fast strikes to the eyes and soft body tissues, and the python attempts to strike then wrap the opponent's limbs, preparing to throw them while breaking and crushing everything it's wraped around.

The crane (Blekok) style uses high stances and leaps, together with open hand strikes.

And Lastly, the dragon (Raja Naga) is a synthesis of the other four animals, together with a strategy of deployment which emphasizes internal techniques and highly deceptive movements.

The movements of the art are also taught according to a method which supposedly leads to an increase in 'tenaga dalam' (energy)in the body.

Pukulan Cimande Pusaka also has a system of meditation and metaphysical development which includes meditations designed to draw the four elements (water, earth, fire, air) into the body for various combative and spiritual purposes, and the practice of animal spirit possession, in order to aid fighting skill. Mantras and magic circles are used, along with a highly developed system of visualization and breathing.

Main influences

Pukulan Cimande Pusaka is based on the five sources, representing Pendekar Sander's primary teachers. There are/have been additional influences, but the following comprise the bulk of the Pukulan Cimande Pusaka curriculum as it is taught today.

Poekelan Tjimande - This is the style of Pencak Silat propagated by Willy Wetzel, a Dutch-Indonesian immigrant to the United States. A handful of schools in the United States teach variations of 'Poekelan' as it is also known. Beginning in 1972, Pendekar William Sanders initially studied this style under the direction of Guru John Malter, a direct student of Master Wetzel. Guru Malter awarded him the title of 7th Degree Red Dragon in 1983.

Pendekar Banten (PPPSBBI) - This is an organization of Indonesian Pendekars whose goal is to promote traditional style Pencak Silat. Pendekar Sanders trained very intensively between the years of 1983 and 1987 under Pendekars Jafri and Sirait (both distinguished leaders in Pendekar Banten). In 1987, after more than half a dozen trips to Indonesia, and having trained in Cimande Style Pencak Silat for 15 years, Pendekar Banten saw fit to grant William Sanders the title of 'Pendekar of Cimande Style Silat.' Because Pendekar Sanders had demonstrated his absolute devotion to learning and spreading traditional Pencak Silat, the now late Pendekar Suryadi Jafri, advised him to add the word "Pusaka" to the name of his Silat. In honoring Pendekar Jafri's request, Pendekar Sanders's Silat has since been known as Pukulan Cimande Pusaka.

Cimande Tarik Kolot - The style Pukulan Cimande Pusaka is inclusive of the art of Cimande as taught in the village of Tarik Kolot by Pendekar Mama Sukarma, who traces a direct lineage back to Embah Kahirm, the founder of Cimande. Pendekar Mama has also awarded Pendekar Sanders the title of "Pendekar" in his traditional Embah Kahir Cimande and Sera Pencak Silat, which includes the internal aspects as well.

Cimande Combinasi - This is a style created by Mas Jud in the twentieth century, based upon traditional Cimande, Cikalong, the five animal silat styles, and other sources. It is currently practiced by Mas Jud's descendants living on Java in the town of Cilisung. They have recognized Pendekar Sanders as a teacher of the arts of Mad Jud in their original format, including the family heirloom style of the snake (Ular).

Ilmu Surapati - Pendekar Sartono claims inheritance of a lineage of Ilmu (mystical science) which traces its origin to Untung Surapati. This lineage comes to Pendekar Sartono through his teacher, the late Kiyai Donowongso. Ilmu Surapati has two primary charatceristics. Firstly, it is predicated upon the ability to fuse one's awareness with other forms of consciousness, be they forms found in nature, or the consciousness of other persons, living or deceased. Once this is accomplished, it is theoretically possible to expand one's personal knowledge and energy to include the knowledge and energy from the source consciousness which has been fused with. It some instances, it is possible to be operant through the other awareness, such as in animal spirit possession or ancestral possession.

Secondly, Ilmu Surapati is a process of sympathetic magic, wherein the naturally occurring processes of creation and manifestation are represented symbolically, then manipulated with various exercises. The goal of this activity is to condition future probabilities in favor of a particular result.

Pendekar Sanders is documented as being a direct inheritor of this system.

Active clubs

Pendekar Sanders currently resides in the State of California. Pukulan Cimande Pusaka is practiced in several countries around the world. Active clubs can be found in the United States (Port Huron, MI; Detroit, MI; Jupiter,FL; Murfreesboro, TN; and Houston, TX), Ireland,,Holland and Russia.

On Sept 1st 2008 a group of 11 Clubs under leadership of Guru Besar Liam Mc Donald, form Pukulan Cimande Combat. The goal of this group was to focus on the combat applications of Pukulan Cimande. Pukulan Cimande Combat has clubs in Ireland, England, Finland, Spain and USA

Link http://www.silateurope.com

External links:
* www.cimande.com [http://www.cimande.com]
* www.cimande.net [http://www.cimande.net]
* www.silateurope.com [http://www.silateurope.com]
* www.pencaksilat.ru [http://www.pencaksilat.ru]

References