About Pendekar Jafri, Pendekar Sirait and Pendekar Banten

Most people don’t realize that when I met Pendekar Jafri I was already graded as an advanced Black belt in John Malter’s system of Pukulan Ciminde (Cimande ) and at that time believe I was a 6th degree black belt . As a matter of fact it was I together with John Malter who flew to New York to work out and meet with Pendekar Jafri the first time.

After working out with Eddie for a day he wanted to spar with me and after a minute or so I connected with a punch. He clearly was not happy about that and we went on and on and he would not stop until he hit me in the eye with a solid sublet. Afterwards he said to me that he was very happy to see someone who knew the old animal styles and could actually fight with them.

We were friends from that day on and we always had those little sparring games where let’s keep going until one gets the other. It spilled into chasing each other in the airport and up and down the stairs of buildings in Java. We almost got arrested once as they thought we were really going at it.

Eddie had a great sense of humor. The day after our first match he took me to the Consulate General of Indonesia in New York to get presented with a certificate as a teacher of Cimande. I had a nice black eye for the pictures!

When Eddie took me to Indonesia it was NOT to learn Pencak Silat but to the old men he knew and to have me show them what knew.

You see he had been at great odds with the IPSI over them trying to remove the last vestiges’ of the original animal mannerisms from a purely religious point of view from the old Silat he knew and loved. It cost him to leave the IPSA and his position as USA representative over it.

When Eddie took me to Pendekar Banten it was NOT to meet the youngsters but to seek out the old masters who at that time were a big part of that organization. He had me show them the animals that I knew and I got lots of pointers on them.

He grudgingly tweaked the Jurus I had at the time but made all the fuss on the animals. (I was not so sure why at the time) Funny I went there to see Jurus not realizing what I really had. Even then the younger generation, even Pendekar Siraits own son was migrating away from the old ways. He told me that was a village system not the new way.

Eddie cautioned me that I should only seek out the very old members of Pendekar Banten and then only seek the animal knowledge that still remained. At the time I did not really understand the significance of what he said.

The role of Pendkear Sirait was two fold:

1. He took me to see the old men and from took me from village to village
2. He showed me the many ways to strike the tender areas using the old Cimande ways and he was evaluating me all along with the rest of them.

Pendekar Siriat was involved at the time with the ever growing political side of Pendekar Banten which sad to say in the last years has greatly foreshadowed the old way of Silat. I never went to Pendkear Banten per say to learn from any individual but was taken there by Jafri as a verification of what I already had and of course to pick up what I could to add to the arsenal.

Siriat was a very patient and kind teacher but brutaly strong and fast when he wanted to be. He was some sort of the “enforcer” for the group from what he showed me and told me.

The funny thing is although THEY verified what I was doing was to their liking enough to rank me as Pendekar after all of the demonstrations and tests I was asked to perform.

It was not until many years later and the meeting with Pendekar Mama that I started to put all the pieces together.

Finally I could see the dilemma of Jafri - the religion had taken the juice out of the Silat, the deadly animal moves were reduced to human stick man like moves with vestiges left of where they came from . Jafri and Sirait had in me a person free from the bondage of Islam to take the animals and go on with them. He carefully introduced me to only the old players who still practiced the animal styles. Siriat went along with it and took me from village to village to see the old fighting ways staying purposely clear of the more mundane Jurus or the talk of Islam.

I was not asked to convert as they wanted me away from that portion so I was wide open to the old Silat without offending the religion.

Now, finally I understand their plan. Even the promotion to Pendekar and my charter to spread Cimande was based on me doing what I knew and honoring the old ways. Pendekar Sartono was given to me to insure I would stay on the path as he taught me the Circle of Creation and where the animals went, the old ways of animism.

I was their time capsule of the old animal ways they sent of far away to insure it would not die and they gave me the highest award to insure I would pass this on.

Now it is really sad to see people running to Pendkar Banten and grabbing all the young guys who are from a different time. Then I see things like, this is not a Cimande of Animals or dance but a farmer’s art.

Well if they only understood they have been taught the stripped down religiously altered version that Jafri fought so hard against maybe they would come to another conclusion.

They even said but we did not see the snake there…

WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS SO?

… but to each his own.

Only when I arrived at, you must admit in more than a coincidence, the very Cimande that Mas Jud learned, from the same root was I able to link the animals to the Jurus and see which Juru was taken from what animal.

Once I made the connection I was able to reinsert the animal mannerism that originally gave birth to that Juru and now that Juru was devastating.

BUT ONLY with the knowledge of the animals was I able to supercharge the Juru.

The plan of my old friend and teacher Pendekar Jafri, Pendekar Sartono and Pendkear Sirait and all they brought me to has finally produced fruit.

Of course again I thank Guru John Malter for passing on to me the first animal techniques I had that he learned from Master Wetzel of the Mas Jud lineage (Ujud).