Herman Suwanda: A Pioneer of Pencak Silat

I came across this video of The Late Pendekar Herman Suwanda of Mande Muda Pencak Silat a while back, and I thought I'd post it.



Video description taken from You Tube:


Uploaded by GuyChaseAcademy on Aug 27, 2011
This clip, shot in Bandang, West Java in 1992 during Guru Guy Chase's travels there to train in Silat shows Guru Besar Herman Suwanda of Pencak SIlat Mande Muda demonstrating empty hand and knife techniques of Silat.

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Sports

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silat pencak herman suwanda guy chase martial arts

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Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)

For those of you who didn't know who Pendekar Guru Besar Herman Suwanda was, he was the second leader of Pencak Silat Mande Muda. He began to study pencak silat from his father, Pak Uyuh Suwanda in 1960. In 1965, he began to also study with pendekars from other traditional pencak silat schools, and he continued to study until his death. He began teaching in Indonesia in 1974, and in 1980, he became one of the first Indonesians to travel here to the US to begin teaching silat. In addition to supervising the schools in Indonesia, he traveled extensively, teaching Pencak Silat Mande Muda seminars around the world.

He, along with his wife Shannon, continued to spread Mande Muda Silat throughout the US and Europe producing Instructors until there untimely death in March of 2000. It is when while traveling in Europe to conduct a Pencak Silat Mande Muda seminar Herman, his wife, and three other students were killed in a car accident outside of Holland. Herman Suwanda was 45. Below is a list and a brief explanation of the 25 Silat styles that encompass Mande Muda Silat.

Now, About the Pencak Silat style that he taught:


Mande Muda Silat was founded in 1951 in Bandug, West Java, Indonesia by Uyuh Suwanda. "Mande" comes from the word Cimande. Uyuh Suwanda used this name because he believed Cimande was the original Pencak Silat of West Java. He removed the "CI" because his system taught more then just Cimande. The word "Muda" means Young or New, thus Mande Muda translates to a new child, always growing and looking for new Silat material.

Mande Muda could be considered the Jeet Kune Do of Silat as it contains 25 different Silat systems within it. And like Jeet Kune Do, it is always researching and evolving. Mande Muda Silat also seems to be the natural and sensible progression of Jeet Kune Do practioners as even Bruce Lee was researching and training in Silat before his untimely death.

Below is a list and a brief explanation of the 25 Silat styles that encompass Mande Muda Silat.

1- Cimande- Attacking the arms. Also known to treat injuries to the bones.

2- Cikalong- Evading and attacking to the outside of the body and taking down.

3- Harimau- Ground fighting system based on the movements of the Tiger from Sumatra.

4- Syahbandar- Attacking a opponent from the center of his body.

5- Kari- Close range locking style that entangles and seeks instant lethality.

6- Madi- Pull and jerk the opponent off balance and finish with locks and strikes.

7- Cipecut- Flexible weapons such as the Sarong or whip that leads to choking maneuvers.

8- Timbangan- Redirecting energy flow to cause opponent to trip and fall to the ground.

9- Nampon- Deep breathing exercises to strengthen the body during combat.

10- Sera- Using precise angles to break down an opponents attack while keeping out of harms way.

11- Rikesan- A style designed to directly utilize bone breaking techniques.

12- Tanjakan- Developed in the mountains to fight low to the ground because of terrain.

13- Ulin Napas- Breathing exercises to control ones emotions.

14- Ulin Baduy- Direct attack to take out opponent using linear hand and foot techniques.

15- Galih Pakuan- Weapons system teaching 18 types of Golok (swords).

16- Pamonyet- A fighting system based on the movements of the Monkey.

17- Pamacan- Emphasizes the mental state of a Tiger to overcome an opponent.

18- Syahbandar Baru- A fighting system based on the movements of the snake attacking center line.

19- Cikalong Baru- New style of evading and attacking from the outside of opponent.

20- Harimau Baru- New style of ground fighting based on the Tiger.

21- Sanalika- Counter attack style that utilizes grabs, twists, holds, locks and arm traps.

22- Benjang- Sundanese Wrestling

23- Sampiyong- Art of stick and shield fighting.

24- Sabetan- Unexpected slicing actions using the Kris or Karambit. Similar to Cimande

25- Ujungan- Single stick fighting utilizing theories of Syahbandar and Cikalong styles

If you would like to know more about Pendekar Suwanda or Pencak Silat Mande Muda, check out www.suwandaacademy.com.