PENCAK SILAT PUKULAN CIMANDE PUSAKA SANDERS: Artistry vs. Savagery

Hi Guys, This is actually a message Pendekar Sanders posted to the Pukulan Cimande Pusaka Sanders Facebook Page a little over a year ago.

I re-read it today and thought that this is such a good message that others should read it too, so I'm sharing it with you, with some You Tube videos for illustration.

So, here we go.

ARTISTRY VS. SAVAGERY, BY PENDEKAR WILLIAM SANDERS

Pukulan Cimande Pusaka
September 24, 2013
In the world of fighting in general and Martial arts in Particular we have two factors, that are often co-existent, although at first thought, seem mutually incompatible.

Those two aspects are Artistry and Savagery.

In prior times where I believe the spirituality and inner development of man kind was more important the Artistic aspects of the fight were highly valued and studied. As we progress ( a word I am using here ONLY to suggest the passing of time ) forward to the present day we see the fighting styles more and more concentrating on the savage aspects.

Make no mistake. the savage aspects work, to a degree, the rush of a bull will never cease to be potent:



Its also easy to understand and watch for the common man . In the past the artistic aspects of the Martial arts fell into some disrepute . Why ? Lets look at Akido as one example. The original idea to blend with an attack and use the opponents force against him was a fine idea.



The trouble is , in an attempt to demonstrate this , the art spent lots of time , teaching the training partner , not just HOW to attack but worse , HOW to react to the defense . The attacker winds up a superb stunt man as he almost throws himself , to help the defender but in actual fights , against more common foes, in MMA it seldom if ever was seen to work .



This tendency to do JUST the art , in many cases created a following so imbued with the art , they LOST the savagery . One vital side of the coin of combat . IN MMA we see a culture of mostly savagery , yes their is art involved but MOSTLY its savage rushing in with a barrage of obvious kicks and punches and chokes and that is what the people want to see , they understand it.



Some Kung fu turned into Wu Shu, in developing in the extreme into a form of acrobatics:



Some silat styles recognized the two aspects and put them each in their own box. They move very artistically at a distance then when they get with in range , use the savagery of karate like kicks and punches:



or worse, some overly complex series of multiple step attacks that would also require a very compliant attacker and in that case loose the savagery again.



You see both sides of the coin here, sort of, but disconnected.

Now if we are to separate the artistic fighter from the savage one, absolutely and speculate who would win, its a debate . I would say look at the Matador and the bull to get some idea. I would further say if we had the perfect savage fighter and the perfect Artistic fighter, I would give the nod to the artist about 70 percent of the time. Now some have a very hard time seeing the value of one or the other. You can show a beautiful artistic fighter to some who will say , I can not see how that can work . They are looking through the eye of a savage fighter.

Like wise, a very artistic fighter may not appreciate the raw power and rush of the savage fighter.

In PCP, the reason its for the chosen few is, WE USE BOTH AT THE SAME TIME.



Many can not fathom this, let alone make it work. Further, we fight and practice in such a way the art HIDES the savagery , that sneaks out , does its damage and melts at once back to the art of the fight . But make NO mistake , once through skillful moves the blows are launched at the opponents body parts , its with full savagery as long as needed . BUT we live in BOTH worlds at once so the moment we can not or do not need to keep striking , that part of us hides and the art takes the lead . All of our off timing Sera depok positions etc are utilized so the art sets the stage to open the door to our save dark passenger who awaits the signal to save us with what ever it takes.



We need to realize each side of the coin in each practice move , Juru, Lanka etc. Slide in and out of each aspect. A good teacher can show you how but you also need all the tools we have , Kicking Jurus, Sera Depok, seated Jurus, 11 principles form the base and the animals round it out.


If you want to learn more about how to cultivate the artistic & the savage fighter within you, then I strongly suggest you join the DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAM.


To relax the mind is to see with the spirit, and all that comes to do no harm will be embraced, while all that comes to do harm is destroyed in order to preserve.