Sabandar silat players do not only emphasise speed and strength in a fight.

His body appears fragile. His back is slightly bent. When he walks, his steps appear uncertain/rickety. Wak Entir’s (who is 92 y.o.) physical condition could give rise to some concern. In addition to that only one eye is open. His hearing too is very much reduced.

However, when invited to spar sticking hands, his strength immediately rises/comes to the fore. Opponents who are much younger are guaranteed a hard time, says R. Memet Muhammad Tohir (R - Raden translates as prince - from traditional feudal times in Jawa), an elder from maenpo (Sundanese usage for Pencak silat) from Cianjur of the Sabandar style.

Sabandar is one of the styles of pencak silat in Cianjur that was introduced by Muhammad Kosim (1776-1880). He was a pendekar from Pagaruyung, West Sumatera, who ventured to the island of Jawa.

The young Kosim had the opportunity to stay in Jakarta before heading back for the village of Sabandar (situated in Cianjur) to live. The style of silat he brought with him then became known by the name of the place where he lived.

According to Memet, at that time there was already a style in Cianjur that was quite famous, which was Cikalong, the creation of R. H. Ibrahim. This style of silat was studied by many of the noblemen of the area.

One of Ibrahim’s students, R. H. Enoh commenced also to study under Mama Kosim (Mama is a term for an old person in Sundanese). Enoh’s move/enterprise was followed by a number of Ibrahim’s other students on the quiet.

That being the case, eventually Ibrahim acted on his curiousity, as he knew that a number of his students were gaining additional knowledge from an unkown source. Therefore he resolved to travel to the village of Sabandar to solve the mystery and met with Mama Kosim.

There the two pendekars agreed to test the others skill. However, as soon as the two crossed/touched hands. Mama Kosim was surprised. He knew at that moment that Ibrahim’s skill was truly great. Ibrahim felt a similar sensation/drew a similar conclusion about Mama Kosim.

“If I attack first I will be wounded. If you try to attack you will be wounded”, said Ibrahim to Mama Kosim, thus is the story as related by Memet.

The two of them then stood still. Neither of them willing to initiate an attack. “It’s best that we end it here before anyone gets hurt”, said Mama Kosim. Ibrahim agreed and the two of them shook hands.

Eventually, the art/skill of pencak silat Sabandar grew/spread at a fast pace, especially among the local noblemen and religious groups in the province of Cianjur.

One of Mama Kosim’s pupils was Ajengan Cirata. When Ajengan Cirata wished to move to Purwakarta, Mama Kosim was asked to accompany. He agreed and lived in Purwakarta till the end of his life.

Even though Mama Kosim has passed away, his students/followers continued to spread the skill/knowledge (ilmu) of pencak silat in Cianjur. Nowadays the Sabandar style is largely found in the area of Bojongherang and Cikaret as the center of the perguruan.

Because the second generation of this style also studied Cikalong, the styles both influenced each other. The similarity of both styles is the heavy emphasis placed on rasa/feel, says Pepen Effendi, an elder from Sabandar.

Rasa/feel can be intepreted as the effort to base and adjust ones flow of movement to match that of the opponents strengths (expression of energy).

With rasa, a Sabandar pesilat does not only emphasise speed and strength in a fight, but also displays physical sensitivity to the point they are able to ‘read’ the direction of a movement or attack, and to use the exact amount of required energy in anticipation of the attack.

There are two types of rasa/feel. The first is the “rasa antel” (?), that is learned by practicing sticking, that is the exercise of moving the hands connected or sparring. The second type is “rasa anggang” (?), which is the ability to detect.

Another unique character of Sabandar is “titimbangan”, which means to find the fulcrum of balance. The meaning of which is that a Sabandar pesilat emphasises their effort to find the optimum body balance, while at the same time they attempt to use the opponents energy to take them off-balance, said Pepen.

To attain the skills of “titimbangan” well, a Sabandar pesilat has to learn and understand how to soften/relax the flow of body movement. The aim is so that the opponent doesn’t become aware of our strength and to entice the opponent to express their strength, said Cece Sumantri and elder of Sabandar.

At the moment the opponent expresses their strength/energy, the Sabandar pesilat will perform a dodge (utilising soft flow) that will result in the opponent finding empty space, he said.

This concept is what is meant by “leungit” or “to disappear. It means that the opponents attack is drawn in and the full force of energy only finds empty space, he said.

At that moment a Sabandar pesilat attacks and uses the opponents energy that is expended (into empty space as described above) to incapacitate the opponent, described as to “tungtung”(?) a move.

If you ever meet an elder person in Cianjur (one who looks old), don’t bother them. Who knows that the person might turn out to be an elder of Sabandar who looks fragile, but if we goad them to spar ’sticky hands’ and he will make you sprawl.

End of article.

Author : AMAL IHSAN (Koran Tempo)
Translated by : Krisno Pryosusilo
Source : silatindonesia.com
Pic: kisawung, and silatindonesia.com