Pencak Silat Mande Muda

Pencak Silat Mande Muda is a style of pencak silat created by Uyuh Suwanda in 1951 and continued by his son Herman after his fathers passing. Mande Muda is a composite martial art from Bandung, West Java. It originally contained elements of 17 styles, principally Cikalong, Syahbandar, Harimau, Kari, Madi and Sera until Uyuh met Mimi Rukmini who brought the system of Silat Cimande increasing it to 18 styles. Mande Muda was increased to 25 styles by Pak Herman by the time of his death.
With the help of his wife, Ibu Mimi, Uyuh Suwanda thoroughly developed the style, earning recognition and respect from the major governing silat bodies. After Uyuh Suwanda's death, the art was spread throughout the United States and Europe by his son Herman Suwanda. Herman Suwanda and his wife Shannon died in a car crash in March 2000. Shortly after, Herman Suwanda's sister, Rita Suwanda, was named Guru Besar of Pencak Silat Mande Muda. She continues to travel to the United States and Europe teaching the techniques of Pencak Silat Mande Muda. A few siblings in the Suwanda family are also actively involved in spreading their own variations of the art.
Bambang Suwanda, the primary training partner of Pak Herman as seen in a majority of Herman's commercial videos numbers 1-15 actively teaches pencak silat under the umbrella names of Sunda Silat and also Mande Muda Tri Suwanda. Sunda Silat is an organization run by Bernard Chong in Hawaii. Mande Muda Tri Suwanda is run by Bambang Suwanda and a student of his in Indonesia. Tri Suwanda (three Suwandas) represents himself, Herman and his father. He is also continuing his late brother's mission of spreading the art and continues to research other styles found in West Java. Official DVD's of both Pak Herman and Bambang can be purchased on the sundasilat.com website along with other information.
Of all the Silat styles, Mande Muda is the only one that has the Sabetans. These training drills were developed by Herman Suwanda. He took the first eight from his father and developed 22 more with the help of two of his close students (at that time), Antonio Somera and Paul Marrero. These drills were created to help develop a students ability to respond to alternative angles of attack that weren't dealt with in many of the other systems in Mande Muda. The Sabetans are what Chi Sao is to Wing Chung, What Hubbud is to Kali and so forth. They developed sensitivity, speed, reflexes and hand,eye, body coordination.
The Sabetans were developed from the Cimande style. Cimande was taught first and then the Sabetans. The student would then be able to process the information better because he could see the similarities. The Sabetans were practiced empty handed and eventually with a specially developed knife that had blades both on top and bottom. The Sabetans when practiced incorporate both left and right sides, giving the student the ability to perform in either right or left stances. The drills are also designed to go completely against logic, but the results are marvelous. The student becomes an unorthodox fighter using the moment and the given stimulus to stop the attack instantly. These drills were given directly to the Jagabayas (selected few) who would grow with the art and eventually become Satrias (Warriors). Some would reach the level of Pendekar Muda (young clever minded one). From the inception of the Jagabaya program until Pak Herman's passing the highest level of Jagabaya achieved was Empat(4).
Over the years Mande Muda has continued to be taught but unfortunately many of the original instructors (prior to the Jagabaya program) no longer share this knowledge. Some of the Jagabayas have chosen to keep the lessons that Pak Herman taught and to pass them on to a very selected few. When Sigong Bruce Lee crossed over, many were teaching JKD, When Guro Dan Innosanto decided to teach to the public, it was mainly because he wanted to pass on the lessons that he learned from Sigong Bruce Lee himself. Some of the Jagabayas have chosen this path. In either case, Mande Muda will go on and hopefully the next generation will come to learn the dream of Pak Herman Suwanda.

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