Silat Cimande
One of the oldest lines of Javanese silat, from the Cimande river. Known for hard forearm work; its founder Abah Kahir presented it around 1760.
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IndonesiaCharacter & Origin
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About Silat Cimande
Silat Cimande is one of the oldest and most influential lines of Indonesian pencak silat. It takes its name from the Cimande river in West Java, in whose surroundings it arose. The sources give its founder as Abah Kahir. A caution about names: in the literature he appears as Pak Kahir, Abah Kahir, Embah Kahir and Eyang Kahir — these are not different men but different respectful forms of address for the same name. This entry until now read "Eyang Rangga", which is not among the attested forms. By tradition Kahir presented his system to students around 1760 and died in 1825. It is also worth saying how firm those dates are. Information about Cimande's beginnings was handed down orally for centuries, and individual schools and regions preserve mutually contradictory lineages — one version derives Kahir from the Baduy, another from a horse-trading background. The sources themselves warn that no version can be taken as the final truth. Technically Cimande is recognised by its forearm work. Both defence and attack are delivered with hard forearm-to-forearm contact, which requires systematic conditioning of them; the stances are low and the movement more linear than circular. The school also has an oath and a ritual acceptance of the student, kept to this day — Cimande is not passed on as a sport but as an undertaking.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.