Silat Suffian Bela Diri
Bruneian silat that, according to Maul Mornie, serves survival, not tournaments. Information about it comes mainly from its representatives.
Quick Facts
BruneiCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Silat Suffian Bela Diri
About Silat Suffian Bela Diri
Silat Suffian Bela Diri, SSBD for short, is according to its representative Maul Mornie a traditional Bruneian silat. All the information we found comes from Mornie himself, from the website of a Dutch training group and from news reprints on blogs. In sources with expert backing, such as Draeger, Chambers and Green, or in the Malaysian inventory JWN, we found nothing about the style. We therefore draw only on what the style and its representatives claim about themselves, and we say so for every piece of information. An NTD report from Melbourne of 24 August 2009 states that the system was created by Mornie's family four generations ago as a way to survive in hostile times. Italian regional press (VareseNews, 4 February 2010) calls Mornie the world head of SSBD. Mornie himself says that he first taught publicly in 2007 and that he does not represent Bruneian silat in general, but only one of many traditions and styles in Brunei. According to Mornie's FAQ, SSBD is not focused on tournaments or sport but on survival, and it is trained with weapons first. The style does not have thousands of kata, but three basic principles of movement that carry over to empty-hand techniques. Mornie writes that he has students from fourteen countries who train in training groups. He rejects teaching from video.
History
Maul Mornie says of himself that he promotes a traditional Bruneian silat called Silat Suffian Bela Diri. Brunei radio news, reprinted on 31 December 2009 on the blog Silat Melayu, gives the full name Morlahne Hj Mornie, says that he has been interested in martial arts since the age of twelve and that he led his first seminar in Italy in mid-2007. Mornie himself writes that in 2007 he first taught publicly, in 2008 he travelled to teach for about thirty-one weekends, and for 2009 he had seminars booked for forty-five weekends. All of this information comes from Mornie or from reprints of news on blogs.
How it differs
Mornie states in the FAQ that SSBD is not focused on tournaments or sport but only on survival, and that people sometimes train with padded weapons, but always to learn the principles. He says explicitly that he does not represent Bruneian martial art or Bruneian silat in general, but is only a teacher of one of many traditions and styles in Brunei.
Training
According to Mornie's FAQ, SSBD is trained with weapons first, and the style does not have thousands of kata or forms, only three basic principles of movement that carry over to empty-hand techniques. Mornie and the website of a Dutch training group state that public classes are only for people aged eighteen and over, that there are no distance courses, video teaching or video exams, and that a group must have sixteen to twenty people and invite Mornie every few months. These are claims of a representative of the style.
Today
Mornie states in a text on his website that every three months he returns to Brunei for six weeks. The information is valid as of the date of the text, around 2009. The blog anakbrunei.org from 2008 calls him a holder of the fourth dan black belt in Goshindo Jujutsu and states that his YouTube videos about SSBD have exceeded a million views. It is a personal blog from Brunei, and we could not verify the claims.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Silat Suffian Bela Diri?
An NTD report from 2009 states that the system was created by Maul Mornie's family four generations ago. Italian regional press (VareseNews, 2010) calls Mornie the world head of SSBD.
Is SSBD a sport style?
According to Maul Mornie, no. In the FAQ he writes that SSBD is not focused on tournaments or sport but only on survival.
Can SSBD be learned from video?
According to Mornie, no. On a school blog from 2009 he writes that there are no distance courses, no teaching from video and no exams from video.
Does SSBD represent Bruneian silat as a whole?
No. Mornie himself says in the FAQ that he does not represent Bruneian silat in general, but only one of many traditions and styles in Brunei.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.