How can Maenpo Cikalong be for self defense?

Maenpo Cikalong Abah Azis Asy’arie

I often get asked if there is really such a thing as Maenpo Cikalong for self defense? How can Maenpo cikalong be for self defense? After all the moves are performed slowly and smoothly and big. Although, it is relatively easy to take individual Maenpo Cikalong moves and use them  in a way that lends itself to self defense it does require a knowledgeable instructor. Most of the physical self defense in Maenpo Cikalong is not designed to be learned today and used today.

Getting better with age.

However, consider the idea that  Maenpo Cikalong is designed to be used by an older person who has outlived any ability to fight in a free fight type of event and who is to old to ever want to or need to basically box with someone because it would typically put their physical health at risk.

Now, lets say that the this older person I have been writing about is attacked in the street. How do they defend themselves? It is a harsh reality when you are old enough that physically defending yourself even successfully could possibly end your life due to the stress and strain on your system.

Proper  Maenpo Cikalong  practice teaches how to deflect force by the way you move and how sensitive you become to contact and your surroundings. You literally learn to relax enough so that force passes through you and exits as opposed to finding a place inside of you to take hold.

When you properly learn Maenpo Cikalong you are taught how to find the weakest point on and in an opponent and you are taught how to touch with your entire body weight.

So, imagine if you can sense on your attacker a misaligned vertebrae on the spine that is not meant to take more than 50 kg of force on a good day and you touch them sending all of your 100 kg of body weight into it while you flow in a way that makes it so that they can not impact you in any harmful way. This is the skill that serious Maenpo Cikalong practitioners seek to cultivate.

Maenpo Cikalong Abah Azis Asy’arie

The really neat thing is that it can be learned reasonably quickly within a few short years and does not require the 20 – 30 years that most people think it takes. In the meanwhile you are learning an effective art that will help stave off the real lethal killers we all face in the way of deadly stress and disease.

Great strength is concealed within the flowing motion of the body, and cannot be detected. Not “show-off”, but gain strength by remaining hidden (action hidden in stillness).  Maenpo Cikalong is a self-defense, yielding, evasive art that seeks to neutralize aggression.

One does not surrender – but merely moves to a superior position.

Madi Sabandar Kari

Before you start training, you must first understand that all of the training originates in your mind. You must have a clear idea of what you are doing, and your mind must be calm, centered and balanced. This also implies that your feeling, sensing and judgment must be objective and accurate. This requires emotional balance and a clear mind. This takes a lot of hard work, but once you have reached this level you will have built the root of your physic.

In all Cikalong practice it is very important to be rooted. Being rooted means to be stable and in firm contact with the ground. If you want to push a car, you have to be rooted so the force you exert into the car will be balanced by a force into the ground. If you are not rooted, when you push the car you will only push yourself away, and not move the car. Your root is made up of your body’s root, center, and balance.

When you practice regularly, your mind will gradually become calm and peaceful, and your whole being will start to feel more balanced. However the most important result that will come from the regular practice of Maenpo Cikalong is your discovery of the inner world of your body’s energy. Through sensing and feeling, and examining your inner experiences, you will start to understand yourself not only physically but also mentally. This science of internal sensing, which the Sudanese have been studying for several thousand years, has usually been ignored by the Western world.

Cikalong tends to use simple positioning prior to engagement that makes it difficult for an opponent to reach the Cikalong player and then when the opponent tries to reach the Cikalong player they are stepping into the trap that allows the Cikalong practitioner to shift and strike without additional stepping. The Cikalong player IS still advancing but the advancement tends to be a shift in body position and applied body weight into the area where the opponent has moved in order to be close enough to strike.

 

Maenpo Cikalong is not a sport, a pastime or a hobby. As with any Silat style, Maenpo Cikalong training requires dedication, determination, practice, regular attendance and pain.