The life of Pak Kahir

(Courtesy of Eric Chatelier) From a historical novel Pangeran Sundanese Kornel
written by Raden Memed Sastrahadiprawira
The paragraph below gives a clear description of Abah Kahir (also known as Embah, or Ayah Eyang Kahir) the legendary creator of Pencak Silat Cimande. Of all the styles of Pencak Silat from Indonesia, Cimande is perhaps the most well known, oldest and most influential.

There are a number of versions on the life of Abah Kahir dealing with the origins of Cimande, sources of inspiration, and lineage. According to a popular version in the community of Pencak Silat Banten, Abah Kahir was a Badui, an ethnic group inhabiting the mountainous regions of southwestern Banten. According to legend, the Baduis are descendants of the soldiers (Ind.: bala Tentara) of Ratu Pucuk Umum, the last king of the Hindu kingdom of Pajajaran who was at the time the location of the current Bogor.

When Ratu Pucuk Umum abdicated before the Muslim armies led by Molan Yusup (Banten regent 1570-1580) in 1579, a concession was granted by the court stating that the king would be spared if they agreed to isolate themselves in this region. The tradition of the martial arts of Pajajaran was preserved and transmitted through the ages.

According to this version, Abah Kahir, who was from the Badui region of Cikeusik, was known as an expert in Badui Ulin (Silat Badui). His reputation soon spread beyond the Badui territory and several Pencak Silat exponents dared to test his skill. These challengers all died at the hands of Abah Kahir. The fact that blood had defiled the sacred land of Baduis was considered to be serious misconduct according to traditional laws. Among the Badui such misconduct could not remain unpunished. The elders decided to banish Abah Kahir from the Badui land.

To ensure that such incidents would not happen again, Abah Kahir adopted a code of silence during his sojourns regarding the Badui and their martial arts. It is said that this code of silence still exists in the present day.

Leaving his native land, Abah Kahir worked as a porter for a Chinese merchant. The merchant was a hard man, who was also a practitioner of Chinese Kuntao. One day Abah Kahir decided to take a rest from his work. The Chinese merchant became furious and ordered him to return to work immediately. The altercation quickly escalated into a fight which resulted in the death of Chinese merchant.

As a result of this incident, Abah Kahir was left with the feeling that through his lack of self-control, he had literally killed his livelihood. He vowed that from this moment, he would use his art only to serve humanity. It was shortly after this event that the term maenpo was created to refer to the Pencak Silat of the Sunda region.

Abah Kahir blamed himself because of its lack of self-control, he realized he had killed the source of his" livelihood ". He therefore sware that from this moment, he would use his art only to serve humanity. As Wessi pointed out, the Badui "Code of Conduct" has symbolic importance in Sundanese culture as a sort of Moral Compass. Owing to their isolation from the modern world and the minimal influence of Islam in this era, the Badui have maintained traditions that are no longer found elsewhere in West Java and therefore are regarded as more pure, or authentic. In the same vein, the Kingdom of Pajajaran is often mentioned as a symbol of pure Sundanese culture. There is even a belief which holds after his death a Sundanese becomes a "resident of Pajajaran" in the form of a tiger.

Mas Jud and Cimande/Sera Kombinasi
Mas Jud practiced a form of Spriituality or religion Called "Abangan". After Mas Juds death, his family, including his wife and sons continue to teach Cimande/Sera Kombinasi to selective students and spread the teachings of Abangan to those who wish to learn. Here is a brief description and overview of the system known as "Abangan":
Abangan (Javanese "red") is a term used to describe the rural Javanese Muslims whose Islam is blended syncretistically with older animist and Hindu-Buddhist beliefs. The term has entered Indonesian usage and is now considered pejorative, implying laxness in belief. These complex of beliefs are now more commonly called Kejawen ("Javanism"). Abangan belief centers on spirits, magic, and the ceremonial feast or slametan. Most spirits are malicious beings who intervene in human affairs on their own initiative, whereas magic involves the direct control of supernatural forces by a sorcerer or dukun. The skills of a dukun include treating disease, preventing accidents or injury, controlling natural phenomena, and both casting and lifting spells. The slametan is a feast offered to the immediate (male) community and accompanied by incense and prayer to mark a special occasion, to placate the spirits, and to confer on participants and their families a state of being slamet, or healthy and calm. Geertz distinguished abangan beliefs from the similarly syncretistic Javanese aristocratic priyayi tradition, but most observers now use the term priyayi to indicate aristocratic status and culture in general and regard it as part of the broader abangan or Kejawen category.
The abangan stand in contrast to the santri, considered more pious Muslims, and both are referred to as aliran (streams) in Javanese society. They became one of the bases for political organization after Indonesian independence, the Partai Nasional Indonesia initially having a strong abangan base. During the 1950s, the Partai Komunis Indonesia won increasing abangan support, because the party espoused the interests of the rural poor. Many abangan were therefore among the victims of the anti-Communist massacres of 1965–1966, in which perhaps half a million people died. Ironically, however, President Suharto (b. 1921, reigned 1967–1998) was abangan in upbringing and strongly supported abangan beliefs in his early years in office. Abangan belief was the responsibility of the powerful Department of Education and Culture and in the early 1980s came close to receiving recognition as "belief" distinct from "religion."
Since 1950, the Indonesian state had provided massive support for religion by constructing places of worship, maintaining Islamic universities, and paying the salaries of religious officials. The Department of Religion was generally dominated by orthodox Muslims who regarded abangan belief as heterodox and lax and therefore ensured that no funds went to abangan purposes. A passage in the Indonesian constitution, which refers to religion and belief as if they were separate phenomena, however, gave the government a legal basis for regarding belief as part of culture and therefore for supporting it through the Department of Education and Culture, in which abangan Javanese tended to be more influential. Nevertheless, from the late 1980s, official support for abangan practice weakened as Suharto's New Order began to cultivate orthodox Islam.
Traditionally, abangan belief was not at all organized, but from the late colonial period formal organizations began to emerge, generally centered on mystical practice (kebatinan, "innerness"). The largest of these, including Pangestu and Subud, also have a following outside Java.