Last Days in Brunei

The last two days of the Brunei International Intensive Training Camp focused on the art of Cakak.  A highly stylized and somewhat ritual form of Silat, specific to Brunei, Cakak promotes technical exploration of the many potential refrences that can occur in silat fighting.  I think anyone who is truly interested in the culture of Bruneian silat has to investigate this tradition and understand it in its own context.

While this is essentially a touch sparring sport, there is a great deal of formalized movement preceding moments of sparing and also directly afterwards.  Some of these movements are meant to display of the beauty of the various styles of the form, that arise from each village, and region of the country.  Annually participants from all over the country will compete locally, regionally and finally at the national level, in a  four to five day event that is witnessed by the population and even the royalty.  Initially participants will display a simple triangular footwork, showcasing their own take on the basic movement, before showing respect to the spectators, vip’s and nobility in attendance.

After showing respect to one another, the participants begin to circle. While attacks may occur at this time, this moment in the tradition seems to harken back to a time where stalking ones opponent to look for weapons and relative positioning were essential to survival.  Following this a defender is selected by the referee and the attacker is free to begin closing the gap.  Again, if guards are dropped or  tradition is not followed closely, there may be attacks at this time, but, generally the ritual expects the attacker to approach, indicate a first attack and then follow a preset sequence of six attacks.

The first two attacks are straight punches, followed by a downward chopping an aggressive press into grappling, a horizontal chop and  a low thrust or punch.   The defender must answer each attack using on of seven preset defensive positions.  From a western point of view, in the time of modern combat sport, it is difficult to see how this is a fighting sport.  However, on close inspection, this tradition encourages members of its martial culture to first perfect, traditional attacks and counters and then, once engaged, attempt to gain the upper hand in the sparring moments of the contest.   After the initial engagement on all six attacks, the two competitors have only 4 moves in which to score their points.

Cakak is an aesthetic art and a tactical art melded into one intricate sport.  The part of me that enjoys anthropological insight loved looking at how this tradition would have, historically, brought together tribesmen in a competition while keeping them from actually trying to kill each other. The asthetic martial artist in me loved learning to the form, as it has many expressive movements and details to explore.  Despite the confusion that the cultural differences presented in sharing this art with folks from western cultures, I very much enjoyed the process.  Actually playing Cakak was not just fun, but also gave a sense of connection to the country and culture that I have been studying the past 6 or 7 years.

The last SSBD session with Maul continued to follow the initial structure, and continued to focus on manipulation of the upper body position through control of the joints of the arm and shoulder.  As always we enjoyed a complete exploration of the principals of SSBD that went,, full circle from beginning to the end of the camp.  Tho I had seen the majority of the techniques used in the last day of training in previous seminars, the way the fit in with the rest of the sessions was unmistakably valuable.  When I take this structure back to my students, I know that i will be able to deliver them something that they will be able to retain and use going forward.

All in all, the Brunei International Intensive Training Camp was everything one could hope for.  Excellent training in SSBD, and exposure to amazing Silat only available up until now, in Brunei.   The opportunity for students like myself to understand more about the culture and geography of the place their arts developed is essential.  Many thanks to Harris and the entire committee for organizing such an amazing training experience.