MONYET (Monkey), MAIAS, MAWAS, KERA (Ape)
Hello again ;)
It was hard to resist calling this article "Monkey Magic", but I did manage it thankfully.
Monyet or Monkey is an animal that as influenced all styles of Pencak Silat to some degree and indeed most martial arts from around South East Asia, China, India and Africa; almost every traditional warrior culture contained movements either directly mimicking the Monkeys movements and mannerisms, or using techniques influenced by our
our primate ancestors.
I will be dealing here with the view, born out by evolution through DNA evidence, that we evolved from a species of bipedal primates of the Hominid family found in East Africa somewhere around 200,000 years ago.
For more information on this please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human
Sorry to all you Creationists out there, but your not going to get the most out of this article without the belief in this basic fact. We are “The Fifth Ape”
And it is because of this, that I think the monyet is the easiest mannerism to “get into”
Were not the fifth ape trying to be a snake or big cat or bird, we are an ape already; we’ve just evolved to be the shapers of our environment, not the pinnacle of creation, but just the most successful of a group of successful primates.
The genetic difference between you and me and the East African Chimp is less than those between a horse and a donkey, the scary thought is that if they mate they have offspring!.........
The biology of DNA relationships between the Primates gets very detailed, (please see http://www.gate.net/~rwms/hum_ape_chrom.html for those interested) the upshot is that the chromosome difference between us (Homo Sapiens) and the other Primates is 1, we have 23 pairs they have 24 the smartest other primate according to the latest research is not the Chimpanzee! But is the great ape of Indonesia, Malaysia now living almost entirely on the island of Sumatra and in Borneo the Orang-utan / "orang-hutan" or forest man (pictured at the top of the article).
It is from the orang-utan that the sub-system of our Monyet known as "Kera" or Ape is based; although "Maias" and "Mawas" are more locally used names.
Ok I hear you! "Enough of the biology lesson"!! But I’m trying to illustrate a very important point; in that although we think of ourselves as humans somehow different from animals better or above them
We’re not, we're simply the most successful ones left of one branch of primates we wiped the rest out!
So understandably then, it’s not too hard to get into the mind set or mannerism of the Monyet or Kera as we are basically the same creature! We just have higher level of self consciousness and self awareness
Language and more refined social skills, well some of us ;)
Getting into the mind of a feline, bird or reptile is much more alien to us as primates ourselves, that’s my point.
The element closest linked to monyet is Water and like water the movements of our monjet are fluid relaxed and in constant motion formless monjet blows can come in from any angle in a smooth yet relentless barrage like a tidal wave pounding a shore line.
There's a huge misconception in martial arts in regard to relaxation in movement; and while I don’t wish to address this in depth now, relaxed does not mean weak! And like wise power does not come from hardness.
Water as the late great, Sifu Bruce Lee said is the softest substance yet nothing can withstand it, it can smash buildings, engulf whole islands and erode mountains, yet
drop the smallest pebble in it and its surface yields.
If you look at how apes and monkeys move and yes there is a difference! Apes don’t have tails, you'll see while apes like gorillas are VERY STRONG incidentally an adult gorilla as 6 times the upper body strength of the average human;
They are never stiff or tense but supple and relaxed.
It is from the mannerisms of Monyet and Ular (Snake) that most of fluidity of the juru-juru are comprised, if we look at Juru tiga (3) umpat (4) lima (5) and tujuh (7) for example we see movements which come from the monyet to name but a few.
The student must learn to relax and by like water water descends and finds its own level, it as no form and can adapt and fit any container, it teaches us to feel and control the flow of energy in our body and also our enemy.
The main core combat aspects of the monjet are the use of elbows and knees at mid-range and head shoulders and biting in close.
It also uses LOTS of elbows and knees for body shielding the short and long elbow shields and the arm and leg blocks for shielding from kicks helps the monyet fighter close down his enemy so as to use these close range tools.
Also seen a lot is the use of attacking high and low and dropping low and springing high.
This calls for good leg strength for the jumping and stamping characteristic of the monjet leaping knees and even climbing the opponent to finish with a waterfall punch or dropping elbow to the top of the head.
Moving through decoy postures designed to create openings to lure in the enemy to strike where the clever little monkey wants him to, giving him the option to "spike" or impale the blow on elbow or knee like our Principle of Thorn, or to grab and pull down into smashing low line blows.
Here the mannerism takes on more of the ape as it gets closer to the ground and the earth element the realm of tiger.
A note on decoy postures these are not just decoys as the name implies there's martial applications in the postures themselves if you play with them enough.
Also there is a good deal of grappling, wresting and throws with this animal if you watch Youtube and see Gorillas fight they don’t kick or punch, they do use there fists to pummel, but they grapple, I find it so funny that a lot of Silat players cross train with MMA or Ju-jitsu to get there grappling when Silat Kera is FULL of it ;)
There’s an old hunting trick used in Asia for catching monkeys, a cage with food is put in a clearing somewhere and a dropping door rigged to a hanging stick.
The monkey comes in eats the food see's the stick and grabs it dropping the door and trapping the monkey.
Monkey's are thus renowned for grabbing and we use many grabbing and pulling techniques.
Sangsot from Juru tiga (3) is a perfect example, the limb is cleverly grabbed and enemy is pulled into an uppercut type blow to his compressed ribs smashing them.
At the long to mid range monjet utilities some viscous double kicks and longer range blows combined with kicks like the Pukulan Wall, figure eights mixed with evasive footwork and decoy postures the monyet is a formidable and cunning adversary (or just a cheeky monkey ;)
As most people know monkeys are very curious and also are great mimics, naturally we utilise this quality so that for us monyet mimics the other animals loaning techniques from the other mannerisms but still retaining the monjets attitude of evasiveness and fluidity
As mentioned previously it’s not so much the "Specific technique" that denotes a mannerism it’s the attitude behind it and the reason it’s used the purpose of the motion; monjet may borrow from Harimau but its still monjet.
Monyet mimic, Naga becomes”
And anyone thinking that monkeys and apes are cute, may be in for a shook the monjet is the most devastating of animal mannerisms I’ve studied, much more evidently destructive than the other close range mannerism the Python, who subtly wraps and envelops its prey before the “big squeeze” as I like to call it, monyet flows and smashes is opponent to smithereens, jumping stamping pulverizing it into the dust, just like a gorilla would.
The movements and postures of the Monyet are one thing but we must have the attributes and correct physical "shell" to express the attitude through technique.
What do I mean by this?
Anyone can be shown or spoon feed a technique, and then reproduce it on cue, but less people are willing to put in the HARD GRAFT that comes from being able to really pull it off
Bodyweight exercises are essential to this mannerism, as is cardiovascular fitness, monkeys are all over the place and never still hyper-active by nature this calls for good old fashioned fitness!
shoulder strength, upper body strength,(an average male gorilla as 6 to 10 times the upper body strength of the average man!) flexibility, lower body strength especially for the Kera, who's movements are performed low to the ground, grabbing and plucking speed and dexterity drills, brake-falling tumbling rolls
all are expressions of a monkey so don’t forget to work them to create the right” Shell" for the mannerism to reside in ;)
So what monyet spirit in its right mind would inhabit the "shell" of someone to out of shape to see his own toes, let alone touch them! Conditioning is in my mind (and several of my teachers) is the dividing line between martial artist and "performer"
as is functionality. Attributes make the man or monkey in this case mindset will prevail were technique fails.
Mr William Sanders rightly said once, if we simply perform techniques and expect them to just "come out" under pressure, without attitude training and an UNDERSTANDING of body movement; we’re simply training to fail.
As just mentioned mimicry is very important to all primates us included one of the first ways we learn to learn is through observation and copying.
While our style doesn’t have as much of the "clowning” and antics of say Chinese Monkey, we do imitate the monkeys decoys, faints, head movements and mannerisms just not all the acrobatics.
this as many functions, it helps us "get into character" and gives us the vehicle through which the animal takes over and secondly causes confusion and as such leads to uncertainty and fear in our aggressor.
The monyet as I mentioned mimics the other animals copying there "tools" to overcome like waves overcoming a shore continuously flowing and smashing.
Weapons:
Weapons associated with the monyet in our system are primarily the "Kujang"
(a short clip of which can be found at the end of this article)
and also the "Kanching" stick and "Pisau"
Some of this is due to the range monjet works best in mid to close with such fluidity that there’s a lot of overlap with the Ular
just the attitude is different please see previous article on Ular for more on this beautiful animal system.
Also some systems I have studied have the Karambit sometimes spelled (Kerambit) associated with monjet. Again this is partly due to the range that monjet works in, especially Kera, but also as strong historical connections with the great
Hindu epics Marabharata and Bhava gita portrayed a character called "Bimah", who had a magical claw that grew out at will between the fingers of his hands known as "Kuku Bimah" or the claw of Bimah.
When these stories reached the Indonesian peninsula the Indonesians and Malay people instantly took to the character and replicated the claw of Bimah and this is one of the alternative histories of the Karambit and its origins.
For more details on this theory please see Guru Steve Tarani's website http://www.karambit.com/the_history.htm
Monkeys around South East Asia are inexplicably linked to sticks and staffs a lot of this is due in no small part to the works of the Marabharata and Bhava gita which contain the character “Hanuman the monkey king” which spread throughout Asia to the legends of Monkey and the famous "Journey to the West" in the TV series Monkey.
plus monkeys and apes do pick up and use sticks as everyday tools, and for communication known as "Tree knocking" again some styles have thrown or throwing weapons in the arsenal of the monkey again apes do throw stones to hunt and as a means of communication.
But alas no guns and tanks like in "Planet of the Apes" sorry guys ;)
The Monkey I've been taught previous to my current style had the "Tongat Satenga" or walking staff (equivalent to Jo staff in Japanese arts) and "Tongat Panjang" carrying staff (Bo staff) also belonging to the monyet.
So thanks for staying with me on this “safari ride” through the animal mannerisms of our beautiful system.
As always please feel free to leave feedback and if you’re new here drop us a message in the chat box and I hope I’ve given you a brief glimpse into the monjet as I perceive it
Remember nothing in the mannerisms is gospel it’s about individual expression
Im leaving you with a Kujang clip and some background music as a reward for getting through the text ;)
I guess you could say “It’s all in the swing”!
"Hang loose baby"! lol
"Hang loose baby"! lol
