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(Above photo, Dan Regan, Herman Suwanda,and seminar student 1993.)
I first met Herman Suwanda in 1993, when I attended his seminar on Long Island. I was very impressed with his skill, and attitude. I had already been studying his family art under a local Instructor prior to meeting him.
He was very helpful in answering questions about certain details, and was just a great guy. We learned enough stuff at that one seminar, to last a very long time, however we were spoiled, and very eager to practice and show him our improvement when he was to return 6 months later. We really enjoyed his personality, beside his great skill. Here was a man, who was raised in the family art, trained in striking, grappling, weapons, internal cultivation, healing methods, etc, and yet was so humble, and giving. This was such a welcome change, from some of the more outspoken Instructors I have met in the past.
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I continued to train with Guru Besar Suwanda at every seminar he did here in NY, I had seen him 2x a year for about 7 years.We often spoke by phone while he was living in San Francisco, and always took the time to answer my questions. I also continued to study under the local Instructors of his Art on a weekly basis.
Pa Herman,(as he liked to be called) was very straight forward to us about the need to understand his culture and the people of Indonesia in order to appreciate the Art. He would always tell us stories about his father, and the battles against the Dutch occupation, the difficulties of training, the punishment he recieved from his father when he skipped practice, the many miles he would travel to clean a Masters house for weeks in order to be taught one or two techniques.
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Pa Herman wanted us to realize just how hard it was for him to attain the knowledge that he gave to us. Of course we were not trained in the exact same manner that he and his family trained during the War, but we were given the tools and techniques, how far we went with it is up to us.
Pa Herman was working on an advanced Instructor program which consisted of ten levels before being granted the title of Pendekar. You had to be an Instructor in order to begin the program. Four levels of the new program were completed prior to his death, the higherst Rank given was level 3.Pa Herman asked me to be in the program right before I opened my school. I humbly refused the offer because I was still learning under the two NY Jagabaya teachers and I didn't want to compete against them in business. I didn't teach my own Silat classes at that time I continued my own training with the Jagabayas. The material for the Jagabaya and the Jawara was exactly the same,(Jawara was a title given to students of the Jagabaya). Pa complimented me on this issue and was very pleased at how much respect I had shown with that decision.He said people were trying to bribe him for the title,and here he offered it,and I refused. He had given me a new title, so as to not conflict with Jagabaya,and was going to give me my certificate when he came back to NY.He told me he wanted me to teach,he wanted people who were skilled, but also sincere.So I did start teaching,but I didn't use the title Jagabaya.
I learned the material for the three Jagabaya levels and I was the test partner for the local Jagabaya when he took his Jagabaya tests.I continued to learn techniques from seminars twice a year from 1993- until the early death of Pa Herman in 2000. We also had a group on Long Island who would get together under another Jagabaya once monthly and review details, and new techniques taught to him when he stayed in Indonesia for some time.
In the year 2000 I split from the Instructors who taught Mande Muda.Just as happens in most cases,there began in-fighting when the Master died,self proclaimed Masters of certain aspects of the system,etc etc. I chose to do my own thing,and keep honest to the system.There were never any special higher guys in the system,nobody was the top guy,Pa said some were better than others at certain things,but nobody was so above the rest.
I then hooked up with Pa Hermans brothers group, and continue my training. |
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pictured above- Pak Herman getting choked by me,(we were just playing around, he would never let me choke him before he broke both my arms if it was for real!)
I continue to train the family Art with Pa Herman's brothers group, under the Sundanese Silat banner. I try to be very honest and humble with my teaching, and I make no claims that I am better than anyone else. I feel that I owe it to Pa Herman to follow his example, and not lie, decieve people, get caught up in greed, or ego, or try to impress people.
I have alot of material to share with good people, and I like to keep the group small, like family. I respect all Silat styles, and all Martial Arts in general, and hope to someday attain a level of proficiency that I am satisfied with.
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Dan, Ibu Shannon, and Guru Besar Herman Suwanda.
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