Buah Pukul & Lian Yunan

A few comments here about Buah Pukul. In Malaysia, Gayang 5, LianPadukan, Silat Awang Daik, Gerak Silat Lian and many more fall under the category of Buah Pukul which has been variously defined as Shield and Strike or Striking Techniques or just Striking. The name Buah Pukul is used exclusively when speaking of a root style taught by a Chinese trader who came to Singapura in 1897. He is known by various names, but the most common is Abdul Rahman Al-Yunani with some later practitioners claiming him to be of Chinese-Arab descent (even a descendant of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, PBUH). Some even add on the title of Sheikh, claiming him to be a Muslim missionary. His skills (and successful defence against Singapura dock workers who tried to fleece him) caught the ear of Sultan Ibrahim of Johor. The Sultan ordered his personal bodyguard, the then High Commissioner of the Mersing district, Awang Daik, to investigate the incident and maybe even court the trader to teach. Sensing his skills incapable of testing Abdul Rahman's own, he asked that a friend, Pak Long Muhammad Yassin, the Muar Chief of Police to accompany him. In a friendly contest, both of them conceded defeat and managed to persuade Abdul Rahman to come to Johor to teach. It was there that Awang Daik and Pak Long Muhammad Yassin became masters of the style. In Buah Pukul lore, Abdul Rahman disappeared soon after, never to be heard of again. Meanwhile, Awang Daik and Pak Long Muhammad Yassin modified the style with their own expertise. Awang Daik was himself a Sunting man and Pak Long a Sendeng man. Buah Pukul was then taught to the Sultan's personal army (Johor used to have its own army separate from the Malaysian Armed Forces up until the the turn of this century) and flourished. To this day, there are still remnants of these army folk who pass on the knowledge and their particular blends to their families and students. In the palace, Buah Pukul was known as Lian Paduka or Royal Lian, but the art filtered outwards to the kampungs by way of Awang Daik's students and gained names such as Gayang 5, migrated to Pahang, and called Gerak Silat Lian, etc. One of the more prominent Buah Pukul is LianPadukan [http://silatmelayu.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=23 you have to register as a free member to read this article] which has made strides away from the original Buah Pukul, including incorporating a left side lead and connection to the right side lead and a simplification of the 99 Lian forms into 16 core ones. In Sabah and Sarawak, there is a particular pukulan style called Silat Spring (sometimes Sapring, or Sepiring) which resembles Buah Pukul. Recently, we had an interesting lead when AB Rahim, one of our research team members posted there, reported that Spring lore tells of a Chinese Muslim merchant named Abdul Rahman Abdullah who came to Sarawak and spread the art. So maybe he didn't 'disappear' as we all thought. We haven't nailed down any chronologies yet but we hope to soon and publish our findings in SMC (SilatMelayu. Com). The most interesting part is that AB Rahim was himself an intermediate student of LianPadukan and he reportedthat what he saw in Spring is reminiscent of the old Buah Pukul forms, a continuous fist rolling that only exists in LianPadukan as a three-strike barrage. The inquiry is ongoing. Now, as for Lian Yunan, although some Buah Pukul practitioners use this term for their own variants, I personally know of one strain that claims no descent from Buah Pukul.This Lian Yunan comes from Melaka and was last taught by a Salleh Chik (nee Soh Ah Chee) to Pak Anwar (full name unknown to me). It is claimed to originate from one of Hang Li Po's bodyguard entourage (she was a 'princess' bride from China for the Malaccan sultan, although some people dispute her royalty for lack of records). Having seen and practised slightly both LianPadukan and this Lian Yunan, I can personally say the difference in method and technique is vastly different. However, when I described Lian Yunan to LianPadukan guru utama Mohd Hasyim Mohd Salleh of LianPadukan, he seemed pleasantly surprised, saying that that was a really old form of Lian, which he thought did not exist anymore. Curiouser and curiouser.

New link between Sendeng and Spring

After we reported the controversial possible link between Silat Spring in Sarawak and Silat LianPadukan in Johor, a possible link has been hinted between Silat Spring and Sendeng, also of Johor. I received today news from our fellow Silat Melayu researcher, AB Rahim that after several months of studying Silat Spring, he has found remarkable similarities with Silat Sendeng. He reported that: "The method and techniques in (silat) Spring is exactly like Sendeng. The only thing missing is the Kuntau aspect. The 7 Hari Belebat taught by cikgu Jamal(udin Shahadan), all of them are in the Spring techniques... There are only 11 techniques altogether..." The missing aspect referred to, Kuntau, makes sense from an evolution point of view since original Sendeng always fought of the lead and never square. It was only introduced by the late Mahaguru Abdul Hamid Hamzah, founder of Silat Sendeng Muar (now known as Sendeng Malaysia) as a complementary element in the training. This fits in well with what Dr Jean-Marc DeGraves of France has uncovered in his travels throughout Kalimantan and Sulawesi. In his research, he claims that the Bugis did not create Sendeng, but adapted it from a style found in Kalimantan. The original style too fought only off the lead. Interesting? We WILL keep you updated as more comes in...

Silat LianPadukan and Silat Spring link?

Recently, Galohajang, a regular visitor to this blog sent me this comment: "I have encountered 1 Silat Spring 12@Pukulan 12 when I was young and what was demonstrated to me was similar to those buah of Lian Padukan and Gayang Lima which I viewed in youtube. There's an article of this silat in Pendekar or Seni Beladiri I couldnt recall which but being a writer in SB back then, have you stumble upon/got the chance to interview the practitioners of this system? If yes, do the share the same principles? I'd like very much to know whether LP, G5 and S12 share the same history. Thank you" Well Galohajang, as far as the Buah Pukul people are concerned, both LianPadukan and Gayang Lima come from the same root, which is Awang Daik, the Mersing magistrate who first studied the art in 1897 from a Chinese Muslim businessman from Yunan named Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Yunani. However, there is nothing to prove a connection between Spring 12 and Buah Pukul, except that there is apparently a common master in both lineages.A friend of mine who has studied LianPadukan is currently posted in Sarawak and is intending to learn Spring 12 soon. In his talks with a Spring 12 instructor, he found that the claimed founder of Spring 12, a Chinese Muslim missionary, Abdul Rahman Abdullah was a close copy of LianPadukan's Sheikh Abdul Rahman. According to LianPadukan history, Sheikh Abdul Rahman 'disappeared' after he trained the warriors at the Johor palace. If we are to draw a conclusion now, it could be that he moved on to Sarawak. However, until we have further proof, this is all we have to go on. My Sarawakian-posted LianPadukan friend also noted that what exists in Spring 12 now greatly mirrors the original Buah Pukul whereby the rolling fists 'gulung' are released in a continuous barrage whereby the 'gulung' in LianPadukan is most often truncated to three 'gulung'. Add this to the fact that in LianPadukan, there is a form called 'Lian Gulung' and you have all the elements of a good mystery. Maybe all we need to do is for the LianPadukan folk organise and official friendly visit to Spring 12 in Sarawak to compare notes, and maybe, even a few 'gulung' :)

Gayang Lima & Lian Padukan

I was trawling the net looking for some updated silat stuff and came across a couple of new Videos on Buah Pukul (well, at least new for me). Since these files are long, I've decided not to embed them here. The first video file was uploaded by MR TM at his blog Gayang Lima and records a grading session.

The second set of videos are of Lian Padukan, a close cousin of Gayang Lima. Watch both videos and you'll see the family resemblance. As an introduction to both arts, I've pasted below edited versions of their descriptions, taken from their websites.

Seni Silat Gayang Lima @ Buah Pukul Mersing
Article written by MR TMSourced from http://gayanglima.blogspot.com/
Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUtZGSOtR0c

Seni Silat Gayang Lima or Buah Pukul Mersing. In Malay, 'Seni' means Art, 'Silat' means Fighting Techniques, 'Gayang' meaning Swaying and 'Lima' is Five. On the other hand 'buah' means fruit and pukul means 'to hit' or 'beat'. Our 8 bodily weapons namely 2 knuckles, 2 elbows, 2 knees and 2 feet represent the 'buah' which readily divert, block and attack our opponent/s under the inspiring movements of our divine master known as 'Lian'.

"Lian itu Pukul, Pukul itu Lian, Lian itulah Guru kamu" meaning "Lian is combat, combat is Lian, Lian is your Master".

In Gayang Lima, there are 12 disciplines of Lian which are taught in the Gayang Lima syllabus. Upon completion of the 12 Lian, the student will further master the advance techniques of 'Buah Tingkatan'. These consist of 36 types of single blows within the reach of our weapons known as 'langkah maut' or deadly steps. It's all translated in the lian, in which our weapons to us, are secret to our enemies.

Frankly, and with due respect to other martial arts, if a student just completes 3 Lian disciplines and adheres to them strictly, he or she can be involved in fights and win brawls. By the nature of it, Gayang Lima teaches offensive techniques as compared to self defence methods.

I studied this exciting combat art from Abdul Rahman Bin Abdul Majid aka Pak Atan Air Batu. According to him, this art was inspired to Sayidina Samaon Al-Radzi, an Arab immigrant to Yunan Province in China. Later on it was brought to Malaya (now Malaysia) by Syed Abdul Rahman Al-Yunani in the 19th century. He then taught it to a prominent majistrate of Mersing town in the State of Johore by the name of Awang Daik. Awang Daik named it Gayang Lima . It is also known as Buah Pukul Mersing or Buah Timur. It was further taught to Pak Teh Mat Yasin who then passed it on to Pak Atan. Pak Atan also trained under Chu Aman, his senior under the same master. In the Gayang Lima mastery lineage, Pak Atan represents the 11th generation.

The thing about this martial art is that you never enter it to leave it for other types of martial arts. By all means, if you do learn and master all the other types of martial arts, it's a refining process, as natural as Gayang Lima itself.

There is no room for arrogance in us. God created us, and everything that we do with the knowledge that we have acquired are all at His mercy. Gayang Lima emphasizes these humble traits in our quest to master our skills. After all, we are only human.

Lian Padukan
Article written by Nigel Sutton

Lian Padukan is a form of Malay martial art (Buah Pukul) and yet it is quite distinct from other forms of Malay martial art. Lian means "way" while Padukan means "fortified strength".

In the 21st Century the Martial Arts have come of age with many exponents cross-training in a number of disciplines in order to ensure that they develop a weel -rounded range of skills. Silat Lian Padukan embodies this ethos of constant improvement and innovation so that an art which was brought to Singapore in the 19th Century by a part Arab-part Chinese Moslem has grown to encompass the Malay art of Silat and the Thai art of Muay Thai. And always this art has been put to the test with generation after generation of exponents fighting both armed and unarmed to prove the efficacy of their art.

The Master who gave this art its current name, Guru Tua Pak Mat Kedidi, is no exception having earned the nom de guerre of The Black Beetle when fighting his way to become a Thai Boxing champion in southern Thailand. He acquired this name because of the buzzing sound his kicks made as they cut through the air and into the opponent with unswerving accuracy.

Pak Mat took the art handed down through successive generations from the time that Syed Abdul Rahman Al-yunani came to Singapore in 1836 and combined it with his experience in numerous other styles of Silat as well as Muay Thai (Tomoi) to create the 99 forms of Lian Padukan. Included among the Lian are the two principal weapons of the art, the staff and the tekpi (iron three pronged truncheons known in Japanese Marial Arts circles as Sai).

Although the entire syllabus maybe learnt in 6 or 7 months of intensive study, to become fully competent takes the average student two years. Those who wish to further their study may undergo the formal Khatm ceremony after which they will be eligible to learn the advanced techniques including the infamous Tujoh Makam (also known as the Buah Seminggu), which involves seven days of intensive training with each and every hour spent one on one with the teacher.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ezWlAOq4K4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kos4_89Dyg

Pak Mat Kedidi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VMCt8IElL8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvq3LGOEeCQ