Attaining the Dragon

by Ted Walls, Ted is an Anthropological student working on his Thesis.

The goal of Pukulan Cimande Pusaka is to attain the Naga, in both its physical and
spiritual sense.

The forces of nature have non-physical, spiritual, energetic aspects, which are
apparent in us as well as in natural phenomenon. The different aspects and nuances
of natural forces have their analogies in our minds, in our personalities, in the
makeup of our character, in our emotions and even in the secret place which gives
rise to our thoughts, attitudes and feelings. The Javanese believe that there is an
inner, hidden connection between things such that these analogies have mutual
influence upon each other in subtle ways.

Animist religion, of which Pukulan Cimande Pusaka can claim to be an expression, is

about having a harmonious relationship with the forces of nature and expressing
them in a balanced way in ourselves and in the world.

The history of media and artistic expression is closely tied to animism as well. When
we as humans want to express a higher idea or force, we use some kind of media.
Traditionally these have included dance, dramatic performance, song, drumming,
ritual and poetic and graphic arts.

According to animism, all unhappiness, un-fulfillment, confusion, ill-health,

personal weakness and bad luck are the result of a deficit or imbalance of natural
forces as they are expressed through us.

If we expect any kind of force to express itself through us in a healthy way, we must
become a healthy medium for this force. Simply wanting it to come to us, or asking it
to come is not enough, although these are important too.

Just as someone cannot express themselves musically until they have mastered the
medium sufficiently, practiced a certain instrument, learned music theory and so
forth, so too do we have to train and condition ourselves in certain ways to be able to
express certain forces. Sometimes this training takes the form of severe ascetic
discipline, or adherence to a very strict and specific moral code. Sometimes it
requires meditation, the memorization of prayers and ritual actions.

In Pukulan Cimande Pusaka, the medium through which we express the forces of
nature is combat. And as with all media, there must be an element of artistry which
opens the door. Without a genuine desire to express something subtle, something
higher, all forms of media fail in their intentions, ours especially.

I have often described what we do as combative animist worship. The movements of

our art are designed to alter the consciousness and express a certain type of energy.
This design of our movements comes from animists who were successful in using the
powers of nature to achieve their combative ends, and the physical shell of what they
left us is a key to attaining the same mystical, powerful state they were in when they
performed the movements. The principle is just like that of traditional prayers, the
idea being that prayers spoken in a specific state can be re-spoken, and if this is done
with proper intent, leads one back to the state in which they were composed. This is
why it is so important in Islam to chant the Quran, for example, because it is God’s
will expressed to the mind of man, put into words. In fact, I think Islam would be
better off chanting the Quran and keeping its injunctions, instead of engaging in
pseudo-intellectual speculations, and then using these speculations to impose
restraints on Javanese culture.

The benefits of practicing Pukulan Cimande Pusaka are that the energies channeled
during combat training have very strong analogies to all parts of one’s life and
character, such that strengthening one’s self for combat simultaneously develops the
overall spiritual, mental and emotional condition.

The Four Elements

Each set of animal movements in PCP is meant to open the door to the energies of
certain elements and animal fighting energies. This follows the principle of mudra
from Hindu mysticism, and also yoga, but its roots are distinctly animistic.

When we perform the movements in a trance state, these energies are called into our
body- in order to be expressed through our body. This is a fundamental rule.
Energies will not manifest unless there is the means by which they can be expressed,
and the occasion fits also. This principle will be important later when speaking of the
circle of creation.

When I express an elemental energy through myself, it is as if I have had an epiphany

of it. I experience it in a direct, transforming way. I am re-shaped, renewed and
energized by the encounter. This is true for any spiritual epiphany; we encounter
spiritual force in a direct way, and that confrontation causes fundamental changes in
the way we exist and see the world. And after each encounter, our connection to that
force becomes stronger, allowing it to influence and change us even more.

What I’m speaking of, experiential spirituality, is very different from dogmatic
religion. It is a direct knowing of certain processes and truths, and knowing these
informs us in the most perfect way how to be. It is better to guide someone to have an
experience, then to ask them to accept what comes from the mind of another, unless
of course you want to enslave someone.

All of our personal strengths and weakness, all of those things which determine our
fate and determine our outlook can be understood in connection with the elements.
We are a prisoner to the way we see reality- our ego is usually the interpreter of
events, and this limits the range of responses we can make, and factors we can be
aware of. When we become free of these self-imposed prisons of perception, then we
have what the Javanese call “rasa”, correct intuitive knowledge.

As an example, let’s say that the fire element is unbalanced in my person. I will be
aggressive, I will be prone to argument, I will be hasty to act, etc. I will let things
stress me that probably shouldn’t. What this means is that I am a prisoner to these
personality traits. The same set of circumstances, the same events could be
experienced by me and another person, but because of my dysfunctional relationship
with the fire element I will see it differently, and respond differently. I will step into a
totally different future, with a totally different set of probabilities than the other
person from that one theoretical point we share. I will be suspicious of the motives of
others, perhaps making unfounded assumptions and guesses. People will not want to
be around me for long periods of time, maybe avoid interacting with me. I can
destroy personal relationships, fail to be diplomatic with the right people, or anger
someone I shouldn’t.

When the elements are unbalanced, when there is an unhealthy abundance or deficit,
we will find various prisons of thought, ego interpretation and response which keep
us from acting according to our best destiny. This self-made prison is called “nafsa”
in Javanese.

We therefore seek to understand the elements as they exist within us, and use the
power-building, energy manifesting movements of PCP to give us an epiphany of the
healthy element we need to influence us. Water counteracts too much fire, for
example. I would be more calm and sensitive, reflect reality more instead of assume,
be willing to go with the flow, etc. All of this is the opposite of suspicion, anger, and
the need to control.

It is the usual state of most people to live in unbalance, which is why the world is the
way it is. Even after you do the work of balancing yourself, you must maintain your
balance always. Life will always offer you chances to lose your balance. We must also
harmonize with the cycles of nature, because various elements and forces ebb and
flow at different times. We must be aware of the affects of this in ourselves, and also
realize what times are appropriate for what things. All of this knowledge is part of the
Ilmu of the Bayang-Bayang Naga Penglima.

When we balance all of the elements within ourselves, we will have freed ourselves
from many internal prisons, many of which we won’t be aware of until we’ve escaped.
After this happens, we can see properly and respond properly. Our perception is
open to seeing reality how it truly is, and we allow ourselves a broader range of
possible responses. It seems like magic to people who haven’t undergone this same
journey on some level, as if we know things and are capable of dealing with reality on
a totally different level. This is the mind of the dragon. In Javanese culture, this is
known as “Eiling”, which can be translated as being centered, remembering what you
need to remember, having depth of awareness, and being an ethical person. This puts
us into the state of “weneng”, meaning clarity and purity.

Circle of Creation

The circle of creation is a diagram of how things come into being, and how we create
our reality. Be clear that you do in fact create your reality at any given moment. More
accurately, you are now living in the reality you created not long ago, and the circle of
creation you are in now is forming your future. Your life is like a series of
interconnected circles, spiraling upwards like DNA. It is also like the “S” diagram
footwork of Mas Jud. To gain the mind of the dragon is to work with this process in a
much more far-seeing, subtle and effective way.
As Pendekar Sanders has taught, all potentiality starts in the water element. This is
where things are conceptualized, given birth to in potential. Next is the earth
element. This is where the stage is set, where the material conditions and potential
are arranged. The fire element governs the actual process, the action of bringing in to
being. It is decisive action towards the goal. The air element is the thing realized,
which frees us to travel in a new realm of potentiality. The fifth element is the great
matrix of what “is”, to which all accomplished energies go, to play out their karmic
effects according to the will of the Cosmos.

There is really nothing mysterious about this, it is logical upon reflection. If a student
needs to write a term paper, for example, the first thing is to get the idea straight in
their head of what they’re going to do. Then they gather books from the library,
schedule some time, and sit down at the computer. The fire element will be the actual
beginning of the writing process, and the air element is the finished product. The
fifth element will be how your paper affects your grade point average!

Another example is if you want a new job. You first must be clear about what you
want, what is available, and what you are capable of. This is the domain of the water
element. Then you craft a good resume or CV, collect references, and find out where
to apply. This is the earth element, taking care of those practical matters which will
allow the whole thing to happen. The fire element is actually sending out the resumes
and going to interviews. The air element is your first day on the job, the fifth element
is the long-term results of having made this career choice.

Pendekar Sartono put the elements on a circle, with the water in the west, earth in
the south, fire in the east, air in the north. Their respective colors are blue, red,
orange and white. The reason given was that this was the process of how night turned
into day, so it is essentially how a new day is created in the heavens. First the sky is
blue, then turns red as the sun starts to come up, then orange in the morning,
becoming white at mid-day. And just as the path of the circle of creation is anti-
clockwise, so too do we have to go against established momentum when we want to
intentionally create something. If we just “go with the flow” we meet little resistance,
but we must exert ourselves if we want to express our will. Expression of will is
creative and alive, like the morning to the noontime, but passivity in life is like the
setting sun- you fade away.

From this we can see how imbalances in the elements in our personality can
negatively affect the way in which we create our lives. Imbalance in the water
element, for example, means that we never understand what we really want, and can
never imagine the right way to go, the best future for ourselves. If we aren’t in touch
with who we really are and what we want, if we cannot decide for ourselves what path
is best, all our efforts will go to serve something else, no matter how skillful or
diligent we are. We don’t have our own true goals, so we will accept someone else’s
goals, adopting them as our own.

Imbalance in the earth element means that our ideas never pan out. We never get it
together enough to make things happen. We try to proceed without having laid the
right foundation, or don’t manage the practical aspects as we should. Or maybe we
over-plan, without ever getting out of the planning stage. We can’t get our goals “off
the ground”.
If the fire element is imbalanced, we act hastily, forcing things. Impatience burns us.
We are too rash, not careful enough. If we lack fire, hesitation sabotages us, or lack of
motivation.

If the air element is imbalanced, we cannot see things through to completion, we stop
short. Either that, or we try to finish the job too early, or are unclear and scatter-
brained about what to do, how to proceed to the finish.

So we can see that the process of creating anything in life relies on the healthy
participation of all the elements. One imbalance can de-rail the whole act of creation.

Sympathetic Magic

If you do manage to purify your elements to a certain degree, then you will be able to
exert your will with far greater effect, embracing subtleties of cause and effect
unavailable to most people. But more than that, you have the sanction to perform
magic. Only now will you safely be able to use magical means to enhance your will-
power. If you dabble in magic before this purification, then those prisons of
perception will tighten their chains as never before, and cause ALL of your willful
acts to go afoul of your desires.

Once the analogy is fully grasped, it is possible to use the circle of creation to perform
sympathetic magic which brings results into being. When someone ritually
pantomimes the process of manifestation in the circle of creation, there is a
sympathetic connection which demands that that energy find its expression in
reality. All causes must have their effect.

Sympathetic magic is primal, and easy to understand once the basic concept is
grasped. If you find or make something which resembles something else, there is a
strong hidden connection between the two. If you understand how certain processes
work, these processes can be represented ritually, and the ritual will have this same
kind of sympathetic connection to the process it imitates.

When we combine the use of symbolic materials and symbolic processes, then we
have a real laboratory wherein we can engineer reality, especially if we can trick
ourselves (mostly our subconscious mind) into believing what we’re doing is not
symbolic, but real. If our inner-self is acting as if the sympathetic magic process is
the actual process, and that the representational material is the actual material, then
all the creative powers of our spirit reverberate into the cosmos to help cause the
change.

Using the Circle of Creation in Training

The circle of creation has two primary functions in helping us to improve our martial
arts skills. Firstly, by purifying our perceptions our reactions will be correct, enabling
us to respond to our opponent in ways he himself will not be able to comprehend. We
seek that state of clarity mentioned above, from which we can see without the
interference of our ego filters, which include fear, anger, nervousness. The goal is to
develop the ability to do the right thing at the right time, which in martial arts is
everything. If the elements are balanced within you, you will not be prone to the
certain “blindnesses” associated with each element in its dysfunctional state.

Second, we use sympathetic magic to determine the outcome of a technique before it

is even performed. By performing different martial arts techniques in the circle of
creation, (using a special methodology which we possess) we can control how these
will manifest themselves in reality. It is not deterministic- no magic is. It is the
creation of a ‘potential’ which seeks to express itself if conditions allow. If I perform a
successful attack or defense within my circle, (by the methodology from the Untung
Surapati lineage, which is a carefully guarded secret) it exists in the ether, a waiting
potential. If the need ever arises to use the technique, I simply ground this potential
out through my opponent by my movements. The outcome has already been strongly
conditioned in my favor.

All Pukulan Cimade Pusaka techniques need to be pre-programmed in this way, if

one is truly doing Ilmu. Physical and energy attacks will have special mudras and
mantras which call this potential into being, triggers which were programmed using
the circle of creation. Some of these mantras have existed for hundreds of years,
having been programmed over and over again by generations of masters. When this
type of magical training is combined with the instinctive response trance training we
employ, the result is something very powerful and effective. It is true combat sorcery.

The Dragon

In all cultures, the dragon is a holy mythical creature. This is a mystical animal,
different from the rest of creation.

In our art, the dragon is that which operates on a different, higher level. It is the
overcoming of fragmented perceptions, able to see things in their totality, the “big
picture”. The dragon can make better physical choices, because he knows better the
overall dynamics of cause and effect, but he can also cause change through non-
physical means. He knows how power exists in various correspondences, how to
manipulate these, and how to manipulate his own belief about reality. He is not a
passive victim, letting random forces dictate to his inner-self; he informs his inner-
self from his higher self.

As Pendekar Sanders has said, the dragon is unfathomable. It is almost impossible

for the opponent to see how the dragon attacks, and it is impossible to attack the
dragon unless he himself allows it. The opponent is manipulated into doing what the
dragon wants him to. In all things, the dragon operates according to his own terms,
and if you must confront him, he will be the master of all aspects of the
confrontation.

Our “Ta Naga Dallam”, or “Inner-Dragon” is the power we have access to when all
the elements are purified and balanced. It is the power of subtle, mystical
comprehension of reality, and the numinous power which accompanies this
understanding. We have power from the four elements; moisture from water, body
heat from fire, breath from wind and muscle power from earth, and we get these
elements by breathing, drinking and eating. But the other power, the fifth element, is
something different.
The various properties of this power- how it is increased, how it becomes depleted or
captured, how it expresses itself in various circumstances- are taught in Pukulan
Cimande Pusaka. The art is an example, a mandala of this power and the truths
which govern it. This is why it is called “Pusaka”- a sacred vessel of knowledge which
can be passed down through the generations.

The Dragon Fighter

In reality the dragon rarely has to physically fight. Most confrontations are caused by
a lack of wisdom, so wisdom is the primary martial tool, and for us wisdom means a
balanced and healthy expression of the elements.

Training in Pukulan Cimande Pusaka is characterized by a lack of emotion in crisis

situations, emotions which serve to filter your response. When I was younger I got
into confrontations every once in awhile, and these were always times of great stress
for me for various personal emotional reasons. After studying this art, I have been in
a number of confrontations, but I was never nervous or scared- if anything I was
extremely empty and focused. Most of the time, my would-be attacker suddenly
decided it would be better to leave well enough alone, not because of anything I said,
or a threatening posture I made, but because of the silence, total readiness and lack
of fear they felt.

Fear actually fuels the flames of aggression. There is something primal inside of us
which urges us on to attack with more ferocity when we sense fear in someone. Many
predatory types rely on fear to set the stage and give them the cues and stimulus they
are waiting for. Without it, it is like a rapist with impotence.

The student of Pukulan Cimande Pusaka knows that there is almost nothing that can
happen to him on the street which his body isn’t already prepared to handle. His
training makes him calm, because the confrontation is not a new, unknown or
unusual thing he is experiencing. Any fear or uncertainty is cast upon the opponent,
and this is really half the battle.

Many of my students started studying with me because they had been in

confrontations, and felt as if the other styles they studied had let them down. But I
know of no one who has been let down by this style in a real-life situation. No one has
ever left this art because it failed them on the street; indeed, it has saved the lives of
several people I know personally, men and women, although there were sometimes
legal problems afterwards. One small boy had to leave the art because it enabled him
to stand up to his tormenters at school- a little too well. His father stopped bringing
him for lessons after he broke the leg of a much bigger, older boy who had bullied
him.

My students have also reported to me that the frequency of confrontations they

experienced was greatly reduced after studying this art. They simply seem to stop
getting into fights. This is the first indicator that you are becoming the dragon- things
begin to happen on your own terms.

The master of Pukulan Cimande Pusaka knows that everything has been decided in
advance. He has trained so extensively in the circle of creation, that any attack to his
person will be met by an extreme surge of potential flowing against the attacker in
favor of the master. Destiny itself is on your side, because you have aligned with it,
and aligned it with you. The only possible attack can come from someone who does
not possess such alignment, and without these elements in place, it will be like
attacking with a weak, ineffectual limb, still frozen from the night’s sleep.

If you feel you have what it takes to be a Shadow Dragon Warrior, contact us.