The Piper System Blog

Part 2 of the article Stick fighting and knife fighting in South Africa: Where they are linked

Now in the previous post I spoke about how South African native populations did not have a knife culture. Then the Malays and others were forcefully kidnapped from their countries and imprisoned in the Cape. I spoke about how some escaped into the native populations, and the integration that happened when they got there. The next period I will talk about is the frontier wars until the migrant labour system was in place.

Nguni people lived in their kraals having ritualised warfare until the late 1600s, when the trade in Zanzibar, Munumutapa (Great Zimbabwe) and Maputo changed from gold and agricultural products into slave trading. Credo Mutwa, a renowned Zulu shaman, storyteller and artist, is an amazing user of metaphors in depicting our historic legacy, pity some people are prone to take literally what he means figuratively. In his book “Indaba my children” tells an interesting story about how Portuguese came and introduced maize and chickens to the native populations. Prior to this, Sorghum and Millet were the staple diet and these grasses carried lower yield and therefore could not support huge populations. Mealies (Maize) had a shorter generative time, could produce huge yield and the canes could be used as a reserve cattle feed for the winter. This changed the agricultural systems and led to a rise in population levels and the organisation of societies, suddenly there was a need to have great centralisation of government and Kingdoms like the Tsonga, Rozwi/Munumatapa, Swahili and Asante became specialist slave traders.

Their slave raiding caused much destabilization and massive migration of people down into what is now South Africa. Then came the period of the war kings. First of these was Dingiswayo ka Jobe who was prodigy of Mthimkulu kaRhadebe and his rival Zwide kaLanga. There were others, like Makhedama of the Langeni, Shaka’s uncle and Macingwana of the Cunu. These men formed huge alienated kingdoms as a response to Arab and Portuguese slaving pressures in the East. These huge concentrations of people needed food and crops to get going so they took part in raiding and intimidating each other for tribute. Shaka was born into this and his father issues drove him to create the Zulu empire.

This happened after an attack by Matiwane of the Ngwane, where his father Mthimkhulu ka Rhadebe was killed. Matiwane in his turn was running away from an attack by Zwide of the Ndwandwe. This was the start of the Imfecane amd Shaka was only drawn into it by the defeat of Dingiswayo by Zwide. Shaka, as one Dingiswayo’s prodigies was firmly in Zwide’s eye. So he had to secure his position to avoid annihilation by the strong Ndwandwe. This he did through attacking and drafting into Zulu armies the young people from his neighbouring tribes; he even exchanged cattle for warriors and called on old tribal alliances which brought the Qwabe, Hlubi, Buthelizi and Mthethwa into the Zulu ranks.

The British ended slavery in the Cape in 1808 and this caused huge labour issues in the Cape, and according to works of Prof Julian Corbing of Rhodes University, this was one of the reasons that there was the Imfecane. It happened in the middle of a prolonged drought period where the land could not support huge population groups. Mantathisi of the Batlokwa was a formidable woman warrior who was building a nice kingdom for herself in the Caledon Valley and into what is now the Gauteng region. She and her people were formidable warriors; she defeated Moshoeshoe and his Mokoteli Kwena people and drove them to Thababusio in the Maluti Mountain where he founded the baSotho.

The Tlokwa were unbeaten by all other Sotho nations until red dust came from the east. Mpangazitha, the eldest son of Mthimkhulu, had taken his people and moved them west. He fell on and destroyed the Tlokwa Mantathisi, took the remnants and moved north. He then proceeded to draft the Sotho people into Hlubi armies and travelled north again, this time he met up with Matiwane and they fought the Hlubi, lost this one again and Mpangazitha was killed. The Hlubi broke into three one group joined the Ngwane, the other went North and became Ndebele and the last group went into the Eastern Cape to join the Xhosa. Matiwane also folled this way South but was beaten by a joint force of Thembu and Brittish scattering his people near uMthatha in the Transkei.

In the Cape, slavery has ended and the Trekkers were not happy and rebelled against British rule. They went North West creating the myth of the great trek. There was a need for cheap labour in the Cape. This is what caused the period of the Frontier wars. Also in the north, slave raiding Korana and Basters were carving huge chunks out of the Tlokwa and other Sotho groups and transporting them to the Cape. Two interesting characters in this period are Danster who was a renegade Xhosa cattle thief from the Cape, and the Afrikaaner, Coenraad Buys, who was also another thieving rascal. They joined forces raiding and stealing cattle from the colony and other black nations and both were never caught. Coenraad’s descendents founded Buys town up near Makhado and Danster’s descendants are to be found in the Klein Karoo.

So you had a lot of native people being transported to work in the Cape bringing with them their traditions and fighting methods creating a rather dangerous place in the Cape. After the end of the Colonial wars and when South Africa had become a Union there was the migrant labour system that forced young men to go and work in the cities. This disconnection from traditional roots and forced urbanisation created the character of Nongoloza, or Jan Note. Now came the fifties with influx control and pass laws, this resulted in large numbers of African people getting arrested and being jailed. Inside prisons, as a means of safety people had to join the prison gangs or be victims of them.

Forced removals and the eighties riots also lead to a large number of people getting arrested and sent to the prisons. This was when knives became popular in black communities. In my family my grandfather was a stick fighter, but his son (my dodgy uncle) was arrested about four times for stabbing people. Evidently he was the one who introduced me to knifing, or as he called it, Ghoni. So this just a brief sketch of what happened in our country and where our problem of crime and knifings comes from. Please Google some of the information to learn more.

Some interesting sites

http://www.ecu.edu/african/sersas/MasonSERSASF99.htm
The most spectacular custom of the Cape Malay is the performance of the Ratiep. It is an exhibition of skillful swordplay and symbolic of the power of faith. Many of the Imams disapprove of it. With a background of monotonous chanting and the rhythmical beating of drums, the performers go into a semi-hypnotised state. They stab the flesh with sharp instruments, wounding themselves without flinching. The name Chalifah is really the name for the leader who blesses the swords, directs the performance, and prays while it is being carried out.

South African numbers gang history concentrating on the numbers gangs and how they came to be.

• http://www.jstor.org/view/03057070/di013276/01p0581v/0
• http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/biom3/math1.html

Colonial and Native wars

• http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/chronology/turningpoints/bk3/chapter1.htm
• http://www.thuto.org/ubh/ac/mfec.htm
• http://www.jstor.org/view/03617882/ap010087/01a00050/0
• http://www.jstor.org/view/03615413/sp040020/04×0383s/0
• http://www.dwaf.gov.za/Communications/MinisterSpeeches/Kasrils/1999/sandile.doc
• http://www.nguni.com/culture/virtualafrica/xhosa/history.html
• http://rapidttp.com/milhist/vol013pb.html
• http://www.jstor.org/view/00218537/ap010093/01a00160/1?frame=noframe&userID=92e78132@ru.ac.za/01cce4406500501b672fd&dpi=3&config=jstor

Mantantisi, the forgotten warrior Queen

• http://www.whoosh.org/issue35/carper16a.html
• http://rapidttp.com/milhist/vol013pb.html

Griqua, Korana and Baster Groups

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griqua
• http://www.gwb.com.au/gwb/strachan/griqua.html
• http://www.ratelgat.co.za/history.htm

White Traders

• http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/PULA/pula011001/pula011001007.pdf

Pass Laws

• http://sahistory.org.za/pages/specialprojects/sharpevill/02_passlaws.htm

Sophiatown and District six

• http://www.capetown.at/heritage/history/apart_enforce_commun_art.htm
• http://africanhistory.about.com/b/a/239731.htm

Tsotsi culture

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsotsi
• http://www.chico.mweb.co.za/art/2006/2006feb/060203-tsotsi.html
• http://www.dispatch.co.za/2001/05/18/features/WBANKEAS.HTM
• http://sahistory.org.za/pages/classroom/pages/projects/grade9/lesson1/unit4.htm

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Hi all

I wanted to put this up on the web site, which I will do, however I felt it was relevant to post as a blog. Japie Cilliers is one of our affiliates, an instructor in the Piper System (and many others) who knows has a rich history in the military, law enforcement and the martial arts. Even he has come under undeserved fire from elements in the local MA world. Japie is a great guy, as is his whole community of instructors and students. English is not Japie’s 1st language. Here’s Japie in his own words.

People may feel that because we are in Kimberley we are all country bumpkins. To begin dispelling that view, here is a short martial arts history of myself. First , I am not a sensei, shihan, guru, maha guru, fundi, or what ever, I am just Japie Cilliers, martial arts enthusiast. I have been doing martial arts for 51 years now, having started when I was 5 years old.

I have numerous ranks in different martial arts, all forming my own martial arts jigsaw.

• COMBAT KARATE - 7TH DAN
• TRADITIONAL OKINAWAN KARATE - 7TH DAN
• TOKUSHIMA BUDO INTERNATIONAL - 6TH DAN
• WAKO (KICKBOXING ) - 5TH DAN
• KODOKWAN JUJUTSU - 5TH DAN
• FILIPINO DOCE PARES - 4TH DEGREE

I am a certified and registered instructor in Goju Ryu karate (my instructor certificate was personally signed by Grandmaster Gogen Yamaguchi, 10th dan Hanshi).

I have the following teaching licences from the Tokushima Budo Council International - Renshi and Doshi.

I am a certified instructor of the Doce Pares International organization (certified by Grandmaster Dionisio Canete, 10th degree).

I am also a Piper instructor, having hosted Nigel and Lloyd on several occasions.

I am instructor registered in Kodokan Jujutsu, close quarter combat (SA).

I started studying Chinese Kuntao when I was 5 years old. When my instructor died his family moved back to Canada and Hawaii. He always told me to study as many arts as I can, and it must be a lifelong journey. I then started learning Judo from Sensei Norman Robinson. He used to travel to Kimberley on a Friday from Johannesburg, take classes on a Saturday and get back on the train to Johannesburg on Saturday night. I also started to train in Karate under James Roussouw sensei, who used to come from Bloemfontein to Kimberley every second Saturday morning. The biggest moment of my life came in 1962 when I graded to yellow belt in Karate. When James moved to Johannesburg I joined the JKA, later achieving my Shodan in front of the late great Enoeda Sensei.

I was then sent to the army at the Army Gymnasium at Heidelburg. At that stage it was an infantry junior leadership school. This changed my whole martial arts life, overnight. I first witnessed an unarmed vs knife demonstation by an ex Rhodesian named Captain Ben Mangels. This guy was out of this world, his knife system was like nothing I have ever seen. This sparked my interest in knife “fighting”, and then something happened which really changed my life - I was sent on a Hunter Group course for ten weeks.

Here I met a man who would change my whole way of thinking - Joe Grant-Grierson. He was the armed, unarmed and quick kill instructor and, like Ben Mangels, an ex Rhodesian. Joe had trained the Rhodesian SAS. We immediately found an ever-lasting friendship, which continues to this day. I still regard Joe as my mentor, teacher and Grandmaster. Joe is by far the best armed and unarmed instructor ever in South Africa, past and present.

The army then did me another great favour - they sent me to Mozambique to study Guerrilla Warfare with a guy by the name of Danny Roxo. An ex big game hunter turned terrorist hunter, he taught me the most valuable martial arts lessons of my life - survival. He taught me the value of a knife as a survival tool and not a weapon. I returned fom the army and continued my martial arts research, continuing my contact with my old instructors.

Later through my connections with Hawaii I managed to contact Dionisio Canette, this was about in 1979. Unfortunately South Africans were banned from the Philippines, so my instruction came via Super8 films, and by the periodic visits to Durban by a Filipino freighter. Usually I would get a letter long before hand, then I would catch the train to Durban. I would meet a Filipino who would show his method of training. I was fortunate, as I saw a lot of different systems. In 1989 I was set to go to the Philippines, but because of our policies of that time my visa was turned down although I was already an accepted Filipino student. It would only be in 1994, after election of the ANC government that I would have the opportunity to meet my Grandmaster.

This was a very tearful meeting. One thing that would stand out in my mind for ever is the double standard of teaching. Most foreigners would be taught one way, and the Filipinos another way. We were lucky we were taught the same way as the Filipino Instructors. I asked one of the seniors why we were taught different from the other foreigners, he then explained that unless you are accepted in the inner circle you would only be taught “El Tablio” - in other words for the table, show system. Only a handfull would be taught the “El Materdor” or fighting the bull, the real art. You must first prove yourself.

I was also very very fortunate again, in 1994 I spent a week on Badian Island in the Philippines with some of the greatest Filipino masters, who shared their knife techniques with me. Grandmasters Mamoy Canette,Tatang Illustrisimo, Itin Carin, Hortensio Navales, Richard Bustillo, Dong Cuesta, Siok Glariaga, Dionisio Canette.

I returned to South Africa and continued my research in the blade arts, even travelling to Kwazulu Natal, Swaziland, the Eastern Cape and Lesotho to study the different stick fighting methods of the various tribes (This was a very big eye opener).

Then on a fateful day a Sergeant Major of the Kimberley Regiment who was previously a warrant officer in the prison services in Cape Town told me of the gangs in Pollsmoor prison. He did a study on their methods and he mentioned their dangerous knife methods. It had no name, but he was aware of it. He then contacted old friends in the Prison services. I then heard of the names Nigel February and Lloyd De Jongh for the first time, and then the word ‘Piper’ started to appear - the name given to the collection of knife techniques used by inmates of Pollsmoor and the gangs of the Cape Flats by Nigel. But to get hold of them was a different matter. We battled for weeks,t hen a guy I know in Cape Town, Eric Peterman, who unknowingly mentioned that he was also a part of Piper, gave us a telephone number. It was actually at a Karate tournament that one of my students actually met them. He phoned me and a visit to Kimberley was arranged. Eventually the fateful day arrived. They arrived in Kimberley, they looked at us, we looked at them, both sides very sceptical of the other side. We started to share ideas, and when they left the Monday morning they were our blood brothers. We have since then, with the help of Kancho Joe Grant-Grierson, started to experiment with the Filipino systems, Piper and the Special Forces knife concepts.

Today I teach my brand of Filipino Espada y Daga, which is a bastardization of all the systems we learned. Somebody one day asked me if I was ever on the receiving end of a knife. Yes. I was stabbed 7 times. I was a member of the old South African Police Force, serving on the crime squad as a detective, and also later as a narcotics detective. I was stabbed 4 times with a knife and 3 times with a broken bottle. It was a very frightening experience, believe me.

What are the aims of my martial arts system?

To teach people the ability to survive - is my system better than other knife systems? N0, not at all. All the systems: PIPER, AMOK, GOLANI, KRAV MAGA, JKD UNLIMITED, RUSSIAN SYSTEMA, ESPADA Y DAGA of the other Filipino instrucors are all excellent knife systems.
I am aware of a few other systems in South Africa, but they prefer to keep a very low profile. What do I see for the future? To expand my system together with the Piper System and to return to the Philippines in 2008 for a 5 months stay. This has already been cleared by my Grandmaster in the Philippines, Dionisio Canette.

For any references to my martial arts background kindly contact Grandmaster Joe Grant–Grierson (Telephone +2711 485 3963).

Japie.

(My contact details: Mobile +2784 742 3904)

P.S.
I will also gladly give my instructors phone numbers to anyone who wishes it.

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