if anyone has info for training in san diego, ca. area. please let me know. i did study back in 1975. wiliam readers , the first name is spelled different. being he was from indonisa. he was my teacher. he died in i believe 1990 or 92. at the age of 90. he was a grand master, he was teaching gun fu. several different arts. kuntow also. i am sure i forgot some of the things since then. it has been hard to find a teacher. so if you have any info. please let me know. thanks!
In USA you can find these schools of Silat, that is same style as the one I do. http://www.cimande.com/train/schools/instructors.htm
The best Pentjak Silat Serak school you can find in California is the VDT Academy headed by Pak Victor de Thouars. His school is in Bellflower. A long drive from San Diego, I know but extremely well worth the trip. Sifu Willem Reeders was one of Bruce Lee's silat teachers, as you know. Sifu Reeders was taught Serak by Maha Guru Ventje de Vries, Pak Victor's Uncle, during their time in Thailand. Bruce Lee's protege, Ustad Guru Dan Inosanto, follows in his teacher's footsteps by training with Pak Victor in Serak.Check out my link to the VDT Academy I have provided in my signature. Hormat and good hunting!
I have never met Pak Victor, but you simply can't go wrong with Sifu/Guru Inosanto. Also, consider looking into Willem DeThouars' system. He most likely has the same Chinese/Indonesian flavor that you seek. Serakmurid, could you please give more info on the Bruce Lee - Reeders connection? I can't remember where I read this, but I know I read it somewhere that Sifu Reeders was a technical consultant for the old Kung-Fu series on TV, and also that the premise of the show, a eurasian who learns martial arts from the old asian masters, was based on Reeders life. Is that true?
Selamat Jawara, I am glad you asked about the relationship between Bruce Lee and Sifu Willem Reeders. Bruce Lee studied Serak with Sifu Reeders for 3.5 years. Sifu Reeders only taught 4 people in the USA Serak, Bruce Lee being one of those 4, as these were the only people he considered worthy of learning the art. If you go to the VDT Academy in Bellflower you can see copies of Bruce Lee's Serak notes hanging on the walls. These copies were graciously provided by Ustad Guru Inosanto. You can also call Pak Victor de Thouars, he would be willing to tell you about it. I have only written what is posted on Pak Victor's website, found in his books, DVD's or videos. Its all right there in plain view. This of course Bruce Lee kept secret from the general public, because he wanted to have an edge. As for the "Kung fu" TV series being based on Sifu Reeder's life, I don't know. I could ask Pak Victor the next time I call him (I called him this last Monday) he may know. Or he could ask Ustad Guru Dan Inosanto, Ustad Guru Dan Inosanto has a private class with Maha Guru Victor every Tuesday. Hormat to you.
in California you should go pay a visit to Pendekar Paul dethouars or Guru CLiff Stewart they both teach Serak www.buktinegara.com www.cliffstewart.com
Selamat Checkmate, Wow, studied under William Reeders. I bet that you have a pretty interesting history there. Sadly, as I'm sure that you've gathered from the previous responses, you are just a wee bit south from being central to some fine pentjak silat instructors and unfortunately I'm not sure that there are any instructors at all in San Diego County. The nearest school I know of geographically to you would be, as SerakMurid already pointed out, the VDT Academy in Bellflower. But even if you lived all the way up in North County (I'm talking way north, like Carlsbad or Oceanside) that would still be an hour and a half drive for you on a good traffic day (which, I'm sure you know, are pretty rare occurences where the 405 is concerned). If you don't mind the drive or think the drive is worth it I'd highly recommend Pak Victor's school even if it weren't the closest to you (but I am admitedly biased ), but there are some other fine schools in the LA area if you need a selection to choose from. As already mentioned Guru Cliff Strewart has a school which I believe is in the Hollywood/LA City area (I'm sure SilatYogi would be happy to provide you with a more exact location), and the PDT Academy of Bukti Negara (Pendekar Paul De Thouars school) which is in Monrovia (a bit inland from the Metro LA area). There is also Guru Art Rhemrev's school for Pentjak Silat Sikap Baru in the South Bay area and I believe that Guru Hans KnustGraichen of the Pentjak Silat USA organization teaches Pentjak Silat Anak-Serak from a school somewhere in the San Gabriel Valley (pretty far inland, but might work better for you if you live in Poway or Escondido or the like). I'm sure this is all impractical for you, but I thought I would provide the info on the off-chance it helps somehow. As for local Pentjak Silat schools I'm not sure how to direct you. I had zero luck trying to find any when I lived in San Diego, but that was more than ten years ago so things might have changed. My only suggestion, and I'm sure I might get a little flak for this, is to try asking around at some of the Filipino martial arts schools in your area. While distinctly not pentjak silat, FMA schools tend to have a more visible profile than pentjak silat schools and the two arts get kind of lumped into the same category from the "mainstream" martial arts perspective, so there's a small chance that someone at one of those schools might have some good info for you. Anyway best of luck to you and if you are in the neighborhood feel free to drop by the VDT Academy. There's usually a class going on Saturday afternoons so even if you are up on a weekend there should be someone there who would be very happy to talk to you.
Guru Cliff is teaching out of his house. He is in Hollywood near Fairfax & labrea (I am not sure if I spelled that right) You can contact him through his site www.cliffstewart.com He is deffinetly worth checking out. Very few have the actual "real world" experience of Silat. Guru Cliff has been an executive Body Guard for over 25 years. And he was with Pendekar Paul DeThouars for 19 years training Bukti negara & Serak. (Aside from that he has 40+ years experience in martial arts training) He knows his stuff with out a doubt. He is by far the best teacher I have ever learned from and truly a nice human being. peace Santiago
salaams andrew,havent we all given the vdt academy enough of our money??if you come froma william reeders lineage you want to go to a pukulan cimande pusaka school,you willl find alot of similarities in what you once did...guru dan of course is always great,plenty of choices there..the pdt academy is very private bunch,not willing to share with the rest of us quite yet..if you go to the vdt academy you run the risk of being banned for 7 generations......tell him andrew how many reallly good martial artists have left and not stayed at the academy and why................
Thank you for your courtesy and Hormat. I hosted Pak Vic in late April and had a great time with him and Ibu Jane. I'll see him again at the Inosanto academy in late June with Ustad Guru Dan. No need really to go to the Cimande Pusaka folks, I have everything I need with Pak Vic, as far as Serak goes. It keeps me so busy learning I don't have time for them. I wish them the best.
Silat Seminar in San Diego Hi All; Thought I would throw this out there since it's relevant to the topic which is silat in San Diego. I know it's not a full on class, but it's 4 hours of silat right at your feet if you live there. Pencak Silat Pertempuran Seminar in San Diego Date: May 19th, 2007 Time: 9 am - 1pm Cost: $50 Location:=20 La Mesita Park 8855 Dallas Street La Mesa, CA Next to Tennis Courts Topics: Silat Evasions Silat Entries Silat Eradication More if there's time Contact: info@combat-silat.net sdsilat@dslextreme.com=20 Thanks. Hormat saya, Sean www.silat.us
Silat in San Diego County Frank DenDaas, 1st Gen student of Rudy Terlinden, is in Fontana (113mls, 1.5 hrs according to Yahoo!Maps). Just jump on the I-15 and book it North. If you like to drive, it can be a pretty quick drive Here is a link. If you're looking for weekly training in SD County, I think that you're out of luck... http://www.ratuadil.net/ Frank Rudy and Paul deThouars, peers in Silat...
Legs.. That image in the newspaper shows good silat legs like my teacher in Pamur had - though, being a Maduran stylist, the stance would have been wider. It's interesting to see how Guru Roedy had changed from that historical photo to when I last saw him on the unique pub videos. It would have been interesting to talk to him about his personal progression in pencak silat and what most influenced him, etcetera. Unfortunately, that can never happen now.
You could always talk to Frank DenDaas, Ray Schardijn, or Reggie Pieters. As first Gen students of Rudy, some around for decades, they would be the people to ask...
Certainly I could do that, but it wouldn't even be close to the same as talking to the source. From experience I know that talking to the person first hand is always better. There is just no way that any other person has the complete story and ultimately it could get to a point where deeper questions couldn't be answered. Perhaps it would get to that point or perhaps it wouldn't. No way to know for sure but to do it. Just not so sure it's all that important to me at this stage in the road...
