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a b o u t
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The Silat Academy of Martial Science is a non-profit martial arts school located in Walnut Creek. It is affiliated with the VDT Academy based in Bellflower, CA. The purpose of the Academy is to study and preserve Indonesian culture in the United States by studying its history and martial arts. There are a multitude of different Indonesian martial arts, formally called Pukulan Pencak Silat (using the modern spelling; or just Silat for short). The primary focus of study at this Academy is the silat system of Serak and any of its derivatives when applicable. Serak came to the United States in the 1960's when Victor de Thouars immigrated here from Holland with his family. This system is very young compared to most, though its roots come from other systems that are thousands of years old. Serak was founded in the late 18th century by Pak Sera, an inner Badui shaman who was born with a clubbed right foot and no left forearm. His physiology along with his advanced knowledge of 9 other martial arts systems led to the creation of one of the most unique and unreproducible martial arts in all of history.
Our lineage traces directly to the founder through four generations, as shown in the figure. Though we study structures from the Mas Djut line as well (who was also a student of Pak Sera), our direct lineage consists primarily of Mas Roen, the knowledge of which was passed down to Pak Victor through Pak Tisari Mardjoeki. Ray Graham was awarded the honor of full Guru on June 25, 2007 by Maha Guru Victor. However, it is critical to note that the official lineage holder of the system is Horacio Rodriguez who is based in Bellflower, CA. To date, there have only ever been four full Guru titles ever given by Maha Guru Victor. This honor goes to the following people: Horacio Rodriguez, Dan Inosanto, Bernard Langan, and Ray Graham. There are others that will soon be awarded this honor, such as Tim Lucas and Andrew Astle. The curriculum of the system is vast. It's major structure groupings are summarized in the fishbone diagram shown below. The beginner's studies consists of fundamental structures of silat, jurus, footwork, basic langkah and advanced langkah.
The silats are very weapons-based arts and Serak is by no means an exception. The skills to wield weapons begins in the very beginning for all students in the form of empty handed motion and quickly migrate to utilizing those skills with blades, sticks, and staves. Because of this elevated danger, we also learn how to train safe and have respect for one another so that each of us can train these arts for the rest of our lives.
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"Serak" is a registered trademark of the VDT Academy. |
