A brief intro and History to Serak de Thouars & Pak Willem's Serak

The Art of Serak is a very scientific and practical fighting system that has evolved out of the desire to survive and protect.  It has always been a family system shared with only a select few.  The founder of the system Pak Serak was a man with certain physical limitations.  A clubbed foot and a atrophied arm on the opposite side of his body.  He was a Horse trader that often traveled the silk road all the way from Indonesia to the Middle East and Back. Pak Serak was from Cirebon in Indonesia  and he was of Arabic, Chinese & Indonesian decent.    Some speculate he was a student of Cimande Master Embah Kair.  Others say he was a colleague of his.  In his travels Pak Serak encountered many martial practitioners.  He spent time studying the methods originating from the Island of Macao, which is why in the system of Serak you see similar expressions and sciences as found in Tai Ji, Xing Yi, Pakua.  It is believed that He studied the science of combat known as Kuntao before Kuntao was split in to various subdivisions of one larger internal system.  Tai Ji, Xing Yi, Pakua was once one art. Serak is a snap shot  of those 3 internal systems as one.  The art as well has aspects of Javanese Cimande (which historically came from southern Shaolin Fist, 7 Star Praying Mantis, & Pakua), Harimau Minangkabau (Sumatran Silat which goes back to old Tai Chi & Shaolin Lohan Postures for combat & Health).  The Animals with in the system of Serak are the Monkey (Monyet) , Tiger (Machan), Snake (Ular) , Eagle (Garuda), Water Buffalo, & Golden Spider .  The art itself originally had a very simple Langkah Pantjar (Web) platform which was a diagram of the human body on the floor (Platform) it consisted of a square, a cross, and a triangle.   Pak Serak  taught several students  who in turn taught their own students who  including taught  the Devries & the de Thouars Family.  Pak Serak was teaching sometime in the late 1800’s.   Below are the names of his accomplished students. 

Pak Arjorno

Pak Adjyo

Mas Mustafa

Mas Roen

Mas Djut

Pak Edgar Vandengroen

The Devries Family & the De Thouars Family once they were taught the system of Serak they began to use the system in everyday life.  Some of the Uncles used it in World War I such as Uncle Eddy. Others used in conflicts in Indonesia during Dutch occupation.  Others used it in WWII.  The de Thouars family & Devries family through their extensive combative background stemming back to the Gauls versus the Romans and later on the  Knights of Templars and even military men during the times of  Napoleon influenced the art of Serak with their knowledge of Fencing, Bare Knuckle Boxing and European Combative Strategies.  So Serak is very different than the current Sera found in Indonesia. Because of this alchemy of Spanish & Dutch Fencing Platforms, Dutch Bare-knuckle Boxing , Kuntao Internal Martial Arts Indonesian Native Fighting arts you have a very scientific approach to the original MMA known as  Serak.  It is a  very scientific form of training to develop a very straight to the point combative expression to destroy a system and to shut down any attacker no matter the size.

There are a few main goals in Serak.

1)      Take the Consciousness of the Opponent through attacking anatomical regions and physical weaknesses. 

2)      Off Balance the Opponent rendering them unable to fight back or to counter. Shutting them down as soon as possible and with the most efficiency.  

3)      Do both of these simultaneously.  By  hitting and manipulating the balance 3 dimension-ally at all times with every part of the Body a weapon. 

The main areas of study are 

Djurus - Hand Forms

Langkah - Foot work and Platforms 

Sambut - 2 man combative sets & drills

Position

Structure

Timing

Spontaneous flow & returning to Natural movement - Kembangan

Power generation through Internal & External training.  Strength training, Tenaga Dalam & Chi Kung.

Healing through the use of Internal Cultivation & pressure points.  

Because of Pak Serak’s Physical limitations he had to discover a more efficient way to move with superior position, timing, and structure and rooting.   As this method was passed on the Devries and De Thouars Family they enhanced the system to the modern era of combative understanding.  The Langkah became more subdivided geometrically and understood more as a Web of a Spider.  So in any given moment the attacker is caught in a trap and is webbed in to a position where they cannot fight back because of being shut down immediately.   Serak is known for its devastating take downs,  Body leverage  balance manipulation, Advanced Angulation and use of lines,  positioning and Timing, and aggressive striking to Vital areas known as Pukulan.  Despite what many have claimed Uncle Willem de Thouars has been training the art of Serak since he was a small child directly under the eyes  and guidance of his Uncles.  He began Serak training before his older brothers even started training.  He was the 1^st to learn and is now the last to train the longest out of his entire family.  His 70 + years of training Serak, Cimande, Kuntao & Internal cultivation have given him a better understanding of how the genius of Pak Serak interpreted his art.  Bapak Willem de Thouars is a living treasure in the world of Martial Arts and of his family’s heritage of Pukulan Pentjak Silat Serak.   Many have deviated from Serak and are interpreting teachers approaches but few are really showing how it is that Pak Serak interpreted his art.  When you see a serak practitioner moving ask your self is that how Pak Serak would move?  Could it be done by any one at any age with or with out disability? How is it that an elderly person could use Serak against anyone of any size or strength?  What is it about Serak that allows one to have the upper hand in combat? It is not done through brute strength, external means only and through speed alone. It is achieved through internal training, timing, positioning, structure, and feeling natural movement. So a Serak player must go back to the founder's way  to truly understand the art and to give the founder proper Adat & Hormat.

Hormat to Pak Serak, Bapak Willem de Thouars, the de Thouars Family & to all elders of Serak. 

 Terima Kasi

Guru Santiago Dobles