Remember My Famous George Bush Post?

Well, how do you feel about Bukti Negara? Can I say it about THEM??

So, I got another barrage of hate mail from the Bukti Negara people (expected, but I still was a little surprised) and as usual they beat their chests over how I had misunderstood them, and how they had been wronged by the entire Silat community, especially those of us here in the Pacific Northwest. I, being Bobbe Edmonds and all, called bullshit on them and said a few lovely retorts befitting a man of my acerbic, irreverent and often painfully truthful wit.

They responded by offering me a plane ticket to "Fight some real PDT instructors, face to face" (Like, how else would you fight them? Back to back? Eeeww, nebber mind, don't answer that) which I readily accepted. And, befitting the Bukti Negara organization, they withdrew the offer like everything else they have ever put on the table.

For those of you just joining us, the base conflict here is that I practice an Indonesian martial art called "Pencak Silat". This is similar to saying I train "Kung Fu", there are hundreds of individual STYLES of Pencak Silat, the same way as there are many styles of cooking. One of the styles I am intimately familiar with is called "Sera".

We begin our tale here.

"Sera" has a few different legends of origin. Two are from the Dutch-Indo tag team known as the DeThouars brothers, namely Paul and Victor, and a more stellar pair of con men you will never find. The web is rife with tales of betrayal, backstabbing, lying, false rank and all sorts of horrific mud-slinging the likes of which have not been seen since God hosted a "Who's most righteous" party for all the religions in the world.

As martial artists, there are many people whom I respect that claim these men have some formidable skill, or at least did back in the day. So this perhaps has some merit.

As human beings they lack a certain, I dunno...PULSE??

But we are speaking of martial arts.

There are base similarities in the arts called "Sera" and "Serak", so many in fact that it is generally accepted that we are speaking of the same thing. Not everybody agrees with this statement of course, but the truth of it is there for those with eyes unclouded to see. To generalize, "Sera" is the Indonesian term, and "Serak" is Dutch-Indo.

The discrepancies have spawned more than a few flame wars, old emails and posts being brought up and flung in everyones face, many people who have received rank in earlier times have been later referred to as "jokes", that they never really knew anything at all. Paul has said a few things over the years that have boomeranged around to bite him square on the ass years later, his latest story is that "Serak" means "To Struggle". Victor claims that it was the name of a one-eyed, one-armed, flying purple people...Whoops, sorry, wrong guy. He says it was an Indonesian who had a club foot and only one arm.

There are several Indonesian sides of the story, one of which seems the most plausible to me being that of a Chinese woman who brought a system of Kung Fu from Madura somewhere, and the locals blended it with Silat. Where "Sera" the word itself comes from (or actually means) is still a mystery.

Now this is where the story gets interesting: In Indonesia, Sera is no big thing. Just another style in a melting pot of Silat. In fact, it's pretty small in the bigger Silat picture.

Here in America it has become a kind of Martial Arts fable, a thing that MIGHT be pretty good, but it's surrounded by secrecy, oaths, lies, disrespect, double-talk and a myriad of other maladies. (See the above "Con Men" reference for detailed information about who is responsible for that). I trained the art under the younger brother, Victor, for a few years, and I can say firsthand that something is rotten in the state of Denmark. This tale is far too long for me to summarize, do a Google search for Serak, DeThouars, PDT Academy, VDT Academy and read it for yourself, if you have an interest.

As for who is right, honestly, there's no real way of knowing, the whole thing's about as twisted and impenetrable as a granite octopus, and trying to bring resolution to the matter only stirs the pot more.

Today I received an email from one of the flame-mongers who think they are carrying the banner of the ONE TRUE CROSS. And let me say here and now babies, it made my head go "ping" like a Monty Python sketch.

If I needed any more proof that otherwise rational human beings could be utterly hypnotized by a cult of personality (I don't but if I did) all I need in terms of proof lies in the email I received below. My answers follow it.

I am not a troll, I ask a legitimate question.

You have your own school, with a valid list of martial arts. What I do not understand is why you have to call what your doing Serak, when its not? I would not call what I am doing Karate because I am not doing Karate. You would not call Kali JuJitsu, because they are clearly different. So why would you call it something its not? Thats not good for the community, and all it does is create division. You don't see that? If you believe what you have is Serak, then it would make sense to fly down here and see a true Serak stylist in person, directed right under the Champion of the system of Serak, Pendekar Paul. When you see that what your doing is not the same as what Paul is teaching, your eyes will be open and clear. There are a lot of misconceptions on the net, but seeing is believing. So when you see real Serak in person and realize its way different, what will you do? Either Paul De. Th. is right, or you are right. Which one do you think is right? Paul is the Pendekar of the Serak system. The head of it, on earth. There are no others that are above his authority in this matter. So if anyone claims Serak and its not what Paul does, its obviously not Serak. Thats obvious. If one denies this obvious truth, then they lie to themselves and disgrace the art of Serak. Its that simple.

>"I am not a troll, I ask a legitimate question."<

You ARE a Troll. You and your ilk from PDT. I had no argument with ANY of you until you showed up on my Youtube site calling my art fake, ESPECIALLY whoever EntertheBukti is, sent me emails saying the undisputed genius of Pencak Silat, Pendekar Herman Suwanda was a fake, and I didn't know what I was doing when I have been training for over two and a half DECADES now in Southeast Asian Martial Arts. I have erased over a dozen negative messages, and lately I have finally started firing back. Nobody asked you to stick your neck out, but if you do anyway don't start crying because someone lopped it off. You asked for it. No, fuck that, you fucking BEGGED for it, on both knees.

>"You have your own school, with a valid list of martial arts. What I do not understand is why you have to call what your doing Serak, when its not? I would not call what I am doing Karate because I am not doing Karate. You would not call Kali JuJitsu, because they are clearly different. So why would you call it something its not?"<

I don't call it "Serak", to me the word "Serak" is made-up, and furthermore has nothing but bad feelings and negativity attached to it because of your teacher and his brothers. What I do is called "Pencak Silat", and it's from a country called "Indonesia". It has many hundreds of different versions of this art, and one of them (which I happen to have been taught from a MASTER) is called "Sera". I have never claimed to do "Serak" YOU PRESUMPTUOUS ASS.

>"Thats not good for the community, and all it does is create division. You don't see that?"<

I'm not the one creating division here, kid. You people do this EVERY TIME someone surfaces with any skill and displays it. I have seen it from your school for YEARS, and if Paul was a real Pendekar he wouldn't ever have allowed it to get this far. The onus of responsibility lies with you and your school.

>"If you believe what you have is Serak, then it would make sense to fly down here and see a true Serak stylist in person, directed right under the Champion of the system of Serak, Pendekar Paul."<

Uh-huh. I've MET true champions, kid. I've lived in Indonesia. You are speaking out of your ass. Furthermore, I've met Paul DeThouars, spent time at Victor's school, and had a lovely chat with Willem several years ago over Joe Simonet.

I'm not impressed by any of them. The brothers are solely responsible for the majority of the problems in Pencak Silat America today, they have done irreparable damage and burned the bridges between every Silat player they come in contact with. They constantly allow their students to badmouth others without reprimand, and you ignore it at your peril. Every time one of you jumps on a forum and creates a gang of enemies by running your mouths off at people you have never met and slandering those who have not only gone before you but paved the way FOR you, you add more enemies to the growing list of people will hold you down for your words one day. Right now the PDT Academy is experiencing an overflow from all the bad feelings they have sown over the years with every other damn system out there. The chickens have come home to roost, and here you are trying to explain yourself like a child who has been caught with his hands in the cookie jar. What did you expect? What if I got on the web and started publishing all kinds of things about Paul, doing what I could at every turn to undermine him, no matter what? You people would go insane! Yet you expect clemency every time one of YOU crosses the line with US, which happens about 10 times a day! Fix your own fences first, kid.

>"When you see that what your doing is not the same as what Paul is teaching, your eyes will be open and clear."<

They already are open, I'm light-years away from you people. I do SERA, and it's from Indonesia. Too bad for you, I can prove it as well. I would NEVER claim to do Serak, as I've stated before it would be an enormous step backwards for me.

>"There are a lot of misconceptions on the net,"<

Yeah, take a wild stab at who started that. And continues to propagate it.

>"...but seeing is believing. So when you see real Serak in person and realize its way different, what will you do? Either Paul De. Th. is right, or you are right. Which one do you think is right?"<

I've seen him. Unlike you (or ANYBODY in your group) I've also trained it in Indonesia.

I'm right. The rest of you can get stuffed.

>"Paul is the Pendekar of the Serak system. The head of it, on earth."<

According to WHOM? Certainly not me.

>”There are no others that are above his authority in this matter.”<

Whoop-de-shit. Everybody else is beyond caring. You people are the ones who keep popping up on the radar.

>"So if anyone claims Serak and its not what Paul does, its obviously not Serak. Thats obvious. If one denies this obvious truth, then they lie to themselves and disgrace the art of Serak. Its that simple."<

I'm going to try a different tactic here. Try this, and see how it tastes:

Paul, and his family, have their version of things. They have also done horrific damage to the goodwill of Martial Artists everywhere, and created a bad name for themselves. Don't think I'm the only one seeing it, I'm just in a good position to voice it: I have nothing to lose.

I want you to consider what you guys are going to look like in five years. five years ago in 2003 the internet wars were in full swing, Victor was making his play for power in Serak and you guys were trying to convince everyone that Bukti was so much better than Serak. Look at how retarded this is, I'm not even a member of your respective groups, yet I know all the sordid details. It's all over the web for the world to read, almost all of it depicts the PDT Academy as fools. Hell, maybe you guys do have awesome technique, and I'll even allow that it's possible that Paul DeThouars is a genius, considering how many people I respect hold him in high regard (at least in terms of martial arts.)

Five years from now, where will your art and your reputation be? Things are much worse than you realize, and there’s a lot of information that is being held back from the public, but JUST BARELY. I had a good long conversation with yet another person who saw my videos last night, and they had a hell of a story to tell about Bukti-Serak-Paul etc. Lotta bad feelings out there, and a lot of just desserts waiting to be served.

And the PDT Academy is issuing a clear invitation to the dance.

If you are so eager to just "Let things be" then stop waving the flag for Serak. Stop being this overwhelmingly negative force in the Silat community. Just train. I can assure you, none of us care to dispute you, most have no interest anyway. You will notice that I don't need to proclaim who I am, or what my lineage is in Sera, my technique speaks for itself. I don't want any "line to the title", I care nothing for such things, only good training. So, you do the same. Or, failing that, send me the ticket. That option is ALWAYS open, and let it be stated here and now that I readily accept. I'll match my technique against yours any day.

I will say one last thing on this: I feel a responsibility to both my teachers, living and dead, and my students, now and future. If I am going to teach, then I must educate myself continually to be the best instructor I can, and to give my students everything. I will never, EVER allow those who trained with me to slander other arts and practitioners, or badmouth former students, or deny that they could be as good as the ones I'm currently training. Look around the web. I've had dozens of students, most are still on excellent terms with me, why don't you see any of them jumping to my defense? BECAUSE I HAVE FORBIDDEN IT. I can fight my own battles, and I have instructed my students to speak in public only if they are prepared to assume full responsibility of their words by themselves. Do not defend me, it is my responsibility to defend myself.

And I will NEVER put my name on a piece of paper to promote rank as a joke, a test, a trick or a whim. If someone got rank from me, THEY EARNED IT. I know exactly who I have promoted & witnessed promotion to, and I meant every one. I only have three levels of rank, and I can tell you now that my standards are astronomical.

So there you have it. I'm quite sure you know who EntertheBukti is, you might want to have a talk with him as well since you are now having to go through the barrage of flames and insults that HE initiated. Unless you want to keep doing it.

Bobbe Edmonds