Beginning with art I first learned from Guru John Malter, that he learned from Willy Wetzel, I sought to unravel the actual history of the art. Along the way and after many trips to Indonesia, speaking with people who were in the prisoner of war camps with master Wetzel and others, I quickly became aware that story of the Chinese Kung Fu- master practicing with the Indonesian master Mas Jud for 3 years was positively not true. Once I located the actual family of Mas Jud, and located many of his old students to ask, this was verified 100 percent. I wrote a theses on this subject for the University of Asian Martial art studies that earned my P.h.D./Ma.D. Sc. Degree from them and which was turned into the book
“The Real Pencak Silat and History of Mas Jud” which for the first time, accurately explained his life, his art and what he did. The problem still remained that the intricate flowing movements I was first taught, were never seen or equaled in any Indonesian style I saw, as a whole. As one of my long time students said, that movement stood out like a Unicorn in Indonesia. Their arts today by comparison are stiff and robotic when compared to these fluid moves. The Old Mas Jud students had much more flow than normally seen in Pencak Silat, as it relates to the fighting applications, but still, at least now, still not as much. I had to continually “fix” what I learned there to make it more applicable to the flow and continuous combative moves.
The village Cimande, while having some very valuable striking applications was just awful in there stiff executions of these moves ,which again I had to transform into a better way of moving and delivery and I did. Make no mistake I also learned the entire Village Cimande art of Embah Kahir and the old Sera from Pendekar Mama Sukarma before adding my way of movement to them and after testing was awarded the highest title of Pendekar in those arts as well. This mastery achievement which was signed off on by EVERY village elder there at the time. I wanted to see what he had given Mas Jud and how it fit in . I also learned from the Mas Jud family as well, the full Sera Depok he used and his training and animal styles and was given the authority to teach his entire art they had it, signed by his family. No one else who claims to have Mas Jud lineage has this to my knowledge. Yet I still need to put my delivery system to all of this to improve it when I teach it . Where did the better continuity of movement and flow go and where did it come from in the first place? Up till now this was a lot less clear.
The answer to this puzzle has now been greatly exposed. One of my friends and a person who buys a lot of my DVDs and is a scholar of many older arts, recently sent me a video, a video in which I saw an old art, not Islamic, that he wanted to share with me. I sat down to watch and I was AMAZED at what I saw. This video I will share here showed THE EXACT TYPE OF MOVEMENT WE LEARNED IN MY FIRST ART FOR THE MORE DISTANCE APPLICATIONS. I, at once recognized stances, positions and more, even the exact same manner my teacher used to centrally tie his red sash with the same knot, it could actually have been a film from an early class of the advanced people back then!
Take a look at this video to see what I mean.
Once I saw where this was from, THAILAND, I WAS SHOCKED and I need to relate a strange but related story that created my surprise and cemented the connection that had been missing for so long.
Some years ago when I lived in Caifornia, I received a hand written 3-page letter. The letter explained how a royal family was driven from Thailand, had a long journey and went to Java .There this art became part of the base of the Wetzel art, in fact he said, A MAJOR PORTION. I did not know this person and frankly, sadly I dismissed it as some kind of made-up nonsense. Because, NO ONE HAD EVER SUGGESTED THIS IN THE PAST. I kept that letter for a long time but when I moved and had to discard many things it went in the trash. IF BY ANY CHANCE THE PERSON WHO SENT ME THAT LETTER READS THIS, PLEASE CONTACT ME AGAIN! So until now, I basically forgot and dismissed it. BUT HERE I SAW THE ART WITH MY OWN EYES AND YES, THAT PART WAS FROM THE ANCIENT SIAM-THAILAND AREA. I saw much more after viewing more clips.
Its name is generic, like Pencak Silat is to Indonesia and it is called JERNG which basically means FIGHT, a fighting art and there were many family styles of that, as there are family Pencak Silat styles in Indonesia etc .The written history is not one hundred percent clear but goes back over 700 years to the Kingdom of Lana in what is now North Thailand and the influence was from Burma –India etc. It is characterized by continues and fluid moves without interruption, the same as in the first art I was taught.
My theory is THIS IS THE REAL COLABORATION BETWEEN THE INDO PENCAK SILAT –MAS JUD AND ANOTHER ART. Remember that name they use OI KIM BOEN and some variations on the first two words, like King Boen. Well, it’s funny they even tried to pass this off as a Chinese man. BOEN IS ACTUALLY A DUTCH NAME!
BOEN NAME MEANING - DUTCH : variant of Boone, Norwegian (Boen): habitational name from a common farm name Boen ‘The farm’ FROM bo, ‘farm or meadow.”
HERE I BELIEVE IS THE REAL NAME ONG KHUN BOEN. Ong is a numerative noun for Kings, Princes, Angels, Palaces, etc. (so the King variation I have seen was more correct) KHUN, MEANS SIR OR LORD, MASTER. This language is Thai!
Watching further clips of this art I saw many interesting things. On one video, 40 seconds in, the man does the triangle Bow of Mas Jud. In one sequence there are Sera Depok Juru moves being performed. In another clip the man is perfuming ON THE EXACT SAME SQUARE WITH THE X AND STRAIGHT LINE AS IN MAS JUDS SERA DEPOK AND IS SEEN IN MY BOOK! In one video there was a large diagram they were performing on, the same as another Dutch Indo style uses here who claims some connection to Mas Jud, but it’s not from him, its Old Siamese.
Follow this now. In the 1930’s a great upheaval occurred in Thailand and some intellectuals who had studied on PARIS, BRUTALLY reorganized the country in some Communistic/Western revolution. Basically decapitating (hence the death) of the old aristocracy and revamped a lot of the old culture, interestingly this is when “sportified” Muay Thai emerged. This sport, just as Perisa Diri, was in Indonesia A DIRECT ATTEMPT TO KILL OFF THE OLD ARTS and remove the ancient influences. In the real Jerng their stances and postures are prayers to God, etc. as well as fighting positions.
Back in the 60-70s Chinese Kung Fu was very popular and it seems they tried to pass off the name with a Chinese twist but oddly left the last Dutch name intact. Back then it passed as most had no idea, we didn’t. Was this because Dutch Indonesians related the tale? Or did a Dutchman marry into a Siam family, learn the art and go to Indonesia where he showed the art and maintained the royal formality of his name simply for prestige, etc.? The Dutch had been in Siam for 400 years, so it’s possible. Siam by the way had the name changed to Thailand in 1939 in the upheaval I will mention. One person said to me, maybe it was a Chinese living in Siam at the time? Well I doubt that because if that is so, there was no need to use a Dutch name, just use the real Chinese name. No, that Chinese tale was fabricated purely to take advantage of the Kung –Fu Shaolin temple craze and they even had Willy Wetzle living in a secret Shaolin-like monastery in Indonesia as a Black 10th degree dragon as part of that temple-kung fu type lore to sell the art when I first started. That nonsense was written up and put on the wall for all the students to see by John Malter who got it right from Willy Wetzel his teacher. Who would have known what Jerng was? This is the same reason they never used the term “Pencak Silat” as well.
As that old letter I received told me, an aristocratic old family had to flee and seek their fortune elsewhere, wound up in Java teaching their royal art. This now seems so. There is no way a lot of what we were taught was not Jerng from some source.
Some questions remain. The Thais who do Jerng now for sure do some of what I saw Juds people do, like the drawn diagram on the ground, a circle drill, the Bow and some specific Juru moves of Sera Depok. Their influence must have run deep in his version of Sera Depok, etc.
So while I do not know exactly who the Dutch man, or part Dutch, part Thai man named Ong Khun Boen, I can tell you that I saw that man’s name in both the Wetzel line and the DeThoaurs line. I saw it in the De Thouars line when I saw it on a test one of them gave their students, in the form of, “who is Oi Kim Boen?” He had blatantly denied knowing a thing of this name before I pulled his old test out of a pile of papers we were going through together and showed him his one question he prepared for his own students in the past asking that very question! Never heard of him , LOL, YEA RIGHT. But he refused to comment at all and was embarrassed I found it after flat out denying he knew anything of the name and just got up and stormed off. Just more of the planned cover-up.
In modern times it appears a lot of Jerng may have lost much of the old combative applications as they seem to concentrate now on movies and the dance applications, maybe also more spiritual applications which by the way are also prayers to God as they move, taken from the old ways. God is always present it seems in beautiful things in the old martial arts which is why no one I ever saw would teach ANY atheist their arts. Also, although I clearly saw our Crane and Monkey in the moves, some of the practioners when asked seem to be at a loss to know what animals it contains. Or want to keep the secret we already have! One however, also showed Tiger and I think they are attempting to put back this emphases in some of the family styles lost along the way just as Indo lost a lot to Islam. At any rate we have not forgotten them nor do we hide them. In a sense my trips to Indonesia allowed me to put back many combat applications needed, but the Thai way of movement guided me to seek more effectiveness through movement and I improved the movement as well over the years so we don’t just flow in one speed like they do, and we learn to work in waves and spirals and use our entire body from the foot up. This they never developed in any of the movements in the clips I have seen them do.
But I want to give the credit that was denied previously. The very best parts of how we move come from the old royal Thailand Jerng systems, period. Not Chinese and not Indonesian.
Pukulan Cimande Pusaka Sanders American Pencak Silat has a strong Jerng base we cannot and will not deny and I far prefer to any moves by any modern Silat in Indonesia you now see. But we have forged these moves with old Silat combative ways as well just as the old story indicated, proposed to have done.
People always ask, “SO YOU ARE VILLAGE CIMANDE?” No, we are not, we are unique.
We will add more information if and when it’s discovered. After so long another MAJOR part of the puzzle is solved. I am the FIRST to come out with this and publish it publically. If some people wish to stay in the 60’s and other times, with fables they keep telling, they may, but I seek the truth and it has been revealed again. Glory to God. Once again PCPS AMERICAN PENCAK SILAT LEADS THE WAY.
Next is Some Information on the Indonesian Portion of My Art
Pencak Silat is a term which refers to the general category of martial arts that come from Indonesia. Indonesia has many different styles of Pencak Silat and our style of martial art is the lifelong creation of the original Pencak Silat, martial art of Mas Jud in Java. Pendekar Sanders has refined and added many revelations in the delivery system and Jurus, making it unique and found only here. You can see our new logo which adds the name “Sanders” to the art, as it truly is now a development of over 40 years of Pendekar Sanders efforts to develop it to where it is now. This will now always be present in real Pukulan Cimande Pusaka the name Sanders will be added to the end. Over the years Pendekar Sanders refined a very specific way of moving after studying the best masters he had and saw in his travels. At first we showed the students techniques and Jurus and then tried to help them learn these correct methods to move, added to the techniques. Many however, were so focused on the Jurus, they failed to internalize the way of movement, which is the key and crowning glory of the art. We recently introduced a new DVD about the body and breath and one on internal health movements using the Jurus and circle of creation which will start to develop this type of movement internally, first. Then that most vital portion will never be lost. This will usher in a new era in Pukulan Cimande Puska Sanders training sequences, so we have added so the new logo as well. It has a very deep meaning and students will be enlightened to that. It is the logo of the art now. Even if you tried PCPS in the past, give it a new look. With the advent of the newer DVDs many will be brought to much higher levels than ever before. Get excited, very excited and come join us. We are often copied and pirated but never equaled. Pukulan Cimande Pusaka Sanders-American Pencak Silat.
Above is a short sampling of video clips of Pendekar Sanders demonstrating and teaching the Cobra snake portion of the art
If you choose to train with us then welcome aboard and hop on for the ride of your life. If you do not choose us then good luck in your chosen style and we wish you well in your training.
Here is something you all should know. We use animal mannerisms in the techniques and the four elements in PCPS AMERICAN PENCAK SILAT. This is not seen in modern silat. The oldest fighting arts of Java were called Buhun, in the ancient Sunda language, meaning, the first, and the east, where the sun rises and gives us the holy light of GOD. This ancient silat over 4000 years old used animals and the elements. Animals like the snake and monkey, bird (crane, eagle) etc. It was fluid and beautiful. The later silat like Cimande, etc. has only vestiges of the old silat, BUT it was reshaped, frankly ruined by Islam and made to look like second rate karate in many cases, the animals removed with the elements and the result created very stiff and robotic looking moves in what I call Modern Silat, which is All of them after the Islamic Invasion, but for a few who fled to Bali at the time. PCPS AMERICAN PENCAK SILAT uses the animals and elements of the ancient Buhun fighting arts of ancient Indonesia and I have added back the superior fluidity FROM THE OLD THAILAND JERNG to the rest of it, that was so lacking as well as a more complete understanding of full body mechanics, wave and spiral energy that God used to create the universe. This is unique to my martial art. This is why our moving expression, of say, the seated Jurus is far different and our Sera Depok is far more fluid, dynamic and effective than you will see elsewhere, just look.
Let it be known to all that the internal aspects of this art incorporate the elements that God created and we address this from the ancient mystical Christian aspects, not Islamic Hindu or Buddhist.
Christianity entered Indonesia in the first century through trade with India. Today it’s the second largest religion in Indonesia. One of the most famous Empus in Java is Christian and honors his keris as he makes them with Christian prayers. You do not need to fear being indoctrinated in other beliefs and ideologies here in PCPS AMERICAN PENCAK SILAT. Indonesia even itself always had and still has a law that required each person to believe only in God. There is absolutely no truth that you MUST use Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist beliefs in silat. Today 99 percent of the Indo teachers have been indoctrinated into Islam because they drove out and killed most everyone else who openly did anything else and so that is the story you will get if you ask them, just Islam. Funny how some hail a master must be open to all ideas yet they run and cringe if you say I am Christian and will honor that in my training. Hypocrisy for sure on their part. They are only “open” if they like it. Those there who do other things in Indonesia stay hidden for fear of being murdered unless you go to Bali where the Hindus fled and still flourish. If you don’t want that, study with us. FYI Indo Mysticism now is simply prayers to Mohammad the murderer and child molester and Allah. Do not be fooled by that. Sadly many are taken in little by little to the Jihad mentality as we see being done under the cover of teaching modern silat in many places. NOT HERE, NOT EVER.
In 2005, Pendekar Sanders was inducted into the "Combat Hall of Fame" by the Combat magazine in England.
