MY SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO UNCLE JOHN DE VRIES. By the magus of Denver.

 

 MY SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO UNCLE JOHN DE VRIES. By the magus of Denver.
  It has to be also in the construction of my attested statement in writing to give tribute to uncle John de Vries for a great  motivator of Mas Djoet's lineage of penjtac silat Serak. While in how to describe my uncle is a plain clear explanatory conception, that my uncle was also very much inclusively studied in the old hand kun tao from Buitenzorg (Bogor), and had trained under two of the best Chinese exponents in Bogor, a city he ones lived, worked and taught Serak. The two masters uncle John trained under were two oppelet or taxi drivers. An oppelet is a small car driven vehicle with  a small engine upfront, also know as a damo, and very much like a motor cycle with three wheels and a load capacity for four passengers in the back of the car. The small vehicle moves around as quickly as it could be stop.
 Uncle John has another brother, Ness or Ventje de Vries mostly engaged him self in fighting, and very much known for and his older brother John hardly motivated the unnecessary impacted action for the lust in fighting. Between the two rather make a choice for a teacher that uncle John was more the defined as eloquence for comprehensive understanding guru as his brother. I trained under the two brothers, and also in comprehension of the two uncles as I had observed and viewed them as trainers and teachers found uncle John a more defined styled practitioner of Serak.
  As a student of both teachers had gone beyond my feeling in senses, that uncle John has more the internal understanding while uncle Ventje the extremity of the external practice is often quick to adept in speedy movements without a defensive poised for a retraction.
  What I like about uncle John's Serak was his very low and deep horse stance training he inherited from the mabu stances out old hand Southern kun tao from the two teachers who taught him. Could also explain uncle John's internal training adding to his Serak practice. He was also more in ethics better with precision and more concise of understanding his opponents in battle, take acceptance to any attack and countering each attack with precision on a precised timing.
  I really had enjoyed my private lessons with uncle John, and how easy he could explain rooting, stances and how it leads to using technique to one's advantage. In what he taught me, was a constant practice in my later years an engraved practice down deep in my soul. I still used many of his ethics in my practice of Serak.
  I also openly had question uncle John for knowing Pak Serak, and for sure knew Pak Serak but not how the founder was practicing his Serak.  He also had spoken with me as an open book that Mas Djoet could not possibly practice Serak as the founder was practicing the art he had created. Pak Serak had a club foot, and needed to relay strongly as a based training on the internal practice of Chinese fighting arts. What Pak Serak was lacking in movements made him just superb in hand motions and in timing. Why  also could be explained in how short the ranged my mobility in motions for encountering an opponent as the quickest way for countering any attack. The shorter the move, the quicker the defense.
 In closing honoring uncle John, and disbanding many of the others who had never known both uncles, Ventje and John de Vries. Like in golf that padding is for do, and in Serak any performed action can easy be noticed in who really learned to practice or mostly claim the practice. To many like to claim, and fewer knew in how to practice a treasured  martial system as gold.
  Hereby honoring uncle John, and the founding father of Serak, Pak serak.
By Pak Willem, the founding father of Kun tao silat de Thouars.