SERAK AN OBVIOUS REASON. By the magus of Denver.

  While many of the students and followers of the system Pentjac Silat serak always were misled on the background and history of the system Serak; due to the fact that many of the teachers had gone on their own or others like Mas Djoet and Maroen became innovators of the art, after leaving the founder Pak Serak. Sofar less was known about the founder himself, and only briefly explained about his existence by the half trained gurus who left Pak Serak, who had a physical disability since birth was club footed. 
   As he was described and known for where there only a handful of the art's exponents who stayed around, and had long enough to thoroughly finish their training under the founder, as wisely expressed in their teaching and practice. Since Pak Serak had to struggle through his short coming had also to relay more on the internal arts of the system. While others as Mas Djoet and Maroen most known teachers by the de Vries, and in the de Thouars were very restricted from knowing the real history of the background of Pak Serak, were making up stories as unknown facts. Many made an reinvention to glorify their knowledge of making them selves most outstandingly for relating to Pak Serak in many ways to a forgotten figure and was the lesser known of all teachers and by all its followers.
  I found it very much my obstacle to think of Pak Serak just as a figure head, and pay respect and honor others who once had trained under Pak Serak; wend on their own and made up their own Serak system by glorifying them selves that much of the actual history regarding the founder and his art became in many various styles of Serak, the teachers who left made a reinvention of the art's quality suitable enough to represent themselves as the new creatures of the art Serak. As highly noticeable that Mas Djoet and Maroen who taught mostly Dutch Indonesians, like uncle John and Ventje de Vries a system of serak that was uniquely tailored after their body structures,
  The history on Serak became a delusion and much of the background of the art Serak became to vanished. There are now since the 1920's many difference in the variety of Serak systems brought in by the gurus who begun to teach their version of the art to function mostly also with in a taste of indifference. Looking at the art for what is worth to mention is distinctly very widespread and far in between by the teachers who taught serak in Bantem; Jakarta; Bogor; Garut; Ci Anjur; Pontianak; Borneo or Cheribon, where the original system was practiced most strongly.
  The Badui people were more based on religion in their believe, and were never interested in any fighting arts until Serak teachers came to live with the three tribes of the Badui people; the outer circle; the second circle and the third circle are the elderly tribes men who consult the tribes under them. They were always left alone by the Dutch, the Japanese and by the Indonesian natives them selves and were honored for their wisdom, and farming techniques in how to grow crops. Their martial arts serving as an indication could show only the lesser of strength and energy in their practice.
  The three systems of the West Javanese silat arts were most highly influenced by the Southern kung fu systems of the South of China (Hokien) or came through out Portuguese Makao. I was often asked the question for the difference in system can easy be seen during the old ways, that ci mande find mostly its practice highly influenced by the Pakua of Macao. While Serak found a similar experience for its influencing factor out Makao for the elements of tai chi, I shing yie and Pakua. the most unique of the three systems can be noticeable for the kembang dance with the ci calong and ci campek system of silat, and highly influenced by the long fist of kung fu.
  I found the kembang combative dance of ci calong one of the most beautiful dance like form of West Javanese silat. It show also in the sticky hands as a most common practice of ci calong that it came from China's long fist style of martial practice, and quite practical for parries, deflection and offense.
  While the formatted practice for the kembang dance in Serak relies mostly in the longer and wide open movements to lure in an opponent and spin a web around a victim like a spider spins a web. Serak is known for its illusive movements of giving itself wide open to counter quickly in actions.
  Ci mande on the other hand is totally the opposite from the two other systems. It uses more circular motions and relies very much on their iron skin for combat. I found the iron skin of ci mande the strongest over all other silat systems.
  In fianalizing that the three systems, ci calong, ci mande and Serak are West Java's most influencing factors to be the core principle to have influenced most of the West Javanese silat. Exceptionally a big difference is the Mustika of Jakarta as a total different West Javanese fighting style of a true Hokien nature.
  By pak Willem de Thouars, and founding father of kun tao silat Serak de Thouars.