History

Pukulan Pentjak Silat Serak

This information was gleaned from various book and magazine articles, along with writings and/or conversations by or with: Paul de Thouars, Stevan Plinck, Willem de Thouars, Victor de Thouars, Cass Magda, Todd Ellner, Chas Clements, and other Serak and Kun Tao players.

DISCLAIMER - PLEASE NOTE: There are many disagreements among the leading practitioners about historical items, no consensus on dates, and some family contention over other issues that may color certain recollections. I have tried to present the material as best I could interpret it. Bahasa Indonesia and Sundanese dialects sometimes have variations in spelling, so there may be errors in such renderings on my part.

Any other mistakes in transcribing the material are also mine, and none of this is in any way "official," but my own research, distilled as best I can manage.

Bapak Victor de Thouars is working on a series of books detailing his version of the family history and that of the art, the first of which, "Serak the Tsunami", was released in the fall of 2001.

The term "serak" (generally pronounced with the "k" silent) has several meanings, depending on spelling and accent. It can mean "hoarse." It also means "owl," and thus "wise," and with the accent on the first syllable, it means to "confuse," or to "scatter confusion," and thus "to decoy" or "deceive." (I use as my reference here, the Indonesian dictionary "Kamus Lengkap", 1985 edition, by Wojowasito, Poerwadarminta, and Wasito.)

Bapak Sera's precise date-of-birth is unknown. He's been listed as having been born as early as 1783 A.D.; however, this seems unlikely given the known lineage -- the dates don't work -- and it is more likely Sera was born no earlier than the the 1830's or '40s, possibly even later. (In "Serak the Tsunami", by Victor de Thouars, Bapak Sera's DOB/DOD stats are listed as 1783-1885, which would have made him 102 years of age at his demise, fairly remarkable for that period, and very old by the time he would have interacted with the de Vries and de Thouars clans. One would think there would be some comments about him being so ancient, and there are none extant I can find.)
Guru Plinck's workbook, given to his students, shows the respective ages of Sera and Djoet as much younger.

"Sera," according to Pak Victor, was a nickname, meaning "hoarse." Pak Victor also says he knows Sera's real name, and where he is buried in Indonesia, but that such information is restricted to his own students. (And supposedly, Paul also knows this, though he isn't forthcoming with such information, either.) However, one of Maurice de Thouars students posted a note to a website a couple years back, and in it, said Sera was nicknamed that because he had a hoarse voice, among his other physical problems, and that his real name was Eyang Hisak, aka H. Muhroji.)

The birthplace and tribe of Pak Sera are also open to question and are the subjects of some contention among the senior practitioners of Serak. Some claim he was Badui. Since not much is known about the Javanese tribe called Badui -- the White (or Inner) remain cloistered even today, admitting few visitors to their villages -- this would seem difficult to determine. If Pak Sera was of the Blue (Outer) Badui it would seem more likely, and if he was, he certainly did not stay there.

Others say Pak Sera was born in Tjirebon, on the north coast of Java, about 130 miles east of Batavia (now Jakarta.) There is no consensus on this point nor is there likely to be.

Family history indicates that Pak Sera trained in Silat Banteng, which comes from the area of Serang, in northwest Java. From his exposure to Tjimande, which it is said he studied, and with his training in Banteng, Sera developed his own system, tailored to his physical handicaps -- he had only one useful arm and one strong leg, and all the major players do agree on this point. Despite this, he was reportedly a fierce fighter.

According to the Indonesian writer O'ong Maryono, the most prevalent style of pentjak silat in the capital of Java, Jakarta, is Silat Betawi, one much influenced by the Chinese martial art kuntao, and one can assumed that Sera would have seen this. One also has to assume that Serak was also influenced by Pukulan, and there are silat players (Dr. Philip H.J. Davies, for one) who say that Serak looks very much like Northwestern Javanese pukulan they have seen.

Maryono also says that kuntao was likely a major influence on Javanese silat and that the former term was used as a generic for fighting in the area until relatively recently (WWII.)

Although the exact dates aren't known, it was probably sometime before the turn of the 20th century that Mas Djoet or Djut (b. 1860? - d. 1938?) met Pak Sera, and subsequently helped Sera formalize the system. Mas Djoet was reportedly trained in Silat Kilat, Kun-Tao, and probably Tjimande and pukulan.

If both Mas Djoet and Pak Sera studied Tjimande, that art's influence on Serak can hardly be denied. Indeed, it is the belief of some of the senior Serak practitioners that the art was at least partially devised as an answer to Tjimande, which was a much older and more established system popular at the time. The contention is that Sera and Mas Djoet would have expected to face Tjimande players, and while this is admittedly speculation, it makes sense.

Whatever the influence, however, Serak is not Tjimande, and the differences in djurus and philosphy are apparent to practitioners of both.

Enter the Dutch-Indo businessman, Johann (Jan) de Vries (b. 1880, West Java). De Vries eventually oversaw a plantation near Batavia (Jakarta) and in the early 1900s was a silat player who knew and trained with Mas Djoet.

Jan de Vries apparently had little patience as a teacher, so later he had his sons, who included Ferdinand, Ernest, and John, trained by Mas Djoet, instead of teaching them himself. Apparently there were other family members, brothers or cousins, as many as eight, total, who also trained at one time or another with Mas Djoet. Recollections here are somewhat spotty.

Another instructor, who reportedly trained under Sera (who supposedly had four senior students who learned the entire system), was Mas Shroen (Mas Rhun), who also reportedly partially taught Ernest de Vries.

John de Vries took the Djoet lineage (supposedly after it was declined by Johann) shortly before Mas Djoet's death.

Brothers Maurice and Paul de Thouars began to learn Serak from Ernest de Vries (their Uncle) in Siam (now Thailand), beginning primarily in 1946. Willem went elsewhere for his training, not in the family art, but in Kun Tao, before branching into other styles, and Victor de Thouars later began his studies under Ernest and Paul. (This is has lately been repudiated by Pak Victor, who states in his book "Serak the Tsunami" that his first teacher was Pak Tisari Mardjoeki, in Indonesia, and that what he learned from Pendekar Paul added little to his training. Willem de Thouars, who as of this writing seems estranged from Pak Vic, takes issue with this, and calls Pak Tisari "katjung," which I am told means "peanut".)

The brothers de Thouar are often contentious, and while this is their business, it must be taken into account when listening to various versions of history.

After leaving Indonesia, Paul continued his studies in Amsterdam under John de Vries, in the 1950s.

Maurice also continued his studies in Holland, with his Uncle Ernest.

Paul moved to the U.S. in the 1960's, and in the 70's, was given the Serak lineage by John de Vries. Supposedly, it is Paul who added the "k" to Sera.

Victor continued to train under Paul after moving to the U.S. in the early 60's. At one time during this period, Paul and Victor trained and taught with Rudy ter Linden, who later went on to create his own style of silat, Ratu Adil.

An early article on "Spice Island Fighting Men," featuring Paul and Rudy, was written for Black Belt Magazine in June, 1965. These men later had a falling out.

Victor, a finished student of Serak, according to a certificate signed by Paul posted on Pak Vic's website, went on to create his own system of fighting, Tongkat, based upon three fighting styles, about 60% of which is Serak, according to Pak Vic.

The lineage holder of Pak Vic's tjabang is Bob Vanetta.

Paul created the system of Bukti Negara ("Witness to a Country") in the mid-to-late eighties, partially as a way of thanking America for taking him in. Partially, it was a way to teach the principles of Serak without having to reveal directly what he considered a "closed" system to Americans. If you complete the Bukti training, you may then be deemed worthy to learn Serak, and for some teachers, Bukti thus becomes a kind of filter, even though it is an effective fighting style on its own.

The lineage holder of Bukti Negara is Danny Huybrechts.

Stevan Plinck (b. 1954, Holland) began training in Soeti Hati Silat with his grandmother as a boy, studied various arts, including Sumatran silat from his uncle, and eventually began training with Pendekar de Thouars after training with a de Thouars senior student for some years. Later, as a senior student of Pendekar de Thouars, Plinck was instrumental in the early stages of Bukti Negara's creation, earned the rank of Guru Pangkat Tua in that art, and was recognized as a Senior Practitioner of Serak. No longer associated with Bukti Negara, Plinck now teaches Serak in Longview, Washington, and his senior student in the area is Narin Latthitham.

DISCLAIMER AGAIN: Much of this art, like many village arts where written records are spotty, is shrouded in history's mists. Who was born, when, and where, and how the lineage was transmitted is not always clear. Written records mostly consist of letters, in Dutch, or notes in family bibles. What remains constant, however, is the effectiveness of Serak as a fighting art among the senior practitioners. After thirty-odd years of training in half a dozen other arts, I have no problem in saying that Pukulan Pentjak Silat Serak is the most efficient and effective fighting system I have ever experienced -- wherever it came from, whoever created it.

Steve Perry