It is rare for me to get to town now-a-days, but I thought it appropriate that I endeavour to do so on the First Day of Spring, which is the beginning of the new year for the Ancient Hebrew People.

Imagine my surprise and joy to see so many good people joining and pursuing the American Martial LifeStyle! There are so many posts on this Forum that there is no possibility of my answering them all in one day ~ so I’ll make a few words suffice until more time in civilization is available to me.

First, I want to express my gratitude to Derric, Aric and Art for taking the helm and steering the DistanceLearning Program in my absence. It actually looks better than I left it, which causes me great joy and humility. It is particularly inspiring for me to see Guru Derric conducting a Spring Training GetTogether today and tomorrow.

Then, I want to thank those who have taken the responsibility to moderate boards that focus on issues near and dear to my heart, like God and sharp tools. So thanks to Tim Nichols and Travis Caton. And while I’m on the Tim Nichols subject, congratulations are in order, not just because of his advancement to Level Three, but because of the dedication that advancement required. Tim was one of the early supporters of my video training idea that has blossomed into the DistanceLearning Program. It was difficult, at best, in the early days to sort through the mass of disconnected information contained in my embryonic videos, not to mention the production values were amateur, in the kindest of evaluation. Tim stuck with it like a wolverine.

It would be impossible to describe the joy that welled inside me when I saw that Elijah Rock Gartin had taken the responsibility of crafting and administrating the Forum. He has certainly exceeded anything I could have done! Thank you Elijah!

I’m also pleased to see that Art has continued to make the DVDs available, and with the payment gateway, to a larger audience. It also pleases me to see that the lowered prices keep the DVDs within the reach of those People smitten by the collapse of the World Economy. Of course, I have been admonishing People for decades to prepare for just such an eventuality.

Speaking of the Economic Collapse. I will again be available to those pursuing the American MartialLifeStyle after the inevitable economic collapse and the ensuing wars that will bring about the demise of the FEDERAL DEMOCRACY under MARTIAL RULE and the Banker’s New World Order; and usher in a return to the Republic Of the People, By the People, and For the People wherein Peace will reign.

So those of you who are continually progressing in the DistanceLearning Program will have Derric and Aric and Art to certify your progress up to the GuruMuda level and I will be available to finish you as Gurus and to prepare you for the levels beyond that.

Until then, I’ll abide in YHVH’s Love in the Cave of Adullum and do my best to provide as much instruction as I can from afar. I noticed some of the old videos from a couple of years ago are now on-line, so I have to assume that the rest of the “new” video footage will also soon be available to you. I have endeavoured to address some of the difficulties of learning by video and to provide a more detailed explanation of the MartialLifeStyle in those videos.

To my surprise and satisfaction, however, I see that many of those points have recently been addressed in this Forum ~ thank you GentlePeople!

I am deeply impressed with the moral and intellectual quality of the People I see reflected in the posts on this Forum, as well as the reviews on the payment gateway, and I am humbled that Yah has gathered such an elite calibre of People to represent American KunTao Silat!

Know that each one of you are in my thoughts and prayers and that one day soon, I’ll be able to see you face to face and bask in the glory of YHVH’s Love and Peace.

Until then, I remain in His Service,
Steve

Here, Sigung Steve has a few things to say about the program.
American KunTao Silat Practice Leader Program

For more information, please visit http://kuntaosilat.com

Thank you.
Art

The longer version:

If you ever wanted to see a martial art being formulated, here’s your chance. Never mind the hundred-plus forms that Uncle Bill could show you if he felt like it; let’s just talk about the five that make up the basic AKTS curriculum. As a cursory look at just about any two video clips of any of the forms by any single practitioner — let alone any two practitioners — will demonstrate, there are some variations. Ahem. LOTS and LOTS of variations, and the more video you see, the more of them you’re going to find.
The variations are not a casual thing. Each variation means something a little different; the little shifts matter, they manifest in differences in attitude and application. For that reason, winnowing out a recognizable curriculum from amongst all the variations is a formidable task, and you see it happening before your eyes in this DVD, especially with Lanka Dua. Throw in supplementary explanation of a lot of the basic material — breathing attitudes, drills, refinements and corrections to the forms practice, use of the tiga, etc., and you’ve got a good idea of what’s here. Oh, and, as always, LOTS of applications.

All of it’s invaluable; not a wasted minute anywhere. The section on Lanka Dua struck me as particularly helpful. I bought the earlier Lanka Dua DVD when it came out some years ago, and got great use out of some of the material, but found other parts very hard to follow. The supplementary discussion here answers a number of my questions and clarifies some things I would not have thought to ask about.

The section on Pai Yun focuses on Guru Joe Judt’s version of the form–as with everything else, a little different from others. I’ll come back to this again and again; the energy (for lack of a better word) Guru Judt brings to the form is notable; it has a solidity to it that I hadn’t seen in other (no less valid, just different) expressions.

The latter portion of the video, nearly half, is shot indoors in what appears to be the exercise room of a motel or apartment complex. In this portion, SiGung Steve goes over numerous tiger, monkey and dragon applications, explaining some of the finer points of the animal attitudes. In the last minute or two, the sound drops out, but you can see the applications just fine.

The video closes with the introductory lecture that is also found in the first Distance Learning set, addressing the history and makeup of the system, and giving an overall orientation to practice as a lifestyle.

An absolutely indispensible tool for us distance-learning folk.

This DVD presents a KTS demonstration given at the Golden, CO rec center in 1996. Designed as a relatively speedy overview of the system, this demonstration opens with a little history, and quickly proceeds to the internal aspects of the art. SiGung Steve shows what is either a TaiKeh (sp?) form or a kembaggan working on similar principles. SiGung Steve’s improvisation usually looks like he planned it that way all along, so it’s hard to tell. The attendant discussion was particularly interesting to me, because a year into my own Sera(k) training, I had to go find a health practice in order to continue — the training was absolutely destroying my lower back and knees. It’s good to see the health aspects being cultivated within the art itself; sustainable practice is key for Americans, who typically expect to live well beyond their forties and don’t like to destroy their bodies for the purpose of learning to preserve them. What SiGung Steve says here is not particularly detailed, but there’s more on this aspect of the system than I’ve seen in other ThunderRock DVDs, and I have most of them. If this aspect of KTS interests you, this is a must-have DVD for this material alone.

In the next portion of the demonstration Guru Ted Garcia and Guru Muda Rob Snazza took the floor to demonstrate the first three forms and a series of applications from same. Guru Garcia then takes the floor to show Pai Yun and Ling Sing Toy, with a series of applications from each. SiGung Gartin takes over to show a few applications of his own. I don’t really know what to say about the applications without going through each one. If you’ve seen some material from ThunderRock before, you know what you’re getting. If you don’t, you’re in for a treat–brutal efficiency and martial ingenuity like you’ve never seen it before.

At this point Pak Chas takes the floor. His lecture begins with the words “If I hadn’t had quite a bit of martial art last night when I got hit by the forklift, I probably would be a lot more hurt than I am right now” and proceeds from there in typical Chas-ian fashion. The initial lecture covers a number of aspects of arranging the mental furniture for effective self-preservation. His demonstration focuses on the older person’s art, as direct and nasty as anything shown earlier, but more physically upright, depending less on agility and speed, and more on experience and perhaps a deeper understanding of anatomical vulnerabilities. (Not to say that SiGung Steve doesn’t also exhibit such knowledge, but the younger man’s art holds the potential to overwhelm the opponent with sheer agility and hyperactivity; all the damage is in addition to that. By contrast, the older man’s art doesn’t exhibit that kind of physicality, and so *depends* on a very sudden and intrusive attack to vulnerable places.)
Pak Chas also includes a very nice discussion of the fighting cane. As with KTS (and silat generally), the principles and applications are somewhat…unique, let’s say…in the martial arts world. The material presented here could keep someone’s practice going for months at the very least.

In the closing portion of the program, April Rose Gartin takes the floor for a demonstration of kids’ kuntao, focusing on stance work and animal attitudes. We see this kind of thing on a number of ThunderRock videos, and it’s a real untapped strength for the Distance Learning Program.
In the future I’m hoping we will see a whole DVD–if not a whole series–devoted to training children. Homeschoolers in particular often look for PE-type activities that suit the whole family together. The village nature of KTS suits that kind of familial training environment, and we have people with experience conveying the material at a distance. There’s an untapped market there, if we could package the material properly. (Of course, this would be a sizable shift in direction for the way KTS typically propagates, since our average “beginner” is an adult with advanced rank in something else, and has long since learned how to fall, make a fist, and so on.) I’m just sayin’….

One thing that was emphasized (and repeatedly proven) throughout the demonstration, and deserves mention: KTS fights like it trains. We use the forms. Unlike many other systems where bunkai is some sort of advanced discipline or closely guarded secret teaching, interpretation of the KTS forms is part of training from day one — if it wasn’t, how would we fight?

People have questions about the Distance Learning Program.  Many have similar questions, so I’ll post some email exchanges with the permission of the other party.  This is one of many:

From: Travis Caton [mailto:traviscaton@live.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 8:27 AM
To: art@kuntaosilat.com
Subject: Distance Program Info Request

Hello,

I am writing to get info on the distance program. How can I get started and who is it I need to speak with. I am very interested in the KunTao program. I am a police officer here in South Florida and have a background in Kali. I have always wanted to get involved with the KunTao Silat program but there was never a teacher around me to go to. This distance program is my answer for that. Please let me know what to do to get started and I’ll jump right on it. Thanks and God Bless.

Travis Caton

________________

Good evening Travis,

The best starting point would be www.kuntaosilat.com/gurucourse.htm ~ that should give you the rudiments of the program. A background in Kali will give you a leg up in the handwork aspects of the art and you’ll find similarities in the footwork, although KunTao Silat utilizes those similar patterns in an entirely different way.

Obviously, the next crucial aspect is personal discipline.  Any distance learning program is going to require much more of that than having a teacher to provide the motivation.  As a police officer in South Florida, I would suspect that you have both the personal discipline and a real-world need for KunTao Silat.  I would trust that you would not mis-use or abuse KunTao Silat by harming innocent souls, since you mentioned God.  You know He wouldn’t like that.

Sigung put me in charge of the Distance Learning Program, so you got the right guy first try.

Take a look and get back to me with any questions you have.

Peace,

Art Kidwell, Guru Muda

________________________

From: Travis Caton [mailto:traviscaton@live.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 1:09 AM
To: art@kuntaosilat.com
Subject: RE: Distance Program Info Request

Thank you for the reply. It seems that that part of the sight is down and I cant see it. I tried to access from two different computers and got nothing. Is there another way to get the info? What does it cost to join and can you give me an idea of the finances required to do the distance course? I am so excited about getting on board with you guys. I am passionate about my job as an officer and take it very seriously. I can be intense when I need to be but more importantly is the ability to show mercy and understanding. I have a passion to protect and was a bodyguard before I became a cop. I can definitely put the KunTao Silat to good use (for all the right reasons of course)!
Thanks again and God Bless.

________________________

Art says:

Now, your questions:

It costs $200 to join.  That provides you with the 5 DVD guru course and all the actual information you need for your study program.  All the other DVDs are then available to you at a 30% discount and the Guru Training set of 13 with Uncle Bill is then available also, but only to registered DLP People.

Thanks for addressing my concerns. KTS works so well that some of those prone to harming their fellowman could take advantage of that power.  It sounds like you have the right moral compass and intent.  I’ll look forward to getting to know you.

I’ll also endeavor to figure out what’s up with the site.  Works fine for me.

Selamat,

Art

Just testing out the capabilities of this program:

5Forms: American KunTao Silat

For updated information, please visit www.americankuntaosilat.com/SpringTraining.html
and keep an eye on the American KunTao Silat Training Group Discussion at www.americankuntaosilat.org/Chat

This event will provide an opportunity for those currently enrolled in the Distance Learning Program to test for the next level.  It will also provide those interested in KunTao Silat to investigate the art and make plans to either join local classes or to become a Distance Learning student.

For more information: Email Guru Derric

This blog is dedicated to the martial lifestyle of American KunTao Silat founded by Sigung Steve Gartin, a finished Disciple of Bapak Willem deThouars .

Sigung Steve is the man who  introduced KunTao Silat and Kun Lun Pai to the World.  His work can be seen in printed articles, newsgroup posts, emails and videos and will be re-published here as time allows.

I, as many, are the recipients of the knowledge,  dedication and love that Sigung Steve has given to the World in the form of KunTao Silat.

It may seem oxymoronic to think that KunTao Silat could be a mechanism for making peace; but Peace through Power is not a concept foreign to the warrior.  The confidence KunTao Silat instills in its practitioners allows them to be humble and peaceful with all until it is necessary to “flip the switch” and change mode.

So, with gratitude, I say to all,

Peace,

Art Kidwell, Guru Muda