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Author Archive | Dr. Jonathan Pyndus

It’s All in the Elbow

Southeast Asian Martial arts generally, and KunTao Silat specifically, are famous for effective use of the elbows as offensive and defensive weapons. But aside from these more obvious applications of the elbow in striking, blocking, and deflecting techniques lies a deeper principle: the elbow is one of the keys to martial arts. The elbow is […]

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Year of the Dragon ~ Family Gathering 2024

This past weekend marked a milestone in KunTao Silat:  the 2024 Family Gathering. This event saw Pendekar Steve Gartin present the 3rd Generation of KunTao Silat to the world.  Dr. Jonathan Pyndus, Guru and Keeper of the Lineage, brought several of his core students to New Mexico for their first visit to Catron County so […]

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Confusion Over Self-Defense

Confusion over Self-Defense   The subject of self-defense, “real fighting”, & or whatever you call it causes a great deal of confusion in the martial arts world. Discussions over which style is best, what techniques work & which don’t, the usage of force multipliers, & legalities many times dissolve into the hell of one or […]

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Testing Resumes

Greetings to everyone in KTS, With Pak Steve’s release this weekend we will be resuming online testing.  However, to streamline the online testing process for everyone in the Distance Learning Program and the Guru Certification Course tests will now be conducted via live video conference using FreeConferenceCall.com, FaceTime, or FaceBook Messenger. If you are wanting […]

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BIG NEWS: Pak Steve to Return Home and More

Greetings to the KTS community,   My apologies on the website having technical issues.  While they are far from fixed, you should be able to access this page now.  If it says, “critical error,” just refresh your browser.  In order to do more complete repairs, we need Pak Steve’s passwords, which he cannot remember unless […]

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The Importance of Reflex

Touch a hot stove real quick.  Notice the involuntary withdrawal reflex?  It is unconscious and tied into your sympathetic nervous system which controls fight or flight response.  These reflexes come from the spine, which is a shorter signal distance than the complex skills of the motor neurons in our brains. So if I punch you unexpectedly […]

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Bela Diri – Self-Defense

Many readers may or may not know that there is an epidemic of homelessness in the United States.  Many major cities have large populations of individuals living on the streets.  A significant number of these people suffer from mental illness and/or addiction. I bring this up as a lead in to this week’s subject: teaching […]

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Family Ties: A Comparison of Filipino Martial Arts and KunTao Silat

Recently, a member of the Distance Learning Program asked me about the similarities and differences between the Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) and KunTao Silat.  As there is much crossover culturally and technically across the Southeast Asian martial arts, and many KTS players have a background in FMA, I thought this would be a great topic […]

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Gauging “Success” of a Technique

A frequent source of online martial arts debates (as these questions could be easily resolved in person) is on whether or not a particular technique or even whole style “works.” That the functionality of any endeavor ultimately rests in the effort of the individual notwithstanding (because who wants to take responsibility for their actions), these […]

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