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 […]
Archive | Uncategorized
New Mexico Warm Up with Sigung Dr. Jonathan
Year of the Dragon ~ Family Gathering 2024
By Dr. Jonathan Pyndus on March 20, 2024 in Applications, Forms, Health, Informational, Inner Circle, Knife, Teachers, Uncategorized, UpDates
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 […]
Po Qua Zen
BIG NEWS: Pak Steve to Return Home and More
By Dr. Jonathan Pyndus on April 27, 2023 in Informational, Inner Circle, Teachers, Training, Uncategorized
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 […]
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 […]
Bela Diri – Self-Defense
By Dr. Jonathan Pyndus on February 3, 2023 in Applications, Informational, Teachers, Training, Uncategorized
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 […]
Gauging “Success” of a Technique
By Dr. Jonathan Pyndus on January 20, 2023 in Applications, Children, Informational, Training, Uncategorized
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 […]
Learning to Teach Yourself
By Dr. Jonathan Pyndus on January 6, 2023 in Applications, Forms, Informational, Teachers, Training, Uncategorized
Pak Steve has often referred to KunTao Silat as a, “collegiate martial art.” There are many reasons for this. First, it is important to remember that Pak Steve and the other founding members of the Kun Lun Pai were already experienced and highly proficient martial artists before they began training with Ba Pak Willem De […]
Happy New Year
Greetings, I just wanted to take this chance to reach out to the KunTao Silat community to thank you for your participation and support this past year. From the implementation on our regular online classes to Pak Steve’s life events to the (unexpected) passing of the lineage on to me for the next generation, it […]