Malabar KunTao Silat

Malabar KunTao Silat

Traditional Indo/Chinese martial arts from Kuntao and Silat

Literally, the word Malabar means “The Voice of the Eastern Facing Mountain”, the voice of the West. Bapak Willem de Thouars chose to honour one of his Senior Practitioners of the arts of KunTao and Silat, Steve Gartin; he gave grace to the name “malabar” as the first United States style. The mountain, ThunderRock, faces to the East, to Asia and to Indonesia.

Simplistically speaking, KunTao means “fist way” in Chinese. In the melding that is KunTao Silat; the major arts and styles of China, known to us all, were combined as they were immigrant to Indonesia many hundreds of years past. That synthesis of art was affected in a major way by indigenous Indonesian fighting art.

Silat, itself a syncretic art with major Indian and SouthEast Asian influences. As the Indonesians met the Dutch in trading and intermarriage, access to these arts, previously restricted to ethnic practitioners, became available to people (the de Thouars Brothers) who eventually made their home in the United States of America.

The leader of Malabar Fighting Arts, Steve Gartin, who brings over 40 years of instruction in KunTao and Silat, and nearly 50 years of practice and instruction in martial skill. His interest has been to translate and codify the instruction into a self-defense suitable for the American People. Commonly available weapons are taught, as is response to attack from ambush and the fighting of one against many.

The objective then, is to grant an opportunity for our People to learn from an art forged in the crucible of one of the most dangerous martial environments ever on the face of the Earth.

These techniques, combat knowledge, were produced in an atmosphere of headhunters, cannibals, bandits, pirates, slavers and anarchy. These are martial arts of the people, faced with armed and aggressive predators.

The activity is suitable, physically, for young and strong, as well as having instruction for the martial professional or adept. We cordially invite you to come train with us.