Happy 75th Birthday to Pak Steve!
Tag Archives | American KunTao Silat
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 […]
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 […]
Why Forms?
In American martial arts culture, particularly with the influence of Bruce Lee, it can be common to encounter the argument that the choreographed solo practice routines we call “forms” in English and “Kata,” “Djurus,” “Hyung,” “Taolu,” etc. in other languages are a waste of time. When you consider how most “strip mall” Dōjō conduct their […]
Djurus Satu: One Form to Rule Them All
It does not matter how many years or repetitions I have playing Djurus Satu. There is always so much more combat lore to mine from its depths I truly stand in awe of it. Of the various forms I have studied in 21 years of martial arts, an argument could be made for Djurus Satu […]
Greetings to Everyone in KunTao Silat
Hello KTS Community, As I’m sure most of you have seen, last month Pak Steve Gartin made the surprise announcement that he wants me to carry on his KunTao Silat legacy as Keeper of the Lineage. This means that I will be carrying the banner for Pak Steve’s Malabar and American KunTao Silat disciplines, as […]
An Important Message from Pak Steve to all of KTS
Hello everyone, This is Dr. Jonathan Pyndus. Pak Steve has asked me to share this letter with the KTS community: “To all those on the Earth who call me Teacher, I’m in prison again for a M4F someone else wrote and filed in a case closed April 8, 2004 in Colorado~18 years ago. This […]
KunTao Silat Stand-a-Dude Training
Stand-a-Dude training began before Elijah could walk and continued until he was too big to hoist. I do NOT recommend this training unless both you and your children are physically blessed and extraordinarily aware. The chance of injury if a mistake is made is quite obvious and no one of good conscious wants that. If […]
What kind of people train in KunTao Silat?
What kind of people train in KunTao Silat? KunTao Silat attracts mostly highly experienced martial artists who have been training in martial arts for many years or decades. Here’s a few who attended the First Annual American KunTao Silat Gathering at the Seventh Heaven Ranch in New Mexico 2016. There are also folks who begin […]
American KunTao Silat Basic Applications
Pak Steve demonstrates basic American KunTao Silat applications at the First Annual American KunTao Silat Gathering at the Seventh Heaven Ranch in New Mexico.