A Note from BaPak Willem de ThouarsA Note from BaPak Willem de Thouars
Greetings and Peace to my Friends and Students all over the world!
It was my good fortune in life to learn martial arts the OLD WAY in Indonesia prior to the Japanese invasion of WWII. The Family de Thouars practiced a Family System comprised of several styles of Silat which I have practiced virtually all of my life, even during confinement in Japanese and Indonesian prison camps.
It was also my great good fortune to be accepted and educated by the Chinese KunTao community. I have spent many years in formal training in Indonesia and have continued training and study in the Chinese martial arts in Asia, Europe and the United States. Even now I am learning, and studying to completion, another Chinese system of Preying Mantis.
It is my continuing studies in many martial arts systems from many ethnic origins that have made me a very open minded practitioner. I also tend to attract student practitioners who also have broad horizons and humble attitudes.
The de Thouars Family has a sound and proud martial arts heritage of three hundred (300) years. My brothers and Uncles have trained me in the Family system for all my life and I have shared that art with open-minded practitioners all over the world. Even today I still maintain a daily routine of practice at 3 AM and spend at least 5-7 hours a day of practice in both KunTao and Silat. I spend a further 21-25 hours per month of other personal practice, not counting my many hours of teaching.
After 55 years of practice as a way of life, I have only just begin to understand my teachers' teaching and also the warrior within me.
How is it possible for people who have only seen my face a dozen times to become the "sole inheritor" of my system?
It is not my intention to speak poorly of my ex-students. I feel it is necessary to make my position very clear in order to protect my Family name and Art. It is with deep regret that I need to distance myself from some individuals who have studied from me only for a couple of years. I have gone to them for only a dozen sessions or so. Yet they go forward to claim knowledge that they don't have at all. It is not that these people are poor practitioners - they simply do not have the knowledge of my personal arts that they claim. No one except me can make those claims!
I address this situation in order to protect my Family Name and my system from embarrassment by these people. I hope sincerely that my late teachers don't turn in their graves in agony from being abused by those students whose names I prefer not to mention. In fact, those students claim to be Lineage Holders of my system, and are also advertising to be Masters, GrandMasters, and even to have an equal rank as myself for their Seminars. They are also using my personal and family name, and the names of my system as credential for their Videotapes.
People should be aware of what they are buying. These are not my representatives.
My Senior Disciples work hard, train constantly, and do not embarrass me in public by issuing incessant challenges to "step out on the floor" or claiming to be the sole inheritor of my system.
Rank is internal among the Family. External ranking is for the benefit of the student in each individual school. Rank has become an issue in my system only since these "new" students have made it an issue. In the real martial arts there are only practitioners and students. It is most important to train hard and practice constantly. Rank is of no value in itself. Simply practice harder - don’t worry about rank. We pay our dues in training because we love the art, not for a silly piece of wallpaper.
Those close to me remember when I was younger and crazier. I come from a Family heritage of fighters and warriors for many centuries. I have almost been deported from the United States many times in my earlier years for fighting. Now I realize that fighting is for Kindergarten; it is not the responsible act of mature people and certainly not a trait that is tolerated within my association.
I have never claimed to be a master of anything. Even though I have received high certification from several world renowned GrandMasters, I maintain that God is truly the only Master
When I was directly approached by these students to provide them with "certification," I meant only to convey honor, not "rank". There is no honor in these false claims.
Few people understand that it is my way, and the way of my Teachers, to test a student for a minimum of three years. I look for maturity, responsibility and desire in a student. Egocentric behavior like challenging and fist-fighting is grounds for immediate dismissal.
This is America; no matter how good a martial artist is, he must remember what Sam Colt said a hundred years ago. . . "God made men - the Colt revolver made men equal."`
My Colorado group has enjoyed a time of no-politics for many years. I long for those days again. It is my intent to convert all this political turmoil caused by newcomers into a POSITIVE factor that will assist in the growth of my Teacher’s Arts.
I have several groups around the country that are training hard, quietly! It is for the open minded and sincere practitioner that I give my heart and my Art. For that reason people have to be unified to serve the art, rather than the art to serve them. It is my desire to create a bigger group of open-minded individuals who desire to share my experience and the knowledge of my Teachers
God Bless America, Holland, Indonesia and China. We must strive to live together in peace and harmony. We must forget petty jealousies and puffed up egos. No one can OWN the martial arts - No one is the greatest - only God claims that honor.
Willem deThouars,
Founder KunLun Pai - Ratu Duri Silat - KunTao Silat deThouars
