tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66728924446138190352024-03-13T03:23:54.389-07:00Pukulan Pentjak Silat Sera PlinckThe Art as practiced under the direction of Maha Guru Stevan Plinck.Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-91867518300244161932019-01-16T10:29:00.002-08:002019-01-16T10:37:20.145-08:00The Motion of Many Motions<div style="font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our version of silat utilizes forms — drills — to practice what we consider the most effective motions for fighting. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">These are, for the purposes of learning, broken down into two major areas: upper and lower body. We call the upper body stuff — head, hands, elbows, shoulders, torso, djurus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The lower body motions, stepping, kicking, sweeps, knees, hips, are collectively called langkas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That’s most of the Indonesian terminology I’ll inflict on you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One can practice djurus seated in a chair; for practical purposes, we combine these with the stepping, so when somebody says, let’s practice our djurus, that means do both together.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Martial arts are all the same, in that they utilize the same basic human components. There are only so many ways to push or pull, which what muscles driving bones do, and, actually, voluntary muscles only contract or relax, and thus only pull, so the push aspect is just a different kind of lever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">At the high levels, martial arts tend to look alike, you are boxing, wrestling, or a combination thereof, an adding weapons that smash or cut just extends your range and makes you more dangerous. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Push and pull are also hit, block, parry, grapple, etc., depending on circumstances.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">To learn ways of dancing around incoming danger, we further break the stepping stuff down into geometric patterns: straight line, triangle, square, cross, and, another Indonesian term, pantjar, which is a combination of the others. Also, especially with weapons other than biological, we also work the circle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">You don’t fight this way, of course, thinking and chosing patterns on the ground, but each of these will teach you ways to reposition yourself in what we consider an effective manner, depending on the nature of an attack.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One attacker coming in, how big, how fast, is he armed? might dictate which direction you move. Two attackers? Four? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One size does not fit all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The theory is, once you learn various ways to react to differing circumstances, you can do so without having to think about it, and this is faster and more effective than contemplative consideration. Thought is generally too slow, when push comes to shove. Or, in the words of our late Pendekar Paul, “If you think, you stink …”</span></div>
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Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-66940166566786090952018-04-18T12:59:00.002-07:002018-04-18T12:59:18.207-07:00Pusaka<div style="font-size: 24px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Indonesians have a word, “pusaka,” which loosely means “treasure,” or “heirloom.” In the case of pentjak silat, this has come to mean that an art is transmitted as learned.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With regard to respecting the source material, this is a good thing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, if all you ever did was practice and teach every piece you learned, exactly as you learned it? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You are failing in your potential as a student and teacher.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can’t do it, anyhow, the nature of or bodies is such that we adjust whatever we learn to fit ourselves. If you are six-four and two-forty, you won’t move the same way as somebody who is five-three and one-twenty — you literally can’t. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It’s an old joke in martial arts that when you show a newbie a move or a form, you offer a caveat — this is how I do it. When the senior teacher comes back, chances are what s/he shows you won’t look exactly like this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because it never does.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bruce Lee spent only about four years in formal training, and from then on, he picked bits here and there and melded them into his own system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is how new systems are created, always have been, and always will be, if they are to thrive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My teacher’s teacher learned some basics, then started to change them to suit his body and mind. My teacher learned his teacher’s basics, and then changed them. What he taught me is only distantly related to what he learned, and even that has shifted a bunch over the years. What you offer at sixty is not what you offer at forty. Yeah, the bottom-line basics are still there, but they have taken other roads to other places.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is as it should be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The danger is that you don’t learn enough to understand an art before you begin to add or drop things, and you can get lost. Guy trains for a year or two, thinks he knows it all, then goes off and creates his own art, losing the pieces that he thinks are useless. Sometimes he might be right, but often, he is wrong. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you have more depth in an art and you see somebody who doesn’t understand it trying to fix it, you can tell. Here is a bedrock part of what we do, and this guy has tossed it into the trash can because he doesn’t get it. What he is doing is not an improvement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is an ongoing problem with seminars. You go, and the guy teaching the session shows you something that is so foreign to what you know, you can’t buy it. That, you realize, will get you killed, and so you smile and nod and do it to be a good attendee, but you know it won’t go home with you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Things evolve. Martial arts have to adapt to new influences. Yes, a punch is still a punch, but there are more ways to deal with it available, and that close-quarters knife defense might not work so well against a shotgun at fifteen feet. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is no magic secret knowledge in our art. Anybody who is holding something back to keep students is running a shuck, and if you see this, you might want to look around. Sure, the teacher can say he isn’t showing you everything because you aren’t ready to see it yet, because you don’t have the knowledge or skill to understand it, but if that isn’t on the table down the road? Best you move along. </span></div>
Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-13637259639857553642017-03-26T12:13:00.001-07:002017-03-26T12:13:13.590-07:00Elixir Vitae<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, been several articles lately on the current, and promising research into the elixir vitae, the live-forever potion. Works in the test tube, seems to work with mice, and human trials are right around the corner.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Isn't that great?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Scientists have been working on this since before the days there were scientists, the alchemists and natural philosophers gave it a go, and so far, nobody has quite perfected it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But, hey, they might. And wouldn't that be something? Take a pill, and if not live forever, maybe another couple hundred years? I'm not ready to go yet, I could get behind this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Two quick observations: Side-effects, and unintended consequences. This is not to go down the road about how much this pill will cost. If you think it will be covered under any form of healthcare extant? Good luck with that. This will be a drug for the rich and famous, and your chance of getting it, should it come to be, will be that snowball-in-a-supernova.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Want to make a few million dollars? Hijack a warehouse full of this stuff.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Side-effects? Once you start to monkey with hormones and stuff at a cellular level, you are dicking around with an already-iffy balance. All the things that could go wrong will make the Viagra warnings on TV look like a walk in the park of a lovely Sunday afternoon. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not the least of these could be fulminant, raging, metastatic cancers. Go read about telomeres and enhanced cell production. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Could also be the cure for such things, up to and including cosmic radiation, but I will opine that the side-effects will, in more than a few cases, be worse than the disease being cured. People will put up with it, they do that now. Listen to the warning under the smiling couple with the fluffy, happy dog about what might happen if you take that medication.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Unintended consequences? Well, lot of doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and undertakers will be put out of work. And your next car will offer some serious changes at major cost. Why is that? Because if you are gonna live to be three or four hundred, you don't want to risk dying in a fender-bender at the 7-Eleven. And cars won't be the only thing upgraded if accident replaces heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and pneumonia as the top killers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Guy breaks into your house with a knife? Looking for enough money to buy the forever pill? You will want to have a gun, because, better him than you, right?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Marriage that lasts fifty or sixty years might not make it three hundred death-do-us-part years. What do you do with all the people who had to retired at seventy? Gotta change that. And how will young people get a job if nobody retires?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I could go on and on with this list all day. You get the idea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now, there exists already a magic bullet, at least of a sorts: It's called "diet-and-exercise." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Latest research here shows that certain kinds of high-intensity-interval-training (HIIT) can benefit people in all kinds of ways, and that it might actually benefit older people more than younger ones.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As soon as I utter the word "diet," I invariably get a chorus of fat-shaming accusations. You can be fat and fit -- there are guys who run marathons who are morbidly obese -- and that is a clinical term, not fat-shaming, go look it up. Generally, this is harder to do, because morbid obesity carries risks of more than a few illnesses, including arthritis bad enough to make it hard to exercise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes, to head off at the pass the next comment I usually get, there are some folks whose metabolic systems are so screwed-up that it is really difficult for them to lose weight. And there are folks who are so physically-challenged that any serious exercise is difficult, sometimes impossible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Those with serious metabolic problems in this area number about 3-5%, and have been diagnosed thus. That means the rest of us have to use a different excuse for not losing weight, and there are several of those which are valid, I'll get back to them in a minute.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">People who can't move know who they are, but a lot of people who can simply choose to not do it. My wife teaches chair-yoga to seniors. Some of them aren't real spry, but there they sit, giving it a go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mostly, if you look in the mirror and are okay with what you see? Then you have an advantage over most of us. If you look and don't like it, and aren't doing anything about it? The prime reason I can see is depression. That kills at lot of intent, and chronic depression isn't something you just man up and shrug off. Depression is a bastard, but it can be treated, and in many cases, with enough success to allow you do live a better life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That extra thirty pounds you picked up over fifteen years? You aren't going to lose it in a few weeks, and you won't keep it off if you do lose it over the next year unless you change your life style from what it was; otherwise, it comes back for the same reason it get there the first time. Yo-yo dieting is a dead end. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Eating right and keeping fit don't come in a pill, they require work, but the dividends are there. Sure, you can become a body-Nazi who chews on roots and twigs and jocks out three hours a day, and serious exercise also carries the risk of injury -- ask any aging jock. But there is a balance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The cure for death might be around the corner, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. Meanwhile, diet-and-exercise? Already here. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Something about which to think.</span>Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-57845072257136832972017-03-14T16:22:00.002-07:002017-03-14T16:24:35.612-07:00Battle Ground Seminar 2017A few pictures from the silat camp last weekend:<br />
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<br />Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-55466828516894113172017-01-11T00:57:00.005-08:002017-01-11T00:57:57.767-08:00Spring Seminar<a href="http://www.stevanplinck.com/events/">http://www.stevanplinck.com/events/</a>Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-12600457332161731982016-09-03T16:28:00.002-07:002016-09-03T16:28:29.776-07:00<a href="http://knifenews.com/caswell-knives-morphing-karambit/">New Knife Design</a>Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-57136209512697879732016-08-16T10:53:00.000-07:002016-08-16T10:55:34.263-07:00Challenge Coin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-73027371520005583382015-12-24T13:09:00.003-08:002015-12-24T13:09:32.280-08:00Wallpaper<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, I guess this is the appropriate place for me to show this. At the recent seminar in Las Vegas, Cotten Blackwell and I were honored. A</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">nd it is an honor, indeed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thank you, Maha Guru Plinck. I will try to be worthy of it. </span>Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-53757620838296163942015-10-30T17:27:00.002-07:002015-10-30T17:27:18.862-07:00Beauty in Black Steel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bmXpUoNWn-4/VjQKzKMHJzI/AAAAAAAAMIY/PFZE179FT2s/s1600/Raindrop%2BDamascus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bmXpUoNWn-4/VjQKzKMHJzI/AAAAAAAAMIY/PFZE179FT2s/s400/Raindrop%2BDamascus.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Serious knife folks, collectors and makers, know the differences between Wootz, Damascus, patterned-welded and folded steels. They look similar, and sometimes overlap in how they are made, but there are differences.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Originally, the pattern-welded and folded steels came about because the metals were sometimes poor, and one can increase the strength and edge-holding abilities of a blade by blending and making a steel that is more than the sum of its parts. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You get a hard section for the edge, more flexible for the body, like that. Heat it, hammer it, and forge a better tool. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A lot of cultures played with these, the Japanese, the Vikings, the Indonesians, and they all added this or that, hammering and folding and coming up with blades that worked better and looked better. The Indonesians have books that deal with the patterns of pamor, there are hundreds of them, with different meanings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These days, with the excellent steels available, pattern-welding and Wootz and such aren’t necessary, and this kind of thing is done more for the look than the function. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have several knives and a small collection of older kerises and kerambits with the traditional patterns, and some of them are quite striking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here is the latest addition to my collection, a small pocket folder with what is called “Raindrop Damascus.” Gorgeous … </span></div>
Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-86687263592444930282015-10-27T11:28:00.002-07:002015-10-30T17:28:29.590-07:00Silat Las Vegas 2015<div class="_1dwg" style="color: #141823; padding: 12px 12px 0px;">
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So, a quick review of the Silat Sera Plinck seminar in Las Vegas this past weekend …</div>
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It was a small, but advanced group, serious players, and the event was ably put together by Don Lee. He was aided and abetted by Victoria Blackwell, and we couldn’t have asked for a better crew to run the show. For those of you who wanted to go but couldn’t, Don has a great selection of T-shirts and shorts, and if want to offer your support, drop by Maha Guru’s website and order some stuff. A<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">ll high-quality materials, and cool-looking. <a href="http://www.stevanplinck.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.stevanplinck.com/</a></span></div>
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There was a whole bunch of quality-teaching going on, and I’ll get to that in a minute, but again, if you wanted to go but couldn’t, Guy Bowring videoed the seminar and once they are edited, the vids will be availed from Resonant Video. If you are a Sera Plinck student, you will get a whole lot out of these; if you are a serious student not in the Sera lineage, you might be able to get Maha Guru’s approval and buy a set, and that would be a great introduction to the art. Plus Guy has some other excellent videos of various silat teachers. Check it out:<br />
<a href="http://www.resonant-video.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.resonant-video.com</a></div>
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We had students from the Portland group, the Italian mob, and the Colorado players were well-represented. A bunch of nice guys and gals all around, and dedicated to their training. </div>
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It goes without saying that Maha Guru Plinck’s teaching was outstanding. He has forgotten more than most of us will learn, and his intuitive grasp of what to teach and how is always impressive.</div>
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Guru Louis Compos, a gentleman and a scholar, was also on hand to show material from a variety of arts at which he is expert, and clearly is a man who knows and loves what he does. </div>
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There were some instructors who couldn’t make it, due to injury or other commitments, and we send all best wishes to Guru Vanatta, who is on the mend from surgery.</div>
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Cotten Blackwell was honored by Maha Guru, and deservedly so; (I was also honored, though less deserving.) </div>
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Cotten demonstrated the eighteen djurus on the pantjar platform, up and and down, *both* sides, that’s 72 djurus total, and we were all mightily impressed. I was going to be called on to demonstrate my djurus, but fortunately, I managed to pull a hamstring Sunday morning, and had to practice old man silat for the rest of the sessions. Good, because I wouldn’t have wanted to follow Cotten …</div>
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We ate well, drank a bit, socialized, and I, for one, came away feeling like I’d had a visit with family, because that’s what we were in this art. Next time one of these comes up, you want to think seriously about attending. It was a hoot.</div>
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Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-67852525582100239512015-09-24T14:59:00.000-07:002015-09-24T14:59:01.194-07:00Old Video - Maha Guru Plinck<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-34772074583654488552015-06-18T13:48:00.002-07:002015-06-18T13:48:21.603-07:00Seminar in Las Vegas<div class="sqs-block html-block sqs-block-html" data-block-type="2" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1434575862493_30559" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-transition: box-shadow 0.1s ease-in-out; clear: none; color: #5c5c5c; font-family: Merriweather; height: auto; line-height: 32px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px 17px 17px; position: relative; transition: box-shadow 0.1s ease-in-out;">
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Silat Sera Camp 2015</h1>
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Las Vegas, Nevada</h1>
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<br /><em>Mark Your Calendars and sign up soon!</em></h1>
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<em style="color: #222222; font-family: proxima-nova; font-size: 3em; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: 1.2em;">Featuring: </em></div>
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<em style="color: #222222; font-family: proxima-nova; font-size: 3em; letter-spacing: 1px; line-height: 1.2em;">Maha Guru Steven Plinck</em></div>
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<br /><span style="font-size: large;">October 2015: 23, 24 & 25<br />Double Tree by Hilton Las Vegas Airport<br />7250 Pollock Dr; Las Vegas, NV 89119</span></div>
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Don’t wait, availability will go fast! Guru Plinck has blocked rooms for your convenience to ensure everyone will be able to reserve accommodations at a discount.<br />Bring a buddy; share a room. Double or single occupancy.</div>
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<strong>Room Rate (per night): </strong></div>
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$129 ($145 with tax or $72.50 with roommate)<br />King bed or (2) queen beds available </div>
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<strong>Complimentary Services to Include: </strong></div>
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<li>Shuttle Service: <ul style="line-height: 2em; margin: 1em 0px 1em 40px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px;">
<li>24-Hour McCarran Airport courtesy shuttle</li>
<li>Scheduled courtesy shuttle to & from the Tropicana Casino Hotel on the Strip 9:00am –11pm</li>
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<li>24-Hour Precor Fitness Center & Heated outdoor pool</li>
<li>DoubleTree Full American Breakfast Buffet in the Café</li>
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Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-45749253201616112682015-05-29T16:01:00.000-07:002015-05-29T16:01:06.618-07:00More Knifery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n_jFkb_9SsY/VWjrsdz9xuI/AAAAAAAAMEc/3DviNvcYkkA/s1600/ZT%253ADPX-Heat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n_jFkb_9SsY/VWjrsdz9xuI/AAAAAAAAMEc/3DviNvcYkkA/s400/ZT%253ADPX-Heat.JPG" width="400" /></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">ZT flipper, top; DPX Heat, bottom</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So I have a few folding knives, most of them with relatively short blades, not illegal to carry locally. One of these is a ZT Titanium Flipper, a nice knife, but a bit heavy in the pocket.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">3.5" (8.9 cm) blade, 4.7 inches (11.9 cm) closed, 8.2"(20.8 cm) total opened, about 6 ounces, 164 grams in weight. Elmax steel blade.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So I went looking for a shorter and lighter folder. Some places won't let you carry a knife with a blade more than two-and-a-half inches, and I found a nice custom I liked, but couldn't get in contact with the maker, so I came across this instead. A lot cheaper, and in several ways, better.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">DPX-Heat. Blade is an inch shorter, than the ZT; the overall length two inches shorter, and it is a couple ounces lighter. Niolox steel, which is kind of like D2, holds a nice edge. Thumb stud instead of a flipper, but a solid, compact knife for EDC, opening packages, cutting up boxes and such. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Plenty of room for a full grip, leastways if you have small hands like mine, no hot spots, feels good, even has a glass-breaker on the butt. (Glass-breakers are for when you absolutely, positively have to open a window and it won't open. Like if you were trapped in your car and going to the bottom of the lake, or you were trying to help somebody else trapped in their car get out before it burned up, like that.) </span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U9d94pHmSpk/VWjuDknwQMI/AAAAAAAAMEw/a1RbSoNua_Q/s1600/saber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U9d94pHmSpk/VWjuDknwQMI/AAAAAAAAMEw/a1RbSoNua_Q/s400/saber.jpg" width="357" /></span></a></div>
<br />Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-28430656235713906362015-05-24T10:25:00.000-07:002015-05-24T17:30:50.886-07:00Knifery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W64DAnK7bNw/VWIJk3tlLNI/AAAAAAAAMD4/iAPBgBTlfjA/s1600/Collection%2B-%2Blarge.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W64DAnK7bNw/VWIJk3tlLNI/AAAAAAAAMD4/iAPBgBTlfjA/s400/Collection%2B-%2Blarge.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, I'm a knife guy. Carried a pocketknife since I was eight or so, have had camp knives, diver's knives, throwing knives, all kinda knives. Most of the martial arts I have studied nodded at knife stuff in passing, but once I got into Silat, an art that most of you know is based on the blade, that got ramped up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I don't have any expertise with the things, but I have had a chance to train with different kinds. These range from tactical folder-length, to krises, machetes, parangs, up to swords, all like that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All of which is to say I appreciate a nice knife. Recently, I felt the need for a shorter folder than the (legal length) one I usually use for EDC. Great tool, but a little on the heavy side. (A technical term, that : EDC = every day carry.) I didn't really need a new knife, but, you can't have too many, so ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I shopped around, and came across one that called to me. Short, stubby blade, liner-lock, one-handed operation, thumb-stud on the blade. Really liked the look, it was a high-quality steel, titanium handle got good reviews.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thing was, the knife was a semi-custom, i.e., made in small batches from a single-man shop. I went to the guy's website, read his philosophy about the craft and customer service, and was impressed. Looked at the list of dealers, and went to go see what kind of deal I could get.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Turned out, no kind of deal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Six retailers, none of them had it in stock, didn't know when they'd get one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh, well, back to the source. Found the maker's contact info, sent an email: Hey, love this knife, but none of your dealers have any. How can I get one? You have a wait list?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Week passed, nothing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, the guy is undoubtedly busy, and maybe my email got lost in the aether. So I called his number, got his machine, left my number and the same message.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Another week passed. Nada.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Okay, so maybe he's on vacation, or he had an accident or something, shit happens, right?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Found a Facebook presence, and from the tone of his posts, he wasn't stove up, nor on vacation. So, I'll ask him again, I figured. Hey there, I really like your work. Can I maybe get on your list for one of your next batch?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And once more we have crickets and tumbleweeds ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, it has been two more weeks, and while I know life gets the way as often as not, this does not bespeak good customer service. How many times do you knock before you realize nobody is coming to the door?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rule of three. All done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This experience as opposed to another first-class knife guy who go back to me the same day when I queried. Or a top-rated luthier with a long wait list who responded within a few hours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What this kind of interaction does for me is kill my interest. Yeah, it's a nice knife and all, but after this? I don't want one any more. It wasn't meant to be. Could be a great guy, others might not have this experience, but back in my hippie days, I would have shaken my head and chalked it up to bad vibes. Sometimes, you just can't get there from here. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You know what? That still works for me ...</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;" />Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-35529070762774284722015-05-15T14:53:00.001-07:002015-05-24T10:33:20.531-07:00New Steel<div class="_5pbx userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.38; overflow: hidden;">
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New small fighter knife (top)' by Jeff Crowner, one of a handful of expert knifesmiths it has been my pleasure to get to know. Shown next to my ZT flip folder, for a size comparison, Excuse the dog hair in the picture -- dog hair is a condiment at our house ...</div>
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Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-36393140846490563662015-04-20T14:41:00.002-07:002015-04-20T14:41:32.894-07:00Guru Narin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8vW1Er8jKEk/VTVydmoiOTI/AAAAAAAAMAM/z1Nv1iq9ppo/s1600/11169885_1469084410018945_4847348311916123748_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8vW1Er8jKEk/VTVydmoiOTI/AAAAAAAAMAM/z1Nv1iq9ppo/s1600/11169885_1469084410018945_4847348311916123748_n.jpg" height="640" width="360" /></a></div>
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For those of you who haven't heard, Guru Narin, one of Maha Guru Plinck's senior gurus, passed away yesterday. Apparently, he developed some kind of infection/illness, was hospitalized, and the doctors were unable to save him.Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-25175972860388491612014-12-30T15:32:00.002-08:002014-12-30T15:32:29.609-08:00Cold Silat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dMNbrDuRAF8/VKM12XpKg6I/AAAAAAAAL5M/Vm_IK9CIruE/s1600/IMG_3075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dMNbrDuRAF8/VKM12XpKg6I/AAAAAAAAL5M/Vm_IK9CIruE/s1600/IMG_3075.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dogs and I work the platform, 32º F., wind chill at 18º F. ... See that little puddle behind Jude, next to the pantjar? Frozen dog pee ...</span>Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-6297848556346715132014-12-21T10:18:00.002-08:002014-12-21T10:21:25.833-08:00Online Training<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a class="lfloat _ohe" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=1497735287121742" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6672892444613819035" style="color: blue !important; cursor: pointer; float: left; font-family: Georgia !important; font-size: 18px; line-height: 18px;" tabindex="0"><img alt="" class="_s0 _54ru img" src="https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-1/c0.0.32.32/p32x32/10257996_1497736923788245_7537277701421487672_n.jpg?oh=578d4038432d1b8edefe696aca893270&oe=55074B5E&__gda__=1426428343_8eaa0fe0f0ed4eb4debc78ce33953a60" style="border: 0px; color: black !important; display: block; height: 32px; width: 32px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6672892444613819035" style="color: blue !important; cursor: pointer;" tabindex="0">Guru Stevan Plinck</a></div>
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Heads-up, Sera Plinck's students: If you haven't joined Guru's online training site yet, and you are a student of his at any level, you should do this. The cost is nominal, and you will learn things from it, whatever your level, trust me. I've been doing it longer than most of you, and I'm seeing things in ways I didn't see before. </div>
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Do it. </div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6672892444613819035" style="color: blue !important; cursor: pointer;" tabindex="0" target="_blank">stevanplinck.com</a></div>
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Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-5623026317528878402014-12-20T10:24:00.004-08:002014-12-20T10:24:56.188-08:00Platform<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C9VnpIfO3Xk/VJW-2SV6KlI/AAAAAAAAL4s/ZJBQqLV4vBE/s1600/pantjar%2BSWs%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C9VnpIfO3Xk/VJW-2SV6KlI/AAAAAAAAL4s/ZJBQqLV4vBE/s1600/pantjar%2BSWs%2Bcopy.jpg" height="640" width="392" /></a></div>
<br />Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-8456022829340762382014-11-23T10:26:00.001-08:002014-11-23T10:26:28.965-08:00Major Announcement<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Folks, <a href="http://www.stevanplinck.com/">Maha Guru Plinck now has his own web page.</a> This will be the official source for all things Silat Sera Plinck, and there is a membership section that will offer videos and training tips for students of various levels. The fees for this are small, and certainly any of Maha Guru's students will see the value.<br />
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The members area has a couple of placeholder vids, but there will be more to come soon.<br />
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You can get there by clicking on the link above, or the one in the sidebar.<br />
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There is also a presence on FaceBook, which you can access by plugging in his name.Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-88855577788735428752014-08-05T09:54:00.000-07:002014-08-05T09:54:16.067-07:00New Parang<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">New parang, by Jeff Crowner ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-78227940005153662722014-07-16T09:23:00.000-07:002014-07-16T16:55:10.541-07:00The Winds Blow ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Though I don't spend much time there, now and again I get a note from Silat.TV. The latest pointed me to a couple of proclamations by Willem de Thouars, who refers to himself as "Sir Willem de Thouars," and "The Manggoose of Denver." (sic).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In these posts, Willem, the brother of the late Paul de Thouars, goes on at some length about the state of Sera(k). Aside from really needing to get somebody fluent in English to edit his posts, Willem could also do with a memory refresher, since his previous posts about this subject seem to offer more than a couple of contradictions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For years, Willem disclaimed any connection with the family art. Not him, he said, <i>he</i> was Kun Tao Silat de Thouars, got his training elsewhere, wanted nothing to do with Sera(k). Didn't get along with Paul, nor Victor, and leave him alone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now, it turns out, he was actually the first de Thouars to learn the eighteen Sera(k) djurus, at the tender age of ten years, from Uncle Ventje.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Wow. Who knew? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In his latest ramblings, Willem allows that Paul told him in confidence that he wanted the lineage to go to his son, Marcelino, and so Willem has taken it upon himself to show his support for that: "MARCELINO DE THOUARS IS NOW THE HEAD OF MY BROTHERS SYSTEMS."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I knew there would be a scramble coming for those who wanted to step up and claim the lineage, said so here, and allowed as how Maha Guru Plinck wasn't interested in playing that game. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Willem's also offers his support of his "adopted serak son," Santiago Dobles, to help his nephew Marce further the arts of Sera(k) and Bukti. I have to say, I'd be surprised if Santiago doesn't step away from this in a hurry; given as how he is running Maha Guru's FaceBook page, and Willem is allowing that "Plinck has nothing to offer ..." and "a big ego."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Neither he (Stevan) nor his students are welcome in Willem's home. Don't call, don't drop 'round.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aw, gee. Really? Breaks my heart. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This was put forth, along with several other choice tidbits about how little Plinck, his arrogant students, and Paul's other students know, in a post entitled "No More Support of Stevan Plinck, By the magus of Denver" on June 30th, just past.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It would be funny, if it wasn't so sad. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, actually, it is funny <i>and</i> sad ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">UPDATE: So I reached out to Santiago in an email and asked him about this. Went back and forth. He wanted me to call him, but I said, it's a yes-or-no question: Willem said such-and-such about Guru Plinck -- do you agree? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He wasn't willing to answer in email. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Make of that what you will.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-4853408891329263322014-06-12T14:01:00.002-07:002014-06-12T14:01:47.893-07:00Steel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Check out the parang <a href="http://jeffcrownerblades.com/">Jeff Crowner</a> is building for Guru Plinck ...</span>Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-6795557344852476702014-04-19T11:46:00.003-07:002014-04-19T18:00:36.081-07:00Blade Work<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We have been working on long and short knives in combination recently. These are relative terms, "long," and "short," of course, but in this case, the short knives bear six-inch blades (15 cm) and the long ones are about 15 inches (38 cm.) Plus or minus a bit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The longer blades are shorter than a machete, but more than twice the length of the sheath-style knives, and we work them as primary and secondary tools, respectively.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Guru's comments are that these camp-length knives are apt to be more useful in urban situations than machetes or swords. Don't see a lot of folks carrying swords these days ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Length matters: the ways one uses a sword are different than the ways one uses machetes, camp-knives, belt-knives, or folders. Similar, but timing and distance have to be factored in when the reach changes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are practice blades one can buy that are the right length, but our own Todd Ellner has gotten some of that heavy-duty plastic, and sawed out some practice blades of his own, or other students' designs, one of which he did for me, pictured above. He does them in black or white. I did a little filework and some sanding to finish it, and it is as good as any of the commercial models I have seen. Heavy, thick, and able to withstand a class of banging it against similar instruments, no problem.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Other news:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I would be remiss in not pointing out that Santiago Dobles has put up a blog/web page for <a href="http://pukulanpentjaksilatseraplinck.com/">Maha Guru Plinck.</a> There is a lot of good information there, and it's worth checking out if you are a Silat Sera Plinck player. History, background, photos, contact information. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(I would also be remiss if I didn't point out that Santiago and I have had some heated disagreements, and I am not his biggest fan; however, he and Guru have their relationship, and it's not about me, it's about what serves our teacher ...)</span>Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672892444613819035.post-35672246283093439802013-11-11T11:58:00.000-08:002013-11-11T12:56:29.372-08:00The King is Dead ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Long live the King!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is the traditional announcement on the death of the king, and refers to <i>two</i> kings–the one who has just passed, and the one who replaces him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sometimes the replacement is a tad on the iffy side …</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Most of the visitors here are students of Maha Guru Stevan Plinck, and there are a couple of things I think you should know, if you don't already. Some of you have heard this before, but some have not.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When Pendekar Paul passed away, I spoke to it, briefly, knowing there would be a scramble by some of his students to see who became, in effect, the new lineage holder. There is a Board that supposedly shares the duties of continuing the system, and certificates and letters and whatnot have blossomed all over Facebook indicating who they are and how they stand in the pantheon of Bukti and Sera(k), and why they have the right to run the show. I'm not arguing with that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Silat folks have joined one faction or the other and as these things go, things will eventually sort themselves out and a <i>de facto</i> leader will likely emerge at some point and claim that he is the "real" lineage holder. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Understand, here, my teacher doesn't <i>want</i> the lineage, and is perfectly happy to go on teaching as he has been doing for decades. However, I want to set some things straight. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So ...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For those of you who don't know, Bukti Negara was originally created so that Paul could teach westerners, because Sera(k) was a closed system; he said his teacher told him he had to limit it to family, or friends who were dedicated students.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(And if you think this art sprang full-blown into the Pendekar's head complete and all of a piece? You need to rethink that. Paul was aided by his then-senior students in devising the techniques of Bukti. Nobody really talks about that, but it's true.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When I started training in Bukti eighteen years ago, Maha Guru Stevan Plinck was a senior Sera(k) student/teacher and one of the senior-most Bukti teachers. How it worked was, if a student who was diligent in his practice of Bukti and who learned the abbreviated curriculum entirely wanted to continue on, he (and even she) would be allowed to begin training in the parent art of Sera(k). The Pendekar didn't have any women students in Sera(k), but there were Bukti gurus who were female.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And from here on, I'm dropping the (k) because isn't what we do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bukti was then essentially a filter. It was fine in and of itself, but there was another whole system that was richer on the other side of that door and if you stuck with it, you could be invited through that door.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At the time I joined, Guru Plinck had only three or four students who had become Bukti gurus and were beginning to learn Sera, and those did so with Paul's approval. This is what Paul wanted, and this is what Guru Plinck did.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Somewhere along the way, the "Board" decided that Bukti teachers needed to come to SoCal every couple of years to be recertified. Since this involved paying a fee, that added a certain amount of income for those involved. Read: Paul.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Guru Plinck was asked, a couple of years after I started training, to teach a seminar back in the midwest somewhere, I recall it as being in Ohio or Indiana, but I haven't looked at that recently, so I might be off. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Bukti Board got wind of this and gave the seminar organizers a call:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We hear that you are having Guru Plinck come out to teach.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes, so?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, we can't vouch for his abilities because he hasn't come back for recertification in a while.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh, really?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So the seminar organizer passed this on to Guru Plinck, who was somewhat disturbed at the notion that he wasn't considered "qualified" to teach an art he had helped <i>create</i>, and that he needed to go test before a group of teachers, some of whom <i>he</i> had taught? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So he called Paul and asked him, what's the deal here?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And Paul essentially said, Hey, it's the Board, I have nothing to do with it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And washed his hands of the matter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Loyalty is a sword that cuts both ways.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Guru Plinck had been a dedicated student, an obedient teacher, who did as Paul told him. He waited until Paul had put out his own Bukti videos before he did one. And for his loyalty, he was rewarded by a shrug. Can't help you, it's the Board. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Which Board, of course, did exactly what Paul told it to do. And most of the members of it–if not all of them–today aren't the ones who were on it originally.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One thing that happened frequently if you were a de Thouars senior was that you were apt to fall from favor and get booted out or get which was the wind was blowing and leave on your own. Count the numbers of announced lineage holders who held that designation briefly before going away. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Guru Plinck was more than a little disturbed by Paul's lack of support. At our class the next day, he stood in front of us and told us what had happened, then said, Well, I'm no longer certified to teach Bukti Negara, so I'm just going to teach no-name silat. If that is a problem for anybody … ?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Nope, no, no problem, Guru! </i>I was on Bukti Djuru #6, as I recall, and probably a year away from being a Bukti guru, but that was fine with me, because what I knew of Sera, little as it was, was that it was a much richer art, more flowing and flexible, and where I wanted to go anyhow. From that point on, I stopped doing any of the Bukti forms, never looked back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bukti has evolved, so it doesn't look like it did when I was training it; in that day, there were no weapons-work, and the stances in the eight djurus were high and stiff. The joke was, it had been created for cripples, old people, and Americans. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Over the years since, Guru Plinck has continued to evolve his own training and teaching, has reached back and retro-engineered stances and moves based on the old-style of teachers who pre-dated the current seniors, and while what we do now bears a resemblance to what other branches of Sera(k) do, it's not the same. I call it <i>Pukulan Pentjak Silat Sera Plinck</i>, and that's how I see it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Better? Worse? Well, I know what I believe, but I won't make any claims save that I am thrilled to be in the presence of a world-class teacher who cares more about the art than the politics of it, and behaves accordingly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you are a student of Maha Guru Stevan Plinck, you should be thrilled to have that opportunity, too. </span></div>
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Steve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.com2