Pendekar setting the record straight.

Over the years, there have been statements made by individuals who have either used my name or my status in the martial arts community or have benefited from association with me either by name or having been a student. Statements concerning lineage and the history of Serak have been twisted and manipulated for personal gain or ego. For a multitude of reasons I did not correct them when statements were made just to keep the peace. These statements have been completely erroneous or a fabricated mixture of truth and fantasy. I give my sincerest apologies to the worldwide martial arts community for allowing or ignoring these statements just trying to keep the general peace. I would like to correct these previous statements. This historical background I give is solely based on my personal knowledge and accounts from my teacher, the late John de Vries.

There is not much known about Pak Serak. Yes there are many stories of the Badui tribe in Indonesia. I have heard additional stories of Pak Serak that he was a horse trader coming from Persia. Another story is Pak Serak came form Sumatra. I’m sure there are so many stories or fantasies circulating out there now that we cant keep track anymore, especially since we now have the Internet. We will never know what the real story is. 

My teacher, John de Vries, rarely spoke about the history of Pak Serak. My teacher was a student of Mas Djut, aldo my teacher spoke about Pak Serak he mostly told me stories about Mas Djut. 

Mas Djut had no involvement with the Badui according to my teacher John de Vries 

My grandfather, the late Johann De Vries trained in a different martial art with no relation to the Badui or Serak. He trained in the style of Si Pecut and never brought his nephews (John and Ernest de Vries) to Mas Djut. 

For the record, my teacher the late John De Vries worked at the Dutch railroad SS (Staats Spoorwegen –State Railroads) in Indonesia as a supervisor where he met Mas Djut. Mas Djut was a foreman at the railroad. My teacher John De Vries heard that Mas Djut was a (silat) teacher and fierce fighter. He challenged Mas Djut and after Mas Djut defeated him, he began training in Serak. Uncle John trained for 12 years. The late Ernest (Ventje) De Vries trained with Mas Djut for 9 years and also studied a period with Mas Rhun. This is how the De Vries family came to be part of the Serak lineage.

This is what I know about the history, I never asked much about it to my teacher John de Vries, why? I trained with my teacher because of love for the art not knowing that so many years later history on this matter would be so important. Secondly, in those days, it was most disrespectful to ask many questions to your teacher.I could have never imagined Serak would be that well known in the world. I almost certainly didn’t think people would fabricate such stories to elevate their status and abuse the name of Sera(k), let alone turn it into a commercial enterprise. By.Pendekar Paul De' Thouars