We're often asked if we have instructors in this location or that.  The short answer is "No."  That said, there are individuals across the country who have, to varying degrees, trained with us.  One excellent example is my dear friend, J.C. Murphy.  "Murph" lives in North Carolina.  He holds a black belt in jujitsu and a brown belt in Shotokan karate, and he trained with us regularly for more than six years.  Murph is one of the best martial artists I am privileged to know.  That said, Murph does not have his own school.  I believe any training he may continue to do, he does so either solo or with friends.  If you ran across Murph, you'd do well to see if you could train with him.  He's good -- very good.

There are also friends like Brian VanCise of Instinctive Response Training in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Brian is a great guy with a world of martial knowledge and skill who also owns and operates his own school in Alma.  He trains with a great bunch of guys and he has invited me to teach there a couple of times.  He seeks no rank or certification from me -- rather, he seeks to learn as much as he can, from as many teachers as he can find.  That is his approach to becoming the best possible martial artist he can be and, frankly, they don't get much better than that.

Another such friend is Brian Jacobs of Combat Serrada Escrima in Boston.  A more dedicated student of the arts you'd be hard pressed to find.  And you can find still others we recommend on our Links web page.  None of them do exactly what we do, but everyone of them provides excellent instruction.  If you are near any of them, we recommend training there. 

If none of those listed on our links page are near you, and you still wish to study our art, then this is what we recommend: First, read my two books, Martial Arts America (the book from my heart) and Indonesian Fighting Fundamentals (the book from my head).  These will tell you something about us -- what we teach, what we don't and why, and why we train the way we do.  Also check out our web site.  It contains many pages of useful training information.

Second, watch our videos ¹.  They show a lot of our drills and training methods -- essentially how  we train.  If you like what you see, start practicing the drills and techniques with a partner.  (You can always e-mail us with questions.)  So you know, contrary to what many might think, experience has shown that drill training provides a greater return on your training investment when practiced slower (rather than faster) 80 percent of the time.  Believe it or not, practicing slower actually makes you quicker.

The point here is that you take the material presented in the videos and make it fit YOU.   We firmly believe that the art must change to fit the man -- not the other way around.  And while we're speaking of 'fit the man', if you do not already have one, start an exercise program that includes weight training and cardio.  No martial art works without the practitioner remaining in shape.

Third, find a good school (Chinese kenpo, Jeet Kune Do, or Filipino martial arts) -- a school where you can train regularly.  Keep your mind open to the things taught there, but remain true to  your  training goals.

The most important recommendation of all those suggested here is to find a training partner and practice with him.  Apply what you find helpful in the videos, combine it with what you learn in your local school, and you'll learn a lot.

Lastly, if you visit our area on vacation or for any other reason, feel free to stop by and play with us -- no charge for playing in our regularly scheduled classes (be aware, you will have to wear a cup and a pair of good training shoes).

Organizationally, we have no national or international association.  Large organizations invariably become political, and politics always gets in the way training.  Neither do we offer any kind of long-distance learning or instructor certification program.  We offer no such training because, frankly, the quickest anyone has learned our entire system and earned a black belt certificate from us has been 7 years -- and that was with regular triweekly instruction.  It is, therefore, unreasonable for anyone training across the country or around the world to achieve the same in any less  time.  Further, for us to even attempt such a program would only cheapen the ranks of those who have diligently trained with us -- we cannot do that.

Footnotes:

1. After reading the books, we suggest studying the videos in the following order:
   • Fighting Arts of Indonesia
   • Reflex Action: Training Drills to Fighting Skills
   • Fighting Footwork of Kuntao and Silat
   • Fighting Forms of Kuntao-Silat
   [Return to reference point]