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Review Page: Indonesian Fighting Fundamentals
By Jon Broster, Nottinghamshire, UK,
February, 2000

If you train in any South East asian martial art then this book is an essential read.  It covers the art of Willem de Thouars ...  The book is almost totally devoid of any specialist terminology, I think that there are only two Indonesian words used throughout the entire text, this makes it very accessible to almost any reader.  The book is broken up into chapters based around a series of principles, each of which is explained in some depth and illustrated with example techniques.  I found these chapters to be very interesting.  They filled in many gaps in my own knowledge, by explaining the principles which underpin the techniques common to many SE Asian systems.  The result is that many of the methods that I used previously have been considerably enhanced.  The principles covered are: Adhesion, Petjut (whiplash), Gyroscopic Rotation, Shearing and Seating.

There are also chapters on: jurus, kuntao, training drills, the difference between kuntao and silat, magic and mysticism, the mustika kweetang style and Willem de Thouars himself.  In the chapter titled "Peanut Brittle" the author takes drills from Filipino arts and uses them to practise the Indonesian arts.

There is only one real drawback with this book, and that is the price, around $40.00.

Verdict: highly recommended.

 
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by Bob Orlando
Web Site of Bob Orlando: Instructor in Kuntao-Silat (Chinese kuntao and Dutch-Indonesian pukulan pentjak silat), author of two popular martial art books: "Indonesian Fighting Fundamentals" and "Martial Arts America: A Western Approach to Eastern Arts"; and producer of four martial art videos: Fighting Arts of Indonesia, Reflex Action, Fighting Footwork of Kuntao and Silat, Fighting Forms of Kuntao-Silat. Offering practical martial arts instruction to adults living in and throughout the Denver metropolitan area including, Lakewood, Littleton, Morrison, and Golden Colorado.