History of Silat in the USA – Part 1

Silat has had a long history in the USA starting from the 1960’s. Unlike other martial arts (Karate, Taekwondo, Muay, Thai, etc) that originate from a single country, Silat’s motherland includes at least 4 countries (not including parts of Thailand and Philippines) that span over 865,220 square miles. Because of this, America’s first encounters with Silat can be recounted through several parallel stories – each with its own unique narrative. In this 3 part series, we will cover America’s first exposure to Silat through three different entities:  The De Thouars, Pak Herman Suwanda and Al-Azhar Indonesian Martial Arts.  

The De Thouars Brothers 

One of the first group of Silat experts to land in America were the De Thouars family who practiced a West-Javanese style called Silat Serak. The De Thouars consisted of 4 brothers: Maurice, Paul, Victor and Willem who were half Indonesian, half French/Dutch. They were born in Eastern Java during a turbulent time in history. Their father was taken as a prisoner by the Japanese which forced their family out of East Java to relocate to West Java after finally reuniting with their father. 

After the Indonesian Independence in 1945, the Dethours family moved to Holland, only to be greeted by internal conflicts between the Dutch Indonesians and the native Dutch citizens exacerbated by the end of World War II. Misunderstandings of customs and traditions, as well as overcrowding in Holland forced the De Thouars family to immigrate to Russia, Europe, South America and eventually to America. 

The brothers were eventually reunited in America, although some came later than others. Victor and Paul arrived in the USA on May 11, 1960 and began teaching Silat Serak in Los Angeles. They stayed in California, began to teach and train Silat together in the new continent.

While the oldest brother Maurice came and eventually moved back to Holland, the others remained in the USA and integrated to American society. The second oldest brother Guru Paul began developing a style called Silat Bukti Negara, which was his own special art that combined Silat Serak with other martial arts teachings. It was Guru Paul’s way to promote Silat without breaking his promise to his teacher not to teach Silat Serak to non-family members. Before Guru Paul passed away in 2013, he made sure the style Bukti Negara was assigned to a board of directors who are responsible for expanding public awareness and maintaining its traditional forms and principles.

The third brother also became a well-known martial arts practitioner. Guru Victor fought in Vietnam, and later earned a PhD in engineering while continuing to train Silat Serak. He authored several books and videos on Silat Serak and combat Silat. Dan Inosanto was one of Victor’s high profile students. Dan Inostanto was a training partner of Bruce Lee and appeared in several films including Bruce Lee’s “Game of Death”. 

Guru Victor de Thouars passed away 5 years later on August 31, 2017.

Guru William, currently the only surviving member of the De Thouars brothers, came later to the United States. He arrived in Colorado in 1964. and began introducing kuntao (a form of Silat with Chinese origin) to the martial arts community of Colorado. William came from a different lineage of Serak teachers than his brothers and he popularized his version of Serak in the midwest. William is now 85 years old and still teaches small classes. 

Unfortunately, due to the various lineages and Guru Paul’s personal style of Bukti Negara, there has been some contention between the different students of the de Thouars family. Yet Silat Serak and Bukti Negara are still practiced and taught today in the USA by various students of the de Thouars brothers.

Read part two – History of Silat in America: Pak Herman Suwanda