History of styles
During his 40 years of practice, Walter van den Broeke, studied various styles of Pukulan and Serak, and had the honor of being trained by some of the most experienced teachers and elders in these arts. From the beginning of his training, in 1978, Walter documented all the arts he learned and the styles he practiced by noting principles, exercises and tactics used. To date, 40 years later, we can certainly claim to have an immense amount of information on these styles of Pukulan and Serak.
Pukulan Madura Combinasi was the style of Bp. WL Flohr . This name was created in the Netherlands in the mid-70s. Combined styles that Bp. WL Flohr trained with several teachers in the Dutch Indies, of which the last teacher and the most influential was Bp MA Hoessin. Previous to this name Bp. WL Flohr called what he simply taught by the name of Pukulan. His art had no specific Juru(forms) or Langhkah(footwork) and was taught differently depending on the student’s background, experience, martial background, interests, character, and the confidence the teacher felt he was giving the student.
The Pencak Silat Pukulan Pecutan was created by BP. WL Flohr to be able to make his art usable and to be able to teach it in a school or gym. Between the mid-1970s and the early 1980s, this style was taught in Breda (NL) by one of the BP assistants. WL Flohr, HJ van den Broek. When HJ van den Broek closed the school and moved to another city, six of his students (D. Flohr, J. Joore, J. Schonenberg, A Buitenlaar, R. Volkert and Walter van den Broeke) came under the supervision direct of Bp. WL Flohr, in this phase several modifications and additions were made to the Pukulan Pecutan by Bp. WL Flohr.
The Pukulan Pak Flohr Cabang Serak contains the updated curriculum of Pukulan Pecutan. The decision to change the name was taken for several reasons, the most important to pay tribute to the founder BP. WL Flohr . The addition of the Cabang Serak suffix refers to Walter’s connections with this style.
Permainan Serak Uncle Ernest (Ventje) de Vries , is the art, alongside its variation Pukulan, of the late Uncle Ernest (Ventje) de Vries, learned from Mas Djut and Mas Run in Indonesia.
Pukulan Pak Serak is the art that Uncle Dolf de Vries learned from his father Uncle Ernest (Ventje) de Vries. It consists of specific Pukulan Pak Serak Jurus, completely different from what is called Permainan Jurus, Langhkah or other forms of training.
The Permainan MDT Serak is the art of Uncle Maurice de Thouars learned from Uncle Ernest (Ventje) and Uncle John de Vries . Uncle MDT taught different variations of this lineage to different students over the years. We refer to what was taught to Uncle Harry James de Vries during the 1980s by MDT.
The Permainan PDT Serak is the art of Uncle Paul de Thouars learned from Uncle John de Vries .
The Pukulan Pentjak Silat Bukti Negara was created by Uncle Paul de Thouars to be able to share his knowledge of the Serak without breaking his promise to John de Vries .
The Pukulan Pentjak Silat Bukti Negara – The Unified Art – (BN) is the union of 2 arts and three teachers; Uncle Dolf de Vries as head of the family for de Vries and Uncle Paul de Thouars . This union took place in Leiden in Holland in the summer of 2011. Uncle Dolf de Vries, Uncle Harry James de Vries and Uncle Paul de Thouars agreed to work together to promote Bukti Negara as a common art. Uncle Paul de Thouars appointed Walter as Technical Advisor for Serak and Bukti Negara.