Arts & Journey
In its purest form, martial arts manifest very beautiful philosophical ideas. To me, a true martial artist is the one who understands his true-self and be able to control (fight) bad part of himself. Growing up in my father's pencak silat padepokan (dojo), I have been fascinated with the world of martial arts since a very young age. I earned the rank of Pendekar at the age of 15 years old from a famous pencak silat school, Persaudaraan Setia Hati Terate (PSHT). This style is based on the teaching of Bpk. Hardjo Oetomo, a respected silat guru and a national hero of Indonesia. Since then, I had been teaching pencak silat in East Java.
"Gerak lahir luluh oleh gerak batin, gerak batin tercermin oleh gerak lahir".
(English: Physical strength can be defeated by inner strength, inner strength is reflected by physical strength)
In my mid 20s, I started to train in boxing under a national boxing coach, Normand Robert in Montreal. During occasional visits to Indonesia, I further learned pencak silat under Bpk. Bambang Dwi Tunggal, a second generation in Hardjo Oetaman style, at Persaudaraan Setia Hati Pilangbango (PSHP) in Madiun, also known as Setia Hati Pencak Sports Club (SH PSC). My training was focused on advanced jurus, kerambit and lock techniques. I earned another Pendekar directly from him in 2022.Â
Due to the emergence of mixed martial arts (MMA) in the west, I became interested in different arts especially jiu-jitsu and tang soo do. I was honored a silver medal at the 43rd Canadian Open Martial Arts Championships. I am now the Chief Instructor at Cambridge Pencak Silat where I have trained 60+ people in England; and an associate member of Pencak Silat Federation of United Kingdom (PSF UK).
