HeartLess Monkey Knife III

This is a great series that just keeps getting better. This material is all
taken from advanced instruction classes and workshops, so it is far advanced
from the common ideas of knife-fighting. You won't see any 'Hollywood' stuff
here- it's gritty, brutal and efficient.

It's sometimes hard for me to remember just how weird this stuff is until
you see Uncle Bill express a skill that you've never even thought of before.
HMKIII is full of that kind of stuff- small tricks and concepts that you
wonder why you never thought of.
 

The footwork in knife skill is of primary importance. How you enter your
opponent is tremendously important when any touch from him can wound or
kill. After you enter him, you must neutralize his weapons and his defenses.
In HMKIII, Uncle shows more sophisticated leg attacks that set up the
neutralization of the weapon and the opponent's defenses against your
weapon. He shows a scope of 'gripping' the knife and the particular
applications that the grip allows.
 

Uncle shows fa-jing with the knife as well as the body colliding art and the
development of 'energetics' as applied to a weapons' skill.

All in all, this is a good one. The new digital camera, sound, editing
software and reproduction equipment has taken the production values to a new
standard. The material has always been very strong, and now the technology
is beginning to catch up and not be a distraction- Gartin's done another
helluva job.
 

This is a review of the DVD series produced by Steve Gartin and Chas Clements, et. al., practitioners of the Indonesian-based art of Kuntao-Silat entitled Heartless Monkey Knife, volume III.

ThunderRock Backyard Productions is an in-house video presentation put together by Steve.

This title opens with some spectacular scenes of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and segues into some backyard training with Willem de Thouars and one of his senior students. For a technical explanation of the style, refer to an excellent article by Chas Clements made in 1983. http://www.nakededgecutlery.com/monkeyknife.htm

Next we see an impromptu free-form single knife pattern performed by the amazing 69 year old Willem de Thouars. This form, which some styles call 'Kembangan' (http://www.buktinegara.com/kembangan.html) or 'Kembaggan' as Steve calls it, which consists of flowing, flexible moves representing fighting actions against imaginary enemies.

From (http://www.doblesinstitute.com/wst_page7.html):

"Kembangan - The Flower Dance - Historically the Kembangan was designed to display the mastery of the art of Silat. In some circles its performance is used as a ritual offering to gurus, spirits, deities and higher powers. The dancer with the most finesse and control over the motion and the mental attitudes was considered to be a great warrior. Some Silat masters say that the Kembangan itself teaches the warrior how to fight. Distinctive to this dance is the portrayal of archetypes such as various animals and deities. The warrior learns to emulate the various archetypes and in doing so adopts at an innate level the qualities and strengths of these archetypes. In some instances it has been used throughout history to camouflage the martial sciences from colonists. Kembangan teaches flow and self-expression. It helps students develop smoothness and subtlety in their Silat. In a Kembangan the student moves through fighting positions and applications in subtle manner much like tai chi. The Silat player uses, subtle energy (Prana), combative motions, timing, balance, fighting strategy, distinctive mental states and attitudes. It helps them harness emotional stability and mental focus, which in turn sharpens his awareness as a fighter. With practice the Kembangan enables the Silat player to hypnotize and mesmerize his adversary."

Following this we are taken to one of Willem's outdoor classes where he adeptly shows several methods of unbalancing the opponent using 'soft' energy, and positioning of the body against the typical knife thrust, using training knives. The participants seem to be having a great time with lots of laughter and enjoyment of the training. Again we see the incredible agility and simple movements that Willem has come to typify. He shows a number of clever knife disarms, and follow-ups, both in normal speed and in step motion. What's interesting to see is his occasional flurry of motion and explosiveness, very deceptive for a man near 70 years old. The students appear to appreciate his patience and good humor throughout the training.

From this he moves into some nice unbalancing and trips and leg sweeps, showing how little energy it takes once there is proper positioning against the opponent's base. In a humorous, but interesting section he shows how one can fight as he calls it, as a 'coward', using a deceptive method of attacking the base of the supporting leg. Finally he goes over some body colliding, 'soft' moves of unbalancing.

The next segment moves to a new locale and the students work with Willem with some knife disarms, Steve shows some counters against a thrust by the Kukri blade, and Willem takes over again and shows some stick disarms and takedowns.

This is a nice follow-up to the previous title in the series and shows the fluidity and grace of the style. It’s a worthy addition to collection of the Silat student.

 Badger South

Last modified: 01/24/08