A Figure of Controversy...

By Steven

One of the big, perennial controversies in the Pencak Silat community has revolved around the figure of Bapak Sera. The popular history put forth about him states that he was a one-armed, club-footed warrior of the Inner Badui, a rather unusual group in Indonesia. Sadly, there are some issues with that story. Personally, I don't think its the background story that makes the martial art. What's important is whether or not it works for its practitioners, and produces people who are a credit to the style.

There are few resources out there that hint at an alternate history for this Bapak Sera, but here's what I have come across so far...

Steven Plinck, one of the more respected American teachers of Pencak Silat stated that a student of Maurice de Thouars (oldest of the de Thouars brothers and the only one to have remained in the Netherlands) indicated that Sera was a nickname of a man whose real name was Eyang Hisak, aka H. Muhroji.

Steven Plinck also stated that some believed Bapak Sera was born in Cirebon, on the north coast of Java, some 130 miles east of Jakarta.

Both Steven Plinck and Willem de Thouars have indicated that family records show Bapak Sera's training included the art of Pencak Silat Banteng, from the area of Serang, in NW Java.

Bapak Willem de Thouars states that Bapak Sera was born in Cirebon in 1860. He further states that his student, Mas Jud (who is another figure of great controversy) had dealings with the Outer Badui.

Bapak Victor de Thouars gives an alternate birth year of 1783, with his death occuring in 1885.
Pendekar William Sanders cites a book, Learning Silat, by Mr. R. Asikin, which states that Mbah Kahir, the creator of Pencak Silat Sera, Pamacan and Cimande, had a well-known student named “'Bapak Sera', who had many students in Depok, Bogor, Jakarta, Tangerang, and Banten.” He said that when he spoke to historians at Cimande Village, they suggested that this man was likely an early student of Mbah Kahir who was fond of his earliest art and had “Bapak Sera” as his nickname.

O'ong Maryono, well-known for his scholarship and skills in Pencak Silat, indicates that Sera appears to be a Betawi (or Jakarta) style heavily influenced by Kuntao (Indochinese martial arts).

Its unlikely we'll ever know for sure who this man really was, or much of his actual history, but I tend to give quite a bit of credence to some of the above information. I lean towards the birth date of 1783. The information from Mr. Asikin is likely to be good, as he has nothing really at stake in presenting it. His book was not about Pencak Silat Sera, specifically. The thing is...Mbah Kahir started teaching Cimande around 1760, and died in 1825. If this man, Bapak Sera, studied with Mbah Kahir, he had to be born well before 1860. It might well be that he had dealings with the Outer Badui. Over time, this connection may have become more important in family history. The Sera of the de Vries and de Thouars families does not bear a lot of resemblance to the art of Sera as seen in the practice of Pendekar Sanders' Pencak Silat Pukulan Cimande Pusaka or in the Suwanda family's art of Pencak Silat Mande Muda. The idea that this man had also trained in Pencak Silat Banteng could account for this difference. O'ong Maryono's observations could indicate influence from yet another, as yet unknown(?) source.