Silat Club Martial Arts

Guru Karl Westin Bolz (Mas West) is from Charlotte, NC, and a licensed general contractor by trade. He began formal martial arts training in 1991 during college at UGA. He earned his black belt in American Kenpo under Steve Gresham and Dr. James Tindall. After studying Kenpo, Muay Thai, Kung Fu, FMA, and Jiu Jitsu, he was exposed to a rare art called Pencak Silat Serak.

In 1999, he met Maha Guru Victor de Thouars, commonly known as Pak Vic. Pak Vic was a Dutch-Indo engineer by trade, who taught and preserved this elite close combat art that was passed down through his family. Pak Vic passed away in 2017, Guru West was fortunate to spend several days with him in his final week.

Upon experiencing this Indonesian martial system that was directly effective but used subtle movements, Guru West dropped his other martial studies to focus on learning this rare treasure. He found the organization and breadth of the system daunting, but fascinating. It is a martial arts style that does not rely on power or strength but on awareness of position and direction, upsetting the opponents balance as the trap is closed. It has many Langkahs, or specific footwork patterns that are increasingly efficient and effective. Serak also incorporates weapons training and defense, including blade, stick, staff, sai, sarong and more.

Since 1999 Guru West has shared this unique art to a select few students, and he also continues learning under Pendekar Pak Vic’s lineage holder, Maha Guru Horacio Rodriguez. Guru West is the highest ranking practitioner under the Maha Guru.

In 2017, he launched Silat Club, the first online training course that presents the curriculum of Pencak Silat Serak publicly. Silat Club has members worldwide learning the foundations of this exotic close combat martial art.