#kuntao

Larry Hartsell (front left) and my teacher (front right)

Hartsell was one of Bruce Lee’s original students, a black belt under Ed Parker, an army veteran — and a pioneer in Shoot Wrestling, Catch, Judo, and Jiu Jitsu.

This past weekend was a whirlwind.

On Saturday, I attended an all-day Silat Suffian Bela Diri seminar with Maul Mornie. Guru Maul is *insane.* He moves the way only someone raised in an art can. Silat is part of him — so ingrained in his nervous system that it’s like breathing.

Before he started teaching his system publicly 10 years ago, it was only taught within his village — passed from parent to child. It’s incredibly well preserved as a result. True to the source. If you ever get the chance to train with Guru Maul, don’t pass it up.

On Sunday, I tested for my purple belt in Filipino Kuntao — one of the primary arts in my personal expression of JKD.

To pass the test, I had to defend myself from:

The jab/cross combination (with eight variations)

Front and rear bear hugs

Rear chokes

Front chokes

Chokes from mount

Front headlock

Side headlock

Hair pulling

Knife attacks (with a live blade)

Club attacks

Baseball bat attacks

And perform a ton of takedowns — all against resisting opponents. I’m *covered* in bruises.

The purple belt means I have Kuntao. The next two belts — brown and black — concentrate on refining the concepts and techniques we learn as white, yellow, and purple belts.