Bram thank you for your kind and encouraging words. I can promise you that we will continue to try to be good citizens of this community.
The wisdom of the rice plant sounds like a good teaching.
I believe the biggest obstical to humility is to embrace humility while at the same time being obliged to fend off attacks.
Humility is not appropriate when one is being attacked. This is the philosphy of pacifists, and I don't believe any of us here embrace that philosophy.
In times of peace and mutual respect, humility is, and should be, king.
You have made us aware of things we have said which may have caused offense.
I do believe you have exaggerated and distorted the contentious issues to make them more acute, but that is another matter.
Let me state now that I have the highest respect for anyone who has cultivated themselves in this art, and displays good character. I pay Hormat to the late Pendekar Suwanda, and hope that the style he founded flourishes.
I feel that our camp can and should be reflexive to the sensitivities of others, and moderate our speech accordingly. If we are not forced to respond to allegations, this task will be much easier.
In other words, please stop provoking us so that we can display this humility of which you speak.
It is a tremendous waste of time to indulge in negative energy. I need to have positive support from others in the Silat community. I need pointers and feedback on how to train my students in kelids. I need to know more about the terminology and spelling of words. I need to know the nuance of the differences between various aliran and philosophies. I need to know more about the place of Silat in Indonesian culture.
Everything I learn here I share with many students. It is unfortunate I haven't been able to learn much so far, but hopefully this will change.
Now about D...
Until he reveals his identity, I will continue to believe he is Jeff Davidson. We may have stepped on some toes recently on the internet, but the only two people who are our longstanding enemies, and have reason to go after us are Davidson and the De Thuars.
The things D says are pure slander. If you really want to know, it would be simple to ask Pendekar Hassan of Pendekar Banten if he sold a certificate made out to William Sanders or not.
Sanders says he never paid a single penny for his certificate, not even for the postage to have it sent to him.
I believe Bill Sanders because I have known him for a long time, and he has always been honest with me about everything- even things which were potentially embarassing and damaging. he has been consistent with telling me the same things and being honest and open for 13 years.
So it's ridiculous for some anonymous person on the internet to invent an unfounded story under the pretense of opening my eyes to one of my best friends.
And I have to agree with Michael; Sanders' various Pendekar certificates have never been a point of focus for me, and they have only been dragged into the center of attention by all of this crap. Even if his certificates came from the back of a cracker-jack box, I would still be in awe over the way he moves and fights. Every day I feel lucky that he is my teacher.
I am open to accepting other teachers as well.
Best regards,
Russian Silat
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