Sunrise: 31st October 1964. Sunset: 31st December 2022.
I have met many great people over forty years via my involvement in martial arts, and Bancroft was one such person. I heard about him long before I met him in the late 1980s; he had a reputation as a fearsome fighter and a great martial artist.
In 2013, Bancroft joined my small closed-door group to Study Pentjak Silat Pukulan Sera. It was early in our evolution, and we were still trying to decipher what our teacher was showing us and replace our old training methods with the new teachings.
Bancroft quickly became our group’s central core member; his advice and help were invaluable as we moved forward in the art. Not long after that, he became an elder in our group, an encourager to many group members.
Bancroft studied many things; he was a great kickboxer, an excellent full-contact stick fighter with a great understanding of our Silat, and a teacher of the Ilustrisimo sword. Post-pandemic, I helped convince Bancroft to teach people his sword and weapons system, and he took on a few students outside his immediate family and friends as private students. His classes were excellent, challenging, and insightful. He had no slack or wasted movement and a mountain of patience. He was learning and refining how to teach and improving how he presented the art.
Bancroft was fantastic in person; he looked after his friends and encouraged everyone. A keen mind and always willing to debate any subject. In our private lessons, we often stopped to discuss a point or a topic of the day.
Bancroft’s passing has left a big hole in our group, and it is heart-breaking. A few of us did attend his funeral, meet his wonderful family and friends, and give him a good send-off. Bancroft was a martial artist who was very able with empty hands and weapons and a teacher of several systems. In our Silat system, we say the goal is to be normal, Bancroft was, but he was also an extraordinary human being.
In remembrance of Bancroft and as a tribute to him, each first lesson of the New Year will be named after him, and we will cover a subject he liked from one of the many systems he studied. We also plan to do a gathering in the park at some point in the Summer.
Richard Killick 15th April 2023.
Killick Off Road Arts 
His passing has left an indellible mark on my psyche. I encouraged him to teach for so many years. I wish I could have seen him do that.
Thank you for this write up Rich of someone I considered not only a close friend but a brother too.
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Thanks, Doug; he left a big hole in our group and in our hearts. Still feel it, still missing him every day and at every class, and I suspect that will not change. He was a great person and left a wonderful legacy; we will keep going as a group, despite feeling like we just want to stop. Our way of honouring him.
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