I was very lucky. I managed to slot in a podcast with Johnny Silmon whilst resting between jobs and job interviews. Please go and watch on YouTube, and if you can, like it, it helps the algorithm get the episode out.
I am very grateful to Johnny for giving me a space to chat. This is especially considerate as he is currently away with his work.
This will also answer a few FAQ about my history in the arts, etc. We managed to cover quite in an hour. Mainly about Pencak Silat and our weapon arts that we teach at KORA.
So far, all the feedback has been good; hopefully, it will generate some interest in our art.
Please pop over and like it and spread it around as much as you can.
There’s still time to make 2025 count. Begin training in martial arts that build real-world skills. They also enhance confidence and the ability to protect oneself.
Killick Off Road Arts — Saturday Training Schedule
All classes are 55 minutes.
09:00 — Three-Amigos Sword & Dagger
Short Sword • Dagger • Stick Fighting
Develop precision, coordination, and close-quarters weapon skills.
10:00 — KORA Pencak Silat
Self-defence • Sera (with a K) • MMA • Grappling
A high-energy blend of striking, clinch work, and ground control.
11:00 — Pencak Silat Sera
Traditional Sera training focuses on flow, power, and practical application.
Start now and stay ahead of the post-Christmas surge. Your training begins the moment you step onto the mat.
For most of my years studying and researching martial arts, I’ve kept detailed notes. Sometimes I took notes during training. Most often, I reflected quietly afterwards. Writing by hand helps me learn and remember. For the past four decades, I’ve kept a handwritten journal. Later, I typed everything up to store digitally.
The video below gives a great overview of my process and saves me from writing several extra pages.
As a teacher, I’ve spent years refining how I present information to each student. Everyone learns differently. I take time to understand a new student’s motivations, goals, preferences, and integrity before they join a class. I use the same care when training teachers.
Over the last six months, I’ve reshaped my class format based on insights from a recent book. The results have been excellent for my students. They have also been excellent for me.
In 2026, I plan to run more workshops and share our beautiful arts with a wider audience. If you’re curious about KORA or the arts I teach, I’d love to hear from you—please get in touch.
The intent behind my KORA classes—and, in truth, all my teaching—is simple and direct: to enable my students to disable their attackers as quickly as possible, ideally within two seconds.
That might sound like a bold mission statement, especially when my students only train with me once a week. And yes, it is ambitious. But clarity of purpose is essential when you’re teaching something as serious as self-defence.
The Roots of My Intent
My perspective comes from experience. Back in the mid-1980s, I taught a year-long combatives course to members of my Special Missions Unit (SMU). During that time, I trained and taught every single day—including shooting practice. I hardly missed a day, even through Christmas or leave periods.
Why? Because my role didn’t come with a quick reaction force waiting in the wings. If things went bad, it was up to me and my partner to get ourselves out. Those lessons were reinforced by hard experience—and by seeing what happened when others weren’t so lucky. That time was well spent, and it continues to shape how I teach today.
From Full-Time Combatives to Coaching Civilians
In the years that followed, I worked as a volunteer sports coach, teaching Boxing, Muay Thai, and MMA. Those arts are high-risk, highly specialised, and demand an intense level of commitment. Most of my athletes trained six days a week.
Now, fast forward to 2025. The core of my KORA students are recreational martial artists—people who train primarily for practical self-defence, not sport or competition. My secondary roles involve training other teachers and leading research into combative methods, but that’s a story for another time.
Why Intent Matters
When you have a tough coaching task, you need a clear intent. Without one, training can drift aimlessly.
That’s why, at the start of every school half-year (January and September), I dedicate a full hour to revisiting our intent. We break down the what, why, and how of our objectives, translating them into actionable, realistic training goals.
Students are, of course, free to pursue their own ambitions—becoming instructors, entering competitions, or simply staying fit—but our shared intent stays the same: to disable an attacker as quickly as possible.
Staying Focused and Evolving
This intent acts as our filter—a way to assess and adapt techniques, strategies, and ideas from other arts and coaches. If something aligns with our purpose, we use it. If it doesn’t, we move on.
That’s also why you’ll rarely see me—or my students—caught up in martial arts politics. We simply have more important things to do.
And the results speak for themselves. Students who trained with me years ago still demonstrate the mindset and capability we built together. With intent as our compass, we can plan, adapt, and achieve.
In our school year, every class must give 100% to achieve genuine growth. There’s still time to move ahead and make progress. I divide the year into two terms: January to August, and September to December. After forty years of experimentation, I’ve found this structure to be the most effective. It allows my students to develop real depth in the arts I teach. Each year builds on the last in a continual upward spiral of practical knowledge.
The goal is constant improvement—raising the standard a little higher each year.
With thanks to Steve Bartlett for the chart photo.
I taught something important in the sword class yesterday. It was a drill and a must-have movement. I initially dismissed this until looking at some of my 2005 Spanish short sword notes. Doble Carrera, or what we call Flamenco footwork, in our system.
The ability to move is enhanced if you are already moving, even if it’s on the spot.
I taught a lot more. I showed how this blends perfectly with our Sera. It also blends well with Sera with a K, and my unique Spanish knife research and study.
I have been thinking lately that at 60, each lesson I teach is my last. They need to be great to convey the art.
Thanks to Fabrizio Mansur Filograna for posting on his channel. Worth subscribing to if you are interested in sword fighting.
Our Values As always, we keep to our core principle: we train people who are honest. They have integrity. They also have a sound mind. That’s what makes this community special.
With the revamp of our website, we have received several queries about the Pencak Silat system we teach. I do not teach Bukti Negara or any branch of Serak from the USA. I have been a private student of a branch of Serak from the Netherlands since 2015. My guidance is under Gillvan Van Ham. He has taught me Serak, and I am currently studying Sera with him. This system integrates well with my previous martial arts and practical experience.
I teach a system focused on practical self-protection in a modern environment, which has proven to be very successful. For our Serak, I employ a modern training method. This method incorporates 21 Jurus and Langkah. It also includes their applications. We also use the KORA fence positions for self-defence, which blend seamlessly into our Pencak Silat.
The testimonials from my students speak highly of the class and my teaching methods. You can find them on this website. I foster a supportive environment that promotes student development, engagement, and, if desired, prepares them for future roles as educators.
Our training group was a private research group. Lately, we have switched to a small group setting. This allows others to try this beautiful art. Our class curriculum resets every January and September. During these times, we explore the fundamentals of our art. This gives our students more depth each year, and the students’ skill set spirals upwards.
If you are interested in more information, please contact me on the about page of this website. You can also reach out to join our group or training hubs.
My students and training partners know that since I started coaching martial arts, I have had two main interests. The first was combat sports. I coached boxing, Muay Thai, full-contact stick fighting, and also MMA as a sport.
Self-Protection Instructor
My second area of interest has been self-protection. I have moved on from my former specialist roles. Now, I mainly help members of the public to defend themselves in their local area. My current group class investigates the arts we study. It explores how best to teach them. Additionally, it focuses on how to keep my students safe in their environment.
There are always mentors you come across in your research. I have not met Stan in person. Still, by watching this podcast, it’s very clear he has a lot to offer.
This is a really great podcast. There is a lot of gold dust and wisdom in this one. Please take the time to watch it and follow Stan’s Instagram, go and train with him, etc.
Killick Off Road Arts 