Zenshida'i
  • Zen
  • Shi
  • Da'i

Picture
"AWAKENING is the Way of the Deathless;
Non-awakening is the way of death.
The Awakened do not die;
The non-awake live as though already dead.
"


Siddhartha Gautama, the Lord Buddha
~ Dhammapada ~

zenshida'i

Zenshida'i Silat-Serak (ZSS) is a holistic martial-religious tradition for the modern man. The Three-fold Path of the Zenshida'i was designed specifically for westerns in the modern world; it fuses ancient traditions with a modern understanding of biology and psychology, and does so by viewing the principles and disciplines of the past with a critical mind, retaining only what is most critical. This path entails, as its description implies, three aspects: meditation (chan), austerity (kuxing), and self-mastery (zizhangwo)- the last path of which is Zenshida'i Silat-Serak. Finally, each of these aspects is deeply rooted in the principles and disciplines of Mahayana Buddho-Taoism.

Zenshida'i history

Cimande Pencak Silat-Serak dari Zenshida’i- or simply Zenshida’i Silat-Serak- is a fusion of silat and gong fu, including elements of both major Chinese traditions- that is, both neijia and waijia, or from both the Wudang Temple (Wudang Quan) and the Shaolin Temple (Shaolin Quan)-, not to mention elements of kali, weapons training, and body mechanics rooted in the physical practices of Mahayana Buddho-Taoism. The Zenshida’i tradition’s martial bloodline includes:
​
  • Hui Kem Bon, Willy Wetzel’s Chinese master, who was a master of both Wudang Quan and Shaolin Quan, and who fused them with the silat of Mas Jut in Cimande, near Bandung, Java, Indonesia (Cimande Pencak Silat);
  • Willy Wetzel (Cimande Pencak Silat);
  • Gale Shotsinger (Cimande Pencak Silat-Serak); Michael Patterson (Xingyiquan); Brian van Cise (IRT, kali & various weapons); Gusman Wiranata (Bakti Negara Pencak Silat); & John Sokolsky (Pentjak Silat Poekoelan Tjimandi Batin);
  • Joshua van Asakinda (Cimande Pencak Silat-Serak dari Zenshida’i).​​

This fusion of influences should come as no surprise since ZSS traces its lineage to Cimande Pencak Silat. And that art has always been referred to as a "broken mirror system"- a term coined by none other than Willy Wetzel. After all, Willy Wetzel's art- or rather, the art he was taught by his Chinese master Hui Kem Bon- included elements from a vast array of martial arts styles, including not only silat, but also judo, gong fu, and chuan fa, not to mention Bagua Zhang & Xing Yi Quan. Today, Cimande Pencak Silat still retains terminology from these other arts, including, for instance, the term chi sau, a practice that has been common in China for generations in spite of being made famous only relatively recently via Wing Chun and Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do.

Incidentally, this previously-mentioned lack of cohesion mixed with the chaotic history of its transmission may have been at least partly at fault for the original art's descent into obscurity- not to mention the untimely murder of its patriarch Willy Wetzel. For this reason, Joshua van Asakinda has reorganized the martial system into three tiers: kuntau, bela diri, & pencak silat-serak. This increases clarity and simplifies the transmission: kuntau pertains generally to formal training; bela diri pertains generally to novel applications of formal training; pencak silat-serak pertains generally to the spontaneous fusion of higher-level applications of combat principles. Zenshida'i Silat-Serak is therefore designed to be both simpler and more systematic than its predecessor Cimande Pencak Silat.

CERTIFIED INSTRUCTORS
Joshua van Asakinda, Zenshida'i Grandmaster
+1(702)918-2171
Las Vegas, NV
Certified to instruct: Kuntau, Bela Diri, Pencak Silat-Serak

Jazz Peterson, Zenshida'i Disciple
+1(310)876-9003
Las Vegas, NV
Certified to instruct: Kuntau


Picture

Joshua van Asakinda

a biography

Joshua van Asakinda was born 22 September, 1979 near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He holds a master's degree from American Military University, and a bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh, where he studied psychology and philosophy. During that time, he began developing a new theory of self-realization, which has inspired a number of books. For many years, he traveled the world; now he looks forward to making his vision a reality. Finally, he is a Buddhist, and First of the Zenshida’i, creator of Cimande Pencak Silat-Serak dari Zenshida'i.
Joshua van Asakinda

Joshua van Asakinda
+1(702)918-2171
zenshidai.silat.serak@gmail.com

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Zen
  • Shi
  • Da'i