Liu Seong Kuntao

Liu Seong Kuntao

The Liu Seong System is one of the many styles of Kuntao Silat, which are hybrid martial arts systems derived from the cultures of China and Indonesia. The Liu Seong system was brought to America, from Indonesia, by Willem A. Reeders (1917-1990).

Reeders was of mixed heritage, being of Dutch and Chinese blood, but raised in Indonesia. He received training in a variety of martial arts, no one knows how many exactly. His primary teacher was his great uncle Liu Seong, whose title he bore. His uncle taught him his family's Kuntao system, a sophisticated form of fighting which focuses on close range technique. Reeders also studied many silat systems, having over ten silat teachers. His silat styles included Tjikalong (Cikalong), Tjimande (Cimande), Harimau, and Serak, among others. Reeders was an extremely accomplished martial artist who was able to tie many focal elements of various arts together into a cohesive whole. The result is an art that although bearing many similarities to many well known arts still retains a distinctive identity with its own signature movements, strategies, and tactics. It is based firmly in an objective approach, based on the principles of physics, anatomy, and psychology. The patterns of movement are designed to be extremely effective and one hallmark is the ability to throw a large volume of attacks very rapidly.

Today, Liu Seong Kuntao / Liu Seong Gung Fu is thinly spread throughout the United States, with instructors offering variations of the art in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Tennessee,Toronto, and Virginia.