Bapak Flohr
Bpk W. L. Flohr was born on March 24th of 1923 in Kertosono, East-Java, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and passed away on February 19th of 1998, in Breda, Holland.
Many knew him as “Paatje”.
Hospitable, attentive, respectful, and open to others, he brought the Pukulan from the Indonesian Dutch colonies to Holland, in the heart of Europe
More notable were his technical qualities: his powerful whip-like movements, his heavy blows, his hard shins, his short distance combinations, practical solutions, and an unequalled application of the langkah. This all made him earn the respect from all who knew him.
With him, Pencak Silat in Holland reached its highest level.
During the years he held many official titles:
- Technical Commissioner B. P. S. I
- Technical Director I. P. S. F. “Pakubuwana”
- Technical counsellor N. P. S. B.
- Head Technical Counsellor (Ju Jitsu and Karate)
- Technical counsellor World Ju Jitsu Federation Holland.
- Golden Medal of honour, in the order of oranje nassau.
Always ready to share his knowledge with others – without ever asking for any money and simply for passion – many Dutch Martial Artists were lucky enough to study under him.
Through his knowledge and skill he became not only well known in the Pencak Silat world, he was also respected by karate, thai/kickboxers, kung fu practitioners, boxers etc.
Between the 70s and 80s, Bpk Flohr had a lot of students train in his attic, and the art itself evolved during that time.
At the beginning of the 80s, under the supervision of Bpk Flohr, the school was divided in two: Pukulan Madura under the guidance of Peter Valenteijn and Pukulan Pecutan under the guidance of Hans van den Broek.
Bpk Flohr designed the logos of the two new schools.
In 1985 Hans moved to Schagen for work, and a few of his students (Walter van den Broeke amongst them) started to train directly with Bpk Flohr.
