”Like everything else, if it worth doing, it is difficult. There is not gratitude or accompishment in that which is given or easily obtained”
Mencoba sesuatu yang baru bagi Nathan dan Mike ternyata mengubah hidup mereka. ketertarikan berubah menjadi keingintahuan kemudian berkembang menjadi profesi, sekarang mereka berdua adalah Official Representative PERSILAT for South and North America. Nathan dan Mike menjalani proses mempelajari seni bela diri ala Merpati Putih selama bertahun-tahun, bahkan awalnya mereka pun merasa sulit. Namun seperti kata Nathan….
Like everything else, if it worth doing, it is difficult.
Saya: Can you tell us the reason why are you interested in Martial Arts (M.A.) at the first place?
Nate: I watched 1980’s ninja and kungfu movies and always wanted to be like them, but due to college and many other activities, I did not pursue them full time until I began MP. Now MP is all I can imagine doing for the rest of my life.
Mike: Also watched the ninja movies but began part-time martial arts training in 1991 and earned first black belt in 1996. Did not pursue M.A. as a profession until MP.
Saya: Since you have studied other martial arts, how about MP’s method ?, is it different than the others?
Mike: MP is like no other system of M.A. in America. Pencak Silat is very different than Karate, Jodo, TKD, etc… The training methods, beliefs, abilities and meditations are beyond anything else available today in the U.S.A. Some of our students who have also earned black belts in karate and other M.A. systems have said that our Dasar 1 Ujian Kenaikan Tingkat is more difficult than their black belt test. Then our 40+ year old members score better than the youger people sometimes. The changes inside and outside the body that MP helps people get are nothing short of amazing for the people who actually walk the MP path.
Saya: What makes Merpati Putih different?
Nate: MP has some things that NO other martial arts systems in America posess completely… maybe they have a part, but not the whole package. If there are any, they are not well known. 1) Ilmu Getaran Merpati Putih untuk Orang Buta, 2) Senam Kebugaran untuk Orang Sakit dan Orang Biasa, 3) Pencak Silat in pure form, 4) Brotherhood and family among people who never have known each other or cared for each other if not for MP, 5) Pemukulan Steel, Iron, Batu Kali, Beton Cor (not cinder bricks), Rel and tegel rangkap, efficient and effective Pengobatan (healing). As I said, there may be systems that have a part of these, but not all of these combined…. In America that is. In Indonesia, I do not know.
Saya: How about the process of learning MP? What do you think of it, was it easy? Are there any requirements or
basic characteristic to become MP’s Student?
Nate: The process is difficult, especially for Americans since we teach in bahasa Indonesia. Like everything else, if it worth doing, it is difficult. There is not gratitude or accomplishment in that which is given or easily obtained. Requirements: Peaceful Heart, Determination to becomea better person and withstand and defeat pain and trials, must be 15 years old to join MP USA, Since MP USA is a professional Martial Arts facility. Tuition is $100-$115 per month so the person must be financially responsible also. We interview and screen everyone we train so that we never train criminals, people with mental disorders, military combat personnel or cruel people.Anyone has the natural ability to learn the keilmuan of MP, but it is also dependent on their effort, conviction and willingness to release mental blocks that prevent the keilmuan from being experienced. No one can do that except for the student.
Saya: What makes Merpati Putih’s student different?
Mike: The MP USA Students is a person who is concerned with their own self-improvement and helping others. An MP USA student is a person who thinks of others before themselves, is humble and ethical as a result of proper education and always does that which is Right, with a peaceful Mind and Heart. Ego and the will to hurt other
people is not tolerated at MP USA and those who are like that are quickly reprimanded or simply ejected. Nobility, Courage, Persistence, Holiness, Peace and Loyalty are all qualities found in a good MP USA Anggota. Try to find that in another system or style of M.A. in America and you may find yourself disappointed with the results. We have seen so much Egotism in America from so-called ‘masters’ that is really gives martial arts a bad name. We are trying to change that thought.
Saya: Were you a different person now after you become MP’s student?
Nate: I can’t honestly remember much of who I was before MP. MP consumes my every action and I always act from the position of our Janji Anggota. Before, I was the typical American.. money driven, thinking money will create happiness, yet hoping there was somthing more spiritual to life. Through latihan MP, I ‘know’ there is more spiritually, and I am able to live life as a more spiritually, mentally and emotionally balanced person. Breaking Steel, Iron, Batu Kali and beton cor is also a big plus. I am more confident, more educated, more capable in every way and most important much more in touch with Alam and Allah (God).
Saya: In terms of helping Blind people, what is your short term plan?
Nate: We are planning to train up to 10 fully blind people (not from birth with some visual cortex development) in a clinincal setting under the supervision and observation of Medical Doctors to determine the efficacy of object detection and avoidance through the MP Method. We may also train some children who posess normal visual ability, such as the ones you saw at the Tuna Netra School in Jakarta at our first interview. Of course, these trainings will be free of charge until the effectiveness of the MP Method is proven medically and scientifically.
Saya: Are there any valuable lessons that you would like to share to others?
Nate: Expand yourself continually. Never stay in the same mental/emotional /spiritual place. Always try to make every day, and your experience of every moment better and more pure of heart than everything before this moment. Help other people in every way you can. Allow others to help you if you need it. If you do everything in your life from a position of Pure Unconditional Love, yours will be a life well lived. Even if you slip from this path, you can at any time rejoin this Love Path and change your life. To Quote Nike ….JUST DO IT.
Saya: People said: ”all beginnings are difficult” what do you think about that quote?
Mike: We call it the ’snowball’ effect. I know that has very little equivalent in Indonesia since there is no snow, but with snow, when you make a ball of it with your hands and then roll it down a hill, it collects more and more snow and gets bigger and bigger. That is the nature of anything ‘new and exciting’. First is may be hard to get it rolling, but once it starts rolling down the mountain and gathering more and more speed, force and size, it sustains itself, feeds itself and is then a giant snowball that everyone recognizes, where before it was just a little ball of snow that no one could really see. We may be running up a hill, but as long as we keep puching, keep running and are nevver going back down, we are making progress, helping others and living our lives to the fullest.
Saya: Your Favorite quote?
Nate: “The only limitation of a human being is in the belief that we are in any way limited.” -Robert A. Monroe, Founder of The Monroe Institute, Faber, Virginia, USA
Mike: “Asik Asik Aja Coi!!!!” -Mas Haryadi Sulaiman, Tingkat Khusus II, Pelatih of Mas Nate and Mas Mike Zeleznick.
Teks: Trishanty Rondonuwu
