The Chinese-Indonesian Martial Arts Club has been operating in the Alexandria/Franconia area since 2003. Classes for ages 13 and up are offered through the Fairfax County Parks authority at both Lee District and South Run RECenters, and supplemental classes are offered for no additional charge at the instructor's home. Training focuses on handling single and multiple opponents. The primary focus is on empty-hand skills, but both edged and blunt weapons are also taught (both practical weapons like knife and stick, and traditional Chinese weapons like sword, staff, and three-section staff).
The system, Liu Seong Gung Fu is a combination of southern Chinese (Hokkien) gungfu and Indonesian (Javanese) pentjak silat (aka pencak silat), hybridized into a single cohesive system by Willem A. Reeders (also known as Liu Seong), a man of Dutch-Chinese descent who grew up in Indonesia learning both his family's white crane-based gungfu system and local silat systems.
Erik Harris, the head instructor, has been training in Indonesian and Chinese martial arts since 1984, and has been studying Liu Seong Gung Fu since 1990. More information on the club can be found at http://www.kungfu-silat.com
