Many teachers, one system
Serbatik
The System
A Synthesis, Not a Sampler
Serbatik is the name of our martial family. The art is a synthesis of twelve traditions — Pekiti Tirsia Kali, Pentjak Silat Serak, Jun Fan Gung Fu, Jeet Kune Do, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Sanuces Ju-Jitsu, Wing Chun, Tai Chi Chuan, Muay Thai, Boxing, Shoot Wrestling, and Savate — a cohesive work designed by Maha Guru Jerry B. McCleary after a lifetime of studying and mastering each of them. Not twelve arts studied in parallel; one art that draws from twelve.
The synthesis is not arbitrary — it descends through five living streams of direct transmission, teacher to student, charted in full on the Lineage page. And the synthesis became the system: what began as a blending of arts resolved into a single methodology with its own doctrine, its own logic, and its own name. In 2005 a council of his peers awarded McCleary the rank of Grandmaster, and he introduced the art of Serbatik to the world.
The Doctrine
A Methodology, Not a Catalog of Moves
Serbatik is not a strike, a kick, or a lock. It is a way of thinking that governs all of them — a doctrine of right action that has to be understood before any movement can be called Serbatik. It begins with intent, and it adapts to whatever situation a person finds themselves in.
You are the center of the system
Serbatik is not a style you conform to — it is a framework that forms around you. Training starts from your body, your circumstances, and your environment, and builds outward from there.
Base, angle, lever
Every obstacle is met the same way: establish a stable base, find the angle that opens it, and apply the lever that resolves it. Every technique in the system is one expression of those three decisions.
Efficiency through understanding
Movement becomes efficient when you understand what an action does and why it works. The goal is not a larger inventory of moves — it is a deeper command of the ones that matter.
Precision over brute force
Strength helps, but the system never depends on it. Structure, placement, and timing do the work that muscle alone cannot.
If you don't know what you're doing, you're doing it wrong.
The animating concept
The Three-Fold Path
Serbatik is a philosophy-based system organized along three folds, each a set of three constants of the human experience. Applied together, they make a complete training method — one that embraces the whole person, inside and out.
Body, Mind, Spirit
The whole practitioner. The body is what you can physically do — strikes, structure, leverage, footwork. The mind reads the situation and turns technique into application. The spirit is the motivation — the fuel behind every action.
You, Him, Union
The whole encounter. You — honest evaluation of yourself and what you can do. Him — accepting the truth of the opponent's existence and intent. Union — the action you compose to cause a chain of events toward a given end.
Before, During, After
The whole timeline. What happens before an encounter — awareness, posture, avoidance; during it — the fight itself; and after it — consequence, recovery, and what you carry forward.
Close-quarters stick work — angle, grip, and control of the line decided before the strike.
The Wisdom of Ages
The Twelve Arts
Grandmaster McCleary calls these parent traditions the Wisdom of Ages — twelve that contribute structure and history to the Serbatik System. Together they cover the methods of close combat: weapons in all ranges, kickboxing, boxing, standing grappling, and ground grappling. Each art contributes a specific function — not equal-weighted modules studied in rotation, but threads woven into one practice.
Pekiti Tirsia Kali
Brings the blade-and-stick framework — geometry of angle, edge, and timing that the empty-hand work inherits.
Pentjak Silat Serak
Provides the close-range structural language: low base, body mechanics, and the leverage that links striking to throwing.
Jun Fan Gung Fu
Bruce Lee's curriculum — trapping range, intercepting timing, and the conceptual scaffolding the rest of the system hangs on.
Jeet Kune Do
The principle of intercepting force rather than meeting it. Strategic rather than stylistic — what to do, regardless of which art you're standing in.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
The ground game: position, leverage, and the patient mechanics of submission when the fight goes horizontal.
Sanuces Ju-Jitsu
Joint manipulation and standing locks, integrated with Kali's sensitivity work.
Wing Chun
Centerline theory and economy of motion. Direct, low-commitment striking that interleaves with the trapping ranges of Jun Fan and Kali.
Tai Chi Chuan
The internal counterpart — Yang-style as the awareness and structural discipline that underlies the external arts. Taught alongside the synthesis as well as inside it.
Muay Thai
The clinch and the eight limbs — elbows, knees, and round kicks that condition the kickboxing range under real pressure.
Boxing
Western hands — timing, distance, and defensive head movement that sharpen every striking range in the system.
Shoot Wrestling
Catch-wrestling submissions and control — the shoot grappling that anchors the ground game.
Savate
French boxing — bladed footwork and precise low-line kicking that completes the kicking range.
How it's taught
Begins one-on-one
Serbatik is taught one-on-one with Grandmaster McCleary. The synthesis is transmitted through conversation, drill, and adjustment — calibrated to your body and your background. From there, training may grow to include the group format alongside other practitioners working at a comparable level — depending on the student and their goals. Sessions are scheduled by application; group practice is available on request once a foundation is in place.
Train inside the synthesis
Twelve arts, one curriculum, one student at a time. By application.
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