Merpati Putih Pencak Silat is the Indonesian Royal Family’s secret Martial Art and Inner Power System. MP was developed in the 1550’s and passed down through the generations very strictly from father to son & so on, only taught by the King to his Heirs. For over 400 years MP was very rarely if ever, seen by anyone outside the Royal Family.

With Merpati Putih, people can learn to defend & heal themselves, while at the same time, becoming more loving, peaceful, & spiritually aware. Today over 1,000,000 Indonesians have studied and benefited from the techniques of MP and with over 100,000 Active members, MP is not only an outstanding member of the Indonesian Pencak Silat Federation - (I.P.S.I.) & PERSILAT, but also the standard training for the Indonesian Army Special Forces, Commando Paratroopers, S.W.A.T. teams, & Presidential Secret Service.

The arts of Merpati Putih itself comes from Sampeyan Dalem Inkang Sinuhun Kanjeng Susuhunan Pangeran Prabu Mangkurat Ingkang Jumeneng Ing Kartosuro, which was passed on to his sons. The arts was then inherited to Raden Saring Hadi Purnomo, who is amongst the 9th heritage line (Grat-X) of Kartosuro. Here is the complete list of the line of heritage :

BPH ADIWIDJOJO	GRAT  I
PH SINGOSARI	GRAT  II
R Ay DJOJOREDJOSO	GRAT  III
GAGAK HANDOKO	GRAT  IV
RM REKSO WIDJOJO	GRAT  V
R BONGSO DJOJO	GRAT  VI
DJO PREMONO	GRAT  VII
RM WONGSO DJOJO	GRAT  VIII
KROMO MENGGOLO	GRAT  IX
SARING HADI POERNOMO	GRAT  X
POERWOTO HADI POERNOMO  BUDI SANTOSO HADI POERNOMO	GRAT  XI

In 1963 the Indonesian public was ablaze with riots and civil unrest against the government. Already into the struggle for several years, violence and hate were everywhere and it was boiling over onto the innocent. Seeing the condition of Indonesia at that time, which was leading to its path of destruction, Raden Saring then gave his will to his 2 sons to spread the arts and knowledge of Merpati Putih nationally. As a manifestation of his will, his sons (PURWOTO HADI POERNOMO and BUDI SANTOSO HADI POERNOMO) established PPS Betako Merpati Putih in Yogyakarta in April 2, 1963. That date is celebrated as the birth of Merpati Putih until today.

The background story of the establishment of Merpati Putih was the result of the observations and analisys of the Grand Master, Saring Hadi Poernomo in the early 1960s. In that period, Indonesia had begun to develop many forms of martial arts from overseas, which he felt was inappropriate. Basically, every martial art forms have many aspects that closely deals with the development of one's mind and personalities. The Grand Master believed that the foreign martial arts had brought with them bad influence in Indonesian people.

Based on the above fatcs, he gave his 2 sons the will to spread Merpati Putih arts and knowledge to all people of Indonesia. He had a belief that everything he did meant nothing compared to his mother county, Indonesia. That belief is now crystallized in every Merpati Putih heart, which is:

"MY CONTRIBUTIONS ARE NOTHING, BUT MY SINCERITY IS REAL"