silat

Silat is a collective word for martial arts created in the Malay Archipelago and Malay Peninsula of Southeast Asia. Originally developed in what is now Indonesia, peninsular Malaysia, southern Thailand and Singapore, silat was also traditionally practiced by the Malay communities of Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines. As a result, silat is closely related to other Southeast Asian martial arts including krabi krabong and eskrima. Practitioners are called pesilat. The Chinese fusion of silat is known as kuntao^[1]

There are hundreds of different styles but they tend to focus either on strikes, joint manipulation, bladed weapons, throws, animal-based techniques or some combination thereof. Silat schools are overseen by separate national organizations in each of the main countries the art is practiced. These are Persekutuan Silat Kebangsaan Malaysia (PESAKA) from Malaysia, Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia (IPSI) from Indonesia, Persekutuan Silat Brunei Darussalam (PERSIB) from Brunei and Persekutuan Silat Singapura (PERSIS) from Singapore.