Silat is the collective term for a class of martial arts from the Malay and surrounding geocultural areas of Southeast Asia. It is traditionally practised in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand, southern Philippines and southern Vietnam. There are hundreds of different styles (aliran) and schools (perguruan) which tend to focus either on strikes, joint manipulation, weaponry, or some combination thereof.
The word silat is used by Malay speakers throughout Southeast Asia, but it is officially called pencak silat in Indonesia. The term pencak silat has been adopted globally in reference to professional competitive silat for sport, similar to the Chinese word wushu. Regional dialect names include penca (West Java), dika or padik (Thailand), silek (the Minangkabau pronunciation of silat), main-po or maen po (in the lower speech of Sundanese), and gayong or gayung (used in parts of Malaysia and Sumatra).
Pencak silat is one of the sports included in the Southeast Asian Games and other region-wide competitions. Pencak silat first made its debut at the 1987 Southeast Asian Games and the 2018 Asian Games, both of which were held in Indonesia. Training halls are overseen by separate national organisations in each of the main countries the art is practised. These organisations are Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia (IPSI) in Indonesia, Persekutuan Silat Kebangsaan Malaysia (PESAKA) in Malaysia, Persekutuan Silat Brunei Darussalam (PERSIB) in Brunei, and Persekutuan Silat Singapura (PERSISI) in Singapore. Its practitioners are called pesilat.
Both pencak silat and silat were recognized as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in December 2019.
Etymology The origin of the word silat is uncertain. The Malay term silat is linked to Minangkabau Indonesia word silek, thus a Sumatran origin of the term is likely. It possibly related to silambam, the Tamil martial art which has been recorded as being practiced in Malaysia since at least the fifteenth century in Malacca. The preset forms of silambam are known as silatguvarisai. According to Malaysian source, the word 'silat' is said to originate from the Arabic word 'silah' (سِلَاح) meaning 'weapon' or 'silah' (صِلَةُ) meaning 'connection'. The most popular theory in Malaysia is that it derives from sepantas kilat meaning "as fast as lightning."
Other theories derive silat from the Sanskrit śīla meaning morality or principle, or the Southern Chinese saula (手拉) which means to push or perform with the hands. The Sanskrit theory is particularly popular in Thailand, as sila is an alternate form of the word silat in that country. Other similar-sounding words have been proposed, but are generally not considered by etymologists. One example is si elat which means someone who confuses, deceives or bluffs. A similar term, ilat, means an accident, misfortune or a calamity.Silat Dinobatkan Seni Beladiri Terbaik by Pendita Anuar Abd. Wahab AMN (pg. 42 SENI BELADIRI June 2007, no: 15(119) P 14369/10/2007) Yet another similar-sounding word is silap meaning wrong or error. Some styles contain a set of techniques called Silap Langkah designed to lead the opponent into making a mistake. It's not very easy
In its proper usage in the languages of its origin, silat is often a general term for any fighting style. This is still common in Indonesia where in some regions both silat and kuntao are traditionally interchangeable.
Origins Legend A number of stories exist detailing the history of particular styles, which are often used as origin myths for silat in general. One such tale is of a woman named Rama Sukana who witnessed a fight between a tiger and a large hawk. By using the animals' movements, she was able to fend off a group of drunken men that attacked her. She then taught the techniques to her husband, Rama Isruna, from whom they were formally passed down. There are several variations of this story depending on the region where it is told. On the island of Bawean, Rama Sukana is believed to have watched monkeys fighting each other while the Sundanese of West Java believe that she saw a monkey battle a tiger.
The legend in the Malay Peninsula is where the heroine is named Timah. The daughter of a raja in the Indonesian Archipelago, her husband is a possessive man named Uma. In this version, Timah tries to scare away a white-rumped shama or murai batu (more than one of them in some versions) that flies at her as she bathes. With each move the bird makes, she attempts to wave it off with her hands, and spins as it flies around her. Rather than fighting off drunken men, Timah fends off her own husband who tries to beat her with a stick for taking so long. The fact that this legend attributes silat to a woman reflects the prominence of women in traditional Southeast society, as can still be seen in the matriarchal adat perpatih customs of West Sumatra.
Another legend tells of three Minangkabau warriors from West Sumatra, Indonesia. By their masters' instruction, the young men were travelling north in the hope of attaining moksha (enlightenment). On their journey, they were caught up in a bloody battle near the Thai border. One of the three was wounded but managed to escape into a forest. Following a stream, he reached a waterfall where he stopped to rest. The warrior noticed a lotus flower come down the waterfall but even as it was pushed below the surface by the waterfall, the lotus would float back up completely intact. The warrior tried throwing a stone and then a stick at the lotus, both with the same result. Finally he went into the water and tried slashing at it with his sword but the lotus would only swirl away, still unharmed. The exhausted warrior then fell into the water and upon climbing out, he contemplated how this principle of overcoming the hard with the soft could be applied to battle. He subsequently created a method of silat with his two compatriots. This story is often told in the Malay Peninsula either as the origin of a particular lineage or to explain the spread of silat from the Minangkabau heartland into mainland Southeast Asia. A Minangkabau-style silat called silek minang influenced the style of silat in Negeri Sembilan in the Malay Peninsula.
The time period for this tale is generally believed to be the 14th century. However, a later version with a more Islamic setting places it during the 17th century. In this version, the three men are named Burhanuddin, Shamsuddin and Aminuddin. Rather than a quest north for enlightenment, they journey to Aceh where Islam has recently been introduced in order to learn more about the new religion. Their status as warriors is not mentioned, nor a battle. Instead, Burhanuddin is filling a water jar when he sees the lotus blossom. He then thought he heard a voice from the tree telling him to teach others what he learned. Upon returning home, each of the three men became religious teachers. This version of the story links it with Burhanuddin Ulakan, a Minangkabau man who studied in Aceh and became the first Muslim preacher in West Sumatra. pp.286-289.
History
The silat tradition is mostly oral. In the absence of written records, much of its history is known through myth and archaeological evidence. It is believed that this form of martial arts developed around the developments of Bukit Siguntang Mahameru kingdom in Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia. As narrated in the Malay Annals, the beginning of the Sumatran empire, started with a story of Paduka Demang Lebar Daun and Sang Sapurba which took place in Batang Musi River. Paduka Demang Lebar Daun was officially styled as the forefather (Mangkubumi) of the Nusantara peoples in Malay archipelago by Sang Sapurba through their oath. From the Bukit Siguntang Kingdom it developed into three full-grown empires in Malay history. One of them is the Pagaruyung Kingdom (West Sumatra, Indonesia) under the rule of King Adityawarman around the 12th century.Sulalatus Salatin - Compiled and arranged by Tun Sri Lanang and reinterpretations by Abdul Samad Ahmad - Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka (DBP), 1977 from the copy of Raja Bongsu; MS. 18 Sir Stamford Raffles; Singapore; 1953
The earliest evidence of a more organised silat comes from the Riau-Lingga archipelago, which acted as a land bridge between the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. Located between Singapore and Sumatra island, the local population gathered great mobility in small boats. The journeys of these sea-nomads regularly extended as far as the Maluku Islands in the east, the Lesser Sunda Islands in the south, and Tenasserim Island in Myanmar. At some point or another they came into contact with the Thais, Malays, Toraja, Han Chinese, Bugis, Moluccans, Madurese, Dayaks, Sulu, Burmese and orang asli until they spread across the Indonesian Archipelago. Their heterogeneous systems of combat are termed silat Melayu. Practiced since at least the 6th century, they formed the basis for the fighting arts of Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, and Southern Thailand. From its birthplace of Riau, silat quickly spread to the Srivijaya empire and the Minangkabau capital of Pariaman, both powers known for their military might. Srivijaya in particular propagated silat as it extended its rule not only throughout Sumatra but into Java, Borneo, Cambodia, and the Malay Peninsula.
The influence of the Indian subcontinent and Southern China were fundamental to the development of silat. By adopting the Indian faiths of Hinduism and Buddhism, Southeast Asian social structure became more organised. Images of Hindu figures such as Durga, Krishna and scenes from the Ramayana all bear testament to the Indian influence on local weapons and armour. Forms are said to have been introduced by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, born in Central Asia or India (5th or 6th century CE), who came to Southeast Asia via the Srivijayan capital of Palembang. Many of silat's medicinal practices and weapons originated in either India or China. The slapping actions in silat jurus (in which the practitioner slaps their own body) are reminiscent of Indian martial arts. Some form of wrestling is indeed portrayed in Indonesian temple art. The martial arts practised by the Chinese community of Southeast Asia are referred to as kuntao.
The Book of Liang mentions a kingdom called Poling or Poli southeast of Guangdong. Thought to be located in the Malay Peninsula, the people of this kingdom are said to have customs identical with Cambodia and the same produce as Siam. Their weapons are purportedly the same as China with the exception of the chakram which locals are said to be highly skilled with. Art associated with the candi of Indonesia displays the weapons of the time. Among the weapons featured in murals are swords, shields, bows, clubs, spears, kris, and halberds. The carved dvarapala (gate guards) found in temples around the region are ogres armed with clubs and swords. Between the 11th and 14th centuries, silat reached its peak under Majapahit. Founded by Raden Wijaya after repelling the Mongols, the empire united all of Indonesia's islands and extended its influence into peninsular Malaysia. Silat was and in some cases still is used by the defence forces of various Southeast Asian kingdoms and states in what are now Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and Brunei.Thesis: Seni Silat Melayu by Abd Rahman Ismail (USM 2005 matter 188)