Pencak Silat word "pancha" meaning five, or from the Chinese term "pencha" or "pungcha" which implies parrying or deflecting, and striking or pressing. Other terms may be used in particular dialects such as "silek", "penca", "mancak", "maen po" or "main-po". Dutch East Indian newspapers of the colonial era recorded the terms for martial arts under Dutch spellings. These include "silat", "pencak" (spelled in Dutch as "pentjak"), "penca" ("pentjah"), "mancak" ("mentjak"), "manca" ("mentjah"), and "pukulan" ("poekoelan"). In 1881 a magazine calls mancak a Batak fencing game "with long swords, daggers or wood ("mentjah")" These papers described mancak as Malayan ("Maleidsche") suggesting that the
Silat are the main and sometimes only instrument in Minang silat of West Sumatra. The most common instruments in Malaysia are the gendang (drums) and serunai (oboe). Music from the northern part of the Malay Peninsula more closely resembles Thai music. Types of silat drums include the "gendang ibu" or "mother drum" and the "gendang anak" or "child drum". The "serunai", which also comes in long and short variations, is what gives silat music its distinct sound. Silat's appearance in film dates back to black-and-white Indonesian and Malay movies. Shaw Brothers and Cathay-Kris Studio produced more than 40 popular titles featuring