Pencak Silat to Minangkabau word "silek". Due to Sumatran origin of the language, the Sumatran origin of the term is likely. Although the word "silat" is widely known throughout much of Southeast Asia, the term "pencak silat" is used mainly in Indonesia. Pencak silat was chosen in 1948 as a unifying term for the Indonesian fighting styles. It was a compound of the two most commonly used words for martial arts in Indonesia. "Pencak" was the term used in central and east Java, while "silat" was used in Sumatra, Malay Peninsula and Borneo. In Minang usage, pencak and silat are seen as
Pencak Silat despised by the Dutch authorities as criminals and thieves but were highly respected by the native pribumi and local Chinese. Conflict with the European rulers provided an impetus for the proliferation of new styles of pencak silat, now founded on the platform of nationalism and the desire for freedom from colonisation. The Indonesian Pencak Silat Association (IPSI) was founded in 1948 to bring all of Indonesia's pencak silat under a single administration. The world's oldest nationwide silat organisation, its basis is that all pencak silat is built on a common source, and that less functional styles must give way to