Indonesian martial arts to those practised by the Tionghoa community of the Indonesian archipelago. Kuntao has a long history in the region dating back to ancient times. Such has been the influence between kuntao and pencak silat that the terms are used interchangeably in some regions. Every Chinese community in Indonesia either has or historically had some style of kuntao, but they were not taught openly until the latter half of the 20th century. Northern and southern Chinese martial arts are represented in kuntao, both from the external and internal schools. Some systems were directly imported from China and underwent little or no
Pencak Silat prefers the latter. Prominent Sunda weapons include the "toya" (staff), "cabang" (forked truncheon), long-bladed "parang" (machete) and heavy "golok" (cleaver). The advanced weapon is the "piau" or throwing knife. Among the Betawi people of Greater Jakarta, the pencak silat tradition is rooted in the culture of the "jagoan" or "jawara", local champions seen as heroes of the common people. They went against colonial authority and were despised by the Dutch as thugs and bandits. Silat Betawi is referred to in the local dialect as "maen pukulan" or "main pukulan", literally meaning "strike-play". The most well-known schools are Cingkrik, Kwitang, and