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 Sunda" or "silat Bandung". In the Sundanese language they are generically referred to as "penca" (dialect form of pencak), "ameng", "ulin" or "maen po" (from the word "main" meaning "play"). Ameng is the more respectful term, while ulin and maen po are of lower speech levels. Sunda systems are easily identified by the prefix "ci" (spelled "tji" by the Dutch). Pronounced "chi", it comes from the Sundanese word "cai" meaning river water, alluding to the fact that they were originally developed in river-basin areas. The deep, wide stance and resulting gait attests to this, owing to the practice of carefully