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
Pencak Silat ("sikut"), knees ("dengkul" or "lutut"), shoulders ("bahu"), or the fingers ("jari"). Even basic attacks may vary depending on style, lineage, and regional origin. Some systems may favour punching with the clenched fist, while others might prefer slapping with the palm of the hand. Other common tactics include feints ("tipuan") or deceptive blows used as distraction, sweeping ("sapuan") to knock the opponent down, and the scissors takedown ("guntingan") which grips the legs around the opponent. Defense in pencak silat consists of blocking, dodging, deflecting, and countering. Blocks or "tangkisan" are the most basic form of defense. Because pencak silat may target