Silat Silat Silat is a collective word for a class of indigenous martial arts from the geo-cultural area of Southeast Asia, more precisely in the Indonesian Archipelago, a region known locally as "Nusantara". It is traditionally practised in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, portions of the Philippines, southern part of Thailand and central part of Vietnam. There are hundreds of different styles ("aliran") and schools ("perguruan") but they tend to focus either on strikes, joint manipulation, weaponry, or some combination thereof. Silat is one of the sports included in the Southeast Asian Games and other region-wide competitions. Silat first made its debut
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