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
Indonesian martial arts Indonesian Pencak Silat Association (IPSI) was founded to unite the country's pencak silat schools under a single governing body. It has been incorporated into the unarmed combat training of Indonesia's polce and military, as well as being an extra-curricular activity in schools, and a combat sport in athletic events. Many of the more violent martial practices such as headhunting and duels to the death either fell out of popularity or were banned. A number of fighting styles have managed to survive by adapting. In some cases they became less lethal like pasola, or at times by being promoted as a