Pencak Silat
The collective name for the martial arts of the Malay archipelago — hundreds of schools differing by ethnic group, island and family. On the UNESCO list since 2019.
Quick Facts
IndonesiaCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Pencak Silat
About Pencak Silat
Pencak silat is a collective name for a group of similar martial arts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. Estimates speak of 400 to 500 styles and substyles, which differ by region and by school. The words pencak and silat mean the same thing, with pencak said more in Java, and silat in West Sumatra and in Malay areas. UNESCO describes pencak silat as a combination of sporting, spiritual, self-defence and artistic aspects. The movements are tied to accompanying music, and each region has its own styles, costumes and traditional weapons. Self-defence is taught on the principle of protecting oneself and others and not harming the attacker. It is usually learned in informal schools together with oral tradition, songs and poems. The exact origin is unclear. The collective name first appeared in 1948 when the Indonesian association IPSI was founded, and the international federation PERSILAT was founded in 1980 in Jakarta. The sport form has four competition categories: the fight tanding, solo tunggal, pairs ganda and team regu. In 2019 UNESCO inscribed the traditions of pencak silat on the list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. It was a medal sport at the 2018 Asian Games, and according to available reports it is not yet an Olympic sport.
History
According to Singapore's National Heritage Board, the exact origin of pencak silat is unclear, and oral accounts of its beginnings differ from region to region. The UNESCO file names West Sumatra and West Java as the first areas of growth. The European Pencak Silat Federation (EPSF) describes the earliest form as imitation of animal movements adapted to the human body, from which sequences of movements (jurus) arose for defence and attack.
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Schools have their own origin traditions. According to the UNESCO file, the Cimande school in West Java dates to the 17th century and is attributed to Aria Wiratanu Datar, the regent of Cianjur. Cikalong arose in the late 18th century and the Betawi style Beksi around 1850 to 1860 as self-defence against colonial landlords who collected taxes. The founders and dates of these schools are oral tradition. In the colonial era, according to the EPSF, teaching was first restricted, then banned, and continued in secret. The Dutch authorities also suspended for more than a hundred years the title pandeka, a master of Minangkabau silek. Teaching resumed during the Japanese occupation. According to the EPSF, the collective name pencak silat first appeared when the association Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia (IPSI) was founded in Surakarta on 18 May 1948. The international federation PERSILAT was founded on 11 March 1980 in Jakarta on the initiative of IPSI, the Singapore association PERSISI and representatives of the Malaysian ministry.
How it differs
The words pencak and silat do not denote two different things. According to UNESCO, pencak is better known in Java and silat in West Sumatra, while the EPSF gives pencak for Java, Madura and Bali and silat for the rest of Indonesia and for Malay areas. Malaysians use the name seni silat, and the researcher Tuan Ismail divides it into silat seni (performance), silat jatuh (falls, the competition form in Kelantan) and silat buah (real self-defence). Sport pencak silat has four competition categories: the fight tanding, solo tunggal, pairs ganda and team regu. In tanding, according to the Singapore rules, a punch scores 1 point, a kick 2 points and a takedown 3 points. In the forms, judges assess the accuracy of the movements and their coherence in a range of 50 to 60 points. Only tanding has weight classes. The big schools differ in origin and emphasis. Perisai Diri was founded in 1955 in Surabaya by R. M. Soebandiman Dirdjoatmodjo, Persaudaraan Setia Hati Terate in 1922 in Madiun by Ki Hadjar Hardjo Oetomo, and the Malaysian Silat Seni Gayong by Meor Abdul Rahman. According to the National Heritage Board, the Singapore groups include a Bugis style stressing a quick takedown of the opponent and also Javanese styles with the animal forms of the monkey and the tiger.
Technique
According to UNESCO, pencak silat is a group of similar martial arts that combines sporting, spiritual, self-defence and artistic aspects. The movements are tied to accompanying music, which in Indonesia may be played on the gendang drum, gong and terompet wind instrument. Each region has its own movements, styles, music, costumes and traditional weapons. Self-defence is taught on the principle of protecting oneself and others and not harming the attacker. In Minangkabau silek, the performance form mancak, also called bungo silek, is distinguished from actual fighting, which uses few fast and precise movements. The rule is to block with the first move and attack with the second. The student must not start a brawl and may only answer an attack. The UNESCO file also describes styles. Beksi from Jakarta has twelve jurus. Bandrong from Banten consists of 6 basic styles of 3 parts each, 6 basic movements and 6 blocks, and includes sweeping the opponent's leg, lifting it and throwing him far. The Singapore school of harimau minangkabau is described as low fighting close to the ground with kuncian locks and tangkapan grips.
Training
According to UNESCO, pencak silat is usually learned in informal schools together with oral tradition: greetings, philosophical maxims, rhymed poems, advice, songs and playing the accompanying instruments. Every Minangkabau village (nagari) used to have a training space led by a master, Tuo Silek, with an assistant. According to the newspaper Kompas, silek teaching proceeds from the basic sequences of bungo silek through the core techniques to spiritual teaching, and students begin by reciting the shahada. Training in the surau prayer house used to be compulsory for boys and is now voluntary. According to UNESCO, the Indonesian state funded research, publications, festivals and the inclusion of pencak silat in school curricula from 2017 to 2022. The national training centre Padepokan Pencak Silat Indonesia was opened by President Soeharto on 20 April 1997.
Ranks and progression
We have not found a single system of grades for pencak silat as a whole, as each school has its own. The title pandeka denoted a master of Minangkabau silek, and the community of Koto Tangah in Padang revived it after 2000. The teaching manual of the Persaudaraan Setia Hati Terate school covers spiritual teaching from grade Polos to grade Putih, and the Singapore group GRASIO leads its students through 25 grades. Competition categories are divided by age and, in tanding fighting, also by weight. The Singapore rules have ten weight classes for adult men from 45 to 95 kg, and a class above 95 kg.
Today
The UNESCO committee inscribed the traditions of pencak silat in 2019, at its session in Bogotá, on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, on Indonesia's nomination. Malaysia inscribed silat separately that year. Pencak silat was entered in the Indonesian register of intangible heritage in 2014, and Singapore added silat to its list in April 2018. At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia won 14 of the 15 gold medals in pencak silat. It did not make the programme of the 2022 Games in Hangzhou or the 2026 Games in Aichi-Nagoya, and the Olympic Council of Asia, according to the Indonesian Olympic Committee, promised to support a return without a year. It was on the programme at the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand in December 2025. According to Antara, by July 2024 pencak silat had national federations in over 80 countries and over 20 world championships behind it. The president of PERSILAT is Prabowo Subianto. The International Olympic Committee does not recognise pencak silat. According to AIMS president Stephan Fox in January 2026, the sport must first meet WADA requirements and gain active AIMS membership. The Indonesian Olympic Committee signed a memorandum of cooperation with AIMS in November 2025. We have found no application for inclusion in the Olympic Games.
Did you know
On joining a Minangkabau silek school, according to the newspaper Kompas, one brings a hen as a commitment, siriah langkok as a bond with the teacher, sugar for quick adaptation and white cloth as a promise to learn for good. According to the UNESCO file, the Bandrong style from Banten is named after the flying fish bandrong. Meor Abdul Rahman, the founder of Silat Seni Gayong, received the medal of King George VI in 1947 for resisting the Japanese landing on the island of Pulau Sudong, and in 1970 he presented gayong at the Expo in Osaka. The federation PERSILAT had 18 members from 1980 to 1990 and 32 in the following decade. Pencak silat came to the Netherlands mainly after the Second World War with the repatriation of Indonesians, and at first it was practised privately in houses, barns and attics. The film Merantau (2009) by director Gareth Evans with Iko Uwais is based on Minangkabau silek and was followed by the films The Raid (2011) and The Raid 2 (2014). The Singaporean Shakir Juanda won the world championship in 2012 and 2016.
Styles & Branches
Minangkabau tiger silat from West Sumatra. Fought from a low crouch, often straight from the ground, mainly with the legs.
A silat from southern Thailand that, according to a Chulalongkorn University thesis, was originally a martial art. We have not found its founder or year of origin.
Betawi silat from Kampung Dadap in Tangerang. According to sources, the Peranakan Chinese Lie developed it. We have not found the year it arose.
Balinese pencak silat school from Denpasar, founded in 1955 according to Draeger. Sources name the founders differently, and the technique rests on deception and palm blocks.
A designation used by schools around Dan Inosanto for their selection of silat. We have not found a separate traditional style.
Indonesian pencak silat school from Yogyakarta, founded in 1963: breathwork, tenaga dalam, breaking objects and getaran.
Sundanese style from the Cianjur area, locally called maenpo. According to a peer-reviewed article, mastery is recognized by a sense of touch, not by jurus.
A family pencak silat school from Bandung created, by its own account, by Uyuh Suwanda. It combines several styles, including Cimande.
Indonesian silat founded on 2 July 1955 in Surabaya. According to Draeger, it builds on straight punches and heel kicks.
Indonesian pencak silat organization and school from Madiun, descending from Setia Hati. According to Utomo 2017 it began in 1922 and co-founded IPSI.
A Malay silat from Kedah whose public teaching began on 28 December 1965. Sources differ on whether Hanafi Ahmad was its founder or reviver.
One of the three main Sundanese styles of pencak silat from West Java. It relies on arm and hand work, a deep stance and a circular evasion.
Malay silat developed since 1976 by Anuar Abdul Wahab's association PSGFM. Four foundations, seven levels, from bunga to tempur.
Umbrella term for Malay silat, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2019. It covers over 150 styles, not a single school.
A Malay silat linked to Meor Abdul Rahman. Originally Sendi Harimau, with the registered organisation PSSGM since 1963.
Bruneian silat that, according to Maul Mornie, serves survival, not tournaments. Information about it comes mainly from its representatives.
Frequently asked questions
What is pencak silat?
A collective name for a group of similar martial arts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, an estimated 400 to 500 styles. UNESCO describes it as a combination of sporting, spiritual, self-defense and artistic aspects with movements tied to music.
Where does pencak silat come from?
From the Malay Archipelago. According to Singapore's National Heritage Board the exact origin is unclear, and the UNESCO nomination file gives West Sumatra and West Java as the first areas of growth. According to the European Pencak Silat Federation, the collective name pencak silat first appeared in 1948 when the Indonesian association IPSI was founded.
Is pencak silat an Olympic sport?
According to available reports, not yet. As of July 2024 the International Olympic Committee did not recognize it, and among other things it lacked compliance with the WADA code. According to CNN Indonesia from January 2025, the PERSILAT federation planned to begin the membership process in 2026. It was a medal sport at the 2018 Asian Games.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.