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Pencak Silat

The art of the Malay world.

The martial art of the Malay world — Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and beyond — with hundreds of styles, strikes, sweeps and weapons such as the kris. UNESCO listed the traditions of pencak silat in 2019.

Fact file

Country
Indonesia, Malaysia
Type
Complete arts
Main federation
Persekutuan Pencak Silat Antarabangsa (International Pencak Silat Federation) — PERSILAT
Sources: UNESCO — Traditions of Pencak Silat · PERSILAT · Olympic Council of Asia

History

Pencak silat is the family of martial arts of the Malay world — Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore — with hundreds of styles, many linked to local culture, music and ceremony. "Pencak" is often linked to the artistic forms and "silat" to the fighting application.

The international federation PERSILAT was founded in 1980. Pencak silat is part of the Southeast Asian Games and was a medal sport at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. In 2019 UNESCO listed the traditions of pencak silat as intangible cultural heritage.