SIMA KUNTAO SILAT
Silat is a collective word for indigenous martial arts of the Malay Archipelago and Malay Peninsula of Southeast Asia. Originally developed in what are now Indonesia, peninsular Malaysia, southern Thailand and Singapore, it is also practiced in Brunei, the Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam.
There are hundreds of different styles and systems, which may focus either on strikes, joint manipulation, throws, bladed weaponry, or some combination thereof. Fighting arts of the Malay people arose out of hunting methods and military training by the region’s native inhabitants. Further evidence shows that silat was sometime influenced by Chinese and Indian as well as Japanese martial arts. The Chinese community also practiced their own localised martial arts known as kuntao, which both influenced and borrowed from silat giving rise to the unique art of Kuntao Silat. This art has a special flavour and method of application.
The roots of the Sima Kuntao Silat lie in Indonesian, Chinese, Thai, Indian and Persian fighting methods. The forms practiced represent Tiger, Cat, Eagle, Monkey, Snake and Crocodile.