Pencak Silat is a compound word. Pencak and Silat have the same meanings and are parts of the culture of Malay ethnic group people, that is, the ethnic group who are the native inhabitants in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.
The word Pencak is commonly used by the people in Java, Madura and Bali whereas the word Silat is commonly used by the people who live in the other regions of Indonesia as well as in the other Malay regions.
The combination of the words Pencak and Silat into a compound word was made for the first time when an organization of the unity of Pencak perguruans and Silat perguruans in Indonesia was founded in Surakarta in 1948, which was called Ikatan Pencak Silat Indonesia (the Indonesian Pencak Silat Association), abbreviated as IPSI. Since then, Pencak Silat has become the official term in Indonesia. This term is also used by the perguruans in many different countries which teach Pencak and Silat derived from Indonesia.
In the international communities Pencak Silat has become the official term since the international federation organization was founded in Jakarta in 1980, which was called Persekutuan Pencak Silat Antarbangsa (the International Pencak Silat Federation), acronymed as PERSILAT. Nevertheless, people use the words Pencak and Silat separately as a single word due to the dialectic habit.
(Sources : The Treasury of Pencak Silat , Notosoejitno ; Rewritten by Andi Rafiandi) |
