Silat is an umbrella term used to describe the martial art forms practiced throughout the Malay Archipelago. Internationally it is now called Pencak Silat. Silat is a combative art of fighting and survival and it has been evolved in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam civilizations for centuries into social culture and tradition. During the colonization era, both in Malaysia and Singapore as British Colonies and in Indonesia as Dutch colonies, practitioners (locally known as pesilat) used the martial art as a form to liberate from foreign authorities.
A theory states that silat word itself comes from silek from Minangkabau language.
Silek was one of the of components to perform the Minangkabau's randai folk dance components besides bakaba (storytelling) and saluang jo dendang (song-and-flute).
Silat spread throughout the Malay Archipelago since the seventh century AD, but its origin is still uncertain. However, silat has been acknowledged as a genuine Malay art. Malay people that have inhabited coastal cities of Sumatra island and Malay peninsula, from Aceh in the north to Kelantan, Kedah and Riau archipelago in the south, were the people who practiced silat. Contacts with other ethnic groups in the coastal cities had also influenced silat. There is evidence that Chinese and Indian culture had influence the martial art forms. When Islam was spread throughout the archipelago in the fourteenth century, it was taught alongside with silat. Besides as a combative art and cultural folk dance, silat then became a spiritual training.
. Beminyak jugak dahi tgk hasil lense kangkang.. 
