Silat or pencak silat is a collective word for martial arts created by the Malay people from Southeast Asia. Originally developed in what is now Indonesia, peninsular Malaysia, southern Thailand and Singapore, silat was also traditionally practiced by the Malay communities of Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Practitioners are called pesilat. The Chinese fusion of silat is known as kuntao.

There are hundreds of different styles but they tend to focus either on strikes, joint manipulation, bladed weapons, throws or animal-based techniques. Silat schools are overseen by separate national organizations in each of the main countries the art is practiced.The movements of silat are often performed as a dance during festivities such as weddings. These performances can be done either solo or with a partner and are often accompanied by music, notably the gong, gendang (drum) and seruling (flute). There are stances and footwork in silat that make up the training. These footworks act as preset postures meant to provide stability whiloe in motion. These footworks and stances include horse stance (kuda_kuda), cat step (langkah kucing) and warrior step (langkah lawan). Along with the human body, silat employs a wide variety of weapons. Prior to the introduction of firearms, weapons training was actually considered to be of greater value than unarmed techniques. Among the hundreds of styles are dozens of weapons but the one most commonly used is the keris or dagger.

In Malaysia, there are well known silat styles that attract followers across the country. These incluce Silat Gayung, Silat Teralak Asli, Silat Cekak and Silat Kalimah. Until today, silat is still one of the most preferred art of defense in Malaysia. This priceless heritage should be fully appreciated and practiced in order for the future generations to make benefits of this Malay tradition in a continuous way.