I saw Indonesian Pencak Silat for the first time in 2003, at the Bercy martial arts expo in Paris. From that time onwards I was allways surprised by the exceptional level of the masters of South East Asia. Silat is a broad term for the martial traditions of Indonesia and the surounding Island kingdoms. The level of skill displayed by the pactitioners in the following clips is phenominal, I would say up there with, and even exceding some of the best from China and Japan. The Silat traditions have the advantage of not being diluted by the influences of cultural revolution, comercialisation and political manipulation, suffered by the Chinese and Japanese arts. However, there are many examples of silat on the net that are surprisingly bad too...
