‘Pentjak Silat’ or perhaps, more correctly: ‘Pencak Silat’ (pronounced: ‘penca’)actually is a generic name for martial arts styles that are considered indigenous to the Indonesian archipelago and Malaysia. Just as within ‘karate’ several different styles are recognized, so in pencak silat there are many different styles. So that when someone says they practice Pencak Silat, it is worthwhile asking which specific style of pencak they practice.
I myself practiced Tjimande or: Cimande, a style that originated in Western Java. There are more styles from that region, many of which have a name that starts with ‘Tji’ or ‘Ci’: Ci-uler, cikalong, cingrik.
There are many other styles in other parts of Indonesia, such as Perisai Deri, Mustika Kwitang, Silat Putri, Serah or Serat, Setia Hati, Setia Hati Terate, Tunggul Hati, Menangkebau/Harimau, Baru, IPSI.
Though there may exist huge differences between styles, there are some characteristics which many styles share such as low crouching stances (dempok or depok), evasive techniques and emphasis on breathing and meditation techniques.
I saw a comment on this site by someone named Nuno “Magic, Healing and mystic powers… How much of the training is dedicated to this useless aspects?”
I’m not sure I agree with the term ‘magic’ (whatever that may mean), but as to the other aspects I think it would do Nuno a lot of good if he/she were to take up some form of pencak and find out that these aspects are far from useless.

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