Pencak Silat: The Indonesian Martial Art That Sparked a Deadly Clash in Taiwan
Pencak Silat — the traditional Indonesian martial art practiced across Southeast Asia — made international headlines in 2023 when a violent clash between two rival factions in Taiwan left one person dead and over a dozen arrested. What started as an online argument about techniques escalated into an armed brawl with sickles and batons.
This incident raises deeper questions about martial arts tribalism, the immigrant experience, and why practitioners sometimes take their art’s honor more seriously than their own safety.
The Taiwan Silat Clash: What Happened
September 2, 2023 — The Brawl
A violent confrontation erupted between two rival Indonesian Pencak Silat groups — IKSPI 和 PSHT — near Changhua Station in Taiwan. Over 70 members of the IKSPI faction gathered, armed with expandable batons and sickles, to confront members of PSHT.
The conflict? An online dispute about martial arts techniques.
The clash resulted in serious injuries, one fatality, and escalated tensions between the groups.
September 3, 2023 — Arrests
Police arrested 16 individuals following the brawl. The fatal stabbing prompted immediate law enforcement intervention.
May 9, 2025 — Sentencing
Four Indonesian nationals were sentenced by the Taiwan Zhanghua District Court. Prison terms ranged from 3 to 7 months for IKSPI members. The main suspect received 11.5 years for the fatal stabbing. All sentenced individuals will be deported after completing their prison terms.
What is Pencak Silat?
Silat is a collective term for traditional Southeast Asian martial arts originating from the Malay archipelago. It’s practiced in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, and southern Thailand.
The official definition: “The Malay art of self-defense, practiced as a martial art or accompanied by drums as a ceremonial display or dance.”
Like Chinese Sanda and Wushu, Silat has both a fighting side and a performance/ceremonial side.
Silat Techniques
- Empty-handed techniques — Footwork, pressure point attacks, strikes
- Joint manipulation — Locks, throws, takedowns
- Weapons — Keris (dagger), Parang (machete), and others
Combat philosophy focuses on practical, decisive techniques aimed at ending fights quickly. Some styles use the opponent’s strength against them.
Silat Training Methods
Traditional Pencak Silat training is structured around a progression system called tingkatan. Beginners start with basic stances (kuda-kuda) and footwork patterns (langkah) before advancing to strikes, blocks, and evasive movements. Unlike many Western martial arts that separate technique work from conditioning, Silat training blends both — the forms themselves build strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular endurance.
A typical training session (latihan) opens with meditation or prayer, reflecting the spiritual dimension embedded in many Silat styles. Physical warm-ups follow, progressing through solo drills (jurus) — choreographed sequences of strikes and defensive movements that function like kata in karate. Partner drills introduce timing, distance management, and the application of techniques against resistance. Weapons training with the keris, golok (short sword), and toya (staff) comes at higher levels, integrating the same principles of footwork and body mechanics learned empty-handed.
Sparring varies significantly between schools. Some styles emphasize full-contact fighting with protective gear, while others focus on controlled application drills where practitioners take turns attacking and defending. The International Pencak Silat Federation (PERSILAT) has worked to standardize competition rules, but traditional schools often maintain their own testing and ranking methods.
Competition Rules and Format
Competitive Pencak Silat operates under two main categories. Tanding (fighting) matches pit two fighters against each other in a 10×10 meter arena for three two-minute rounds. Fighters score points through clean strikes, kicks, throws, and takedowns. Excessive force, hitting the back of the head, and attacks to the groin are prohibited. Judges award points based on technique quality, accuracy, and timing — not just whether the strike landed.
Tunggal (solo performance), ganda (paired choreography), and regu (team performance) categories emphasize the artistic and ceremonial side of Silat. Competitors are judged on form accuracy, power expression, and the spiritual presence they bring to the demonstration. Silat appeared as a medal sport at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, giving the art its biggest global platform to date.
Styles and Schools
There are hundreds of different styles (aliran) and schools (perguruan) with varying techniques and philosophies. In Indonesia, practitioners are unified under the term Pencak Silat.
IKSPI and PSHT — the two factions involved in the Taiwan clash — are both established Silat organizations with their own traditions and loyal followings. PSHT (Persaudaraan Setia Hati Terate) is one of the largest Silat organizations in Indonesia with millions of members. IKSPI (Ikatan Keluarga Silat Putera Indonesia) also commands a massive following. The rivalry between these organizations predates the Taiwan incident by decades — clashes between their members have occurred in Indonesia’s East Java province multiple times, often fueled by the same mix of loyalty, identity, and young men looking to prove themselves.
The Parallels to BJJ vs Luta Livre
This Silat incident reminded me of something I’d researched before: the violent clashes between Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu 和 Luta Livre practitioners in Brazil during the early days of both arts.
Both are grappling arts, but they carried different class associations:
- 巴西柔術 — Seen as upper class, associated with the Gracie family
- Luta Livre — Grassroots movement, working class
The two communities had violent confrontations multiple times during the rise of these sports. BJJ eventually became the more popular of the two globally, but the rivalry left scars.
The Silat clash in Taiwan echoes this pattern: martial arts tribalism can turn deadly when practitioners tie their identity too closely to their style.
Why Martial Arts Tribalism Gets Violent
Once you’ve practiced a martial art for enough years, it becomes your life. Your friends — maybe most of your friends — come from your academy or school. Your training partners become family.
When someone from another school criticizes your style, it feels personal. They’re not just attacking a technique — they’re attacking your friends, your teachers, your identity.
This is especially true among young men. They find something they love, and they want to defend it. For that defense to become violent is wild — but it’s not unprecedented.
Cultural Context: Youth Violence
There’s a history of youth violence in Indonesia, as in many other places. This isn’t unique to martial arts — it’s a pattern that exists across many communities.
When Indonesian workers came to Taiwan, some of these tensions came with them.
The Immigrant Experience in Taiwan
Taiwan is an interesting case study. Most of the population is of Han Chinese descent — roughly 98%. Only about 2% are immigrants or foreign workers.
Indonesian and Filipino workers in Taiwan tend to form their own communities. They don’t necessarily integrate with local Taiwanese social circles. They live, work, and socialize primarily among themselves.
This means conflicts from their homeland can travel with them. When you’re not melting into the broader society, the problems — and loyalties — you brought with you don’t fade away.
Taiwan itself is a remarkably safe place. It’s not rife with violent clashes or physical confrontations. The idea of 70 armed people gathering to fight over martial arts technique is jarring in a society where even violent crime is rare.
Lessons for the Martial Arts Community
1. Your Style Isn’t Your Identity
It’s easy to let your martial art become your entire identity. But when someone criticizes your technique, they’re not attacking you as a person. Disagreement about methods doesn’t have to become personal.
2. Online Arguments Don’t Need Offline Consequences
The Taiwan clash started as an online dispute. Someone insulted someone’s technique on the internet. That escalated to 70 people with weapons.
If you find yourself planning violence over an internet comment, you’ve lost perspective.
3. Honor the Art, Don’t Die for the Label
IKSPI and PSHT are both Silat. They share the same roots, the same cultural heritage. The differences between them are minor compared to what they have in common.
A young man died because two groups couldn’t resolve a disagreement about technique. That’s a tragedy — and a failure by the adults who should have known better.
Pencak Silat Today
Despite incidents like this, Pencak Silat remains an important cultural art form and combat system. It’s practiced for:
- Sport — Competitive matches with rules
- Health — Physical fitness and flexibility
- Discipline — Mental training and self-confidence
- Culture — Preserving traditional practices, music, and rituals
Silat is often practiced in traditional attire, accompanied by specific musical instruments, and includes rituals, customs, and spiritual training. At its best, it’s a beautiful expression of Southeast Asian culture.
At its worst — as Taiwan saw in 2023 — it becomes an excuse for violence.
The Bottom Line
The Indonesian martial arts incident in Taiwan reflects broader issues: the integration of migrant communities, the potential for cultural conflicts, and the dark side of martial arts tribalism.
Martial arts should build discipline, not destroy lives. Technique debates should happen in the gym, not with sickles on the street.
A young man lost his life over an argument about the “right” way to practice Silat. No technique is worth that.
Rest in peace to the person who died in this incident.
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