Kuntao
| Written Chinese | 拳道 |
| Bopomofo: | ㄑㄩㄢㄉㄠ |
| Pinyin | Quándào |
| Pe̍h-ōe-jī | Kûn-thâu |
| Indonesian | Kuntao |
| Malay | Kuntau |
| Filipino | Kuntaw |
| native to |
Kuntao or kuntau (, Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kûn-thâu, Tagalog: kuntaw) is a Hokkien term for the martial arts of the Chinese community of Southeast Asia, especially the Malay Archipelago. It is most commonly practiced in and associated with Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
In some communities such as Bali, no distinction is made between kuntao and silat. Both have influenced each other to the point where any differentiation between the two can sometimes be blurred. The Malaysian art of Buah Pukul is classed as silat despite its Yunnan origin, while Javanese Kuntao Harimau retains its kuntao status despite being influenced by the folk religion and indigenous culture of Java. Some traditional styles include both words in their name, such as Kedah's 500-year-old Silat Kuntau Tekpi which is categorized as silat.
The most common hanzi reading of kuntao is "way of the fist", from kun 拳 meaning fist and tao 道 meaning way. In Fujian and other southern areas, this term was originally used for Chinese martial arts in general and was synonymous with quanfa (拳法, POJ: kûn-hoat). The word is recorded in Classical Malay and Indonesian, making it the oldest known term for Chinese martial arts in those languages, before the modern adoption of the term kungfu. In English, and even in its modern Chinese usage, kuntao usually refers specifically to styles brought to Southeast Asia and often does not include other Chinese fighting systems.
The presence of Chinese martial arts in the Malay Archipelago traces back to ancient contact between China and Southeast Asia. Donn F. Draeger goes so far as to call them the oldest major organised system of fighting in Indonesia, pre-dating structured teaching of silat. The Toraja, Batak, and Dayak cultures all show Chinese influence, and Chinese weapons are often depicted in ancient Sumatran art. Some pre-colonial Chinese temples in Indonesia display combative images characteristic of southern Chinese forms, and many techniques and weapons of silat are of Chinese origin. Many Peranakan families can still trace their clan history in the region as far back as the voyages of Admiral Zheng He, but most Southeast Asian Chinese were brought to the Malay Archipelago as working-class immigrants during the colonial era. In Indonesia in particular, every Chinese community had some form of kuntao, but were traditionally shrouded in secrecy. As recently as the 1970s, kuntao was often practiced secretly to avoid its techniques from being revealed to outsiders, both Chinese and non-Chinese. It was not openly displayed, and public demonstrations would hide the true forms. This changed during the latter of the 20th century, and kuntao is now taught commonly taught without secrecy. Presently, kuntao is most widespread in Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Borneo and the Philippines. Kuntao was introduced to the US by Willem Reeders and Willem de Thouars in the 1960s.
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