Kuntao or kuntaw (Chinese: 拳道, Tagalog: kuntaw) is a Hokkien term for martial arts created by the Chinese community of Southeast Asia, particularly the Malay Archipelago. Literally meaning "way of the fist", the word kuntao more accurately translates as fighting art. Although it is most commonly practiced in Indonesia among the Chinese Indonesian communities, styles of kuntao are also practiced in Singapore, Malaysia (especially Borneo) and the Philippines, where Chinese martial arts were brought by merchants, labourers and other settlers from south China. The styles had to be adapted to different terrain, competing against local styles and fighting with local weapons. Many (if not most) styles of kuntao have incorporated techniques from silat and some forms even changed their name from "kuntao" to "silat". Styles which combine both kuntao and silat together are sometimes called kuntao silat.
Kuntao was once practiced in secrecy and passed down through families; many schools continue to maintain an air of secrecy around their training techniques. It was kept hidden not only from non-Chinese, but also from people of differing clans. Although a few non-Chinese in Southeast Asia are known to have historically learned kuntao, this only became widespread in the latter half of the 20th century. During the colonial period, kuntao was brought to Mindanao by ethnic Chinese from Indonesia, and is associated mainly with the Tausug tribe.
Old styles of kuntao are today considered by some to be "true" Chinese martial arts because they predate the Shaolin Temple's destruction. With the advent of Mixed Martial Arts in the United States, the art has begun to approach mainstream dissemination. Even so, few traditional kuntao schools exist in the States today and it is little known in the West.
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