Pendekar

Parallels can be drawn to the chess term grandmaster since the title of Pandeka is the highest possible rank of a practitioner of the Malaysian martial art silat.

In northern Malaysia and southern Thailand, this balance is symbolised by the concept of jantan betina (male-female), equivalent to the Chinese yin and yang.

Silat practitioners of the past would meditate and fast at length, often in caves, jungles and even graveyards so they would not fear death.

By focusing their energy, masters were said to be able to attack an opponent without physically touching them, strike a vital point from afar, or stop someone's heart without them noticing they've been hurt.

Silat folklore is replete with tales of fighters possessing such skills as the ability to run very rapidly, vanish in a puff of smoke and reappear, change form, dash across the surface of water, turn invisible, or leap to the roof of a house.