Filipino Weapons A-Z
 

Hello to everybody,
I am working on project for on line newspaper called Filipino Weapons A-Z. If I post a picture with information about the weapon please assist me in make the most correct statement. I wish to put this out as free on-line document, as I did number of years ago for the FMA Digest. What I need information and maybe better pictures and will give full credit for anyone who contributes information and pictures. Some of my sources are very limited and I wish to put my best literary foot forward.
Thanks in advance.

Bagakay
 

The Bagakay according to family lore are a wooden torpedo shaped darts that thrown by the handful for self defense. They are about 10 inches long, tapered and about 1/2 inch in diameter and pointed at both ends. Older Bagakeys are made from wood newer one from steel. Original use was for hunting birds. They are found for sale at swap meets today by local vendors.
In The Art of Throwing by Amante P. Marinas, Sr, Chapter 2, Page 37 Quote" The Bagakey was used by Filipinos to hunt birds for centuries before 1521, when the Philippines became a Spanish colony. There are historical accounts of the use of the Bagakay to bring down birds from twenty paces (which is about thirty five feet for the average-height Filipino) as well as its use against the Spanish colonists. In one instance of its use against the enemy, the Bagakay was thrown with such violence that it pierced a Spanish soldier's armor and killed him".

I HAD FORGOTTEN ABOUT THESE. :) WERE THEY IN WIDE USE OR FOUND MOSTLY ON ONE ISLAND OR GROUP OF PEOPLE.? IT IS UNLIKELY A POINTED STICK OF THAT SIZE AND WEIGHT COULD PIERCE SPANISH ARMOR UNLESS IT HIT A GAP IN THE ARMOR. A STEEL ONE MIGHT DO IT BUT I SUSPECT STEEL WAS RARE IN SPANISH TIMES SO WAS USED FOR SPEARS, KNIVES AND SWORDS. A WOODEN DART WOULD SERVE JUST AS WELL FOR HUNTING BIRDS AND BE EASILY OBTAINED AND WORKED.
I HAVE THROWN A STEEL DART SIMULAR TO THESE IN SHAPE AND IT MIGHT HAVE PIERCED THIN ARMOR AND COULD BE THROWN QUITE ACCURATELY. THE HUNTERS WERE PROBABLY MUCH MORE SKILLED AND ACCURATE THAN I AS THEY PRACTICED FROM THEIR YOUTH AND HUNGER IS ALWAYS A STRONG MOTIVATION TO BECOME A SKILLED HUNTER. HITTING A SMALL BIRD IN A BUSH WOULD BE MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THAN HITTING A MAN SO THEY PROBABLY LEARNED WHERE THE SOFT SPOTS WERE ON THE SPANISH VERY SOON SO IT WOULD HAVE BEEN AN EFFECTIVE WEAPON.

I CAN'T THINK OF A PHILIPPINE WEAPON BEGINING WITH A UNLESS IT WOULD BE AX OR ADZ.

Balisong Knife
 

The Balisong knife also incorrectly called a Butterfly knife is probably the most romantic knife in the world. Balisongs come in many sizes, I have seen them as big as 1 foot blade and 1 foot handle. I have seen a many varieties of blade shapes from single edge straight to wavy Kris blades.
It was made made popular in the 1980s in martial art films but the knife is not new, according to Arnis Presas style & Balisong book by GM Ernesto A. Presas page 175, I quote" the knives ancestry dates back to 800 AD. According to his book the knife got its name from barrio where is was made in barrio in Batangas, Philippines. The names Balisong came fro two words Bali means to break and sung is taken fro m the sungay meaning horn. The most common handle was from animal horns".
According to family lore these knives were made from ball-bearing races using the best steel, and are able to pierce a silver coin. The knife was carried as combination razor to shave and for self-defense, it was carried next to your wallet to if someone tried to rob you, you could get it as you went for your wallet.

Bagobo Sword
 

The Bagobo sword comes from the Bagobo people, a group of people who trace their roots from the people who brought Hinduisum to Mindanao during the Sri Vijayan and Majapahit invasion. The people inter married withe the locals, they formed a new society and came up with the name Bagabo.
reference:bagobo by: Archee Lou Garcia
Photo from Anteques.com