Backwards hit on WWII-era Moro Kris. Mistake?

[kai]

Hello Dave,

Rick's thought about a reversed hilt as a symbol of peace reminded me of something I read about an Indonesian weapon (can't remember keris or badik or something else with a prominent directional hilt). One would typically wear the weapon with the hilt facing the "wrong way". In a dispute, rotating the weapon in one's sash was a way of escalating the dispute by suggesting imminent violence without actually drawing the weapon.

In a kraton setting, reversing the grip of a keris may have been enforced in a few cases in Indonesia. All other weapons have tightly set hilts as have been keris hilts in cultures which actually preserved the use of the keris as weapon. Any Moro datu (or sultan to village chief throughout the archipelago) had retainers with him - bodyguards who made it very clear that they would make sure that any unwise move were your last one.

To bolster Rick's thought, if we assume most days were peaceful,

Nah, Moro is a warrior culture. Infighting may have been more common than raiding parties...


No self-respecting Moro would have carried a kris (his alter ego and sign of manhood) in a crippled "fashion" - no way. Most average folks could only afford to own a single kris and the Moro kris hilt can only be changed with quite some effort. Do the math...

Regards,
Kai