I'd like to thank everyone so far who has sent us photos and words of encouragement and advice. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST
!!!
When Shelley and I decided to work on this project, it first started out as just pure curiosity of these swords we seem to gravitate towards. This was going to be more of a survey than a hardcore research project. But the more we talked about it, we realized that really there isn't much information on these swords and that there seems to be a growing interest in them...especially amongst Filipino Martial Arts practitioners. Moreover, with the added confusion of different dialects and nomikers for these swords, we knew that this little project of ours deserved more than being just a survey and that it had to become more of thorough study.
Ruel, Marc, Federico, Ian, wilked, et. al, I greatly appreciate your comments and advice. I haven't done any academic research in over a decade and I'm sure Shelley hasn't either. But we both share a similar passion for these swords much as the Dha-guys do for their SE Asian dhas, the keris guys with their kerises, and the Moro sword collectors for the krises, kampilans, barongs, etc. (we all know the various factions on this forum
) Yet there seems to be more general information available for these groups than for the swords Shelley and I prefer. Our goal is to make this information less confusing and available to everyone.
Which brings us to Ruel's sage advice. Shelley and I have discussed this and at first our definition for Visayan swords was pretty broad. Narrowing the definition would give us better focus on our subject. Since this is a study on swords, the focus will be on swords. But the culture behind these swords is as bit as important as the swords themselves. Without the culture, these swords mean nothing. This is where it gets confusing and where focusing our definitions come into play. Shelley and I will discuss narrowing this definition down further and will share it with everyone in the near future. But roughly, the swords we will be concentrating on originate from the main "Visayan" islands in the Central Philippines which includes Panay, Negros, Cebu, Samar, Leyte, and Bohol. We may or may not include Masbate and Mindoro. We will also be focusing on swords as a weapon, not tools. Though there is a fine line between a tool and weapon especially in the Philippines where blade patterns are similar and your everyday "bolo" can be used as both, we will concentrate on the more ornately manufactured weapons that were concieved purely for the taking of human lives. As for a time period, that still hasn't quite been decided yet. We could use a time frame of anytime before the end of WWII, but Shelley and I both know that even up till now, a tenegre could be squaring off against a ginunting on an isolated beach in the Visayas as I write this
. We can't ignore this fact, so we'll discuss this as well.
As for the validity of the information we gather and the methodology we use, we are working on a systematic formula that would yield us the most reliable critical information in an unbiased manner. Basically, we will be doing a lot of cross referencing. In other words, information we get from one source will be checked with another source and then checked again, etc, until we are satisfied with our findings. This information will then be noted and documented. We will also be checking the validity of our sources themselves and "grading" them to the pertinance of this subject. Once we gather enough reliable information, we will come up with a rough outline and glossary to share with anyone who is interested. Whether we actually write a paper or even a book on the subject, we will post our synopsis on this forum or on a separate website for all to share. Keep in mind, don't expect this to happen overnight
. This sort of research takes time, maybe a few years and several thousands of miles of leg work. But we do intend on sharing information as we go.
Thanks again for all your support and comments.
Ian, heres a pic of a real sansibar below the Pulajan garab.