[marto suwignyo]

Firstly let me talk about the word "recurved".
I could well be wrong in the way I have used this word to convey my intent. To me, a "recurved blade" is a blade that is curved, and has its cutting edge on the inside of the curve.

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines recurve as:-

"To turn back in a curve upon its previous direction. Hence, recurved or bent back; having a backwards curve."

I understand this as meaning that if an object is straight, and one end is turned back towards the direction of the other end, it is recurved.There is no necessity for a curve to exist, prior to a second curve being formed, for a thing to possess the quality of being "recurved". In simple terms, "recurved" has the same meaning in the English language as "curved", but probably expresses the degree of curve by requiring a recurved thing to bend back towards its beginning position.

Tom Hyle uses the khukri as an example of a recurved blade, and up to ten minutes ago I would have thought of a khukri as having a recurved blade, in that its second curve moves back towards the level of its first curve. But I now think that I would have been wrong. The correct meaning of the word does not seem to be this at all.

So, as I said, my use of recurved to describe a blade that is simply curved, but perhaps lacking the degree of curve to make it recurved, is probably wrong, and for this imprecise use of English I apologise. English is a very difficult language. One could study it all one`s life and still learn something new each day. I have never looked at the dictionary meaning or "recurved" before, and Tom Hyle`s remarks forced me to check and see if was talking sense or nonsense. It wasn`t nonsense, but it was imprecise.

To clarify the form of the blade in what I know as a bendho:- the blade is straight, with a curve at its front end, and its cutting edge is on the inside of the curve.

KIAI yth

Thank you very much for your response to my query.

So, in Wonogiri, half an hour south of Solo, and in Madiun about one and a half hours east of Solo, this tool would be recognised as an "arit gedhe". Do you happen to know if it can be described as an "arit gedhe" in the area around Sragen?

Yes, I understand the distinction you are making between the name and the description of "arit gedhe" and "arit sing gedhe". However, what I know as an arit gedhe is in fact gedhe. Still, as we agree, names vary.

I find it interesting that you claim the small pusaka version of a kujang is called a kudhi.

Kudhis and kujangs are similar, and what I have found is that in Solo nobody makes any distinction between the two. An ahli tosan aji might, but ordinary people, craftsmen, dealers, tradespeople refer to kudhi, kujang, and in fact any other small,old, curved type blades as kudhis. This common usage may be wrong, but it is the way people right now refer to these things, in one specific location.
Similar situation with the "bendho" shown on page 34 of van Zonneveld. Since this discussion started I have shown this picture to four different people who are all Javanese. I don`t have any idea at all what the name for van Zonneveld`s "bendho" is, but the other four people I have shown it to all want to call it a kitchen knife----simply "piso".Maybe the only person who could give the exactly correct name to this thing is somebody who lives where it is used.

Anyway, back to the kudhi/kujang.
Kujangs are distinctly West Javanese, and there are several different shapes. Harsrinuksmo shows five ot six different shapes that he identifies as kujangs. He also shows several different shapes of kudhi. The kujangs look like the kudhis, and the kudhis look like the kujangs. Harsrinuksmo says that the difference is that kujangs are from West Java, kudhis are from Java and Madura, that is, to the east. He also says that a the base difference between the two is that a kudhi is a type of spear with a short shaft, while a kujang is something you hold with one hand.He shows a tool form of a kudhi, and this is exactly the shape of what I know as a bendho, but with that little axe-like projection we were talking about.This is a bit different to what I know as a luke, but it agrees exactly with what Kiai Carita knows as a kudhi.

To summarise:- if we can believe Harsinuksmo, kujangs are single hand weapons that come from West Java and that are used with one hand; kudhis are short spears that come from Java and Madura; but the tool form of a kudhi has a curved blade, sharpened on the inside of the curve, and with an axe-like projection near the handle, and is to all intents and purposes a bendho with a lump.

The name bendho is not a generic name for something: it is a specific name for a specific tool but this tool does have some variations, just as a chisel, or a sickle , has variations, however, some people will call a bendho a parang, because parang is a generic name for machete type tools.

I think all this just goes to show how very difficult it can be to try to put exactly correct names on any things from this part of the world. I`m not only talking about tools and weapons, but about anything at all. If we want to name something, the name should also include time and place.