Fighting with keris

[A. G. Maisey]

Oh, I see, "play" rather than "pencak silat".

Yes, that is understandable. There is mention of keris play in the Pararaton too.However, the translation of "ulin" as "play" has me puzzled. In Old Javanese "ulin" has a couple of different meanings, but "play" is not one of them. The closest we can get to play is probably "wave", or "hold up".Still I guess that depending on the context, one of these meanings might be able to be stretched to "play".

Regarding the keris grip. It does work, some years back when I had an interest in the more bloody aspects of keris study I was taught how to hold and use a keris in this way. It would be difficult to use an old, worn keris like this, because the narrowness of the top of the gonjo will bite into the index finger, but with a keris that provides sufficient support for the index finger, this grip works beautifully.In fact, held correctly in this way, the keris locks itself into your hand.There is absolutely no risk of your hand slipping down the blade, because that blade is locked against the base of the index finger.