Minasbad

[Dimasalang]

Nice one Robert! Glad you finally found one also!
I received mine in the mail last week. Been too busy the past few days to take photos and post. I will within this week. I definitely want to get another, and I am hoping to find one similar to the traditional looking Minasbad like yours.

Originally Posted by Robert Coleman

Thank you Vinny. Have you seen the other one that I posted ? I wasn't even sure as to what to call it when I first acquired it. The thread on it is located at http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=13751 if you are interested in taking a look. I have another sword that I think might be from the Bicol area that has a hilt carved with an animal head that is very similar to the one on this Minasbad. Here are a couple of the pictures of the hilt to show the similarity in carving. I will be posting complete pictures of the sword in its own thread later. One other thing that I would like everyones opinion on is what do you think the hilt carving on both of these represent? I have been told that it could be a dog but with the way that the eyes, ears and especially the nose are represented it looks to me that it could be a water buffalo. Opinions anyone??

Interesting animal head. If it were a carabao, I would think the horns would be included, given the horns are a significant characteristic of the carabao. With the ears drooped like that, I am thinking goat or a calf or cow. Thats only my guess though.

Im finding myself more fascinated with Visayan weapons lately, considering there is sever lack of documentation and history behind them...I kinda like that. It makes them less popular as of now...but I feel in the near future that will all change. Funny how more Filipinos of the north would like to closely relate themselves to the Moro weapons than the visayan ones. Nearly all Eskrima/Arnis/Kali/FMA groups have a Moro weapon in their symbol or their arsenal...and 98% of them practice nothing similar or related to Moro Martial Arts. And they know all the names of the Moro weapons, but not the Visayan ones...and ironically, most of these arts originated from the Visayas region.
The animal carved hilts from Bikol also intrigues me. Were these animals sacred in someway in that region? Even though Bikol is a region of South Luzon, it seems more associated with the Visayas region, since it is in a way separated by mountains and attached to Luzon by a string with only one province connecting to it(Quezon). Also considering Samar/Leyte and Panay are right next to it. Some go so far to say the bottom half of the Bikol region dips in to the Visayas territory.