B a d i k

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by KuKulzA28

Hope no one is bothered that I've resurrected this thread...

I was wondering, how exactly is a Badik used and/or taught traditionally? Just looking at them I can tell they are for punch-stabs, maybe cuts to vulnerable flesh - but mostly thrusts. Are they for death-matches? Assassination? Self-defense? Side-arm in combat? I can see them being very effective for any of those roles. I can also see that they are very limited in their application - it seems to be a purely thrusting knife for fighting. Due to it's size it looks like it'd be used in knees/elbows/throwing/locking range - do traditional Bugis silat styles reflect this? Does it even have a place in Sulawesi silat or is it just a simple "shanker" in application?

I can't answer your questions with assurance. But I think that a Badik is a side-arm for self-defence or combat same like the simple Keris from Bugis. And that it also can be a status symbol when you look to high class pieces like the one at the second place from the left in my pictures or the one just ended on e-bay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=120412868932
regards,
sajen

[KuKulzA28]

those are very beautiful Badiks.

Were the pretty ones used by wealthier individuals, or simply worn by wealthier individuals during formal events?

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by KuKulzA28

those are very beautiful Badiks.

Were the pretty ones used by wealthier individuals, or simply worn by wealthier individuals during formal events?

I think it's the same like today, the wealthier persons drive expensive cars and the poor ones cheap cars!
When I look to the one with ivory handle (from hippotamus), it have a well used patination. So my guess is that it have been a dagger for every day from a rich man. In down from the sheat it is dated: 16.8.38. Maybe from 1838 or 1938, who know's?
sajen

[KuKulzA28]

Ah well that makes sense...

I wonder, if Badiks were widespread amongst the Bugis, many Bugis must have known how to use it - right? If so, Bugis silat should have training with regards to it... cause once one has the form and technique, the attacking itself is somewhat easy I would assume... it's the targets, the evasions, and the countering that would be trickier... the art in the art of knife-fighting, right?

Also was it a concealed knife or one tucked away? I mean if everyone carried a knife or a gun, we'd know everyone had something but not where. If we all carried it the same way, just not too conspicuously, that'd be another story.

On the side... seems like the pisau, tumbuk lada, and sewar probably have a similar usage as the badik right?

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by KuKulzA28

Ah well that makes sense...
On the side... seems like the pisau, tumbuk lada, and sewar probably have a similar usage as the badik right?

This guess is nearby, I would agree.

[PenangsangII]

to a Buginese/Makassarese, badik is "man's best friend"..... It's always carried wherever and whenever a man goes out.... even in his sleep, a badik is still tucked under his pillow

[KuKulzA28]

Originally Posted by PenangsangII

to a Buginese/Makassarese, badik is "man's best friend"..... It's always carried wherever and whenever a man goes out.... even in his sleep, a badik is still tucked under his pillow

Is that still the case or did most Buginese and Makassarese let go of this old way and the Badik?