Of bolo rush & bolomen

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by KuKulzA28

It's interesting when people, even historians and martial artists, make blanket statements like "Talibon were only weapons" or "all Filipino weaponry had a duality of purpose - war and work" or "weapons are an extension of the hand" or "all bladed techniques can have hand and stick techniques derived from them"etc.etc. From life-experience it seems thing aren't always so clear-cut

I've been thinking, in the olden times perhaps it's really the agricultural [work] design of a blade that heavily influences martial arts [war] style ...

Like in any agricultural society in which economic surplus is not that much, most people can afford only one bolo. And so it makes sense to design the bolo around its intended agricultural use, as the community is engaged in farming most of the time anyway rather than in hacking other people

On the duality thing while not always true, we also see on the other hand that there indeed exist instances where the duality is there (i.e., work & war application is seen on the same blade, like the Leyte-Samar sundang).

Thus, whereas the Full Metal Jacket grunts have to chant

"This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rifle is useless. Without my rifle I am useless ..."

for the typical Filipino farmer of old, when pressed into military service there would be no need for such mantra