Popularity of 'katar' shapes?

KuKulzA28 · 29th April 2009, 03:40 AM

I have been doing research on kalaripayattu (what little is available to the average joe), and I saw on youtube videos that oftentimes they used a katar(a) with a curved blade like a relatively straight S. There's also ones that curved straight up like a mini-saber. Of course there's a plethora of simpler dagger-like shapes. I can see the upwards-curved katar being an excellent slasher, the S-curved ones being decent at slashing, chopping, and puncturing... and the dagger-like kind great for thrusts and decent at slashing/chopping. What's interesting is that many Indian martial arts seem to see the katar as a weapon that is to be used for slashing in addition to the obvious thrust. What surprises me is that when I look on antique websites, peoples' posts here, and eBay the most popular kind I see is the straight dagger type...

What I am wondering is: are the straight dagger-like katar more popular amongst buyers or just more popular amongst warriors back then?

For example, the keris/kris often conjures the popular image of a Malay-Indonesia wavy dagger or a Moro wavy sword... and yet, many (often more practical ones) were the swollen tipped Keris and the straight or straighter kris swords. Some obviously had more symbolic and talismanic qualities, but it came at a cost. Like the doppelsoldners' swords, some had practical straight swords, and flamed parade swords...

I'm a novice in all this stuff, but hopefully my question can spark a great discussion

29th April 2009, 03:40 AM	#1
KuKulzA28 Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: between work and sleep Posts: 731	Popularity of 'katar' shapes? I have been doing research on kalaripayattu (what little is available to the average joe), and I saw on youtube videos that oftentimes they used a katar(a) with a curved blade like a relatively straight S. There's also ones that curved straight up like a mini-saber. Of course there's a plethora of simpler dagger-like shapes. I can see the upwards-curved katar being an excellent slasher, the S-curved ones being decent at slashing, chopping, and puncturing... and the dagger-like kind great for thrusts and decent at slashing/chopping. What's interesting is that many Indian martial arts seem to see the katar as a weapon that is to be used for slashing in addition to the obvious thrust. What surprises me is that when I look on antique websites, peoples' posts here, and eBay the most popular kind I see is the straight dagger type... What I am wondering is: are the straight dagger-like katar more popular amongst buyers or just more popular amongst warriors back then? For example, the keris/kris often conjures the popular image of a Malay-Indonesia wavy dagger or a Moro wavy sword... and yet, many (often more practical ones) were the swollen tipped Keris and the straight or straighter kris swords. Some obviously had more symbolic and talismanic qualities, but it came at a cost. Like the doppelsoldners' swords, some had practical straight swords, and flamed parade swords... I'm a novice in all this stuff, but hopefully my question can spark a great discussion Last edited by KuKulzA28; 30th April 2009 at 03:15 AM.