New User Introduction/Question for all
 

Hello All,

I am a practitioner of indonesian martial art Poekoelan Tjimindie Tulen and a recent proud owner of my first Keris given to me by my teacher. I have been reading on the forums for some time now and toying often with the idea of registering so that I could learn from all of you. My question today is to get an idea where some of you learned what you know about the care and upkeep of keris. Was it a lifetime interest and information came to you along the way or was it imparted onto you through your culture? What originally interested you in them. I would like to learn all I can about the workings of the keris in terms of taking care of the handle and the dress, along with cleaning of the blade itself. I am also very impressed with the overall knowledge that exists here and am looking forward to learning. Eventually I would like to be able to do all the work on keris myself and not have to appeal to an outside source to do it for me. Thanks very much and best to all.

Welcome -

Unlike other learned members of this board, I don't know squat about
kris (other than I like them). However, there are some good sites
linked on my website at:

http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/world.htm

Maybe some of these may also be of some help.

Rich S

Living Tradition
 

Being a Malay, the keris is part and parcel of my nation's culture and history. On one hand, it is the ethnic sidearm of our people, just as the Dha is that of the Thais and the Kukri for the Gurkhas.
For many of us, the keris is often intertwined with some family tradition, as even today, some keris and other traditional weapons are still passed down from father to son as in the old days, often with half remembered, half forgotten lore attached to it. Some people collect keris to delight themselves in the aesthetics, while others are interested in its innate spiritual qualities. Personally, I started collecting in an effort to replace a keris panjang and a tumbuk lada, as well as several other pieces owned by my maternal grandfather, which has been dispersed amongst family members. Sure, nothing beats owning a real pusaka of your own but I felt i had to start somewhere.
In this part of the world, there's still plenty of old people who could speak at length on the subject.

Hi Bamboo and welcome to the forum. Though i live in Cincinnati these days i was born in Brooklyn, so i guess we are homeys bro! :)
That's a pretty big order of question there. My best suggestion would be for you to spend an aweful long time researching the archives since everything you have asked about has been discussed in depth here for many years. You should research the old site as well as this one. There are some VERY good threads on restoration and care of keris and i would hate to have to start new ones up again when the info is already in the archives. If you then have more specific questions ask away.
Just a word of advice, we are all students here, all at various levels, but students still. The sad truth is that there are very, very, VERY few people around that understand the full picture about keris, even in Indonesia. So if i were you i would take everything you hear with just a little grain of salt and beware of those who might set themselves up as experts.
I would also suggest that along with studying the keris itself you also study the cultures of Indonesia as well. It is impossible to come to true understanding of anything in a vacuum. :)

Welcome Bamboo
 

In that vein I would suggest Margaret Weiner's book Visible and Invisible Realms ; try a site such as abebooks.com .

YES! :)

Thanks for the warm welcome!
 

Thanks very much for all the welcome and also the suggestions. I should have thought of the search function first rather than burdening the forum with more of the same question. As for culture I get some from studying the martial arts, and my teacher has taught me a lot about the daily care and also the spiritual side of the keris. I've done a little research myself on line but never had the opportunity to speak directly with others who are involved with them, I am looking very forward to it.
Also, hello to the former Brooklynite. It's always good to meet somebody else from NYC. Here it seems like all I meet are people from other places. The born and raised New Yorker is a rare thing.