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#1 |
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA Georgia
Posts: 1,599
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It seems appropriate that I ask here with the Indonesian crowd. I am researching Tombaks for a museum exhibit and find little information compared to keris.
![]() Appreciate your input. Last edited by Bill Marsh; 2nd August 2010 at 11:53 PM. |
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#2 | |
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Singapore
Posts: 54
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#3 |
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: between work and sleep
Posts: 731
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Good idea for a topic. All I know is that they're called tombak and lembing for spears... and that oftentimes these spears are put on dagger handles or short shafts... but I guess they were once supposed to be on actual spear shafts. In the old days, the spear, shield, and side-arm was the warrior's weapon. Today's Silat focuses a lot more on unarmed techniques, goloks, pisau, etc., but in the olden days, a spear was one of the universal weapons of the battlefield.
That's the extent of my knowledge... |
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#4 |
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA Georgia
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So, is a lembing a tombak on a long shaft? Or is it a spear?
Most of the short-shaft Tombaks I own have pamor. I have three long shaft and they don't seem to have pamor, though I could clean and stain them to be sure. They do have scabbards. We have a lot of literature on keris, but very little on Tombaks, yet it would seem that Tombaks have religious significance from the care taken to make the blades. Something more than just weapons. |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Oct 2008
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I think lembing and tombaks are both spears, but different types.. I think that lembing tend to have a central ridge and be thinner (better for stabs) and tombaks tend to be broader. I am under the impression that these are spear-heads... which can be mounted as daggers or on spear-shafts...
![]() I hope I'm helpful, but I eagerly await the responses of the experts... ![]() |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 238
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From my understanding lembing generally have a shorter shaft, and meant to be thrown while tombak have a longer shaft and use for closer combat. The note from malaysian wikipedia mention that tombak generally has a wider blade. But as long as I understand nowdays people just call it tombak and never lembing
![]() As for tombak, probably one of the most popular is Tombak Kyai Pleret (google should give more than enough information on this) It classified as wesi aji, the precious steel. But any cutting knife (and steel in general) seems to be "precious" in the past, at least it still celebrated in Bali (Tumpak Landep ceremony). Attached is photo from KITLV website but I forget the caption. It shows many fighter with tombak in the background. |
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