Names of north Luzon blades

[migueldiaz]

This pertains to the blades of north Luzon, specifically the Ilocos region.

We see the region's blades often, and we just call them by generic names. I've stumbled upon a book [Tawid: The Living Treasures of Ilocos Sur, 2010], that gives them their names, in the local Ilocano dialect:

kinakandon: a blade which form was inspired by the palay (rice plant) leaf => am still getting a photo of this blade

ganado: "has a rounded blade end and slightly arched body and is used for cutting tree branches"

innigat: "has rounded blade end akin to the shape of an eel's head and is used for clearing field grasses and shrubs"

linipit: hilt has a twirl design

minanabo: "has a straight back edge and slightly curving blade but pointed end and is used for cutting meat and butchering animals"

sinan-babbai or sinan-gabrielasilang or gabriela: the hilt has a woman figure with a native hemispherical hat; by the way, 'Gabriela' or 'Gabriela Silang' refers to the famous 18th century Ilocos heroine

sinan-bukelbukel - hilt has circular or spherical elements in the design

sinan-kapitan or Antonio Luna: the hilt has a human head figure, with an officer's cap; Antonio Luna is a Philippine Revolution hero incidentally

sinan-paddak: hilt has a horse or carabo hoof design (at the pommel)

sinan-sabong: hilt has a partially-open flower design (at the pommel) => this is probably the most often-seen hilt form among Luzon blades

sinan-tattao: generic name for a blade where the pommel is made in the likeness of a human being (would thus include the sinan-babbai and sinan-kapitan swords)

sinan-tutot: "is long with a 2.5 inch-body that tapers into a sharply pointed end and is also used for cutting meat but usually carried in a belt as weapon against venomous snakes"

A page from the book is below, together with pics of some of the above blades.