The Size of the Keris

[David]

Originally Posted by Roland_M

Hello Alan,

~ 8" or 21 cm is no short blade compared to a modern army dagger, which is not longer than 6-7" (Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife).

One reason could be, that a short 8" Keris is very much faster together with more control in a duel, than a long Keris with a 15" blade.

Every blade with a blade length of more than 3.2" (~8cm) is potentially deadly, long enough to penetrate the heart or throat.


Roland

Roland, i don't believe that you will find that the fighting styles used in modern military martial practices are all that comparable to the martial styles used when fighting with keris. A keris isn't used in the same manner as a Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife.
Then, of course, there is the obvious fact that very few keris, relatively speaking, of any area are anywhere near the short size of 8". Even in the Bugis culture, which is generally acknowledged as being most likely to have used the keris in actual combat, keris most often measure up to at least 12" (30.48cm). The fact that you can potentially kill someone with a blade only 8cm long seems to have very little bearing on this question.