Origin of the Tombak?

[KuKulzA28]

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...

[Bill M]

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.

[KuKulzA28]

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...

[tunggulametung]

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.

[tunggulametung]

A shorter explanation to my reply above :
tombak = spear
lembing = javelin

[kai]

Hello Bill,

From a Javanese perspective any spear with a methuk at the base of the blade qualifies as a tombak (no methuk - no tombak); the methuk can be forged seperately or being integral like keris blades with gonjo iras. OTOH, the name tombak apparently spread into many languages across the archipelago and is locally being used for spears which don't follow the Javanese construction/definition.

AFAIK, the Javanese custom of keeping tombak blades on a shortened pole is a relatively recent development for convenient storage of a weapon which has become obsolete during the colonial period. While this custom can be expected to spread, I find that most peoples on surrounding islands still prefer keeping their heirloom spears at full length...

And, yes, being probably the first dedicated weapon of mankind, spears do end up becoming heirlooms as well as status symbols quite commonly. However, beside keris, many other types of swords and local blade types can become pusaka (including royal heirlooms).

Regards,
Kai

[VANDOO]

I HAVE SEEN THE DAGGERS WITH THE PARMOR SPEAR BLADES REFERRED TO AS TOMBAK, IS IT THE CORRECT NAME OR IS THERE A BETTER NAME FOR THEM

AS TO HOW THE DAGGER MADE USING AN OLD SPEAR BLADE ORIGINATED PERHAPS IT WAS BECAUSE AN OCUPING FORIGN POWER PASSED LAWS FORBIDDING SPEARS BEING CARRIED INTO TOWN. OR IT MAY HAVE COME ABOUT AT A LATER DATE WHEN SPEARS WERE NO LONGER CARRIED AS GUNS WERE BEING USED.
I AM INCLUDING A PICTURE OF THE PHILIPPINE DAGGER SPEAR, THE SHAFT COULD BE REMOVED FROM THE SOCKET IN THE HANDLE AND CARRIED INTO TOWN LEGALLY AS A DAGGER. THERE ARE PICTURES OF 4 TOMBAK DAGGERS AS WELL. AS USUAL THE PICTURES I AM INCLUDING ARE FROM OTHER SOURCES THANKS TO ANY MEMBER WHO MAY HAVE ORIGINALLY POSTED THE PICTURES.