A straight blade or a curved one?

MABAGANI · 4th February 2006, 07:07 AM

In a recent documentary I helped with on the Filipino martial arts, there was a segment about Moro blades in which Cecil Quirino makes a statement from a study about the depth of penetration in a vertical cut from collar bone down through the chest, the order of cutting ability was the kris, kampilan, then the barung which could cut the deepest.
The kris is an example of a forward leaning sword, the kampilan a backward lean, and the barung a curved short sword. Its not conclusive for every type but it gives an idea of what each can do. Each design had their advantages and disadvantages but in order to compensate for fighting in close quarters and against multiple opponents, there was the wavy kris which could rebound or cut depending on circumstance, its thrust could enter and retract easier, the kampilan with spike could limit thrust penetration to a few inches enough to do internal damage but not get trapped and the hilt alignment allowed pulling the blade back for multiple vertical cuts and drawing.
btw The one on one duel dealing with straight and curved blades lead into a whole different subject.

4th February 2006, 07:07 AM	#12
MABAGANI Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 221	In a recent documentary I helped with on the Filipino martial arts, there was a segment about Moro blades in which Cecil Quirino makes a statement from a study about the depth of penetration in a vertical cut from collar bone down through the chest, the order of cutting ability was the kris, kampilan, then the barung which could cut the deepest. The kris is an example of a forward leaning sword, the kampilan a backward lean, and the barung a curved short sword. Its not conclusive for every type but it gives an idea of what each can do. Each design had their advantages and disadvantages but in order to compensate for fighting in close quarters and against multiple opponents, there was the wavy kris which could rebound or cut depending on circumstance, its thrust could enter and retract easier, the kampilan with spike could limit thrust penetration to a few inches enough to do internal damage but not get trapped and the hilt alignment allowed pulling the blade back for multiple vertical cuts and drawing. btw The one on one duel dealing with straight and curved blades lead into a whole different subject.