15th July 2010, 06:19 AM | #1 |
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Manila, Phils.
Posts: 1,042
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Names of north Luzon blades
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. |
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