sword preferences?

Discussion in 'Filipino Martial Arts' started by themorningstar, Sep 14, 2004.

  1. Spunjer

    Spunjer Valued Member

    federico,
    nice to see you post on this website. i've been looking for those books you've mentioned for a while. i haven't had much luck at all, but since i'll be in manila next week (yahoo!), i'll definitely hit National Bookstore. btw, the referrences you have in your website is printed out, hoping to get as much of those books when i get there.

    as for hurley, i realized it's biased; but it's closer to the truth as to what is percieved by a lot of philippine arts practitioners here and europe. at this point, i'm just beginning to understand what really happened back then and i have to give credit to moro sword collecting. the collecting part is actually a missing puzzle to all of these.
     
  2. Matt_Bernius

    Matt_Bernius a student and a teacher

    The kerambit holds a special place in my heart. From my understanding it came from the Indonesia/Malaysia area and then trough trade routes made it's way to the Philipines. They're often rumored to be used with poison, though there seems to be some doubt about that.

    I'll see if I can dig up a great post that someone once made about them on rec.martialarts

    - Matt
     
  3. Federico

    Federico New Member

    Another book that has a much better history would be Najeeb Saleeby's History of Sulu, though written at the turn of the century, Saleeby was A. a scholar B. did primary research (eg. examining Royal Tarsilas, interviewed Sultans, went through other Moro documents). Once you find Majul's work, you should have a good understanding of the past. There are critics of his work, but it still remains probably one of the most important texts in the Moro history Canon. Now if you are up for a challenge you can go through Blair and Robinson, as it is a translation of Spanish government records, and thus can be considered a primary source (William Henry Scott considers it a primary source, and that is good enough for me, as Scott is the pioneer of early PI history beyond governmental lies and propaganda). However, I really really would not recommend Hurley as anywhere near reliable. It is unfortunate so many FMA groups recommend his work as a historical reference, but it is really really a poor representation of actual history. I fear it will only engrain mis-conceptions of what happened in the past, rather than reveal any greater truth. However, as I noted before, it is one of the few accounts that do deal with American actions in Southern PI. I liked the book Bullets and Bolos by White. One can go over the Philippine Commission reports to Congress, but they are rather dry, and horribly and purposefully bare. I read the official record of the battle of Bud Dajo, and it almost made me cry by how consciously neglectful the account was.
     

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