Krieger 1926 Philippine ethnic weapons Plate 6

Sibat is a type of

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

used as a weapon or tool by natives of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. The term is used in Tagalog and Kinaray-a. It also called bangkaw, sumbling or palupad in the islands of

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...

and

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

; and budjak (also spelled bodjak or budiak) among

Muslim Filipinos Islam in the Philippines is the second largest religion in the country, and the faith was the first-recorded monotheistic religion in the Philippines. Historically, Islam reached the Philippine archipelago in the 14th century, through contact ...

in western

and the

Sulu Archipelago The Sulu Archipelago ( Tausug: Kapū'-pūan sin Sūg Sulat Sūg: , ) is a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, in the southwestern Philippines. The archipelago forms the northern limit of the Celebes Sea and southern limit of the Sulu Se ...

. Sibat are typically made with

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan (from Malay language, Malay: ''rotan''), is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the clos ...

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

, bahi or other hardwood, either with a sharpened tip or a head made from metal. These heads may either be single-edged, double-edged or barbed. Styles vary according to function and origin. For example, a sibat designed for fishing may not be the same as those used for hunting wild game such as boar. According to Kalis Ilustrisimo archivist Romeo Macapagal, in

Kapampangan Kapampangan, Capampañgan or Pampangan may refer to: *Kapampangan people, of the Philippines *Kapampangan language Kapampangan, Capampáñgan, or Pampangan, is an Austronesian language, and one of the eight major languages of the Philippines. ...

, it is known as ''tandos'' or ''tandus'' and a fishing

harpoon A harpoon is a long, spear-like projectile used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other hunting to shoot, kill, and capture large fish or marine mammals such as seals, sea cows, and whales. It impales the target and secures it with barb or ...

with 3 or more prongs is a ''salapang'' in both Tagalog and Kapampangan. According to Filipino martial arts researcher & author Celestino Macachor, a shorter version of the Visayan ''bangkaw'' in

Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...

is the ''sapang'', around in length and a thrusting weapon, and a ''budiak'' or ''bodjak'' is a Moro weapon that is about the same length as the ''bangkaw'', but heavier. In the

Mountain Province Mountain Province (; ; ; ; ; ) is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Bontoc while Bauko is the largest municipality. Mountain Province was formerly referred to as Mountain ...

of Luzon, the

Igorot The indigenous peoples of the Cordillera in northern Luzon, Philippines, often referred to by the exonym Igorot people, or more recently, as the Cordilleran peoples, are an ethnic group composed of nine main ethnolinguistic groups whose domains ...

people have different versions of them such as the ''fan′-kao'' and ''kay-yan′'', and the ''fal-fĕg′'' war spear of the

Bontoc people The Bontoc (or Bontok) ethnolinguistic group can be found in the central and eastern portions of Mountain Province, on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Although some Bontocs of Natonin and Paracelis identify themselves as Balangao people, B ...

. The sibat/bangkaw is widely used in

Arnis Arnis, also known as kali or eskrima/escrima, is the national martial art of the Philippines. These three terms are, sometimes, interchangeable in referring to traditional martial arts of the Philippines (" Filipino Martial Arts", or FMA), wh ...

systems such as San Miguel Eskrima,

Modern Arnis Modern Arnis is the system of Filipino martial arts, Filipino fighting arts founded by Remy Presas as a self-defense system. His goal was to create an injury-free training method as well as an effective self-defense system in order to preserve t ...

Kombatan Kombatan is a Filipino martial arts system. The founder of the system was GGM Ernesto Amador Presas (10th DAN). The current head of the system is Ernesto Presas Jr. The style is known for its double stick techniques, but it features other stick ...

, Inayan Eskrima and Pekiti-Tirsia Kali.

Techniques

image:Krieger_1926_Philippine_ethnic_weapons_Plate_5.png, 300px, Ceremonial, war, fishing, and hunting spears and

s of the Philippines Sibat can either be used hand-to-hand or thrown from a distance. Blunt portions of the weapon could be used to incapacitate at closer ranges. These attacks can be used in conjunction; the shaft can be used to block an enemy's weapon and then followed with a thrust into the throat or stomach. In the Ilocano fighting arts of Kabaroan learned by Grandmaster Ramiro Estalilla, 2 spears () can be used at the same time, with the second spear held with a grip in the middle and used as a

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

. When one spear is thrown, the practitioner can then draw his blade and

dual wield Dual wielding or Macedonian shooting is the technique of using two weapons, one in each hand, for training or combat. It is not a common combat practice. Although historical records of dual wielding in war are limited, there are numerous weapon-b ...

with a blade and spear. The Igorot and

Aeta people Aeta (Ayta ), Agta and Dumagat, are collective terms for several indigenous peoples who live in various parts of Luzon islands in the Philippines. They are included in the wider Negrito grouping of the Philippines and the rest of Southeast A ...

in Luzon also have spears with detachable heads. The Aeta remove the heads when entering Christian towns to trade (during which the shaft can still be used as a staff weapon) while the Igorot can use the detachable head as a dagger. Traditionally, Philippine spears were not used with the "helicopter" twirling motions found in Chinese arts such as

Wushu Wushu may refer to: Martial arts * Chinese martial arts, the various martial arts of China * Wushu (sport) Wushu () (), or kung fu, is a competitive Chinese martial art. It integrates concepts and forms from various traditional and modern ...

and Indian

Silambam Silambam is an old Indian martial arts, Indian martial art originating in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This style is mentioned in Tamil Sangam literature. The World Silambam Association is the official international body of Silamba ...

. According to FMA instructor and journalist Daniel Foronda who hails from the

region, such twirling techniques cannot be used amongst dense pine trees, and basic utilization with the Igorot spear is more akin to rifle

bayonet A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger">knife">-4; we might wonder whethe ...

training.

References

* Mark V. Wiley (1997). ''Filipino Martial Culture'',

Tuttle Publishing Tuttle Publishing, originally the Charles E. Tuttle Company, is a book publishing company that includes Tuttle, Periplus Editions, and Journey Editions.

External links

Eskrima Digest
{{Pole weapons Philippine martial arts Weapons of the Philippines Spears

Techniques

See also

References

External links