Krieger 1926 Philippine ethnic weapons Plate 6

Sibat is the Filipino word for

spear A spear is a pole weapon 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 hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

, used as a weapon or tool by natives of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. The term is used in Tagalog and

Kinaray-a The Karay-a language ( krj, label=none, Kinaray-a, krj, label=none, Binisayâ nga Kinaray-a or krj, label=none, Hinaraya; en, Harayan) is an Austronesian regional language in the Philippines spoken by the Karay-a people, mainly in Antique, I ...

. It also called bangkaw, sumbling or palupad in the islands of

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao. Located in the central part of the archipelago, ...

and

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

; and budjak (also spelled bodjak or budiak) among

Muslim Filipinos Islam was the first-recorded monotheistic religion in the Philippines. Islam reached the Philippines in the 14th century with the arrival of Muslim traders from the Persian Gulf, southern India, and their followers from several sultanates in th ...

in western

and the Sulu Archipelago. Sibat are typically made with

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan, 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 closed- canopy old-growth tropical fores ...

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

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

harpoon A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal ...

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 (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 16 ...

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 of Luzon, the

Igorot The indigenous peoples of the Cordillera Mountain Range of northern Luzon, Philippines are often referred to using the exonym Igorot people, or more recently, as the Cordilleran peoples. There are nine main ethnolinguistic groups whose domains ar ...

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, in the Philippines. Although some Bontocs of Natonin and Paracelis identify themselves as Balangaos, Gaddangs or Kalingas, the t ...

. The sibat/bangkaw is widely used in

Arnis Arnis, also known as Kali or Eskrima/Escrima, is the national martial art of the Philippines. The three are roughly interchangeable umbrella terms for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines (" Filipino Martial Arts", or FMA), which ...

systems such as San Miguel Eskrima,

Modern Arnis Modern Arnis is the system of 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 the older Arnis systems ...

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 ( ilo, gayáng) can be used at the same time, with the second spear held with a grip in the middle and used as a shield. When one spear is thrown, the practitioner can then draw his blade and

dual wield Dual wielding 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 Martial arts#Variation and scope, ...

with a blade and spear. The Igorot and

Aeta people The Aeta (Ayta ), Agta, or Dumagat, are collective terms for several Filipino indigenous peoples who live in various parts of the island of Luzon in the Philippines. They are considered to be part of the Negrito ethnic groups and share common ...

in Luzon also have a spears with a 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) and in the Igorot spear's case, the detachable head can be used as a dagger. Traditionally, Philippine spears were not used with the "helicopter" twirling motions found in Chinese arts such as Wushu and Indian

Silambam Silambam is an Indian martial art originating in South India in the Indian subcontinent. This style is mentioned in Tamil Sangam literature. The World Silambam Association is the official international body of Silambam. Origin References ...

. According to FMA instructor and journalist Daniel Foronda who hails from the Mountain Province region, such twirling techniques cannot be used amongst dense pine trees, and basic utilization with the Igorot spear is more akin to rifle bayonet 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 Filipino melee weapons Spears

Techniques

See also

References

External links