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Let's travel to regions with a less known swordmaking culture - The Philippines!

The Spanish claimed and colonized the Philippine archipelago around 1565. The Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legaspi was the first to set a Spanish foot on these lands. Later, about 1543, Ruy López de Villalobos named two islands of archipelago (Samar and Leyte) Las Islas Filipinas. This goes after King Philip II of Spain.

When the Spanish arrived to the Philippine islands, they discovered that these places are not as wild as they imagined. Reach culture and technology was discovered to be quite advanced.

The Filipinos were very skilled in making a specific type of cold steel weapons. They used to forge of bronze and even iron. Their war inventory was rich in portable cannons of different size.


Moros
If you are fond of rare swords then you undoubtedly have heard about the Philippine Moro Weapons. The Moro name comes from Muslim tribes situated mainly on the Sulu Archipelago and Mindanao Island in Southern Philippines. There are known four major Moro tribes: the Samal (Zamboanga), the Maguidanao (Mindanao), the Maranao (Mindanao), and the Tausug (Sulu).

The Maro tribes were the most war prone tribes on the Philippine islands. This is why they developed a wide weapon inventory which distinguished by its high efficiency. Some of the Moro edged weapons are: Tombak, Golok, Kampilan, Barong, Kris, Panabas, Parang Pida, etc.

Sword ceremonial
The notorious sword makers of Philippine swords were Piray, Viray, etc. Their sword forging tradition can be even called 'school', as it lasted for centuries in many parts of the Philippines. The swordmakers created a special social category forming guilds of smiths. Most of them followed the Piray lineage.

The interesting and distinguishing fact about Philippine sword makers was that they also were astrologers who waited for auspicious conjunctions of planets before proceeding with each elaborate phase of the sword making ritual. Thus, a sword crafting could last a very long period. It is not actually a secret that sword making was considered a ritual. Another completing ritual was passage of the sword from the maker to the owner.



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Kriss is the best. My late Papa Titing had one that was 2 feet long. Weighed over 20 lbs.

We still have it on display in our house in Tagbilaran.

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The Kriss that my Papa Titing had, which is in display in our house, was given to him by the late Sultan of Sulu. My Papa Titing was a businessman, trading and selling goods in Mindanao and in Sulu back in the 60s and 70s.

After the initiation of the Moro Wars in the early 70s, his friend, the Sultan of Sulu told him to never come back to Sulu as fears of his death from rising anti-christian sentiments in the south. As a gift of friendship, the Sultan gave my Papa Titing a traditional Sulu Kriss.

The Kriss can easily sever a man's torso in half if used properly.

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