Filipino weapons

Carolina River Rat

Carolina River Rat

Joined
Oct 29, 2008
Messages
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Anyone know anything about the products from traditionalfilipinoweapons.com? Beautiful looking stuff on the site, and they have a supposed testimonial from Dan Inosanto, but testimonials can be faked and cheap stuff from Pakistan can be made beautiful. Since I don't have Guro Dan on speed dial, I'd like some feedback on this.
 
The question is do you want to buy something from someone who says: "These Swords can easily chop off cow's head in one stroke!" hahaha

The name is misleading. Those are not traditional weapons. They are like contemporary and somewhat fusion designs.
 
thefarmer said:
The question is do you want to buy something from someone who says: "These Swords can easily chop off cow's head in one stroke!" hahaha

The name is misleading. Those are not traditional weapons. They are like contemporary and somewhat fusion designs.
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For that matter, if they can chop off a cow's head in one stroke, then my answer is YES!!! Not plannin on chopping off any cow heads, but you never know...
 
Carolina River Rat said:
In that case where can I find true traditional Filipino weapons?
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What do you mean by traditional?

I have a barong I bought in Zamboanga and one from Kris Cutlery, and they both handle similarly. The KC barong actually handles a little better.

The KC barong is a bit plain compared to the one from Zamboanga. The scabbard is just wood with cotton cord wrap in a couple places. The one on my traditional barong is covered with a wrap of plant fiber and has decorations cut from sea shells on a few places. Shell parts embedded in wood is popular for Filipino wood crafts. The handle is also fancier as well. But functionally, they are not that different.

The KC bolos are closer to the ones I've seen in the Philippines, though most bolos I've seen there are tools and are much plainer than those from KC.
 
Traditional Filipino Weapons is run by Ron Kosakowski. Ron is a well known Pekiti Tirsia Kali and Kuntao instructor. He frequently travels to the Philippines. He can be found over on www.fmatalk.com. I have not purchased anything from his site yet, but I plan to. I have heard praise for his products from many highly ranked and skilled people and have heard no complaints. If you like something you see there, I would buy it. I highly doubt if you will be disappointed.
 
That's what I wanted to know. As far as traditional appearance goes, I disagree with Farmer. KC and TFW's stuff looks pretty authentic to me. They look a lot like some authentic antiques I've seen. Mostly was just lookin for quality. I hadn't heard of Kosakowski before, and I'm a pretty hard sell unless I can hold something in my hand and swing it a couple times.
 
Thanks Steve. I've got a KC Barong. Awesome weapon. I'm gonna order some of Mr. Kosakowski's stuff soon. Too many things I want and not nearly enough money.
 
FWIW, although I haven't met Ron Kosakowski in person, but I've had minor correspondence with him online. He seems like a good guy and even has a few videos of himself up on YouTube doing some full-contact with some a couple PTK Filipino Marines. Hey, he likes full-contact stick fighting so he must be a good guy. :)
 
traditional, meaning it's done by village craftsmen and smiths in places i wouldn't advise people to go to. as i understand it, the best knife makers (or users) are:

1. the tausogs in jolo sub-province. the heavy, drooping wavy kris is the best-known weapon here.

2. the leaf-shaped barong in maguindanao (not sure,) favored for taking heads.

3. the talibong (long machete) of the illongos in panay and negros island.

4. the working bolos of pangasinan

5. the one-piece knives of the mountain province.

only #4 and 5 have symmetrical beveling. #4 usually has a tang into which is welded a length of screw thread that catches a nut at the end of the handle, creating a pommel. #5 has the blade tang beaten and hammered into a round handle. the rest have heat-sunk tangs into wood are are often chisel-ground.

that's from my own travelogue around my native country.
 
I realize the thread is more than a month old, but as an owner of both a TFW kris and panabas, I can say I am pleased with both. I had a lot of fun test cutting with the latter this past fall, you might be able to find a video elsewhere on the web.

A piece of personal advice I've given out in another forum regarding TFW is regarding their pricing. A lot of their larger blades are the same price, about $195. Because of this, I'll opt to get the blades that look like they require more work to produce than soe of the more plain specimens of similar size.

As some pointed out, certain designs may not fit some folks ideas of traditional, but if you ultimately enjoy the blade for what it is, that's what's important.
 
the guy who works traditinol filipino weapons. is my martial arts trainer for kali/ kuntao. and jeet kune do. the weapons he sells are remarkable pieces prob the sharpest thing i ever handled. excelent craftmenship. any questions i can answer by seeing these products first hand and knowing the owner he is located in waterbury CT wear i train.
email- xbillisedgex@sbcglobal.net
work- william.forster2@sikorsky.com
 
Bfusmc03117 said:
the weapons he sells are remarkable pieces prob the sharpest thing i ever handled.
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Oh yeah, I think I forgot to mention that they come pretty sharp out of the packaging, which I'm not accustomed to with bigger blades/swords. No trip to the belt grinder necessary. :thumbup:
 
The variety of makers with pleasing, affordable bladely goods to offer really is a curse in disguise... so many blades, so little money! :(
 
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