Lessons in Phillippine Weaponry: The Pinuti
Dec 9, 2009 2:33:31 GMT
Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2009 2:33:31 GMT
Hello all! This is the first of a series of threads I want to post here, and I may continue if it gets a lot of attention/discussion.
Why don't we start with a fighting blade that started off as a farm implement? The Pinuti goes by many names, from diffrent spellings like pinute or penuti, to regional terms like Itak in the Illocano and Tagalog dialects of the north, or Talibong in some parts of the Visayas.
The term Pinuti itself is derived from the Cebuano dialect word "White", or "Whitened". This style of blade was used in Cebu as a working blade to do anything from gathering crops to butchering meats, to splitting coconuts open on a particularly hot day. Many times the pinuti was used to cut through coconut trees to get to the sap, which was used for many purposes from distilling into vinegar to jimmying up some local moonshine known as "Tuba" wine. all this work on a farm blade would darken the colour, as well as dull the blade, so workers would regularly sharpen the edges until they were distinctly 'whiter' than the rest of the blade, and this is where the term began.
This is a typical multi-purpose Pinuti from Cebu, made by the local Silva family. note that on the other side, the blade is flat. This would make it a right-handed blade:
Today it still is used as a farm and multitasking implement, but several smiths, or Panday have taken it upon themselves throughout the years to make pinuti blades designed for fighting.
In the visayas, these blades come single-beveled. One side of the blade is completely flat whereas the other blade is sharpened into a sort of wedge shape. This is so common that many escrimadors who use a fighting pinuti have a preference of where the chisel-grind is and often request either "Right-Handed" or "Left-handed" pinuti.
Many newer fighting Pinuti are double-beveled. This is for people who want straighter cuts and because, I believe, many pandays just find it tedious to make both left-handed and right-handed blades. These pinuti (the two in the middle, shown with their Ginunting counterparts on the top and bottom) come from the Negros region, as is typified by the hand guard and use for white metal fittings:
And just for posterity's sake, let's take a look at some antique Pinuti:
More bladed goodness: Another pic of the Negros-region Pinuti:
And here's various visayan region styles of Pinuti. I like the diversity in hilt styles from the human-like monster head of the Tenegre style pinuti, to the intimidating hilt depicting the mighty Bakunawa dragon, complete with teeth. In contrast, you can see where the modern shape of the newer Negros-region pinuti comes from:
If you would like to pic up a modern made one, Kris Cutlery offers a very affordable one modeled after an example of the blade from the late 1800's. Kult Of Athena, where I bought mine, offers it for 99.95 and is probably the one I recommend the most. I just got mine and it's wonderful:
I also have Kris Cutlery's Espada Y Daga set, which is styled as a Pinuti blade paired with a similar looking knife. This one is great as well if you're looking for a set, or want something a little less thick-bellied:
I should also add that this is the go-to weapon of escrima. throughout history you will see that whenever the Visayas or Luzon (central or northern phillippine regions) come into conflict with invaders, there are antiques from each era styled in some way or another like a pinuti.
Many modern arnisadors and escrimadors find this blade particularly comfortable to work with as well, as it is an easy, straight shape to accomodate oneself to when beginning live blade training after years with straining with a straight stick. Many other phillippine blades are more foreward curved, and I believe this is why the pinuti is popular today. it is relatively straight-bladed and that translates from stick movement to blade movement in a way that facilitates the progress of training.
Why don't we start with a fighting blade that started off as a farm implement? The Pinuti goes by many names, from diffrent spellings like pinute or penuti, to regional terms like Itak in the Illocano and Tagalog dialects of the north, or Talibong in some parts of the Visayas.
The term Pinuti itself is derived from the Cebuano dialect word "White", or "Whitened". This style of blade was used in Cebu as a working blade to do anything from gathering crops to butchering meats, to splitting coconuts open on a particularly hot day. Many times the pinuti was used to cut through coconut trees to get to the sap, which was used for many purposes from distilling into vinegar to jimmying up some local moonshine known as "Tuba" wine. all this work on a farm blade would darken the colour, as well as dull the blade, so workers would regularly sharpen the edges until they were distinctly 'whiter' than the rest of the blade, and this is where the term began.
This is a typical multi-purpose Pinuti from Cebu, made by the local Silva family. note that on the other side, the blade is flat. This would make it a right-handed blade:
Today it still is used as a farm and multitasking implement, but several smiths, or Panday have taken it upon themselves throughout the years to make pinuti blades designed for fighting.
In the visayas, these blades come single-beveled. One side of the blade is completely flat whereas the other blade is sharpened into a sort of wedge shape. This is so common that many escrimadors who use a fighting pinuti have a preference of where the chisel-grind is and often request either "Right-Handed" or "Left-handed" pinuti.
Many newer fighting Pinuti are double-beveled. This is for people who want straighter cuts and because, I believe, many pandays just find it tedious to make both left-handed and right-handed blades. These pinuti (the two in the middle, shown with their Ginunting counterparts on the top and bottom) come from the Negros region, as is typified by the hand guard and use for white metal fittings:
And just for posterity's sake, let's take a look at some antique Pinuti:
More bladed goodness: Another pic of the Negros-region Pinuti:
And here's various visayan region styles of Pinuti. I like the diversity in hilt styles from the human-like monster head of the Tenegre style pinuti, to the intimidating hilt depicting the mighty Bakunawa dragon, complete with teeth. In contrast, you can see where the modern shape of the newer Negros-region pinuti comes from:
If you would like to pic up a modern made one, Kris Cutlery offers a very affordable one modeled after an example of the blade from the late 1800's. Kult Of Athena, where I bought mine, offers it for 99.95 and is probably the one I recommend the most. I just got mine and it's wonderful:
I also have Kris Cutlery's Espada Y Daga set, which is styled as a Pinuti blade paired with a similar looking knife. This one is great as well if you're looking for a set, or want something a little less thick-bellied:
I should also add that this is the go-to weapon of escrima. throughout history you will see that whenever the Visayas or Luzon (central or northern phillippine regions) come into conflict with invaders, there are antiques from each era styled in some way or another like a pinuti.
Many modern arnisadors and escrimadors find this blade particularly comfortable to work with as well, as it is an easy, straight shape to accomodate oneself to when beginning live blade training after years with straining with a straight stick. Many other phillippine blades are more foreward curved, and I believe this is why the pinuti is popular today. it is relatively straight-bladed and that translates from stick movement to blade movement in a way that facilitates the progress of training.
