# "Correct" Barong Draw?



## Doc_Jude (Sep 4, 2007)

I saw this on another site (FMA Museum)






*"Here, GM Yuli  demonstrates  the correct way to draw the barong from its wooden sheath."*








*"In his inimitable way, GM Yuli makes a point about the use of the barong.
Note the intricate woodwork on the handle of his barong,
a gift from a Mindanao tribesman."*



It looks like he drawing it edge up, similar to one of the traditional draws of Japanese katana. Is anyone falimiar with this technique?

Also, I don't know why this is the first time that I noticed this, but does the woodwork on the handle serve a function beyond looks? The protrusion off of the bottom looks like it might serve as a leverage point, perhaps to provide better control of the often heavy barong? 
Just a thought...


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## arnisador (Sep 4, 2007)

In my experience the FMAs concentrate much less on the draw than do many other arts, and especially the JMA which truly and literally make an art of it.


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## Carol (Sep 5, 2007)

Doc_Jude said:


> Also, I don't know why this is the first time that I noticed this, but does the woodwork on the handle serve a function beyond looks?
> 
> The protrusion off of the bottom looks like it might serve as a leverage point, perhaps to provide better control of the often heavy barong?
> Just a thought...



You're absolutely right. :asian:  Many traditionally-designed barongs sport very elaborate handles, and it served more purpose than just appearance...although creating the appearance is nearly an art to itself.   

It is a heavy blade...and it is also a blade whose design does not incorporate a guard.The protrusion of the handle helps anchor the blade in to the person's hand, providing better balance and control for the chopping and slashing of whatever or whomever got in its way.

Personally I haven't trained very much with that size blade but...it appears to me that if there is a correct way to draw a barong, it would be a way that is consonant with how the specific handle design woud fit in to one's hand and arm.


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## Brian R. VanCise (Sep 5, 2007)

Doc_Jude said:


> I saw this on another site (FMA Museum)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Nice pictures and good information to get out there.  Arnisador is correct in that many FMA systems just gloss over the draw but there are other systems that spend some time teaching it.


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## arnisandyz (Sep 19, 2007)

Don't think there is any "correct" draw, more personal preference. Some sheaths are meant to be cut open on the draw, 2 wooden slabs held together with some type of twine or palm leaf of some sort.


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## Doc_Jude (Sep 20, 2007)

arnisandyz said:


> Don't think there is any "correct" draw, more personal preference. Some sheaths are meant to be cut open on the draw, 2 wooden slabs held together with some type of twine or palm leaf of some sort.



Huh. Cool. I've seen some pretty rustic-looking slab sheaths but I've never heard of that. Thanks for the info.

PS: does that sheath look like the sort you were talking about?


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## Salagubang (Sep 20, 2007)

During Ambush...the weapon is already Draw
It its Cultural Presentation...then a nice draw is nice to watch


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## Doc_Jude (Sep 21, 2007)

Salagubang said:


> During Ambush...the weapon is already Draw
> It its Cultural Presentation...then a nice draw is nice to watch



What?
Okay, I get it. 

I like your Avatar.


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## arnisador (Sep 22, 2007)

Salagubang said:


> During Ambush...the weapon is already Draw



Well, if you're _attacking_, sure...


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## Mark Lynn (Sep 22, 2007)

arnisandyz said:


> Don't think there is any "correct" draw, more personal preference. Some sheaths are meant to be cut open on the draw, 2 wooden slabs held together with some type of twine or palm leaf of some sort.


 
I remember Guro Inosanto talking ( at a seminar I atteneded) about cutting through the sheath on the draw.  He described the person having the sword across the back of the shoulders and then drawing and cutting through the sheath for a two handed cut (think of a high forehand angle 1 feed).

I once saw a demostration on the "proper" way to draw a katana.  It was pointed out that drawing it out "wrong" would lead to having your fingers that grip the scabard removed as the blade would cut through the wooden scabard and through the fingers as well.  I went home and looked at my scarbard on my WWII katana and sure enough the wood was cut through as the instructor had said.  My katana has a thin metal scabard with wood inside to protect the blade and it (the wood) was sliced through from the drawing of it.

The scabard in the picture is real thick so I don't think there is the same problem and I don't think it is the type that you cut through when you draw.  I have a Kiris with a similar type of scabard and I don't think it used to cut through on the draw.  I have a Thai Sword (Dah?) that has just a couple of thin ties around it (some sort of woven material like the thinkness of string or twine) and that one I think  might be designed to draw and cut through.  But on that sword as well, the top of the scabard has been cut through, about two inches or so downward from the opening due to the way the blade was drawn out and put back in the scabard.

Mark


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## Mark Lynn (Sep 22, 2007)

Sorry for my spelling and grammerical errors on my last post, I had to leave quickly and I didn't have enough time to totally proof read it.

My Thai sword's scabard is rounded but I believe the thinnest part on the scabard is where the edge of the blade is.  The scabard construction and design lead me to believe that it might be the type that could be drawn and cut through.  

However my other Thai or Indonesion swords are similar in construction but with thin metal bands around the scabards which again lead me to believe that they weren't designed to be cut through but maybe the one wrapped with the thin cord might be.

The kiris I have as well as the one in the picture appear to be a much sturdier construction and have more attentiveness to the carving and shape of the scabard, which again makes me think it wouldn't be the kind to cut through.  Why go to the detail of making a nice scabard just to cut through and possibly damage it by having it fall to the ground or get lost etc. etc.

Speaking to Carol's point about the shape of the handle.

Bram Frank at the DAV summer camp this past summer spoke in one of the sessions about the shape of the handles and their importance in relation to using the punyo of a stick.

Some of the techniques that GM Remy did where he would trap or lock with punyo worked better he found out with the Presas bolo than with a butt of a stick.  He said the shape of the handle allowed some techniuqes to work better then just the round shaft of the stick.  I take it Bram used a stick for these techniques and adapted them to using the Presas bolo and found that the shape of the handle made the difference.

Years ago I saw a collection of a WWII vet, he collected all sorts of weapons etc. etc. from the places he fought in WWII (that he picked up when he was in the war).  Anyway he had on the wall of his garage seveal different knives, kukuris being one, that had their pummels adapted with things like claws from a chicken (?) to use in close quarter fighting (I guess).  So the shape of the handle could also be a way for different styles to use different techniques by design. 

Mark


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