Antique Warrior's Machete w/wooden sheath

B

Bill Marsh

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Mar 26, 2002
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http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...0028677060&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT&rd=1#

This is actually a 19th century Barong Moro / Philipine fighting sword. One of the best close combat weapons ever made IMHO.

I am in love with Moro weapons! EVERYTHING is razor sharp, even the super high quality ceremonial chief (datu, panglima and Sultan) quality pieces. This barong is probably a lower ranking noble's piece.

Many other ceremonial weapons are not sharp because the leaders did not fight, personally. But these Moro are a tough lot and when they really got down to fighting, they ALL fought including families even the women and children if they were cornered.

The Spanish fought the Moro for about 400 years and never conquered them. In the early 1900s when we fought them, WE had to replace our .38 cal service pistols with the .45 Colt because a .38 just plain would not stop an angry Moro warrior. He kept coming until he got in sword range and chopped up our soldiers. It took a .45 to stop him! TOUGH guys.

In fact the Moro killed Magellan who mistakenly thought his Toledo steel was a match for Moro swords.

I was looking for antique machetes and found this. Not a great one, but certainly a good one. Probably silver ferrule. Will send pix when I get it.


"Luck is preparation meeting opportunity." :D
 
Bill Marsh said:
In the early 1900s when we fought them, WE had to replace our .38 cal service pistols with the .45 Colt because a .38 just plain would not stop an angry Moro warrior. He kept coming until he got in sword range and chopped up our soldiers. It took a .45 to stop him! TOUGH guys.
Click to expand...

It has been reported that they were heavily drugged at the time; and, hence needed a bit more convincing.

BTW Moro=Moors=Islamacist - the present WOT has been with us for a very long time. Technology has simply brought a bit closer to home.

Nice Barong, excellent color and carving on that handle, and it looks to be intact.

n2s
 
It looks sweet Bill. How'd you pick that username though?
 
Bill you either have a keen eye or just buy every blade on E-bay .

Can you just imagine a muggers last expression as it flashes in the gleam of a streetlight ?
 
Those moro people aside from giving us cool blades also gave us my favorite marshal art Escrima/Arnis whatever you want to call it.

N2S I'm not sure if were joking or not but are you implying that any government sanctioned killing of muslims is part of a war on terror i.e. 100 years ago killing malay muslims? If anything that war was the united states trying to prove that it was a great power and could have an empire too.
 
Nice one Bill, so many good antique ones of these turn up in the US , you guys a lucky, they are quite rare in England.

Still I guess we have more antique kukri turn up but one day I want to get a raely good barong.

N2S What drugs were the Moros on ? any idea? was it recorded as fact or opinion?

My father used to say some of the Gurkhas & Sikhs in Burma would smoke or eat herbs & stuff & get very red eyed, if they new CQB with the Japanese was imminant.

Spiral
 
I read many times that the Moro used to compress their "family jewels" using a wet rawhide sack that was allowed to dry, and attacked their ememies while in extreme pain. :eek:

Might be an Urban Legend, but as I've encountered this explanation many times over the years, there might be some credibility to the story... :)
 
Grob said:
N2S I'm not sure if were joking or not but are you implying that any government sanctioned killing of muslims is part of a war on terror i.e. 100 years ago killing malay muslims?
Click to expand...

I am suggesting that the war between Western and Islam groups has been a constant ongoing conflict. THE WOT is just the latest name for it. It is interesting that the US did for the Philippines what it is trying to now do for Iraq. Only, in 1898, it was the Catholic church which had been the establishment religion, and the US took steps to de-establish the church, promote education, and to buy back and redistribute church lands. We really are about tolerance, freedom, and diversity.

edited to add: The "Philippines insurrection", now better known as the Philippines-American war looked very much like the ongoing Iraq war. There were plenty of anti-war activist including Mark Twain; and, many others who felt the Philippines should become part of the US. It was also similar in the size of the forces involved, the duraction, and the number of casualties suffered. Nothing much has changes in 100 years - perhaps the history of the Philippines can give us some insight into the possible future of Iraq.

n2s
 
spiraltwista said:
N2S What drugs were the Moros on ? any idea? was it recorded as fact or opinion?

Spiral
Click to expand...

"In response to problems encountered by American units fighting Moro guerillas during the Philippine-American War, the then-standard .38 Long Colt revolver was found to be unsuitable for the rigors of jungle warfare, particularly in terms of stopping power, as the Moros had very high battle morale and frequently used drugs to inhibit the sensation of pain."

from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1911

n2s
 
continuation of that sentence...

"...as the Moros had very high battle morale and frequently used drugs to inhibit the sensation of pain.[citation needed] It's also been reported that the Moros wore a very effective bamboo "armor" that was difficult to penetrate with the smaller caliber revolver.[citation needed"]
 
Good to see you posting Bill. I love the barong as well. Awesome weapon.
Terry
 
Year old or not Ill add that I am told by a philipeano girl thats lots of old Grannys in the Phillipeans smoke weed at least when they dont need to work anymore.

Been told its same in morroco historicaly apparently, weeds best for retirment not youth! ;)

Spiral
 
My Grandfather used to say that youth is wasted on the young. He thought people should travel and do all the things they wanted when they were young and then work when they were to old to do anything else. Keep in mind that he was 93 at the time he said that.
 
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