Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2005 07:10:21 -0800 From: eskrima-request@martialartsresource.net Subject: Eskrima digest, Vol 12 #426 - 7 msgs X-Mailer: Mailman v2.0.13.cisto1 MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Errors-To: eskrima-admin@martialartsresource.net X-BeenThere: eskrima@martialartsresource.net X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.13.cisto1 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net X-Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net X-Subscribed-Address: fma@martialartsresource.com List-Id: Eskrima-FMA discussion forum, the premier FMA forum on the Internet. List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Unsubscribe: , List-Help: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 2.63 (2004-01-11) on plus11.host4u.net X-Spam-Status: No, hits=1.3 required=5.0 tests=MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR, NO_REAL_NAME autolearn=no version=2.63 X-Spam-Level: * Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: Send Eskrima mailing list submissions to eskrima@martialartsresource.net To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://martialartsresource.net/mailman/listinfo/eskrima or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to eskrima-request@martialartsresource.net You can reach the person managing the list at eskrima-admin@martialartsresource.net When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Eskrima digest..." <<---- The Sudlud-Inayan Eskrima/Kali/Arnis/FMA mailing list ---->> Serving the Internet since June 1994. Copyright 1994-2005: Ray Terry and Martial Arts Resource The Internet's premier discussion forum devoted to Filipino Martial Arts. 2200 members. Provided in memory of Mangisursuro Michael G. Inay (1944-2000). See the Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) FAQ and the online search engine for back issues of the Eskrima/FMA digest at http://MartialArtsResource.com Mabuhay ang eskrima! Today's Topics: 1. Re: Magellan bites the big one (bgdebuque) 2. Re: Silk Trick (bgdebuque) 3. Re: Magellan and the Conquest of the Phillipines (Todd Ellner) 4. Magellan and his merry men (federicomalibago@earthlink.net) 5. Bullets and Silk (Peter Gow) 6. Buck/Striders (T David Reyes) 7. Fatal Alliance (1 of 4) (Ray) --__--__-- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2005 01:15:23 -0500 From: bgdebuque To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Subject: Re: [Eskrima] Magellan bites the big one Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net As taught in the history curriculum of the Philippine defense establishment during the Martial Law years, there were really 2 battles of Mactan. The first one was a big success for Magellan. It was a surprise attack just after nightfall. Since it was still high-tide at that time, his naval guns were able to provide fire support. Lapu-Lapu and his entire village was assumed to have fled when the first cannon balls started to rain down on their village. By the time Magellan's beach landing force entered the village, it was already empty. They then burned it down to the ground. What he didn't realize was that under the belief system of the locals at that time, one is not supposed to attack one's enemies at night - specially in their sleep. Those who attack their enemies at night are supposed to represent the "forces of darkness". When word got to Magellan that Lapu-Lapu and his tribe are still in the area, he decided to attack them again - this time, in daytime. Unfortunately, it was already low-tide at the time of his second attack and, therefore, the Mactan land mass is well beyond the range of his naval cannons. Furthermore, instead of finding a bunch of scared shell-shocked savages, he found a group of well-armed and irate populace who sincerely believed that they will be defending their homeland against the "forces of darkness". The rest is history.... The lessons which defense strategists are supposed to learn from the Mactan debacle are as follows: 1. Never allow yourself to be "demonized" in the eyes of your opponents. Warriors who believe they are fighting against the "forces of darkness" will tend to fight till the bitter end. 2. Unless you have overwhelming numerical superiority, never operate your unit beyond fire support range. 3. Advantages in the level of fighting skill and weapon technology are not absolute, beyond a certain treshold, it can be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Subject: Re: [Eskrima] Silk Trick Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net >From the viewpoint of physics, a successful thrust at the hanging silk scarf would primarily depend on the ff factors: 1. The mass of the silk scarf 2. The aerodynamics of the sword blade 3. The direction of the thrust 4. The point of impact of the blade on the scarf (the nearer to any of the pinned corner the better) 5. The skill of the swordsman (speed & accuracy) There are basically 2 forces which oppose the "lump of air" pushed forward by the swordblade: (1) gravity (as expressed in the weight of the scarf); and (2) friction (air resistance on the other side of the scarf). At a certain level of aerodynamic drag, the "lump of air" pushed forward by the sword will no longer be enough to overcome these forces and the silk scarf will be pierced. Theoretically, thrusting at the silk scarf other than at a 90-degree angle (whether upward or downward) will also magnify the effect of gravity and, therefore can reduce the impact of the "lump of air" pushed forward against by the sword blade. Of course, at other than 90-degree thrusts, the friction characteristics of the scarf will also come into play and can partially mitigate the effectiveness of the thrust. To: Subject: [Eskrima] Re: Magellan and the Conquest of the Phillipines Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Of course, eventually superior technology, divide and rule and all the other techniques of empires worked. I think a lot of reasons it was more difficult in the Phillipines than in the New World was knowledge and expectations.In the Americas steel weapons, crossbows and guns were mysteries, and vastly superior to the indigenous weapons. Horses were terrifying. Large ships were completely outside their experience. When they started to get a handle on how to fight the Spaniards European diseases cut them down like wheat before the scythe. Killing the king of the Incas went a long way towards bringing down the kingdom. Superstitious awe was an advantage, how much we'll never know for sure. The Malay world was a bit different. Horses were present though not as common or as large. Or as useful for that matter. They understood all about iron. Nasrani (Christians) weren't exactly mysterious. Killing one chief, even a powerful and influential one, wasn't the end of the world. Memory fails here, but I seem to remember that they might have had some contact with guns. There were more domestic animals and more contact with big agricultural population centers in Asia. Hence more contact with disease. Moving soldiers from one island to another was more difficult than marching them along roads. They certainly lost in the end. It took longer and was more difficult. --__--__-- Message: 4 Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2005 02:58:32 -0600 (GMT-06:00) From: federicomalibago@earthlink.net To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Subject: [Eskrima] Magellan and his merry men Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Ok, just wanted to clear up a few points. Im away from home, and my research material so this is from memory. A. Magellan and his men were not just a bunch of sailors taking a jaunt around the world. They were warriors on a secret mission to circumvent the Pope's division of the world between Spain and Portugal (eg. Spain was allowed to take lands to the West and Portugal lands to the East), as such they were under constant worry that they would be found out and captured by the Portugese (which did in fact happen to a number of his crew). Magellan was a veteran of the fall of Malacca (when the Portugese had defeated the Malaccan Sultanate), and was not just a mere sailor. Part of the reason Pigafetta had all that free time to chronicle their voyage, was that he was one of many professional soldiers/mercenaries/knights brought on the mission for protection (a good portion of the men on the voyage were soldiers brought for this purpose). Again, their primary fear was getting attacked by the Portugese. B. Lapu-Lapu's men used bamboo spears and sticks. This is an error in translation of certain versions of the text, and also depends on the version of Pigafetta's account translated (he made many versions depending on the audience). In different translations they do acknowledege that Lapu-Lapu's men were using iron tipped spears on bamboo shafts and other iron weapons. Also, fire-arms in the form of cast brass cannon (called lantaka) were common in the region, and given the amount of regional interaction that Pigafetta notes amongst the natives, it is very likely that the natives were not all that un-familiar with things that go boom. C. Hamumbon failed to show up and re-enforce Magellan. Magellan (according to Pigafetta) purposely asked the king to stay on his ships and not to land with him. The whole battle was to showcase for the king the superiority of European arms and religion. The only reason any of the Europeans (the crew was international in make-up, Magellan was Portugese, Pigafetta Italian, etc...) survived to recount the tale, was the fact that the king rescued them once they started running for the show. If you read the account of that day by Pigafetta, you will know that Lapu-Lapu's people (Pigafetta does not a clear distinction in his guess of numbers whether his 1000 some estimate of Lapu-Lapus forces included just warriors or if it includes women, children, etc... there is some question whether this large number is accurate or just hyperbole by Pigafetta to highlight the insurmountable odds faced by Magellan eg. only 1000 of em could kill such a man) mostly just stayed in the back not attacking just watching Magellans force (possibly in dis-belief that such a small force really believe they could take them on or possibly worried it was a distraction from the thousands of men still on ship in Hamumbon's fleet at Magellans request). They only start attacking Magellan's group after they start burning their houses. From there it ends pretty fast. D. The effectiveness of Euro long range weapons (firearms and crossbows). Ok, my memory is getting shaky here. I believe it was cross bows being fired, but it could have been firearms. Pretty early on into the battle, Magellan realizes that their long range weapons are having little to no effect, and orders his men to stop wasting their ammunition as Lapu-Lapu's men were deflecting/dodging their shots. E. Magellan's confidence in the battle. Ok, if you read Pigafetta's account, days before the battle, Magellan entertains the king with a display of European arms and fighting. In this display he has two of his men armour up, and go at eachother with knives. Of course the knives were in-effectual against the armour, and this greatly impressed the king. So Magellan made a comment along the lines that with armour such as this, ne of his warriors is worth a hundred of the king's. It is also because of this little display of the effectiveness of armour that Magellan is so confident in his and his men's ability,that he offered to handle Lapu-Lapu for the king. NOT BECAUSE OF A DISPLAY OF FIREPOWER, but because of his confidence in his armour. Hence my apparantly mis-understood joke (I assumed more people on the list were familiar with Pigafetta's account) when Marc made his earlier comment about the effectiveness of armour. Ok, Im sure I butchered the details working from memory, but the main ideas are there in Pigafettas account (depending on version and translation). The whole event was a minor skirmish between tribal chiefs who probably fought eachother and other area chiefs in such skirmishes on a regular basis. If it wasnt for Pigafetta spreading the tale, the fact that it was the first voyage to circumnavigate the world, and the nationalistic pride of Filipinos it could easily have been lost in the annals of history as a bad decision by one foolish leader. It was definitely not some monumental battle between Filipinos (a concept that did not even exist at the time) and Europeans. It definitely was not a display of Filipino warrior prowess as the odds were so greatly stacked against Magellan (even if Pigafetta's numbers were exaggerated it is definitely sure that they did face extremely bad odds). Federico --__--__-- Message: 5 From: "Peter Gow" To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2005 09:08:57 +0000 Subject: [Eskrima] Bullets and Silk Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net Mitch ;-), You're absolutely right but I'm still not holding that silk scarf for you ;-) Galang, Peter Gow Australia --__--__-- Message: 6 Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2005 06:53:08 -0800 From: T David Reyes To: Subject: [Eskrima] Buck/Striders Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net on 12/11/05 3:01 AM, eskrima-request@martialartsresource.net at eskrima-request@martialartsresource.net wrote: > > Mostly 'cause I'd like to own a Strider, but have a hard time paying > more than $200 for a knife I'll use hard if I like it. I'll pick one > up one of these days--there's a gun shop I frequent that had their > karambit and PAB. Might have to try one > of their full tang Striders next. In instances where you might need to leave the fixed blade Striders at home out of concern for theft and/or confiscation, the Buck Strider fixed blade is the best next thing. Worthy of a look is the Buck/Strider Soloution 888. It nearly mirrors in fit and feel that of my Strider EBS (and as near to the MFS). Both sport G-10 handle scales and ATS-34 blade steel. Other than the Buck/Strider coming with a quality cordura sheath, that can easily be remidied with an after market custom kydex with a tek-lok. In tandem with the SBMF/889 one can have a the look and feel of a Strider at a very reasonable price, with near quality and performance. As for the PAB, basically a kicked up Philippine Bolo in S30v blade steel, a good Catadunes Bolo of 5160 blade steel will do in a pinch for the everyday chores around the house (as will a Blackjack Marauder MK in AUS-6 and the mid-1980's Pacific Cutlery Bushmaster bolo in 440a sold at the old I&I on Crenshaw and touted as "the" blade of the time, as no fashionable escrimador should be seen without one) with the Catadunes bolo costing nearly one tenth of the price of a PAB. Also the Strider paracord wrap handle on the PAB can grow weary and somewhat painful in the hand after a lengthy chopping session, whereas the Catadunes Bolo seems to grow more comfortable in the hand the longer you use it. However with the Strider PAB, it is a "Strider" of top end blade steel and in reputation you always know it will be there for you without fail. Best Regards, David Reyes --__--__-- Message: 7 From: Ray To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net (Eskrima) Date: Sun, 11 Dec 2005 07:09:24 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Eskrima] Fatal Alliance (1 of 4) Reply-To: eskrima@martialartsresource.net >From 2003... Part 1 of 4 >From the book Magellan, by Tim Joyner. Starting at page 178... Magellan had assured King Charles that the Moluccas lay in the Spanish Hemisphere, four degrees east of the extended Treaty line. He had driven his fleet to the edge of the Antarctic to discover the strait between the oceans, overcoming mutiny, the wreck of one of his ships, and the desertion of another. Crossing the broad Pacific Ocean without being able to reprovision his ships, he had lost nineteen men to scurvy and starvation. Finally, having reached the eastern edge of the archipelago southeast of China, which he suspected included the Moluccas, he found himself nine degrees west of the extended demarcation, in territory reserved by treaty for Portuguese exploitation. However, all was not lost. Unclaimed territory, discovered and occupied by either signatory in the hemisphere nominally assigned to the other, would be considered within the dominion of the occupying power. Under this treaty provision, if he could establish trading posts and conclude alliances with local rulers before the arrival of the Portuguese, Magellan could yet assure Spanish dominion over these islands. With many of the sick crewmen having recovered their strength, the squadron got underway again on March 25. Sailing west from Homonhon soon brought Magellan's ships to the long eastern coastline of Leyte. Turning south, they sailed through Surigao Strait, passing between two pairs of small islands. The first pair can be identified as Cabigan and Hibuson; the second as Dinagat and Panaon. As they were proceeding cautiously through the strait, a storm arose, driving them west past the southern end of Panaon. On March 28, they hove to in front of Limasawa, a small island off the southernmost promontory of Leyte. Here occurred an event that provided clear proof that Magellan's squadron, by traveling west across an uncharted ocean, had achieved the goal that had eluded Columbus. They had reached the eastern limit of the known world. A canoe bearing eight natives came out from Limasawa to inspect the ships. To his and everyone else's delight, Magellan's Malay slave, Enrique, understood the speech of their visitors. Magellan had acquired Enrique in Malacca in 1511. Pigafetta said that he was from Sumatra, but Philippine scholars have suggested that a native of Sumatra could not have understood the dialect spoken in the Central Philippines. They deem it more likely that Enrique had been raised in the Central Philippines, was captured, then sold into slavery in Sumatra before being taken to Malacca. If so, Enrique was the first human to have completed a full circuit of the Earth. The eight curious islanders whose language Ernique understood were too timid to bring their canoe alongside the Spanish ships. To show goodwill, Magellan had a floating plank pushed gently toward them, bearing gifts that the natives carried back to their island. Two hours later, two barges (barangay) approached the ships. On the largest, seated regally under an awning of mats, was a person of obvious importance. His name was Colambu, ruler of a territory that, in addition to the islands of Limasawa and Suluan, included a district in Mindanao. After a long conversation with Enrique, Colambu permitted some of his men to board the flagship, but did not accompany them. Magellan received the visitors courteously, loading them with gifts to take to their chief; in return, Colambu offered a bar of gold and a basket of ginger. So the islanders would not suspect how highly the Spaniards valued these commodities, Magellan politely declined the offering. The next day, Good Friday, he sent Enrique ashore to negotiate for fresh food and to assure Colambu that the Spaniards had come in peace. When Enrique returned, Colambu came with him, boarding the flagship without hesitation. Again he offered gifts: two large fish and three porcelain jars filled with rice, which the captain general gratefully accepted. Magellan gave Colambu a hat and a red-and-yellow robe of fine Turkish cloth; the men who accompanied him each received a knife and a mirror. Serving them refreshments, Magellan expressed his earnest desire for friendly relations, and in response Colambu insisted that Magellan become his blood brother by casi casi, in which the participants taste each other's blood. When the ceremony was completed, Magellan took Colambu and his retinue on a tour of the flagship, showing them samples of the trade goods stowed in the hold. Using compass and sea charts, he tried to explain that his ships had come from the opposite side of the world to arrive at these islands. He then ordered his gunners to fire some of the ship's artillery. It had the desired effect, for the roar of the cannon both awed and terrified his guests. Next, Magellan staged a mock combat to demonstrate the invulnerability of a man in full armor to attack by three men armed with swords and daggers. At this, reported Pigafetta, "... the king was rendered almost speechless." Magellan boasted that one armored Spaniard would be worth a hundred of Colambu's warriors. When the wide-eyed island chieftan agreed, Magellan told him that he had two hundred men so armed on each of his ships. This was a gross exaggeration: He had less than half that number, and many of his men were still weak, a few dying. Unfortunately, Magellan was beginning to believe his own propaganda; self-delusion can ruin any career, and in a military leader it can be fatal. Grateful for the hospitality and impressed by the power of Spanish arms, Colambu urged his host to allow some of his crew ashore, where they would be entertained and given a tour of the island. Magellan selected Pigafetta and a mariner whose name is not recorded. When they arrived on the island, the two were treated to a banquet. Pigafetta's companion got quite drunk from the palm wine dispensed liberally with the food, and so too, apparently, did Colambu. Early in the evening the latter left the entertainment of his guests to his eldest son and retired to his quarters to sleep it off. At dawn, bright-eyed and refreshed, Colambu arrived at his son's house to escort the Europeans back to the site of the previous night's banquet. Just as the party was about to resume, a boat from the Trinidad came to fetch the two weary revelers, who returned to the ship accompanied by Colambu's brother, Siaui, and three others. A chief in his own right, Siaui ruled several districts in northern Mindanao. Neither of the two chiefs lived on Limasawa. "When [the two brothers] wished to see one another," wrote Pigafetta, "they both went to hunt on the island where we were." Magellan invited Siaui and his three retainers to dine, and over the meal, the chief regaled his host with tales of the gold found in his district. As it had been by the gold jewelry worn by the Suluan chief, Magellan's notion that he was nearing the fabled source of King Solomon's gold was probably strengthened by these stories. In a summary culled from the reports of the expedition's survivors, a contemporary Spanish historian wrote that there was so much gold on an island near Mindanao that nuggets the size of hazel nuts and small fruit could be sifted from the beach sand. Pigafetta told essentially the same story, adding, "... on the island of the king who came to the ship, there are gold mines." The next day, March 31, 1521, would be Easter Sunday, and Magellan decided to conduct religious services ashore. By offering thanks to God for their deliverance from the perils of the hazardous voyage, and conducting a solemn Easter mass, he hoped to demonstrate to his island hosts the reverence with which Spaniards approached the most sacred of Christian holy days. Magellan sent the fleet chaplain, Pedro de Valderrama, ashore with some sailors to prepare a site, and Enrique went along to explain to the two chiefs that the Spaniards "... were going to land on the island, not to dine with them, but to perform a religious ceremony." Intrigued by the promise a spectacle that they probably assumed would be followed by a feast, Colambu and Siaui consented, and had two slaughtered pigs delivered to the site. Magellan's notion of a solemn religious ceremony had a decidedly mililary slant. On Easter morning, noted Pigafetta, "... about fifty of us went ashore, not wearing full body armor, but carrying our weapons and dressed in our finest attire. At the moment our boats touched the beach, six bombards were fired as a sign of peace. We leapt onto the beach, where the two kings who had come to meet us embraced the captain general and placed him between them. We marched in formation to the place prepared for the mass, which wasn't very far from the beach. Before beginning the mass, the captain general sprinkled the two kings with perfumed water. When it vas time for the offering, they went forward, as we did, to kiss the cross, but did not make the offering. When the body of Our Lord was raised, they showed their adoration with hands clasped, faithfully imitating what we were doing. At that moment, on a signal from Magellan, the gunners on the ships discharged all their artillery at once, producing a thunderous roar. "After the mass," wrote Pigafetta, "some of our men took communion. The captain general then ordered the performance of a sword dance, at which the kings were greatly pleased." The sword dance to which Pigafetta referred is native to Toledo but performed in many parts of Spain. The dancers wear colorful linen shirts with baggy pantaloons in the Greek style and bandanas on their heads. Whirling this way and that, they slash their naked swords in wide arcs, coming breathtakingly close to the heads and bodies of the other dancers. In one step called "the throat cutter," several dancers thrust their swords at the throat of a dancer who, at the last moment, skillfully slips away between them. After the dance, Magellan presented the two chiefs with a tall cross adorned with a crown of thorns, requesting that it be erected on the highest point of the island. This cross, he told the chiefs, when seen by Spanish ships, would let them know that they would be received as friends. Magellan then offered his ships and fighting men to help defeat their enemies. Colambu and Siaui, while acknowledging that they were at war with two neighboring islands, declined because "... the season for fighting had not yet arrived." While their reception at Limasawa could not have been more cordial, and the crews had benefited enormously from the fresh fruit, fish, and meat provided by their hosts, the Spaniards had not yet been able to replenish their supplies of less perishable foods. Other than ginger, neither had they seen any evidence of spices. The people at Limasawa indicated that such commodities could be obtained at Seylani (Leyte), Zubu (Cebu), and Calagan (Mindanao), and Magellan decided to go to Cebu, the principal trading center of the region. Colambu promised to guide him there personally if he would wait two days and help harvest the rice crop on Lirnasawa. Eager to get rice for his ships' depleted stores, and needing a pilot to guide them through the reef-studded archipelago, Magellan agreed. Seizing on this as a cause for celebration, Colambu and Siaui hosted another feast, serving vast quantities of palm wine along with roast pig and other tropical delicacies. Natives and Spaniards alike spent all the next day sleeping off its effects. Harvesting the rice took three more days. On April 4, seven days after arriving at Limasawa, Magellan's squadron set forth for Cebu. With Colambu's barangay leading, the squadron sailed northwest, then north through Canigao Channel, hugging the coast of Leyte to avoid Danajon Bank and the reefs off Bohol Island. When they reached Baybay, a small port on the west coast of Leyte, Magellan's guides told him that the surrounding area was rich in gold and other valuable resources. From Baybay they headed west across the Camotes Sea. With plenty of sea room, a fresh breeze, and all sails set, Magellan's ships overtook and passed the barangay that had been leading them. To allow it to catch up, they hove-to off the Camotes Islands. Pigafetta reported that when Colambu "... caught up with us, he was greatly astonished at the speed with which we sailed." From the Camotes, the squadron headed southwest. Soon, the mountains of Cebu Island loomed in front of them. Off Bagacay Point, they entered the narrow channel between Cebu Island and the small island of Mactan. As they sailed down the channel, there came into view a densely populated shoreline with most of the houses on stilts. On April 7, 1521, with banners and pennants flying, the squadron hove-to directly in front of the bustling port of Cebu. Intent on making a grand impression, Magellan ordered the squadron's gunners to fire a salute using all their artillery. It had the desired effect: Many of the town's terrified inhabitants fled into the hills. [end part 1 of 4] --__--__-- _______________________________________________ Eskrima mailing list Eskrima@martialartsresource.net http://martialartsresource.net/mailman/listinfo/eskrima http://eskrima-fma.net Old digest issues @ ftp://ftp.martialartsresource.com/pub/eskrima Copyright 1994-2005: Ray Terry, MartialArtsResource.com, Sudlud.com Standard disclaimers apply. Remember September 11. End of Eskrima Digest