Dog Brothers Public Forum
DBMA Martial Arts Forum => Martial Arts Topics => Topic started by: Anonymous on October 14, 2003, 06:39:18 AM
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During the Seven Years' War, the Brits invaded the Philippines. One British officer commented on the weaponry used by the Filipino levies in Spanish service--he noted the long, double-edged swords they were issued by the Spanish. He also commented on the "retro" design of the hilts--they were cup-hilts (keep in mind that this was in the mid-1700s, when such a sword design was not seen elsewhere).
These swords were not the familiar cup-hilt rapiers, but broad-bladed, cut-and-thrust bilbos, which were named after the town of Bilbao (presumably were they were first made).
The Spanish 1796 cavalry sword below is fairly representative of what a bilbo would have looked like:
(http:// http://bermudas.ls.fi.upm.es/~pedro/Mod1796.jpg)
(Taken from Juan Jose Perez's very interesting Spanish sword site)
http://bermudas.ls.fi.upm.es/~pedro/tropacab_e.htm
FMA books occasionally allude to how Spanish weapons were sometimes employed in the various FMA styles, especially by the mestizos who may have had experience both in the indigenous methods and Spanish esgrima. Do any such swords survive in Filipino museums?
Thanks,
David/TFS
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Damn, forgot to login AGAIN...
During the Seven Years' War, the Brits invaded the Philippines. One British officer commented on the weaponry used by the Filipino levies in Spanish service--he noted the long, double-edged swords they were issued by the Spanish. He also commented on the "retro" design of the hilts--they were cup-hilts (keep in mind that this was in the mid-1700s, when such a sword design was not seen elsewhere).
These swords were not the familiar cup-hilt rapiers, but broad-bladed, cut-and-thrust bilbos, which were named after the town of Bilbao (presumably were they were first made).
The Spanish 1796 cavalry sword below is fairly representative of what a bilbo would have looked like:
(http://bermudas.ls.fi.upm.es/~pedro/Mod1796.jpg)
(Taken from Juan Jose Perez's very interesting Spanish sword site)
http://bermudas.ls.fi.upm.es/~pedro/tropacab_e.htm
FMA books occasionally allude to how Spanish weapons were sometimes employed in the various FMA styles, especially by the mestizos who may have had experience both in the indigenous methods and Spanish esgrima. Do any such swords survive in Filipino museums?
Thanks,
David/TFS
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OK that's better.
Anyway, this type of weapon would really fit the bill for larga mano work--I'm curious as to how many may still be out there...
(Guro Crafty--feel free to eliminate that first lame attempt at my post)