Traditional Filipino Weapons presents, test cutting with the Maguindanao Kris

The Maguindanao Kris can be found on - http://traditionalfilipinoweap....ons.com/Maguindanao.

Maguindanao means "people of the flooded plains." Maguindanao is in central Mindanao. It is bounded on the north by Lanao Del Sur, on the east by North Cotabato, on the west by the Moro Gulf, and on the south by Sultan Kudarat. The Spaniards launched expeditions to subdue the area throughout the colonial era but they never gained control of the middle of the 19th century due to the Rebellion of the people in this area and the skillful use of the Maguindanao Kris .

Notice each Kris has a different look. Some have more waves than the other. The Kris has a double edge to double the pain, and do a dual job that single edge sword can't do.

The Kris is the most common Moro sword found in Sulu & Mindanao. The Kris sword is extensively used by the Tausug, Samal and Yakan warriors. The waves of each Kris denotes a flame or a serpent (depending on who has made it and for what purpose). The Kris with the most wave will always be carried by someone with the authority and believed to give the deepest thrust and could even go through the enemy's body. The waves are simply variations that tells a stranger where they came from, what region, or land, or their position in the community. The Kris has a rather vague history with folklore giving many varying accounts where some also believe that it is symbolic of the stingray's tail. Some believe it's a design of the mythical serpent or dragon and some believe it has a distinct religious association. There are so many reasons why the blade of a Kris is shaped like a crawling serpent. Whatever the reasons are, these type of swords can deliver the most damage when used with both slash and thrust movements. Hacking works well with this sword due to it's unique design. The unique design of the Kris distributes the weight perfectly for hacking anything it hits in half! There are many versions of the Kris and each version has names that are not far from it's original name, like Kalis, Keris, etc.