In my past articles I've touched briefly about silat and the keris. However, there is another Malay weapon that has not been thoroughly discussed before. This weapon has been mentioned in various Malay manuscripts and proses in the past, and is considered one of three ancestral Malay weapons. This weapon is also frequently misunderstood and some even question its existence in the Malay cosmos. This weapon is the pedang - the sword.
It is believed that the sword existed long before the keris came into its current form. Malay legends and folklores mentioned a number of swords that belonged to kings and members of the royal family. The sword is mentioned in Hikayat Malim Deman, Hikayat Hang Tuah, Sejarah Melayu and also Syair Siti Zubaidah Perang Cina. Nonetheless, it did not enjoy as much publicity as the keris did.
The typical Malay sword is a single-edged weapon with a slightly curved blade and may be wielded by using one or two hands. Some were also straight, double-edged weapons. Swords were placed in the "selengan" or "arms' length" category and normally have blades between 23 to 29 inches in length. In some cases, the swords were shorter, with blades of about 18 to 21 inches in length. These short swords were sometimes knows as the sundang (not to be confused with the keris sundang). Swords were known by a multitude of names in the Malay civilization: jenawi, chenangkas, chunderik, sikin, podang and klewang are amongst the more familiar ones.
The most famous sword in the Malay civilization would probably be the Cura Si Manjakini, now in the possession of the Sultan of Perak. This blade is reputedly inherited from the Melaka Sultanate, which in turn had its origins in the tale of Sang Sapurba. Sang Sapurba is said to be the progenitor of the Malay Kings. Cura Si Manjakini can be likened to King Arthur's Excalibur of the Malay world.
Interesting enough, this sword is in the form of a jenawi, a two-handed sword with a long, single-edged blade. The same type of sword is the official weapon of Seni Sukma Kencana, a Malay swordfighting system that has been in my family for generations.
May Peace be with us all. This is the Way.
