The danger shop setting of your weekly weapons class had changed substantially this week; instead of the big grassy field and tournament banners with a castle (only a model!) looming over from a hilltop, the class would find themselves on a long stretch of sandy beach beside a turquoise-blue ocean, with the thick tropical jungle on the other side, in what was clearly a recreation of some of the landscapes that had filled their vacation last week. And the nice thing about the danger shop recreation? Neither of your instructors had to be even remotely fussed about what the humidity might be doing to their hair.



"Welcome back, everyone!" Amaya greeted with a grin and a pump of her fist. "Hope you all really enjoyed the trip last week, and, as most of these things go, Detective Diaz and I have taken a bit of inspiration from our spring break destination and worked on looking into some of the weapons that are common in the area of Indonesia and Southeast Asia, and, for the next few weeks, we'll be exploring and learning all about those. Today, we're starting with a weapon called a badik, which is a type of dagger developed in the southern part of the Sulawesi island of Indonesia. So not the same island we went to, but still part of the same archipelago, one that's name is said to mean 'iron island,' due to its rich iron deposits, and so naturally, you're going to get some fine weapons developed from that area as a result.

"Now," said Amaya, as she held up a sheathed weapon with a curved handle and slowly pulled the sheath away to reveal the patterned blade within, "with a badik, you've got, of course, a handle and a blade, but the sheath is also considered an important part of it, as well. The blade of a badik can vary greatly, though it's usually fairly narrow and long like this one here; you'll see them with rounded tips as well as pointed one, straight edges or curved ones, a lot of variety there, but what really marks the badik is the handle, as you can see here, is curved in a bent shape, to give it a grip not much different than a pistol or a cane. The handle will usually be anywhere between a 45 to 90 degree angle, and you'll see a lot of attention paid to the decor and design of a handle of a badik that makes each piece unique and honestly a little fun to work with, both as a weapon and a project.

"Something that's also particular about the badik is the blade, which you'll noticed is patterned in what's called pamor, or patterned steel, which is also popularly known as damascus steel, and as a blacksmith, it is seriously some of the most fun stuff to actually forge, you'll see plenty of pamor in my shop, but, culturally, with a badik, the forging of the pamor is actually a pretty big deal! They believe that there's some sort of supernatural element to it, that the pattern and the forging of it creates an unavoidable affect on the wielder of the weapon; a good pamor will bring good luck, but a bad one could bring ill-will, indeed! Which, to me, sounds like a pretty good reason to get in good with your local blacksmith," here, she threw in a little bit of a cheeky grin, "to ensure you're getting the good stuff, right?"

"Obviously, the badik was an important tool for every day life and commonly used for hunting, as well, and it was an important cultural symbol as well. It was said to be a pity for a man to die without a badik at his side. But there was another aspect to the badik in the form of duels, and that's something we'll be focusing on today. There were several Indonesian communities that engaged in a form of dueling with a badik that was very unique, in that it also involved a sarong. Traditionally, a duel would start by one participant inviting the other into his sarong...not like that, mind you, but, in accepting the duel, both participants would then be loosely tied together inside a single sarong and there, they would pull out their badiks and fight. And since two men fighting in a sarong is going to have just about the same effect as two cats thrown into a sack, you weren't likely to get out of there without a few scratches, even if you were the victor, so it was definitely seen as a sign of bravery, masculinity and the warrior mentality.



"Naturally, then," Amaya flashed another grin, "we're going to be learning to fight with the badik in the traditional dueling sense! There are, of course, a few other fighting techniques that Detective Diaz here is going to show you, and then we'll go around, partner up, and get to dueling! Any questions about the badik itself before we jump into the fray? If not, I'll hand it over to the detective and we'll get started."