penetrate straight to the centerline of the blade. Tourist kalis, on the other hand, feature shallow angular waves, that appear to be cut out of the steel rather than forged into the blade. Hilt The hilt is either straight or slightly curved (most common on cockatoo (kakatua) pommel hilts). Pommel variations are many, however the most common are the horse-hoof (the most distinctive variation coming from the Sulu Sultanate) and the cockatoo. Commonly the pommel is made of beautiful hardwood burl (such as banati) with the hilt being wrapped in a lacquered natural fiber (such as jute). However, on higher end kalis, belonging to the upper class, the pommel would be made of such exotic materials as ivory, silver plating, solid brass, etc. with hilts often lavishly bound with silver or swasaa (an alloyed mixture of gold similar to red-gold) bands frequently with braided silver wire interspersing the chased bands. Scabbard The Moro kalis scabbard shares many common characteristics with their Malay cousins, but are unique in their own style and form. Scabbards tended to be made of wide grain native hardwoods (e.g. mahogany, teak, narra, etc.), and lashed together with rattan bindings. Sometimes the cross-piece is a separate piece, with the tail-piece socketed in, but quite often the cross-piece and tail are made of one board. Older scabbards feature wider rattan lashings, and normally only cover small sections (e.g. bottom 1/3, 4 inch bands, etc.) of the scabbard. Variants Other keris-derived weapons in the Philippines include the balisong sword and the punyal (or gunong) daggers. See also Filipino martial arts Indonesian martial arts Arnis Barong Bolo knife Klewang Kampilan Kris Panabas Pinuti References Further reading External links Federico's Moro Swords Ian A. Greaves, Jose Albovias Jr. and Federico Malibago: Sandata — The Edged Weapons of the Philippines Kalis Fighting Arts demonstration by NasrunRobin, an exponent of Nasrun Min'Allah Bunga Lima. Arnis Filipino swords Weapons of the Philippine Army Malayan swords Blade weapons