Bagakay Explained

Bagakay
Origin:	Philippines
Type:	Projectile Dart, Spear
Is Bladed:	No
Used By:	Filipinos
Wars:	Spanish colonization of the Philippines
Length:	6-10 inches

The Bagakay is an ancient Filipino weapon made of bamboo.^[1] It is a two pointed wooden dart type of weapon about ten inches in length^[2] thrown at an enemy at close quarters and were generally thrown five at a time increasing the possibility of hitting the target.^[3] It can be made from small tree branches cut in the proper length and sharpened at both ends or made from hollow bamboo filled with clay for additional weight and easy throwing.^[4]

History

The bagakay was usually used to hunt birds before the Spanish Colonial period. It has evolved into a projectile weapon against the Spanish colonists during the colonization era.^[5] Bagakay may also connote a long bamboo spear^[6]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Intersections: The Philippines at the Turn of the Sixteenth Century. . intersections.anu.edu.au . 21 December 2021.
2. Book: Sr . Amante P. Marinas . The Art of Throwing: The Definitive Guide to Thrown Weapons Techniques (Downloadable Media Included) . 10 December 2013 . Tuttle Publishing . 978-1-4629-0551-5 . 21 December 2021 . en.
3. Web site: Mallari . Perry Gil S. . The FMA and the Projectile Range . Filipino Martial Arts Pulse . 21 December 2021 . 21 July 2009.
4. Book: Sr . Amante P. Marinas . The Art of Throwing: The Definitive Guide to Thrown Weapons Techniques (Downloadable Media Included) . 10 December 2013 . Tuttle Publishing . 978-1-4629-0551-5 . 21 December 2021 . en.
5. Book: Robertson (1873–1939) . Emma Helen Blair (d 1911) James Alexander . The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898: explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century, Volume XXIX, 1638–40 . 259 . 21 December 2021 . en.
6. Web site: Mallari . Perry Gil S. . The FMA and the Projectile Range . Filipino Martial Arts Pulse . 21 December 2021 . 21 July 2009.