The keris consists mainly of three main parts: the blade (mata), the hilt (hulu) and the sheath (sarung). No keris is complete without one of these parts. The photo below shows a keris that once belonged to Panglima (General) Taha of the old Kedah sultanate. It is believed to be almost 200 years old.

The sheath (bottom) consists of three main parts: the sampir (crosspiece), batang and buntut. A true keris Melayu or keris Semenanjung will usually have these three parts. The sampir of this keris is made from an unknown wood, perhaps kemuning, and it houses the wide part of the blade. The batang, usually made of sena wood, houses the rest of the blade. A buttcap, the buntut, protects the end of the sheath. In this case, the buntut is made out of deer antler, and is fashoined after a cockroach's tail (known as "ekor lipas" in Malay). It is customary to have the sheath made out of three different materials. The example shown above has a kemuning wood sampir, a sena wood batang and buntut made of deer antler. The three parts are slotted into each other and then glued with resin.

Moving to the keris itself, we have the hulu (hilt) and mata (blade). The hilt is made of a type of hard wood in a design known as "ayam teleng". Almost all old keris Melayu that I have surveyed have hilts fashioned in this manner. It is perhaps the most popular design at that time. The hilt is held at an angle with the blade, which gives it a horizontal stabbing position. This is ideal for stabbing an opponent in the chest area as the position allows the blade to pass between the ribs and straight to the lungs or heart.

The hilt itself is usually not fixed as to allow it to be twisted according to the wielder's need. Thus, the blade could be adjusted for stabbing or slashing just by a slight pressure from the thumb and forefinger. This feature also serves certain ritualistic functions which will be explained later.

Keris Melayu Hilts

The the most important part of a keris is of course the blade, or mata. It is usually forged from at least three types of metal, including iron and nickel. This makes the blade strong and sharp, as some of the older blades are even springy and do not break easily. However, keris blades are often brittle, and may break if hit with another weapon. One should understand that the Malay warrior rarely clashes his weapon, especially a keris, with that of his opponent's. This is where silat, the Malay art of self-defence comes into play, which will be explained later on.

Another characteristic of the keris blade is that it is often wavy. These waves, called lok, often become the main reference point in naming a weapon as a "keris". It should be noted that there are other weapons with wavy blades in other cultures, but none have blades that widen at its base and is held horizontal to the ground. It should also be noted that there are keris with straight blades, and these are known popularly as "keris jantan" among the local Malays (although in literature it is stated as "keris sepukal").

Parts of the Blade

Back