Siangkam

[pawsplay]

Is there a source for this (supposedly) Indonesian weapon? I went on a quest when it appeared in D&D 3e as the "siangham," but I was never able to trace it back any further than The Palladium Book of Exotic Weapons, where it is described as a kuntao weapon. My theory is that it is:

1. very obscure, before being thrust into prominence by the Palladium author
2. actually a fairly modern made-up weapon that appeared in a magazine or was introduced to the Palladium author through a student, or
3. fake

I actually haven't found any evidence of it being other than #3, but if the contributors to GURPS Martial Arts have a reference, I would love to have it!

[Fwibos]

Gurps Martial Arts P223.

[pawsplay]

I mean, is there a source supporting that entry?

[Fwibos]

Well, I am not the Author, but JFGI-ing the thing points to wikipedia, which has no citation.

If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say it came from one of the Nonfiction books in the bibliography of Martial Arts. Not sure if I am allowed to quote it, but it likely would be:

Draeger, Donn F. and Smith, Robert W. Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts

You might wan t to try and PM the Authors. They are on the forums, but infrequently.

[pawsplay]

Siangkam doesn't show up in the Amazon search in that book.

[nerdvana]

The OP misspelled the weapon name. It is actually Siangham and has a stub entry on wikipedia.

[pawsplay]

Originally Posted by nerdvana

The OP misspelled the weapon name. It is actually Siangham and has a stub entry on wikipedia.

I don't understand your post. Both spellings are used and I mentioned the siangham spelling in the first post. Further, GURPS Martial Arts uses siangkam. Siangkam actually appears to be more common outside a D&D context. But I have never found an original source for the weapon.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Fwibos

You might want to try and PM the Authors. They are on the forums, but infrequently.

Toadkiller_Dog is not here often, but Kromm is. PM or email one or the other.

[nerdvana]

Originally Posted by pawsplay

I don't understand your post.

Actually I must have misunderstood, thought there was a post saying they couldn't find it in Martial Arts on Amazon and it is spelled the way I pointed out there...

Originally Posted by pawsplay

Both spellings are used and I mentioned the siangham spelling in the first post. Further, GURPS Martial Arts uses siangkam. Siangkam actually appears to be more common outside a D&D context. But I have never found an original source for the weapon.

The source is that its a malasian weapon like Wikipedia points out I would suspect. :)

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by pawsplay

Siangkam doesn't show up in the Amazon search in that book.

But it does in the book - illustration on p.82. Of course it's a modern book, and I don't immediately see any historical references, but since it's basically a stick with a metal point on it, it's not exactly amazingly implausible. Even off the end of your broken spear and....

At worst you are looking at nobody who used one ever called it that vs. *almost* nobody (i.e. everybody outside of Java) who used one ever called it that.

Edit: Oops, right author, wrong book. It's on p82 of Draeger's Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia, not Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts.