In the Tagalog language used throughout the southern half of the northernmost

Philippine island of Luzon, it's known simply as it took.

If you encountered it on the hip of a Filipino, you wouldn't think too much about it.

It looks like a long, flat, stick, as if you tucked a wide ruler into a spell.

Now if you approached this unknown resident of the thick rainforests in southern Luzon,

and this would be a serious mistake on your part, by the way, you might notice that what

appeared to be a single stick was in fact composed of two parts, the upper sixth of it

carved into a wooden handle.

And if for some reason you approached the stranger even closer, you would receive

probably the last big surprise of your life.

The Filipino's hand would move to that handle, and the last thing you would see is a flash

of edged metal in the doppled sunlight under the dense jungle canopy.

This is your first and last meeting with the Ittac.

It's sometimes referred to as the Filipino machete, but that does the long, gracefully

curved, wicked looking Ittac blade a disservice.

The Ittac looks like a machete that's been put on a low carb, high protein diet for 10

years, while training for a mixed martial arts career.

It is a fast, deadly weapon, and one of the reasons it is so priced throughout the Philippines

is that unless it is on sheath, the Ittac doesn't look like a weapon at all.

Straight up until the moment it cuts you to pieces, it's really quite innocuous looking.

It just looks like a stick.

In Yokano, it's known as Boninning.

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