Before the age of computer technology that brought us
Tetris, Counterstrike, Super Mario, Dota, Angry Birds and Final
Fantasy, it took very little for children to have great fun during their
leisure hours. There were a lot of folk games to choose from, that did not
require batteries, and complex gadgetry —sometimes it would just take a
hole on the ground, two bamboo sticks, or even stones and shells to amuse one’s
self. In the 1950s, Kapampangan writer E. Aguilar Cruz noted, “In my time, we
children were still familiar with the rhymes learned from our elders and used
them at play. But already, I must admit, the old games were being played less
and less. Tubigan and sala-salaginto seemed too rustic for young moderns even for their names alone.” Here’s a
look-back at some of the old time games Kapampangan kids in the neighborhood
played.
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BENDING. Children
carry a slipper in all sorts of manner—balanced on top of the head, or on an
outstretched arm, tucked under a bent arm or leg—across a distance without
falling it to the ground.
BUKINGKINGAN.
The local name of “pitik-bulag”. Player A covers his eyes with one hand. Player B, his opponent, flicks the covering
hand of Player A, while he holds up his other hand with a number of fingers.
Player A releases his hand cover and quickly holds the other hand up. The
number of fingers he holds up must match
that of Player B.
GILING-GILING
ISTATWA. Participants intone “Giling-giling istatwa…Ing galo ya ing taya” (Go round and round the statue. He who moves is “it”!). After which, everybody stand
immobile; the first to move becomes the “taya”.
HOLEN. Games
involving marbles include rolling them in sequence into holes dug on the
ground; or putting a number of marbles inside a drawn circle—the objective of
which is to dislodge the opponent’s marble from the circle, by hitting it with
another marble at an angle (“boljak”)--, which oftentimes cause pockmarks on the marble.
JAKENPOY. The
hand game of “rock-paper-scissors” is played between two people using hand
shapes to symbolize a "rock" (closed fist),
"paper" ( flat hand), and "scissors" (fingers in V-shape).
In this best-of-3 duel, rock beats scissors, paper beats rock, and scissors
beat paper. Our version is derived from
the Japanese “Janken Pon” game, which means “starting with a stone”, which
basically has the same mechanics. It is often called today in Pilipino, as
“Bato-Bato-Pick”.
LABAN BABAGWA.
Also known as “saputan babagwa”, this is a spider game fight conducted on a
“tingting” stick. Positioned on the opposite sides of the stick, the spiders
approach each other and attempt to enwrap each other with their web. Game ends
when one spider gets fully enveloped with the web (“saput”). Spiders are often
kept in empty posporo boxes, fed with chili pepper (“lara”) leaves to make them
aggressive.
LABULAN GOMA.
The simples game involving rubber bands is “labulan goma”. Two rubber bands are
placed some distance apart on a table. Players alternately blow their rubber
bands to get them closer to each other. A player wins when he blows his rubber
band on top of his opponent’s “goma”, which he then collects. Other rubber band
games: Sungkitan goma—rubber bands are buried in a sand mound. Players
alternately fish for rubber bands by sticking a “tingting” into the sand;
Tirisan-goma—a knotted rubber band is laid on the floor and players alternately
step or crush the rubber band to get it unknotted.
LUKSUNG BABI.
Literally means “jumping over a pig”, or piggyback jumping. Participants try to
jump over the bent back of a player (the back of the “pig”) . If everyone
succeeds, the “pig” increases the height of his back, by raising himself up.
The jumper who fails to clear he distance becomes the next “pig’s back”.
Tagalogs call their version “luksong baka”.
MARO. This is
the Kapampangan name of the game popularly called “agawan base” (stealing
bases) by Tagalogs. Two groups try to
protect their bases, and each base has an assigned guard. Members try to
penetrate each other’s base so it can be
stolen by tagging it, but when the members themselves are “tagged” by their
opponents, they become prisoners, who are lined up front as bait. A prisoner
can only be “saved” and released by a
fellow group member by tagging him, allowing him to return to his base.
PIKU. The
local “hopscotch”. A playing court is first drawn on the ground, consisting of
squares and a home base—a pit stop where one can rest both feet. The game
involves transporting a “batu” gamepiece--which may be a flat stone or pebble ,
a pottery shard—from one square to another, until the course is finished. This
must be done by hopping, skipping or tripping the “batu”, forcing it to move to
the next square without touching the drawn lines. Variations: pikung baru,
sampaga, bale.
SALIKUTAN.
Hide and seek game. Players conceal themselves in the neighborhood, to be found
by one or more seekers. Th player designated as :it” or “taya” closes his eyes,
and tart counting up to 10, while players hide. He then begins to look for the
hidden players, shouting “Pung!” as he finds them. The game can end in many
ways, but the most common is when the “taya” locates all players. The first to
be found becomes the next “taya”.
Another salikutan variation has the seeker guarding his "home base"; the
hiders can come out of hiding to race to home base; once they touch it, they are
considered "saved”.
SINTAK. Sintak
means “to throw with some force”. It is also the name of an old game played by
Kapampangan girls as early as the eighteenth century. It is similar to
jackstones—minus the bouncing rubber ball. The game of skill is played with
five stones, in which one stone is propelled upwards, and while still in
mid-air, another stone is picked up and the falling stone is caught at the same
time. A variation is the Tagalog ‘siklot’, where the back of the palm is used
to catch the stones.
SISINGLE. This
is a singing variation of “talanan dutung”. It starts with a line of children holding hands, with the lead child
holding fast to a wooden wall, gate, tree trunk, or nay wooden object. With
held hands swaying, they sing—“Sisingle, sisingle,
dakal lang anak single, salibatu, salibatu, buntuk ng Kapitan Besyu. Boom-boom!
Mamakbung!”. The last kid on the line now marches under the arm of the lead
child touching wooden wall; this causes the arms of the first child to be
crossed. The march continues, until all the children in the line have their
arms crossed, and only then is the singing finished. At the last note of the
song, the players break the line and scamper to look for a wooden object to
touch. A player who fails to do so becomes the next “taya”, who calls for the
next change of position.
SUNGKA. Sungká
is ancient strategy board game that has versions all over the world—from Africa,
North America to Asia—where it is known by names like mancala, chongka, congkak,
bao, and oware. The board is played on a sungkahan, a carved length of wood
with seven pits and two larger pits at both ends designated as “bale” (house).
The game involves distributing the shells or pebbles around the pits, by
dropping them into the holes one by one,
including putting one in his “bale”. The
objective is to empty all seven pits on one side and the player with the most
number of shells in his “bale” wins. Old sungkahans, often carved with designs,
are seen more in antique shops than in homes today.
SYATUNG. The
tools of the syatung are two bamboo sticks, one at least a foot long, and the
other, shorter by a third. The players take turn at hitting the shorter stick
with the long stick, placed in a crevice on the ground. This causes it to
somersault, which then is hit again in mid-air by the long stick. The object of
the game is to land the shorter stick at a farther distance, which is measured
by the same stick. The losing player has to run this distance while shouting
“syatuuuuuuuung”, until he reaches the game’s starting point—the crevice on the
ground. Variations of the name: syatu, shoktung.
TAMBUBUNG. Known
as “patintero” in the Tagalog region, it is the most widely played native
game in the country. A playing field is drawn on the ground—3 sections, divided
by a line in the middle. There are 5 players in each of the 2 competing teams.
The object of tambubung is to get past the lines, which are guarded by players
of the opposite team; one guard can traverse the middle line. Team loses when
all its player gets tagged by a guard, and are eliminated. The team then exchange places. “Tambobong”
means a barn, or a granary. It is also the old name of Malabon.
TEKS. Teks are
small playing cards with illustrations
of superheroes, comics, movie and TV series characters. These are used for
trading, as well as for toss-up games, and were avidly collected in the
1960s-70s. Players bet on which side the teks card will come up, and the
outcome is decided by flicking the teks in the air. Players often have favorite
cards that they use for flipping; all
others are basically used as betting currency.
TILTIL-BAGUK. This hand game with a fanciful name (“Dip in
baguk” or salty shrimp relish)”is played by two children. One player holds his
palm up in front of his opponent, and the other player “dips” his pointing
finger in the middle of the open palm. The player then chants “tiltil…..baguk!”,
after which he closes his palm in an attempt to entrap the opponent’s finger.
TOMPYANG. Children
form a circle, put their hands on top of each other, count “metung, adua,
atlu”, raise them up in the air, and bring them down again, some palms up and
others palm down, eliminating whichever is the majority, until one hand is
left. The object of this process is to choose either the “mano”(leader)or the
“taya” (“it”, the dunce or pursuer) of the succeeding game.
TUKUPAN-SILIMAN. Kapampangan
version of “Blindman’s bluff”. Tukupan-siliman means " to darken by covering eyes with cupped hands"The player designated as “taya” ( “it”) is
blindfolded and tries to find his co-players gathered around him. The co-players
move about, bluffing the blindfolded “taya” by calling out their locations and
issuing misleading directions.
SOURCES:
Adapted from Dr. Lino L. Dizon’s article, ‘games Children
Don’t Play Anymore”, Singsing Magazine, vol. 2, no. 1
Castro, Alex R., “Toy Stories”, Views from the Pampang, www.viewsfromthepampang.blogspot
PICTURE
SOURCES:
Bukingkingan (pitik bulag): Francis Nollan Photography, https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/1a/8f/99/1a8f99d109fdf049567be4e25e3235b2.jpg
Giling-giling istatwa: https://yogainmyschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/dancing-kids-statue.jpg
Laban-babagwa: Fililipino Heritage, vol, VI. Felta
Publishing.
Labulan goma: https://www.flickr.com/photos/teachertina/1463408226
Luksong babi: http://picturesify.com/gallery/luksong+baka+game/3
Sisingle: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/200000/velka/children-holding-hands-silhouette.jpg
Tukupan-Siliman: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/128211920616319627/
Bending, Salikutan, Sungka, Teks, Tompyang: Alex R. Castro photos
Bending, Salikutan, Sungka, Teks, Tompyang: Alex R. Castro photos
