Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho: Ang Tradisyunal na Sipa ng mga Maranao

Every culture has its own identity. They have their own signature dish, dance, music
tradition and even games. When we talk about games, we think about piko, patintero, taguan,
tumbang preso, siato, sipa and luksong tinik. These are some of the most famous games here in
the Philippines.
Now, the mentioned games are popular in the whole Philippines. But what about the
traditional games of every province’s culture? The Maranao’s traditional games. To name a few,
we have Kanggarotaya, Kangalawanga, Kakhoya/Kapalalagoy, Kasato. But in this content, I amn
going to focus on the most popular traditional game named the “Sipa” games. They have two
versions of the game — the "sipa sa lama" and "sipa a manguis."
The participants wore silk long-sleeved shirts with intricate designs, malong tube skirts,
and varied head gears. Strapped to the inner part of their right ankle is the “dalapi” used to hit the
ball. The lower part is flat, the upper part shaped like a king's crown, sometimes adorned with
“okir” carvings. They also carried a “kandat”, a whip-like device whose sole purpose is to make
sound at the precise moment they hit the ball.
In the first game, the men gather in an open field (lama means playground) in a circle
formation and take turns hitting the ball and keeping it on air as long as possible, the one nearest
the descending ball shouting “hap hap”.that he will take it.
The manguis (literally means "sweet victory”) referred to is like the pabitin, but a lot
bigger, with a lot more boxes hanging three layers deep, and perched up much higher, up to
about 10 meters high. The game's intention is to hit as many boxes, but what counts are only the
boxes that fall.
In a real game, each box in the first layer represents P300, P500 for the second layer, and
P1,000 in the third. But there are four big boxes in each of the four corners in the first layer that
are equivalent to P5,000 each. And making the big box fall in the middle entitles one to one
carabao. Also, when a Sultan wants her daughter to marry, this game is played. The mechanics is
the princess should stay in a high room and whoever participant kicks the ball through the
window will be the one marrying the princess.
Imagine making these games known to the whole nation. It seems like it can bring us so
much fun. These games should not just stay in their culture. These are worthy to be known on a
national level. People just lacks the ability to explore other cultures and just chose to stay in
theirs when in fact there are still a lot of amazing things that can be experienced.