January 09, 2008

"Gagamba": Mini Gladiators From The Past

By Agapito P.

Many years ago for us young pre-teeners living in Little Baguio, San Juan, Ortigas Avenue was not like what most would remember it to be---a bustling stretch of condos, offices and the Unimart complex. What was to become the Greenhills Shopping Center, for us at one time, Ortigas was just a lonely stretch of cemented road amidst fields of talahib and rice paddies where herds of carabaos were a common sight.

It turned out to be a favorite option of a playground especially on moonlit nights. We'd be playing patintero, tumbang preso or just be biking along this luminous white stretch that has yet to be opened to the frenzy of city commute connected to "Highway 54", EDSA’s original name, at one end, and Santolan Road at the other end.

It was along Ortigas Avenue where we’d have an abundance of resource for one of the most exciting past-times that has become quite rare among kids these days---labanan ng GAGAMBA!

Wow, iba-ibang klaseng mga gagamba ang nahahanap namin noon sa mga kasulok-sulokan ng mga talahiban at mga puno sa Santolan, Ortigas at Greenhills.

First off, for us na naging mahilig sa gagamba, kelangan meron kang dala-dalang pag-ba-bahayan ng mga ito. And what better way to keep these mini-gladiators---siempre, sa loob ng isa, o dalawa, o tatlong nagpatong-patong, naka-lastikong kahita ng Posporong Gitara!! They don’t make match boxes like these anymore---imagine, gawa sa maninipis na kahoy ang kahita ng posporo noon! (Pwede ngang gamiting pang "toothpick"! Ngayon, gawa na sa cardboard paper…)

Ingenuity taught us to apportion the inside of the posporong gitara, para sa ganun, may mga compartments ang mga naglalakihang mga gagamba. Kung baga, meron kang kahon for your "prized fighters"----mga nagpupulahan o mga maiitim na gagamba. Kung gagambang bahay lang, sa low-income housing sila dahil mga pangkaraniwan lang ang mga ito.

Of course, a good match is not complete kung hindi patpat ng walis "tingting" ang gamit. There is nothing like the smooth, sturdy length of a tingting that makes the gagamba match a thing to marvel at. It's just that no other stick could show the full length of a gagamba's mastery of an opponent.

Sa haba nitong Ortigas Avenue noon nagdagsaan ang mga iba’t ibang uri ng mga gagamba. I suppose, it was where one would be able to lure in a gagamba that when one asks, "Anong klase yan?" You’d answer with "gagambang talahib" or, "gagambang mangga", or "gagambang koryente", "gagambang bayabas", ad infinitum. It was a naive way of naming our not-so-common Filipino arachnids.

Kasama sa sarap ng laban ng gagamba ay yung pasikatan na nangyayari pag-lumabas na siya sa kanyang tinutulugang bayahan. Minsan, may takip pa ang kanyang section ng posporo para hindi magising yung iba. Pipitikin mo lang ng kaunti yung ilalim ng posporong kahita, lalabas na yung pasikat mong pang-laban. Kung gusto mo namang bumalik sa tulugan, hihipan mo lang at tahimik na ulit siya…

Pero, ang labanan noon ay walang kapareho kapag nag-pakitahan na ng kani-kanilang mga panlaban…kadalasan, sa kulay pa lang, at sa laki ng gagamba, umaatras na ang kalaban. Doon lumalamang ang mga laki sa Ortigas dahil iba’t ibang mga kulay ng gagamba ang nadidiskubre doon: may pula, may itim, dilaw, brown na mapula, dark brown, at meron pang ibang parang may mga markang tattoo sa likod…parang Mike Tyson!… One of the most interesting find among our collection of gagamba na naging sikat sa mga manlalaro dahil bago ngang klaseng gagamba, ay yung naging sikat na "gagambang pitik". Siya ang pinaka-kung-fu master ng mga gagamba. May iba't ibang kulay din ang gagambang pitik. Pero, pare-pareho silang pumipitik lang at hindi masyadong masapot.

May mga baguhan sa larong gagamba na kung nakita nila na maliit lang yung nilabas namin, agad silang matatawa at akala nila, kawawa naman ang maliit na gagambang inilabas kong panglaban. Saka lang siya matatanga kapang "napitik" na ng aking kung fu master ang kanyang prized gagamba. Hindi magalaw ang gagambang pitik. Tatayo lang sa dulo ng tingting at aantayin ang kalaban. Minsan malapitan ito, isang matinding pitik lang, bagsak na ang kalaban. Hindi natatalo ang gagambang pitik, at kaya naman ang mga batikan sa laban ng gagamba, kapag si kung fu master na ang ilalabas, "Wow, gagambang pitik yan! Wag na lang kung yan ang ilalaban mo! Ano 'ko, tanga?"

What is more interesting is hindi naglalabanan ang dalawang gagambang pitik. Pormahan to death lang silang dalawa dahil nag-aantayan lang…hindi mo masulong-sulong na sumugod dahil hindi gagalaw, di gaya ng ibang gagamba na pwede mong isulong para sumugod. Kung gagambang pitik against gagambang pitik, manigas ka! Draw sigurado ang laban.

Such was the game. You’d see a hot game going when at school playgrounds. You'd see a bunch of kids, heads huddled together, seriously watching ever so closely, an intense face-off between two prized gagambas. Only to end with an eruption of glee, except for a few heads scratching, that somehow, is quite rare these days.

Surely, it's because there are only a few places now that could very well be a discovery ground for the not-so-common arachnids.





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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

the area you described in your story is called 'latag' and me and my childhood friends used go to there to play the same games like you do

AlterEgo said...

I grew up in the province, particularly in Bicol(Sorsogon) and I always had fond memories of the games we played before especially labanan ng gagamba. Naadik din ako nun sa paghanap ng gagamba para lang may maipanlaban sa mga kalaro ko. Ang iba nga binebenta ko pa sa mga anak mayaman para magkapera. Andami ko nun bahay ng posporo ( Jar o Guitar) na may anim na compartment para tulugan ng gagamba. This is one of the games of my childhood that I doubt this generation will ever enjoy like we did.



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