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Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi
I repeat that at the start I was so taken in by the furore and warlike nature of the sword in its mimic fight that I too thought it was a fighting weapon.
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Please look back along these roads, there is still much to see and consider.
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Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi
Having looked at hundreds of blades I have seen none that qualify as battle worthy. I have spoken to many many Omani people in and out of the Souk and examined blades there and in the Museums where I have seen no battle blades ... that is stuff blades ...
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What is a battle worthy blade to you? Please describe this.
Have a look here;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcLH9p-mKsY
Jian are of a less broad elliptical cross section, sometimes diamond cross section and typically without fullers, take particular note of the flex.
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Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi
moreover they are bendy to over 90 degrees some more or less than others by a few degrees. They are very flexible... and clearly this blade type is no fighter...not only because the question has been asked here where they just laugh at the notion but because it simply doesn't stack up ...
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But it does stack up. Would you like me to show you how an Omani straight sword, one you consider is for dance only, how it cuts in real life. You ask for proof, will this along with all the other written words from time past, convince you?
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Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi
A rigid blade would make mincemeat of this in a real contest...
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Study sword play please, the heavier blade will not make mincemeat of a lighter supple blade, the lighter supple blade is faster in the hand, like a razor and bends to its masters hand. The skilled warrior with such a light sword will conquer the enemy much quicker and without effort...the long handle offers a wonder twist in fighting too.
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Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi
moreover it is the famed dancer of Funun traditional dancing...and despite its sharp edges it simply cannot be something it is not.
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Indeed it is famous in the funun, its origins and purpose as missed by you though.
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Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi
To date no known battle sword in this configuration exists
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But it does, it stares you in the face and sits in your hands.
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Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi
except in the imagination of the early 19th C visitors etc but people are doubly hoodwinked by those narratives and the appearance in Souks of the Ethiopian blade ... please allow me to smile at this point... its amazing.... Where was I..?. Oh yes the Ethiopian blade rehilted on the Omani longhilt from about 1970.
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It is amazing, very amazing, amazing only for the single blade type you have presented as a souk sword from Ethiopia, a very stout and standard fullered blade type of EU origins made for the Ethiopian market, not even close to the form this far of these fair Oman swords.
It is further amazing that the blade proportions and types of the Oman sword being discussed are not found in the Ethiopian sword forms. Of the 25+ forms I have handled over hundreds of Ethiopian swords and thousands more I have viewed, the blade type found in the Oman long handled sword it not one of them. I will not say they do not exist, there may be several examples from northern borders but the claim that Souks have remounted Ethiopian blade in long hilted Omani style, is to this point not shown or proved beyond your hearsay...which is contrary to the facts I note above.
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Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi
Some forum members have alluded to this blade or a fighting blade with a thick stiff blade ...that is built like a dancing sword ..It does not exist in reality as a historical fact...It is a red herring. Tribal soldiers carried the Sword and Terrs as part of their equipment since they were required to do pageant and saluting with it all the time and to stay fit the mimic fight was quite useful but done more in the pageant...in The Funun as at the reference at the top of this post.
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The long handled form carries both blade forms, heavy and light. Complete and further study will eventually lead you fact to your first thoughts about the sword.
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Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi
Anyone who is somehow able to conjure up a completely unknown weapon of this description will become instantly famous ... An as yet undiscovered fighting sword of Oman. Those individuals who reckon it exists are requested in the time honoured way; to prove it.
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Would you like my autograph :-) I can't take credit though, it has always been there.