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Originally Posted by katana
Salaams Ibrahiim,
very interesting, several thoughts .....any idea why sharpening the blade honours the ancestors, after all the dance sword is symbolic of a weapon .....surely this would be enough. Secondly, the makers have to sell the swords blunt ( I am assuming this is a requirement of the licence) yet, in the case of mine, the blade would produce a fine edge if honed. Why provide such a blade (a better quality steel) when they should generally remain blunt? It almost seems that the swordmakers are able to produce weapon grade blades without 'officially' supplying a weapon, a 'loop-hole' as it were.
Can we assume that the Elders whom have sharpened blades do not use them for dance. Is it possible that there are differing quality of blades both in type of steel and its flexibilty, so that a blade type could be specified if it is to be sharpened ? Thank you
Kind Regards David
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Salaams katana ~ There appears to be some chivalrous/honourable reason why dancing blades are made sharp and of the thousands of those blades I have seen to date they are indeed all sharp ... No one would dare turn out on parade with a blunt job... except of course children who carry small versions of the same sword. I can see how the thinking goes... after all their forefathers turned out with the actual fighting sword (Sayf Yamaani ) many years ago and that was razor sharp so it appears in honour of those people~ the ancestors of old. Their forefathers. Relatively this is a new item only appearing "perhaps" in about 1800 to 1850 in the al bu saaidi dynasty and perhaps in the same time frame that the curved Kattara was received into Oman. That research continues.
Blade quality varies. Some have less flexibility and some don't spring back straight... these are considered of low quality since the whole idea is to make the blade vibrate whilst dancing and parading..The entire "Funoon/Razha" performance is extremely warlike thus many visitors go away with the impression that this is a weapon when in fact it is not... and never was. The weapon that it superceded in the pageant "The Sayf Yamaani" was the true fighting battle sword. That weapon, essentially, retired to Icon status in the same timeframe and anyway it was made generally obselete in the broader sense because of gunpowder weapons in the same way that spears became obselete. I have one Sayf Yamaani being Iconized at this time with the royal hilt etc.
Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.