Wow, that's a great summary of saber history!
Regarding shamshirs, the writings extant in English have little to do with practicality, with some even speculating they were solely for hunting animals. However, my martial arts instructor (32 years experience studying and teaching numerous martial arts) demonstrated hooking thrusts to me with it while blunt steel sparring, and they were spectacular. I put far more stock in hands-on practicality in the world of weapons than I do on writing when it comes to technique.
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