Kattara for comments

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by ariel

Every ethnicity that was using swords as weapons had a dance with swords. No surprise here.
Just to clarify. I have never heard of a Russian sword dance called Buza. Dance with Sabers by Khachaturyan is a choreografic invention. While there were caucasian sword dances in the Caucasus, Khachaturyan's 's example cannot serve as an authentic evidence. Ukrainian Combat Hopak is a recent invention of Ukrainian nationalists claiming that most, if not all, Western culture stems from an ancient tribe called Ukr and that Sanskrit is just a bastardized ancient Ukrainian language ( I am not joking). Hopak is an old Ukrainian dance and has nothing to do with swords or martial arts ( unless we call every male dance martial). Combat Hopak is just an amalgam of Tae Quon Do, karate and a host of other east asian martial arts performed while wearing voluminous ukrainian pants. Fake from the beginning to the end. Generally all sword dances are just examples of male strutting. Re-phrasing Eli Wallach in " The good, the bad and the ugly", If you want to cut, cut. Don't dance.
Old Omani Kattara looks to me like an ossified tradition of pre-islamic arabian swords. See old mamluk swords in Yucel's and Aydin's books.
Daghestani armourers at the end of the 19th century made their living by mass-exporting their rather poorly-made blades to Arabia ( perhaps, the connection was via tens of thousands of Circassian and Daghestanis emigrating to the Ottoman lands in the 1870's). Shamil died in Medina, his son not far from there.

Salaams,
Thankyou for the input which is very interesting. My research clearly flags up definite proof that the Omani Short Battle Sword and the Long Omani Kattara belong to Ibadi Islam at the beginning of its adoption by Oman. That was in the 8th Century AD.
The Short Omani Battle Sword is so similar as I have shown to the Abbasid Swords in the Topkapi Museum even down to the spot on the blade and the octagonal hilt cross section. Moreover that sword was in Oman at the time being used by the Abbasid Garrisons. The likely perveyor of that technology was the first Ibadi leader (political and war as opposed to religious) Jabr Ibn Zayd. However I suggest the slightly later date of 751 is also plausible as the first Immam (please see previous scripts)
Unlike other places and peoples The Omani tradition of dance, music and poetry was the method of passing down tradition through the ages and the "Funun Razha sword dance" is identical today as it was then .. as I say in 751 AD. Thats with the Long Kattara and Terrs Buckler Shield. The sword dance appertaining to fighting is pure form and sword practise in motion and I totally disagree about the "cut dont dance" in your reply because the technique for fighting with this system is unique and lethal so getting good through practice with live blades and the inspiration of drums against a live opponent is similar to any martial art form except in this case more so since they dont use wooden practice sticks ! This is as live as you want it without chopping lumps off the other bloke !... Look to the web and search Razha Oman Sword Dance and you will see video of this event.
Swords Date. I realise that this appears to be somewhat outragious, however, there it is. The others were wrong and the new date though still not absolutely precise gives us a proven birthdate in an aproximate range vastly earlier than previously reckoned.
There is still work to be done in sourcing the likely shield for the Short Omani Battle Sword and in trying to further source the origins of the hilts unless they were as I suggest invented at the time as a celebratory design for what was to be a relgiously inspired weapon ~ The Ibadi Swords. 8th Century A.D. Oman. There may be further advances in finding the exact origins of long flexi blades with spatula round tips which may well be Pre Islamic..

Regards,

Ibrahiim Al Balooshi.