The SHASHKA: what, whom, where, when and how?

[Tim Simmons]

I am not sure you actually fence with combat weapons, fencing is practice and sport. I also feel you are stretching things to think one fences when dueling, which most often ended in a most bloody ungentlemanly fight for survival. Many cavalry troops were used as a shock weapon against infantry positions where the weapon would pierce or cut down often fleeing opponents once thier formation had been breached. Beautiful steel but not the most noble weapon. Tim