A point about sabres

In which our erring presenter deals with the problem of which way up to hold a sabre while galloping on a horse. Will he break his wrist before he gets it right?

In case there are any Americans reading: yes, that is how to spell "sabre".

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• sabre
• saber
• sword
• talwar
• tulwar
• fencing
• riding
• horseman
• charge
• pointing
• horseback
• fight
• battle
• melee
• technique
• military

[1x93cm]

you don't have a video about the jian chinese blade

unless i've missed it somewhere

[lindybeige]

@1x93cm True, there are many videos I have not made. At the moment I have about 50 sitting on my hard drive waiting to be edited, but I'm afraid none of them is about Chinese weaponry.

[FireCyclops86]

What is the difference between Saber and Scimitar?

[lindybeige]

@FireCyclops86 A fair question. I don't know of any hard and fast rule, but scimitars tend to be oriental and sometimes wider bladed, and sabres tend to be occidental. The term 'sabre' is used of the military weapons used by cavalrymen in the musketry period, whereas 'scimitar' often refers to weapons from far earlier. Some Indian tulwars are described as 'scimitars' despite having European-made sabre blades on them.

[hezza08]

Second reason - If you hold it edge down, whilst moving forwards on a horse, which way do you slash it (Seeing as this is what sabre-armed cavalry did)? That's right. Down and back. So if you're going to the right, they sword goes to the left. Loses quite a lot of force when you think about it. But if you hold it edge up, then whip it round in a full circle, both you and the sword are going in the same direction. Which means MORE force hitting into the poor sod in front of you. Simple physics.

[lindybeige]

@hezza08 True, perhaps, but I have no trouble turning the weapon as I swing it round. In fact I find that more comfortable.

[zomfgirule]

Where did you get this talwar? I want to buy one, im sikh. Sikhs are from india and the talwar is their main weapon. Though, trying to buy one is pretty hard, since they do not sell in india anymore only in gurdawaras (temple) but cannot be used.

[MrQuarfwa]

@lindybeige It's basically the same word, sabre, shashka, scimitar. just different languages altering words over time.

Also, holding the sabre in that position is called "forhead ward" in the old Polish texts we've been studying. It's described as the only ward to recieve blows, on foot or horseback...

[kazmiz01]

Go get a polish saber!~~ its way beter:p

[domanz1]

I'm no fighter but another advantage of your way of holding the saber would be that from that position you could actually prepare a swing pretty well, while you would have to use the wrist yet again to pull the whole weight of the sword upward if you were holding it like you imagined as a child, right?

[TheWhoaDude]

Those poor animals... is the blade okay?

[Hmraja]

Talwar literally means 'sword' lol, not a very mystical name to the Indians unlike the Japanese katana

now what sword did the Arabs use to conquer the entire Persian empire and 2/3rds of the Byzantium, must have been a damn good sword eh

[chashavko]

I have somehow managed to get an Austrian m1861 and Swedish m1893 sabers and both are dead weight on the wrist, swedish is a bit heavier i must say ... First time i saw a saber held like this was on the Peterloo massacre painting, and i didnt get it why uintill i got my hands on that Austrian saber ... Anyway, next year im switching to oakeshott XVa :)

[veshkeat]

@lindybeige Scimitar, or shamshir, are more curved. Proper scimitars are curved so much it looks ridiculus. Also, usually lighter than european sabres. Scimitar was designed to fight from camel/horseback, sort of hit and run tactics. No stabbing, just slash (thus the insanely curved blad, to save your wrist on impact)

[Bankstercide]

There have been a number of fascinating texts and commentaries on texts regarding cavalry sword handling and their relation to larger cavalry tactics and individual psychology.

Of special note are those works that deal with comparisons on cavalry sword handling amongst different cultures, particularly the Indian cavalry seconded to the British Army during the Empire and the Ottoman Empire prior to WWI.

[wrobelsparrow]

Polish cavalry used to charge with the sabre over rider's head, or pointed straight at the eyeline, almost parallelly to the ground, with the cutting edge to the rider's right handside, thus creating bearing area, which helped to "carry" the sabre.

[amorphusensanity]

There's a reason sabres were called "wrist breakers" for a time. People thought of them like older swords, tried to stab as you demonstrated and as you suspect, broke wrists, or so my sister told me.

This is hearsay.