I wanted to talk a bit more about martial arts and training in this area, as well as arms production.
Most sources I am reading nowadays seem to suggest that arms production was at a very high level here. Especially in the sub-region of Talvorik in Sasun, where metal was extracted. Incidentally, this was also the region of Sasun most independent from Kurdish influence, said to have boasted the bravest men. According to an ethnographer who visited the region in 1895, the weapons produced in Sasun were very well known, not just in the highland districts, but in the neighboring lowland regions as well. According to them, the locally produced "Shashkhan" guns were the most prized item that hailed from this region. For more information and sources, see my medium post linked above.
Besides the aforementioned "Sword and Martal" ritualistic fencing, training exercises and dueling forms with Sword and Buckler are described with their own names in the dictionary of Sasun dialectical words in Petoyan's book. To train with Sword and Buckler is known as "Martalug", while the regular (not ritual) friendly fencing game in Sasun was known as Martlutse. Interestingly, these words have roughly the same meaning as another, much more well-known form of fencing found in nearby Georgia, Khevsur Parikaoba. "Pari" refers to the local Khevsur buckler shield, and "aoba" refers to an action as I understand it (please correct me if I am wrong). In a similar vein, "Martal" refers to the Van Highlanders buckler, and "ug" roughly refers to an action.
Interestingly, some photographs of locals from these areas using bows have been preserved. Based on one of the photos, I would guess children trained with these before moving on to firearms.
Pictured below:
1: Armenians from Van (if you look carefully, you can see they are carrying bows).
2 and 3: Assyrian Tribesmen from Hakkari
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