Arabian Sword Dances (And other dances!)

Devadatta · 24th March 2012, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kronckew

russian version

guardless swords...

Russian dance

Because they are cossack shashkas and were used far not only for dance during the history

I agree however that the particular swords in hands of the dancers in the video provided are modern-made theater/dance replicas, not authentic pieces of course. But they have historic battle-ready prototype.

David R · 25th March 2012, 11:50 PM

Fascinating videos , I would love to know more about the context of these, ref. the stuff from the Islamic world. Re the UK, worth remembering that we lost so many young men in WW1 that for a generation the Morris dancing tradition was kept alive by womens teams, and so we may have lost some of the nuances of that form.

kronckew · 26th March 2012, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David R

Fascinating videos , I would love to know more about the context of these, ref. the stuff from the Islamic world. Re the UK, worth remembering that we lost so many young men in WW1 that for a generation the Morris dancing tradition was kept alive by womens teams, and so we may have lost some of the nuances of that form.

we probably lost as many if not more in the flu plague/pandemic shortly after.

many of the silly looking traditions like morris dancing, may pole, hobby horse and such had darker and more martial aspects in the past.

modern living, occupational health and safety regs have had an even more deleterious effect.

so have the greenies and animal rights groupies. it was noted in one of the uk videos that there were only 4 longsword dancing teams left in yorkshire out of many hundreds in the past.

(In the Bush dance i really like the swords he and the Saudi King were using. no dancing blades those.)

A.alnakkas · 26th March 2012, 01:09 PM

Its not unusual to find over-polished clauberg blade on Ardha saifs.

kronckew · 26th March 2012, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A.alnakkas

Its not unusual to find over-polished clauberg blade on Ardha saifs.

a lot of the more recently made 'dancing saifs' i saw in saudi were shiney with bling silver and gold mounts and scabbards, but looked like the blade was not really functional. guess the newer ardha participants like to show off a bit, as the thobe & gutrah is fairly standardised, i guess this is one way.

Bush's saif seems a bit more curved than the king's. wonder how sharp it was...

Probably would look better with an etch if it's damascus or wootz.
Most politicians like sparkly things; comes from putting a shine on everything they say...

A.alnakkas · 26th March 2012, 04:03 PM

Hey,

I doubt Bush is wielding a wootz blade. Keep in mind that I even doubt he is wielding a clauberg.

At best, this could be a king Faisal era ardha saif as they were very faithful to the clauberg (named Gasat al Askari or Bu askari) BUT I did see the king Faisal saif's with older blades :P

The best sword I have seen in an Ardha was one I saw a few weeks ago here in Kuwait. Some Kuwaiti ambassador dancing with a persian wootz (most likely) blade with golden fittings.

As for the saudi guy, he is not the king.. but most of the images I found of King Abdullah he is usually wielding the recent ardha saifs which have slim but forged, flexible blades. Those blades looks exactly like the one wielded by Bush.

kronckew · 26th March 2012, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A.alnakkas

Hey,

...

As for the saudi guy, he is not the king.. but most of the images I found of King Abdullah he is usually wielding the recent ardha saifs which have slim but forged, flexible blades.

i wasn't sure if he was or not. there were so many saudi princes, i get them all confused...

somehow i don't think GWB would even know what wootz is. certainly our current irishman o'bama wouldn't. (i've edited my post above a tad while you were posting

.)

A.alnakkas · 26th March 2012, 04:10 PM

Included are pictures of an Ardha badawi saif with a fake Clauberg stamp. The blade is forged but slim and flexible. This is very recent work done in Ta'if, I may get one soon as a dress sword with a crown stamp that says "made in france" :P

26th March 2012, 04:10 PM	#8
A.alnakkas Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Kuwait Posts: 1,340	Included are pictures of an Ardha badawi saif with a fake Clauberg stamp. The blade is forged but slim and flexible. This is very recent work done in Ta'if, I may get one soon as a dress sword with a crown stamp that says "made in france" :P Attached Images

25th March 2012, 11:50 PM	#2
David R Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 1,120	Fascinating videos , I would love to know more about the context of these, ref. the stuff from the Islamic world. Re the UK, worth remembering that we lost so many young men in WW1 that for a generation the Morris dancing tradition was kept alive by womens teams, and so we may have lost some of the nuances of that form.

26th March 2012, 01:09 PM	#4
A.alnakkas Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Kuwait Posts: 1,340	Its not unusual to find over-polished clauberg blade on Ardha saifs.

26th March 2012, 04:03 PM	#6
A.alnakkas Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Kuwait Posts: 1,340	Hey, I doubt Bush is wielding a wootz blade. Keep in mind that I even doubt he is wielding a clauberg. At best, this could be a king Faisal era ardha saif as they were very faithful to the clauberg (named Gasat al Askari or Bu askari) BUT I did see the king Faisal saif's with older blades :P The best sword I have seen in an Ardha was one I saw a few weeks ago here in Kuwait. Some Kuwaiti ambassador dancing with a persian wootz (most likely) blade with golden fittings. As for the saudi guy, he is not the king.. but most of the images I found of King Abdullah he is usually wielding the recent ardha saifs which have slim but forged, flexible blades. Those blades looks exactly like the one wielded by Bush.