hello everyone! i would like to share my current, unfinished progress on uncovering the history of the Shashka and its technique!
the Shashka is a curved sword whose history before the 19th century is extremely obscure, if not lost. as of now, we do not have any surviving manuals in regards to its use, technique, or history prior to that century, but we know it existed beforehand. it is traditionally associated with the Cossack peoples, and remains a staple of surviving Cossack tradition and culture.
interested? read below the cut!
i would like to clarify: when it comes to anthropology, i am an amateur. please take everything here with a grain of salt. i am pursuing the history and technique of this sword as a HEMA hobbyist, not as an expert. if anyone knows better, or if anyone from the region has any input, please let me know!
the earliest artistic depictions i could find of the Shashka are from churches in Georgia, dating around the 1640s through the 1660s. we can tell these are Shashkas through a few key details: the pommel and the curve.
furthermore, the volume of art and the amount of people using them in the art could imply that, by the time these were painted, these swords had been adopted en masse. there are other explanations, however, such as
- very spontaneous mass adoption, with little history before this
or
- the artists' or commissioners' preference for the sword
it could also be that it is a different sword of a similar make, and if so, that's worth exploring. it is also worth exploring it's similarity and proximity to earlier-recorded Turkish sabers, like this one from the Metropolitan Museum. notice the shape of the pommel, and while the rest of the sword is extremely different, it's something worth exploring when the history is this sparse.
in terms of technique, we have even less: training manuals from the 19th century Russian Army and spoken word are basically all we have, as it seems the technique of the Shashka was transferred through teaching and oral tradition, or if there were manuscripts they were lost. all we have are the teachings of those who practice the technique currently, whom i have no method of reaching out to as of now.
please let me know if you all have any input or interest. im excited to be starting this journey with you all!
dededos
prguitarman
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