Quote:
|
Originally Posted by kronckew
it arrived yesterday, currently going thru rust removal and stabilization. i was a bit surprised it was smaller & lighter than i expected. of course, i've never seen one in person before. 
495 grams, 34.5 i. LOA, 28.75 in. blade, grip 3.5 in. between guard and pommel, leather covered cross guard 4.25 in. wide, blade is roughly 1.5 in. at the forte, and roughly 2mm or so thick & fsirly springy. fairly sharp edge.
the grip is more like on a viking sword or on a tulwar, in combination with the thinner blade and it's squared off point, this seems to favour the draw cuts of the tulwar rather than a european fencing style or a heavy chopping style... |
Yes, these are the hallmarks of the modern takouba and sadly don't reflect the fighting swords of the 19th century. Particularly those with imported blades. The main reason for the light weight is the evolution of pommel and guard into the modern form. Substantially smaller and less well built than in the past. The average older style tak would be somewhere between 700-800 grams. Some much heavier.
On the fighting style, yes from what can be discerned from surviving photos of mock fights and ritual dance movements as well as the physical evidence of extant older blades and sharpening habits a tip oriented cut was preferred, at least among the Tuareg where we see the most surviving photographic and video material. There may well have been variations among the more heavy cavalry oriented states like Bornu and Hausaland. However as I mentioned above most swords where quite a bit 'meatier' than the modern examples.
