Another theoretical question: what are those Central African swords used for anyway?

[tom hyle]

Well, I'm not going to fight Ariel, but in light example:
A/ If we're choosing hand weapons, remember I get a shield; modern European swords and sword styles (rapier or sabre) are not very impressive against a sheild.
B/ If the oponant doesn't want one, too, that somewhat negates the greatest advantage/use of mambele (and any chance he has to live, if he's going to take just a modern European sword against sword and shield).......I might well would choose a sha'sh'qa or other sabre, though a nice machete is fine, too. Old, really curved sabres are good against sheilds, too, BTW, mostly for thrusting, although I assure you I do sharpen the false edge where there is one.
All kidding and examples aside, mambele is not actually the kind of sword I most like and enjoy; I most like and enjoy slashing swords, but the idea that mambele is not an effective form can only come out of a nonunderstanding of its use, IMHO; it is a deadly sword.
And Superman? Definitely faster than The Flash

[tom hyle]

I might add that a lot can be found out by attack tests/practice on plants, dead animals, unwanted furniture, etc. with either antiques or replicas or new blades of similar shape (Which I recommend, at least at first, as it is the unskilled/unpracticed/mis-aimed/off-angle/etc. attack that often harms the weapon, but also old wood, for instance, often gets weak and dry-rotted). And, of course, much can be gleaned from combining this with sparring with wooden/blunted/etc. weapons. Eventually, perhaps enough could be learned from such methods that the more skilled and able might be up to "playing" with live steel in limitted ways, without neccessarily cutting or stabbing each other, as is done when practicing many martial arts, much as with the revival of medieval European sword styles seen today in N America. Of course, they have texts to help a lot for that; would it be primarily Moslems who might have left a written record in Africa? I'd think so. Might some of their fighting techniques and weapons, as their language, etc. be Arab-derived/Arab-related? I think inevitably; thus the nimchas of the Swahili coast and the kaskara, with its Turko-Persic ( ) guard.......but there's surely still Bantu (etc.) influence, as well, so probably something useful could be learned there, as well as by investigating the possible African influence on machete, a thin, light-bladed sword developed primarily in the Caribean and the Americas, and primarily under the usage of primarily African slaves/captives. In Animist areas (especially) there may still be some traditional militia training; I know many rural "tribal" peoples maintain vestiges of such, often not so much for common defence now (which would likely be against a giant government or corporation, and thus largely impractical with traditional weapons), but as a matter of cultural memory and ethnic/ancestral pride. This brings me back to something I totally forgot that I was gonna say before I have this African sword. It was sold to me as a pygmy sword; I don't know what tribe it's from. It came in a Moro barong sheath (where I'd maybe have left it, but it was too long, and poked out the bottom or something like that, as I recall). It's a double-edged sword, wide and straight, and running down the center line of the blade are two jagged, toothy slots; first one, then solid metal for a while, then the other. I noticed that the spacing of the slots was such that the sword could be held before the eyes and peered through, like a mask. I noticed also that (though people have different size heads) the slots were spaced such that I couldn't look in the middle of my feild of vision, but would have to learn an unfocused gaze that thus sees all (as I did in my younger meditating days), and also learn to move the head about, so as to keep the blind spot in a different place; valuable lessons for war that could be learned in a dance that might be modernly classed as religious. I've since seen other similar swords, some with round holes, instead of slots. All speculation, but the kind of thing features can be for; learning-magic (a lot of traditional dances worldwide seem to have a martial training/display aspect), or whatever else, and that it'll just get harder and harder to find out about....

[Freddy]

I think it is difficult to compare the weapons of different cultures. Of course, a Japanese katana will be superior to a 'mambeli' or 'mambele ' . This not only by its construction (superior steel), but also by its use.

Central African tribesmen had little of no armor when going into battle. Weapons, how peculiar in shape these may be, were the result of a long evolution and particularly suitable for the conditions needed at that moment in time. Don't forget that large parts of Africa were uncharted areas not no more than 150 to 200 years ago. The isolated populations knew no better.
Even then there were differences. Some Central-African tribes conquered others due to the superiority of their weapons. Take the Zande who were feared over a vast territory as fierce warriors. They used a weird weapon : the multi-bladed throwing knife.
Were these weapons just for show ? I don't think so. Were they inefficient ? By all means, no ! Certainly not against an opponent in a loin cloth.

But compared to the Europeans, with their superior weapons technology (the rifle), these tribesmen were certainly no match. This doesn't mean that on certain occasions they weren't able to defeat the Western technology (take Karthoum and Isandlwana).

True, a lot of these 'weird' African weapons evolved into status symbols. Why not ? It's the same with a Japanese katana. Now, it's no longer a fighting sword. But is it ineffective when used........?