new article on the dussack

[Roger Norling]

Happy reading! http://www.hroarr.com/the-dussack/

[Corey Roberts]

Looks pretty interesting I'll have to give it a read.

[James Brazas]

That was a good article!

I'm glad to hear that there was a more-or-less unbroken line between the Messer and the Dussack. Was there such an unbroken line between the Dussack and Saber?

It's also good to hear the Dussack was a real weapon instead of merely a generic trainer. Sounds like "Dussack" is more-or-less the German word for "Cutlass." Am I right?

It's also interesting to see how the Dussack slowly diverged from the earlier teachings of Johannes Leckuchner.

[Roger Norling]

Thanks guys!

I honestly don't know if we can claim that there is an unbroken line between the dussack and messer, although I know some researchers who investigate what took place in the late 1700s and in the 1800s. In a way we do have an unbroken line in fencing instructing I think, although fairly few schools have remained throughout the centuries. We do have the Sint Michels Gilde in Belgium of course, which started in the 1400s already and still exist, today again even practicing HEMA.

However, the fencing schools, as we all know, shifted weapons and the actual dussack appear to only have remained in use for traditional sword dancing in Bohemia and Croatia. I still find it possible that the dussack was trained occassionaly in such regions, and not least in the Czech Republic, where the Freyfechter von der Feder were founded.

Not sure I would say that Dussack was a German word for Cutlass, although the weapons are more or less identical. The word was actually used all over Europe, as far north as Norway and Sweden. And it of course has its origin in the Czech language.