From around the early 14th century the backsword became the first type of European sword to be fitted with a knuckle guard. The term "backsword" can also refer to the singlestick, which is used to train for fighting with the backsword, or to the sport or art of fighting in this fashion. Being easier and cheaper to make than double-edged swords, backswords became the favored sidearm of common infantry, including irregulars such as the Highland Scots, which in Scottish Gaelic were called the claidheamh cuil (back sword), after one of several terms for the distinct types of weapons they used. Backswords were often the secondary weapons of European cavalrymen beginning in the 17th century.
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Singlestick is a martial art that uses a wooden stick as its weapon. It began as a way of training soldiers in the use of backswords (such as the sabre or the cutlass). Canne de combat, a French form of stick fighting, is similar to singlestick play, which also includes a self-defense variant with a walking stick.
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By 1830, the armory achieved the desired annual output of 25,000 long guns and 5,000 backswords. Ten stone plants, several wooden constructions and a towered main building for the armory were erected in 1811–1816. By 1817, construction of the main armory building had been finished. It had 4 floors and was one of the first multistory industrial buildings in Russia.
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Hilts of this design were also used on other weapons including sabres, cutlasses, rapiers, backswords and civilian hunting hangers.Forms of European edged weaponry. Retrieved on 4 December 2008 A similar weapon was the Pallasch which had the same hilt and straight blade but was single-edged. It was used until the mid-18th century by the Austrian army and inspired the British 1796 Heavy Cavalry Sabre.
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The venture also produced pistols and gun parts and remelted trophy weapons. Firearms were produced at a rapid pace for the Russian Army during the Napoleonic Wars, mainly in the French invasion of Russia, even though construction of the armory had not been finished yet. During the first four years, the factory produced 2,000 long guns. In 1814, the output grew up to 10,000 guns and almost 2,500 backswords.
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Descendants of the basket-hilted sword, albeit in the form of backswords with reduced "half" or "three-quarter" baskets, remained in use in cavalry during the Napoleonic era and throughout the 19th century, specifically as the 1796 Heavy Cavalry Sword, the Gothic Hilted British Infantry Swords of the 1820s to 1890s, the 1897 Pattern British Infantry Officer's Sword and as the Pattern 1908 and 1912 cavalry swords down to the eve of World War I.
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Known since Peter the Great as the backswords manufacturer, but later production was converted to textile. In 1912, factory invested into the new production lines shipped from United Kingdom and soon became an important one in the region. In time of the second world war the factory produced the camouflage tents for the front line. The factory played unique and important role in the settlement's life throughout the centuries and it was mirrored on the modern coat of arms.
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Everyone—including servants and slaves—could and did hunt, so there was no social distinction to be had. In 1691, Sir Francis Nicholson, the governor of Virginia, organized competitions for the “better sort of Virginians onely who are Batchelors,” and he offered prizes “to be shot for, wrastled, played at backswords, & Run for by Horse and foott.”Quoted in Nancy L. Struna, "The Formalizing of Sport and the Formation of an Elite: The Chesapeake Gentry, 1650-1720s." Journal of Sport History 13#3 (1986) p 219.
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Everyone—including servants and slaves—could and did hunt. Poor men with a good rifle aim won praise; rich gentlemen who were off target won ridicule. In 1691, Sir Francis Nicholson, the governor, organized competitions for the "better sort of Virginians onely who are Batchelors," and he offered prizes "to be shot for, wrastled, played at backswords, & Run for by Horse and foott."Quoted in Nancy L. Struna, "The Formalizing of Sport and the Formation of an Elite: The Chesapeake Gentry, 1650-1720s." Journal of Sport History 13#3 (1986) p 219.
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The basket hilt is a development of the quillons added to swords' crossguards since the Late Middle Ages. In modern times, this variety of sword is also sometimes referred to as the broadsword. The basket-hilted sword was generally in use as a military sword, in contrast with the rapier, the slim duelling sword worn with civilian dress during the same period, although each did find some use in both military and civilian contexts. A further distinction applied by arms historians and collectors is that a true broadsword possesses a double-edged blade, while similar wide-bladed swords with a single sharpened edge and a thickened back are called backswords.
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" Michael Hăulică, "Fantasy & Science Fiction. Ah, BD!", in Observator Cultural, Nr. 315, April 2006 The publication, which went out of print after only two issues due to distribution problems, included Romanian-language reprints of American comics such as Conan the Barbarian and Aliens, alongside original collaborations between Florea and his Romanian colleagues: Două paloşe ("Two Backswords", with Florea as artist and György Györfi-Deák as writer), Ultima frontieră ("The Final Frontier", text by Florea, Marian Mirescu and Eddie Pandele, drawings by Daniel Rizea and Cătălin Gospodin), Toxic (text by Florea, drawings by Tudor Popa), Leviathan (written by Cristian Lăzărescu, illustrated by Florea). Michael Hăulică, "Fantasy & Science Fiction.
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A szabla used by Polish Hussars, 1614 The Sword Dance (1890) by Paja Jovanović The introduction of the sabre proper in Western Europe, along with the term sabre itself, dates to the 17th century, via the influence of the Eastern European szabla type ultimately derived from these medieval backswords. The adoption of the term is connected to the employment of Hungarian hussar (huszár) cavalry by Western armies at the time. Hungarian hussars were employed as light cavalry, with the role of harassing enemy skirmishers, overrunning artillery positions, and pursuing fleeing troops. In the late 17th and 18th centuries, many Hungarian hussars fled to other Central and Western European countries and became the core of light cavalry formations created there.
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At that time, plowmen were to migrate to the armory and work there. Settlements nearby were released from this rule, but had to provide the armory with wagons, horses and harnessing. Deryabin also hired foreign armory specialists to guide the Russian craftsmen. In 1807, the Armory produced 7 long guns, 5 pair of pistols, and 6 backswords. The first weapons developed by the armory were the No. 15 17.7mm muskets, produced in the autumn of 1807. In 1808, the musket was later mass-produced for infantry equipping. The plant supplied the Imperial Russian Army with over 6,000 of the No. 15 17.7mm muskets. The armory also produced rifles, muskets, carbines, and flint blunderbusses for cavalry in 1809.
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Trade in turquoise crafts, such as this freeform pendant dating from 1000–1040, is believed to have brought the Ancestral Pueblo people of the Chaco Canyon great wealth. Moche turquoise nose ornament. Larco Museum Collection, Lima, Peru Backswords, inlaid with turquoise. Russia, 17th century Turquoise mosaic mask of Xiuhtecuhtli, the Aztec god of fire The iconic gold burial mask of Tutankhamun, inlaid with turquoise, lapis lazuli, carnelian and coloured glass The pastel shades of turquoise have endeared it to many great cultures of antiquity: it has adorned the rulers of Ancient Egypt, the Aztecs (and possibly other Pre-Columbian Mesoamericans), Persia, Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and to some extent in ancient China since at least the Shang Dynasty.
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In the US during the early years of the 1900s, fencer and self-defense specialist A. C. Cunningham developed a unique system of stick-fighting using a walking stick or umbrella, which he recorded in his book The Cane as a Weapon. Singlestick was developed as a method of training in the use of backswords such as the cavalry sabre and naval cutlass. It was a popular pastime in the UK from the 18th to the early 20th century, and was a fencing event at the 1904 Summer Olympics. Although interest in the art declined, a few fencing coaches continued to train with the stick and competitions in this style of stick-fighting were reintroduced into the Royal Navy in the 1980s by commander Locker Madden.
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Zela, the 24th, is a tall blond man introduced with Agiel and Odonel while standing sentry at Akumano Academy. When Oga attacks Akumano High (chapter 131), he meets and defeats Din (4th), a young man with shoulder-length black hair; Kne (10th), who wears a French-style beret; Labed (11th), who sports dreadlocks; Wasboga (21st), who wears sideboards; Xoblah (22nd), a plump man who is knocked out by Oga on first sight; and Yshiel (23rd), a blond swordswoman with a patch over her left eye. On chapter 133, Tojo defeats Cemor (3rd), a man with light, pointy hair; and Nebak (13th), a short man with an African lion mask. On chapter 134, Kunieda faces Elim (5th), a little girl in oversized clothes who wields a cane; Fabas (6th), a punk who fights with two backswords; Pamiel (15th), a Hippie who uses a dagger; and Tiriel (19th), a long-haired blonde who uses two swords.
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