[Alex Oster]

[Vaclav Homan]

Good link I get translate it.
There is video with austro-ungarian sabre, man on video is from USA (you can contact) he learnt in Romania by grandson ungarian master.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vP_07ubwGho
I like this video unobtrusive but with more informative as other. There are complete bases for sabre and some technique.
I exercise old ungarian sabre by master and I can see this sabre video is unique.
Know somebody whether are in UK, Frace or USA masters for old sabre (not sport sabre).

[Anders Backlund]

Oooh, interesting!

EDIT: Ah, I knew I'd heard of the guy before! Sir Richard Francis Burton, famous British adventurer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, enthologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer, treasure hunter and diplomat. Discovered the springs of the Nile and the Tanganyika lake, served as a spy during the Krim war, and -disguised as a pilgrim- the first westerner to ever see the holy stone of Mecca. Supposedly mastered 29-35 oriental languages and translated Arabian Nights and the Kama Sutra to English. Learned the art of fencing at about the same time he learned to walk.

Sounds like a really awesome guy, over all.

[Michael Ekelmann]

I'm not a 19th century fencing expert, but how do Burton's and Alfred Hutton's ideas compare? I see both names bandied about by my Victorian reenactment friends.

[Robin Palmer]

Hi michael

I have read a couple of Huttens books I have to say I am not entirely convinced about him I get the impression that while he litters the pages with illustrations from old masters he felt he knew better than the men who wrote them. He was very much a product of his world an educated upper class English gentleman who firmly believed that because he lived in an age of reason and progress he was automatically superior to those who came before. I am not sure of his military record and I do not have any of his books to hand but I do know Burton spent most of his life deep in the boonys and saw a good bit of action one way or other. On the whole I would say Burton probably had the edge on practical experience which at the end of the day beats any amount of theory. But thats just my opinion.

A small aside Burton also owned one of the biggest rifles ever made to be fired from the shoulder a 2 bore which fired a half pound shell. Burton called it baby and if I recall correctly only used it about 20 times for elephant an interesting process Burton was no midget he would brace into the gun two hefty askari would brace in behind and he would fire recoil usually put all three flat on their backs result was one very dead jumbo every time. Burton bought the gun for two reasons hunting jumbo and as a light artillery piece he had Holland and Holland make explosive shell for him and if hostile natives threatened he would lob a few explosive shells into them at range.