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WABUKAN Arsenal · Axes · Middle East

Tabar (tabarzin)

The battle axe of Persia and neighbouring lands, with one or two crescent-shaped blades on a thin metal haft; its name, tabarzin, means "saddle axe".

Tabar (tabarzin)
Tabar (tabarzin) WABUKAN illustration

Also known as

tabarzin (تبرزین, "saddle axe"); kuhari (Sindh); tapar (Armenian)

Origin and history

The term tabar is used for axes from the Ottoman Empire, Persia, India and neighbouring cultures. In Persia the tabarzin was the traditional battle axe, and wandering dervishes sometimes carried it as a symbolic weapon. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was a standard weapon of the mounted warriors of Sindh, where it was called kuhari, and it was also used in the Sikh Khalsa army in Punjab. In medieval Arabia it was a mark of office of police chiefs.

Martial arts that use it

Seen in traditional practice, historical reenactment and demonstrations; no art page on WABUKAN yet.

Construction

One or two crescent-shaped blades on a very thin, light haft that is always metal in the Persian form. The long form was about 2.1 m (seven feet), the short one about 90 cm. Indian versions, all-metal or with a wooden haft, had a strongly curved blade and a hammer-headed back, often decorated with scrollwork; some hid a small knife inside the hollow haft.

Basic techniques

Training

Axe training starts with grip, stance and footwork, then the basic cutting lines practised slowly in the air or on a padded target with a wooden or rubber trainer. The hooking and blocking uses of the head and the haft come next, in paired drills at controlled speed.

Safety

Use wooden or rubber trainers for partner work and keep live axes for solo cutting under supervision. Check that the head sits tight on the haft before every session, keep a clear space of at least two weapon lengths and never swing towards people.

Legality (general information)

Swords, knives and other edged weapons are regulated very differently from country to country (and sometimes from region to region): owning one at home is often allowed, while carrying it in public, buying it under a certain age or importing it may be restricted or banned. Practitioners usually transport them cased, out of reach and straight between home and dojo. This is general information, not legal advice: check the law where you live.

Did you know?

From Middle Persian tabar the word passed into Armenian as tapar and, via Scythian, into Proto-Slavic: it is still the ordinary Slavic word for axe, as in Russian топор (topor).

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Sources

Original WABUKAN text, written from these cross-checked sources (facts, not sentences).

  1. Wikipedia — Tabar (axe)