Equestrian:Activity - Skill at arms - Reeds

Reeds

Turkish "Mamluk" warfare game

Reeds of varying heights are placed in a pattern and struck by the rider with a sword. Reeds may be placed in any pattern or randomly. A common pattern is to place the reeds in 2 rows. The rider goes down the middle, and uses a sword to cut down each reed, alternating strikes to the left and right.

The reeds may take several forms. They are often simulated by using 2-inch to 10-inch wooden dowels mounted on 5-foot standards. Another version has the reeds mounted on standards of different heights, so the rider simulates attacks to hamstring, behead or disembowel their enemies.

From "The Training of the Malik Faris", Rabie:
At first, a green reed the height of the faris was fixed in the ground. The horseman approached it from the right, riding very fast, and cut a span from it. He repeated the exercise a number of times until only one dhira (about 26 inches) was left from the length of the reed. The next exercise consisted of fixing five reeds to the ground on the right hand side of the faris, the distance between each reed being ten dhira (about 21.3 feet). The faris approached on horseback, cutting each reed, piece by piece, as in the preceding exercise. The last exercise of this kind involved the placing of five reeds on the right hand and five more on the left hand for the faris to cut through, piece by piece.

Requirements:

• Weapons and games authorization
• Sword