When we started Sydney Sabre there were few guides for teaching adults how to fence sabre. The manuals we found focused on children and the foil: the standard training weapon of civilian duelists for centuries. Rarely did people pick up the sword for the first time as adults; rarer still to do so for fun. The sabre, of course, was a military sword and taught to soldiers through drills and manuals. But these are minimally applicable to the modern sport. So we developed our own guide. The Sydney Sabre Course (hereafter, “the Course”) has gone through about a dozen revisions in the last decade ..read more

tldr; version: “Buy the minimum. For your body, now. The best quality you can afford. Start with things you can’t borrow.” If you’re fencing with us, you can always use our gear. But you may want to get your own. You will need your own if you raid other clubs or go to competitions. The following article is a brief guide on what to buy, in which order, and what to look out for. The Short Version Get your gear in the order below for maximum happiness and practicality: Sabre (non-maraging) Shoes and Fencing Socks Mask (FIE) Jacket (350N) Glove (350N) Bag #1: Day Bag Lame Plastron (FIE) Breeches ..read more

tldr; version: “Buy the minimum. For your body, now. The best quality you can afford. Start with things you can’t borrow.” If you’re fencing with us, you can always use our gear. But you may want to get your own. You will need your own if you raid other clubs or go to competitions. The following article is a brief guide on what to buy, in which order, and what to look out for. The Short Version Get your gear in the order below for maximum happiness and practicality: Sabre (non-maraging) Shoes and Fencing Socks Mask Jacket Glove Bag #1: Day Bag Lame Plastron Breeches Body Cord(s) Mask Wire(s ..read more

Hey Sydney Sabre, I started a free youth sabre club in the States in XXXX.  Not a lot of parents can afford electric gear so I have been coaching dry. This has the kids fencing clean as I am training them to ref as well. Without electric gear would you say they will be behind the speed game of electric fencers?  A beginner game we play is toss a coin to see who gets priority first and that person cannot stop moving forward (any speeds) until an attack is made and if it misses or is parried then the other person now cannot stop moving forward until an attack is made. To stop is to gi ..read more

John,  I was reading your blog about watching in the 4 meter.  You talked about “Advance Step” prep.  Most Korean fencers use “advance” prep.  Who frequently uses “Advance Step” prep?  Can you elaborate more in detail about advance step prep.  Not much info in book.  Shorter fencer would benefit more than advance prep?. Thank you, Reader Hi there, Good to hear from you. “Advance Step” preparation is quite common amongst Korean A-grade fencers: Kim Junghwan, Oh Eunseok, Oh Sanguk and Kim Kyehwan all use it some of the time. Notably, Gu Bongil does not, but he ..read more

Dear Instructor, Welcome to Week 15, almost halfway through Level 2. We have spent the last few sessions exploring the idea of timing in sabre, focusing on rhythm. Much of this has been on applying timing to the main attack move – the advance-lunge, a 3-count move consisting of two linked actions – the advance and the lunge – in rhythm 1–2-3! We expanded on this idea to introduce fake advance-lunges – a double-advance in rhythm 1–2-3-4 – and extending advance-lunges with a followthrough to a double-advance lunge in rhythm 1—2–3-4-5! We also briefly introduced how a Defender could adapt their ..read more

Dear Instructor: Welcome to Week 14. We continue our exploration of timing in sabre as per the rest of Level 2, but indirectly this time: we introduce the concept of technique backups, and reinforce the role of rhythm in attacks, with the advance-lunge / double-advance lunge combo. Accelerate moves with increasing duration Sabre moves should accelerate, as a general rule, i.e. they should start slow and finish fast. On the March, this helps you surprise your opponent; on the Defence, this helps you keep up. Moves should not keep a constant rhythm because this telegraphs your rhythm to your op ..read more

Dear Instructor, Welcome to Week 13, the third week of Level 2. This Level focuses on timing in sabre. In the previous two sessions, we introduced the idea of rhythm and change-in-rhythm – or cadence – in the 4m zone and on the March. In the 4m zone, we explored matching the opponent’s rhythm to predict when their action would occur, and thus reveal the moment to watch and react. On the March, we used rhythm changes to fake the attack and launch accelerated attacks to catch the defender by surprise. This week we apply these ideas to the Defence. Keep distance and match rhythm with the Attacke ..read more

Dear Instructor: Welcome to Week 12. This week, we expand on the timing ideas we introduced in the previous session for watching in the 4m zone to the Attacker on the March. Back in Week 2, we introduced the three things the Attacker must do to land their attack: Get into Range Launch your attack Hit the defender at least at the same time as they hit you To do this, the Attacker should: Accurately ascertain range to the Defender. Anticipate where the Defender will move to. Launch to where the Defender will be. Hit one of the Defender’s open targets, before the ..read more

Dear Instructor: Welcome to Level 2. This Level is all about Timing in sabre. Timing is often vaguely described by fencing coaches: a case of “I’ll know [good timing] when I see it”. This is at best unhelpful for your students; we’re going to spend this level breaking down timing in sabre into its specific components: rhythm (or tempo), cadence, moment, and period. Rhythm / Tempo: the frequency of actions within a period of time. E.g. 3 steps per second. Cadence: the change in rhythm of a move, typically at the end: e.g. accelerating an advance-lunge, with the initial step at rhythm 5Hz to b ..read more