Hi - noob fencer w/ questions

[Inquartata]

Saber does interest me - I imagine because the head is a target right?

Head and arms ( not hands ), yep. Nothing more satisfying than a good crisp parry quinte-head cut.

So at the place I go foil and epee are taught in the group classes - foil for begginers then your choice (I think) from intermediate on up.
Saber is only taught by private lesson

My condolences.

Alas, it's that way in most salles. The coach teaches mostly foil, so he's most comfortable teaching foil, which encourages him to favor starting everyone in foil...a vicious circle. Even I had to start out that way---which is why I venture to suggest that it isn't the invaluable foundation many seem to think it is. ( But then I always knew I wanted to fence sabre; as a default foil is no worse than any other, I suppose. )

- and I'm not sure if that's because there isn't enough interest to fill a group - or maybe they spcialize more in epee and foil?

It's another self-reinforcing tendency. If most people are started in foil, inertia tends to keep those with no strong preference there---the unconscious thinking seems to be "Why start over, buy new equipment, etc. just when I'm starting to get good?" That means that foil is always going to be the most-fenced weapon, with the occasional exceptional salle. Epee, being also point-oriented, is a natural enough transition, and many find the relative freedom from rules and right of way attractive...it's also more, ah, sedate, so it attracts people who feel that they can no longer keep up with the hyperactive kids in foil. Sabre, alas, is a well-suppressed secret inmost places. It's the most fun, but you'll have to jump through some additional hoops in order to be able to do it ( again with a few exceptional salles ).

Persevere, though, it's worth it in the end.

How tough is saber? I've heard you need have excellent footwork to be decent at saber.

It's very fast, true, but what better way to learn footwork than in concentrated form? And in some ways it's simpler than the other two weapons: fewer parries to learn, point control is not so crucial, etc.

[Mihail]

Saber is tough physically because of the speed, but is also, in my opinion of course (and that of most top saber fencers), the weapon for which it's most difficult to master the feeling.

While that's a vague statement, what I mean is it's easy to get the goal in epee: hit and don't get hit. While simple, it involves a lot of complex strategy.

In foil, you add the right of way component, and it's possible to score even if you were hit. There is also the concept of preparation, but it is not emphatically present.

In saber, however, because you hit with the edge and not the point, you also have a variety and bounty of preparations. To put it simply, if you're not attacking, you will get attacked. And this concept of easily losing and gaining the right of way -- and reacting within the minute fraction of a second in which it occurrs -- is what makes it difficult to get a feeling for high-level saber fencing.

The rewards are great, though, as with any tough sport.

[Inquartata]

"A bounty of preparations"! I'm going to steal that phrase...

[zark00]

Originally Posted by AllezCat
Hmmm, sounds like you fence at my club (Rain City Fencing Center). Either that or another club somewhere has their program set up very similar to ours...

Hi coach I'm in the begining class now.

Small world. I really wanted to make it to the anniversary but have family in town. I'm going to try to come by tomorrow (sun) - I wanted to see if I could catch the sabre bouts.

I'll be coming to some open nights too now I'm sure. Last weds we did footwork with the intermediate and other guys there, was really fun and people were really helpful. Kind of got the idea of what an open night would be like I think.

Originally Posted by Inquartata
My condolences.

nah, it's not like that. we got an intro to all three weapons I think on day one. I got the impression that the fundamentals are essential (as in any sport) and foil has rules that are good to learn. Beyond that I think I could pretty much ask the coaches to learn whichever weapon I wanted to try.

at this point I'm still practicing moving backwards fast enough