Fencing is called physical chess,

[Mihail]

but sabre is much more like physical No Limit Texas Hold 'Em.

In No Limit, the aspect of luck is very much removed -- I hope this will prevent all the "So that's why sabre touches seem like flipping a coin" posts that were otherwise sure to follow.

But anyway, the aspects of reading your opponent, and using the readings to set up a series of multi-tiered bluffs (read: fakes), are common to sabre and poker.

I think this analogy is much more successful than the obsolete chess one.

[Epeecurean]

"Fencing is a game of subtlety, and bluff can be met with counter-bluff"
- Charles L. de Beaumont

[FriendlyMonkey]

Whack a mole.

I've never seen anyone do sabre with what appears to
be the skill used in fencing. Just SMACK!

I don't care for it.

-FM

[sabreur]

Whack a mole.

I've never seen anyone do sabre with what appears to
be the skill used in fencing. Just SMACK!

I don't care for it.

-FM

Ahhhhh, a wise person who fully understands sabre and its subtleties, and is fully competent to discuss it, and feels we can all benefit from his/her insights....

Give it a rest.

You obviously have either never seen good sabre, or you are not capable of understanding it. In either case, you are not competent to comment on it.

GRRRRRRRR!

Where's my little flamethrower guy?

MR

[Epictetus]

I have great respect for you that are able to fence sabre. Personally, I am way to defensive, most of my game is based around my parries... so.

Spent a very short time learning the basics of sabre, learned it wasn't my thing, moved on.

[mackillian]

Eventually I'd like to try my hand at saber.

For now, I get remarks from coaches that lead to conversations like this:

Coach shouts my name and calls a halt to my bout from across the room.
I reply, "What?"
He says, "Relax. It isn't war. It's just physical chess."
Me. "But...there are swords!"
Whereupon he shakes his head and walks away laughing. And I relax.

[ZenEpeeist]

I've never seen anyone do sabre with what appears to
be the skill used in fencing.

I never thought that I would defend saber, but...you need to get out more. Or at least watch the olympics...

[VorpalCat]

He says, "Relax. It isn't war. It's just physical chess."
Me. "But...there are swords!"

Tell him it's wizards chess.

I have to admit the 'physical chess' analogy has never worked for me. I'm a rotten chess player because of the deathly slow pace. I get impatient. I'm easily distracted. I have the attention span of a monkey on crack, especially when I'm keyed up. Like on strip. Or now. Ah ha! (C'est la?) Fencing is physical chess on speed!

[Inquartata]

Perhaps you need to try blitz chess...

[sabreur]

Perhaps you need to try blitz chess...

I don't think blitz chess is the right analogy either.

I've never thought that "physical chess" was really apt, at least not for sabre. There are far fewer possible variations, but you have to determine the variation, how you are going to counter it and act/react in an impossibly short time.

Fencing is like fencing. It has certain things in common with racquetball, squash, badminton and table tennis, but not really. It probably has some things in common with boxing or other unarmed martial arts, but not really.

Fencing is a thing in itself.

MR

[Epee_Pox]

Yeah, I never thought the chess analogy was that apt, either. Yes, you try to think a couple moves ahead, but that's it. Chess requires much more complex strategy.

Sabre as whack-a-mole sounds about right. And foil is... well "foil" just says it all. What would you say epee is?

[Mihail]

It's bouncy?

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

I would say that epee is the art of the sword sniper. Being patient, accurate, and calm, is the key. You have a small window of opprotunity to make your shot, and it is often at a very small target. Besides that, it requires alot of waiting, much like sniping.

[Monkeyboy]

I thought that sabre was so the rest of us had something to watch while waiting for DE's to start. Are people taking it seriously now?

[Victor]

Twister, with weapons?

[mrbiggs]

Fencing is called physical chess

But chess in my eyes is mental fencing.



My chess skills improved by a factor of probably 10 once I took up fencing. Parry with the rook.....ripost bishop! I was surprised by how similar they really are.

[Hurriranger]

coming from a school chess team member.... the two are entirely different.

[mackillian]

I HAVE noticed that my strategic planning has improved tenfold.

I used to play racquetball in a reactive manner. I just reacted to the ball an my opponent. After I had been fencing for awhile, my racquetball game changed.

I switched to finding holes in my opponent's style and making the game go the way I wanted by exploiting those holes. I took control instead of reacting.

So I suppose for those of us who don't play a ton of chess, this strategic planning shifts our brains from reactive to, well, strategic. I can see the similiarity in that manner. It's looking for patters of action, types of reactions, setting up plans to break them, finding your opponent's plans and breaking them when they don't expect you too, and adjusting midstream when your current tactics are failing.

[Inquartata]

I thought that sabre was so the rest of us had something to watch while waiting for DE's to start.

No. You jiggery-pokery guys have neither the perspicacity nor the degree of enlightenment to see what's going on, so you needn't bother watching. It surpasseth thine understanding. Just go fiddle with your tips between rounds.

Are people taking it seriously now?

Only the 'in' people.

[SupportCrew]

Is anyone out there familiar with Pente?
It is definitely a strategic game, but much faster than chess. Therefore, my sabreist daughter refers to foil as physical chess, but sabre as physical pente. You still have to think, just a whole lot faster.
She calls epee physical checkers, but only because she likes to torment her epeeist friends.

Oh, and those who think sabre isn't graceful really should have been at last March's Vet's NAC. The Men's gold medal bout was absolutely beautiful - athletic, fast and deadly.