sabre group lesson plans

[achilles_heal]

i'm a pretty new coach, and i'm excited for this coaches corner area.

now that the hs season is over and i don't have to compete with two to three dual meets per week, i am going to have a group lesson night at our club.

the skill level is quite varied. while i would love to separate the beginners from the intermediate and advanced, i don't have enough students yet. so my first group lesson will be as follows:

total time 1 hr 15-20 minutes.

5 minutes - stretch
10 minutes - nerf dodgeball
10 minutes - footwork. first follow the leader, then follow hand signals while ignoring leader's attempts to trick the students. emphasis on soft front foot, quick back foot, short balanced lunges, crisp recoveries.

paired drills
10 minutes - fencers come on guard 4 mtrs apt. one fencer has initiative. each must make lunge or advance lunge when it is his/her turn. cannot advance and stop. when restricted attack is over, other fencer is obligated to do same. 3 five touch bouts, switching partners after every bout. no blade contact permitted.
10 minutes - on guard 4 mtrs. both fencers make soft, careful first step and lunge, attempting to gain the row. after several simuls/aips, the fotr has the option to parry based on opponents tempo and observed preference for line. 5 minutes each. switch partners
5 minutes - on guard fencing distance. one fencer has attack, other fencer has two meters of strip with which to defend. counterattack or aip and distance parry are only defense options. attack switches every two touches. switch partners
5 mins - same scenario, only blade contact is allowed. switch partners
10 mins - on guard 4 mtrs. one fencer has attack, other fencer has option to attack or jump back. if initial attack falls short, initial attacker recovers and establishes pil. attempts to score with pil, or take over attack/ make parry/counter beat, aip etc. basically defense off the line. switch partners
5 minutes - parry riposte drill. one fencer makes advance lunge, cut to one line (no feints) defender makes feint counterattack, step back parry riposte. switch every three touches.

5 minutes warm down

some lessons and free fencing to follow. total practice about 3 hrs.

i'd be interested in any comments, approving or otherwise, and if anyone else wouldn't mind sharing ideas for group lessons that would be great too.

[jBirch]

I would suggest that each component there is an entire class unto itself and you're trying to cram too much into your available time.

Instead, start with a theme for the lesson, ie// parry 4 riposte, and build the lesson up. So start,

1) Tierce, opponent attacks to chest, parry 4:

1a) riposte to head
1b) riposte to chest
1c) riposte to shoulder
1d) riposte to belly
1e) riposte feint head, cut flank
1f) riposte feint head, cut belly
1g) riposte feint head, cut arm

Footwork variations:
No Footwork, just extension
Riposte w/lunge
Riposte w/flunge
Riposte w/step-lunge
Riposte w/ballestra-lunge
Riposte w/retreat-lunge
Riposte w/retreat-flunge
Riposte w/retreat-step-lunge
Riposte w/retreat-ballestra-lunge

etc...

James.

[achilles_heal]

you're right.

my life is like that too, trying to cram too much in available time. i will rethink this and use each element of the above as its own theme for a different group lesson. thanks.

[Chafunkta]

I'll agree with jBirch.

You have a ton of great drills in there. However, I wouldn't suggest putting them all in one class, though. 5 minutes is pretty short to work on one drill.

Split up the drills in terms of what they work on (attacks, ripostes, certain cuts, whatever you determine the "theme" of the practice).

[Teme]

'Theme' thinking is good way to build the structure. By starting from basics and progressing to more complex you have sort of 'loose end' in the end -- if you run out of time for any reason, it really doesn't matter if last few most complex drills are dropped.

On footwork my emphasis would be (or has been, rather) not in distance/timing (that's extremely difficult to achieve properly in group) but in acceleration, strength, stamina kind of drills that are besided often neglegted, much more fun in groups. You know, the kind of 'catch me'-drills etc. Lunges from squat or advance/retreat against pressure kind of things.

Good start for saber paired drill is to loose, relaxed 'riposting' going trough all parries in random order, sorta tic-tic-tic metronomelike changing of hits.
When it works, start taking steps, then lunges, then advance lunges and finally jump-lunges, all the time blades going tic-tic-tic-tic... Very basic and yet requires great concentration. (The idea being to get arm and shoulders loose and to work independently of feet, while feet take good care of proper distance). Don't pull your blade back until parrying!

After that, you can go to those 'tactical' drills. ALthough, rather than have too strict manuscript for them, make it more 'gamey' by just stating that this side can only score from wrist, or only by PIL or whatever, 30 seconds, starts NOW! In the end, switch pairs, rinse and repeat. If necessary for motivation, count 'victories'.

[Adler]

Personally I like to build up my group lessons from the very simple actions to more advanced techniques or tactics.

for example:
At lunge distance

Exe1 (simple attack)

A: En garde in Tierce.
B: En garde in Tierce.
A: Lunge cut to head.

Exe2

A: En garde in Tierce.
B: En garde in Quarte.
A: lunge Cut to Flank.

Exe3

A:En garde in Tierce.
B: En garde in Tierce
A: Lunge cut to chest.

Exe4
A: En garde Tierce.
B: En Garde Seconde.
A: Lunge cut to head.
B: Quinte parry Riposte.
N.B exercise should not be done rythmically A should be trying to land the hit without B parrying.

Exe 5
A: En garde in Tierce.
B: En Garde in Tierce.
A: Lunge cut to head flank or chest.
B: chooses appropriate parry on the spot and ripostes.

Exe 6
Long distance
A: En garde in Tierce.
B: En garde in Tierce
A: Step lunge cut to head, flank or chest
B: Parry ripostes on the spot.

Exe 7
A: En garde in Tierce.
B: En Garde in Tierce.
A: step lunge to head, chest or flank.
B Step back parry riposte.

Exe 8
A: En garde in Tierce
B: En garde in Tierce
A: Step lunge to head, chest or flank.
B: Either step back parry riposte or invitation parry riposte.

Exe 9
A: engarde in Tierce
B: En garde in Tierce.
A: Step Lunge with single feint
B: Either step back parry riposte or invitaion parry riposte.

Exe 10
A: En Garde in Tierce
B: En Garde in Tierce
A: Step lunge with a straight attack or single feint.
B: Either Step back parry riposte, Invitation parry riposte or stop short with half head preperation parry riposte.

Beat counter attacks, counter ripostes and stop cuts can be included depending on the level of the fencers. For exercises 1 through 8 it is important that fencer A only attacks in first intention with out feints.

[achilles_heal]

having taken the advice and suggestions of those here and elsewhere to heart, i have come up with the following for a first group lesson. the skill level of participants is above novice; beginner with one or two intermediates.

the goal of the group lesson, for my students, is to 1)condition and strengthen 2) improve form and balance for basic movements and 3) apply basic things from lessons in a more bout-like drill environment

total time, 90 minutes

5 minutes stretching
5 minutes more intensive stretching, incorporating some basic yoga exercises and chi gong movements to loosen everything up

15 minutes conditioning/calisthenics, as follows:

students form a line and begin light jog around salle. after 30-40 seconds, the "leader" (me, until someone steps up) will clap periodically and perform a physical action. students will watch, and perform the same action each time leader (L) claps. after action is erformed, students resume jog.

it is hard to describe some of these actions. i am going to tape this segment and post it on you tube.

1) agility foot crossing down one length of the salle;
2) high heels (almost kicking oneself in the butt whle jogging)
3) high knees (palms held downward at hip level, knees are brought with each step to slap the outstretched palm, one knee at a time)
4) bend down (not far enough to hyperextend knee) and jump as high as possible, with knees tucked as high into torso as possible at apex of jump. extend arms upward
5) jump upward with arms stretched out at sides. attempt to kick palms a la david lee roth in "jump" video
6) jog backwards on first clap, turn and sprint to end on second clap
7) line pauses at end of one strip. each S does 10 windmills and then sprints to end of strip upon hearing the clap
8) jump in air and execute as many jabs with both hands as possible while in air
9) line pauses again, S take en garde and bend down halfway, then jump up, landing in en garde, all the way down the strip.
10) warm down, brisk walk, neck rolls, arm circles, shoulder shrugs

i have gone through this several times by myself and once with a student. it is a good, but not totally draining workout and it lasts 15 minutes.

3-5 minutes stretch again, esp lunge, groin, hamstrings and achilles.

Phase II Footwork 30 mins

very basic. not strenuous. goal is perfect form, legs perfectly spaced and aligned, balance retained at all times.

1. L makes slow, lingering half advance, ending on heel (not planting front foot yet) students follow. L completes advance by bringing back foot up quickly and simultaneously planting front foot. S follow. many reps
2. same, but with half retreat, retreat
3. same, with advance lunge. lunge is short and balanced, but back leg is emplyed to push and let the back foot slide forward, without rolling.
4. same, but sometimes L moves forward into first part of advance and S must change direction. when L stops, S make lunge.
5. same, but no direction change. instead, in begnning of advance, L sometimes "cuts in" instead of retreating and students must finish the advance as a lunge, instead of making advance lunge.
6. same, but students must change direction sometimes as well

eventually, cuts to open lines, ghost parries etc will be added to this

Phase III Drills 45 minutes Distance Parry, Riposte

S pair off. Leader takes one partner, and rotates around

1) 4 mtrs apart. (4MA) a makes quick balanced advance lunge to 5, b stands still. switch, repeat. 5 minutes (warm up)
2) 4MA a makes quick advance lunge, b makes fake half advance, pulls distance, then makes slow advance lunge riposte switch, repeat 10 minutes
3) 4MA a makes attack. b does as above, but a has the option of standing still and cutting in, or making extra steps backwards (up to 3) and cutting in at any time during retreats 15 minutes
4) same as above, but a can also make point in line into riposte. b must take blade and finish to head (for beginners) or wrist and head(for intermediates), before lunge ends 15 minutes

and that's about it.