Beginner’s Sabre Drills and Games

[Fencergrl]

In an effort to encourage sabre fencing in my province, I started to bring some sabre gear to the classes I am working as an assistant coach.

These kids range from 9 to 13, and have all fenced epee, so they know the basic fundamentals of fencing.

I have recently started to learn sabre fencing myself, so I am just trying to pass on some of the basics to the kids. To supplement their learning, I have been bringing in qualified sabre masters to fine tune their technique and will be setting-up sabre camps and small tournaments for them.

Does anyone have any (age appropriate) suggestions for drills or games?

[achilles_heal]

i am mining for intermediate group lesson drills, but beginners i can handle.

that's my age group for beginners also, so i know your biggest challenge is to keep their interest. games are a must. i like to start these things with familiar games like soccer handball dodgeball circle tag duck duck goose etc. then do a more fencing game like glove game, steal the bacon with footwork, etc, then do some calisthenics/conditioning to get them stronger and more agile, esp direction changing exercises, some sprints mixed in. i break them up so that three or four go at a time then back to end of line. kids like to race.

drop the glove and catch it in mid lunge (before front foot hits) is good practice. leapfrog, windmills. footwork suicides.

mainly you want to give them good sabre footwork,(feet always same distance apart, with no hopping about or backwards crossovers) strength, and basic correct hand positions. all footwork should be done in correct en garde, with no arm drifting. for me, correct is arm parallel to ground, wrist slightly up, weapon held aX body in 3 at a 5-10 angle from the vertical, fairly close (8-9 inches, about, depending on size of fencer) to body. make sure sabre is held correctly and firmly at all times.

emphasize slow, long (timewise) first part of first advance and quick back foot part of advance. short, balanced lunges with arm not quite fully extended.

while en garde is fairly close to body, parry 4 and 5 (and later 2) are farther away, almost with a kind of extension, to allow riposte to arrive before remise. blade geometry impt here- blade angle should be such that an oppts blade is encouraged to slide towards the forte/guard.

one drill: advance lunge, parry riposte.
1)a attacks to head, b parries 5 ripostes to head. switch.
2)a " " 4, b parry 4 rpst. to head b becomes a. switch
3)a " " 3, b parry 3 rpst to head. etc until all lines of attack and all lines of simple riposte have been practiced by each fencer. not necessarily in the same class. esp at first. their progress will guide you as to pace.

instructor must make sure there is no heavy handedness and that parry positons are correct. precision (trying to cut to the same spot, without popping arm or winding up) is a must. speed is not, at this stage. most impt thing is that fencers stay balanced.

another drill: fncrs 4 mtrs apart.
a makes advance lunge to head, b makes same. slow front foot of first step, accelerate in lunge. goal is to steal time. after a few of these, fencer a has option to parry 4 or 5 and riposte. should only do this 20 % of time overall. switch.

(more advanced) same as above, except a has option of jumping back, creating attack no/riposte situation. if b is careful and a is sloppy, he/she will be able to make quick, short extra step at right time and hit a. if b gets in habit of guessing/making extra step, he/she will get hit in prep by a 80% margn and will adapt. sometimes keeping score is helpful, sometimes not. depends on kids.

always finish to head. precisely. to the center of the mask. everything loose and supple, except grip on sabre. maybe next time, always to chest. then to the arm/wrist. after underarm cut is learned, you can work that in and then introduce parry 2 and over top counterattacks. but that is later.

careful with free fencing. in general, beginner sabrists should be discouraged from blade contacts, tic tacking, etc until distance is mastered. it is in drills only because it takes lots of practice in controlled setting before it can be used well in bouting. making people miss is the best parry, and stealing the attack is the most potent defense. you can build other simple drills around these principles. my beginners and most intermediates are forbidden from blade contact in bouting, even though they practice parries and prise de fer in lessons and drills.

make sure they always hit target before the foot lands, or at the latest when the foot lands the former is preferable

if you interested in a fun and challenging 15, 30 or 60 min calisthenic routine, or in more games or explanations of same, i can provide them.

end with another game. stretch.

i am sure there are many approaches to your situation, but this is the way i was taught as a sabre newbie and i can get walk ons with some coordination and basic footwork mechanics to a semi coachable place in about 6 months, using classes and drills like this.

check out allen evans' website and dave littell's also. while not always specific to sabre, there is a wealth of knowledge there, and on mr evans' you will see a section on a nazlymov seminar that better describes some of the principles of the weapon. (as i know it)

maybe someone from OFA will post on this site someday. they have a great system for youth development.

obviously.

[VorpalCat]

Originally Posted by achilles_heal

mainly you want to give them good sabre footwork ... with no ... backwards crossovers

Why no backward crossovers? You can cross going backwards to your heart's content (or until you run out of strip), it's only when going forward that crossing the feet is not allowed.

[Allen Evans]

I don't know why Achilles doesn't teach the cross over, but I find that prohibiting it with beginners keeps them from recovering from a lunge by throwing their shoulders backwards. They then cathc their balance by crossing back. By not allowing them to cross over, they are more likely to learn to recover properly (and not overlunge in the first place) and then make good footwork to retreat.

Allen

[achilles_heal]

are perfectly legal, but a horrible habit for beginning fencers. they'll try it all day, do it mostly wrong, and be totally out of balance on defense a lot of the time. also, they will often make a half cross backwards, realize they could make an attack instead, and then replace the front foot to en garde, making a fleche out of it. this is a SERIOUSLY bad habit.

we are talking about beginners.

the backwards cross (with counterattack to top or bottom of wrist, often) and the flunge (with prep variants) are very advanced, and technically challenging, maneuvers. to execute correctly, that is. when done right, they can surprise, confound, and frustrate an opponent, opening wide other parts of the game.

however, basics must be mastered first, the way i see it. balance is the most important skill a new sabrist must master.

sorry for confusion though.

edit: and i totally agree about the recovery from lunge issue associated with back crossing. thank you coach evans.

there is a special, more effective way to recover from a "too close" short attack, which is hard to describe. it involves starting the recovery with the rear foot, by bending the knee, picking up the foot so that the leg is under the fencers center of gravity, and the simultaneously pushing back with the front leg and extending the rear as far as possible, ending in en garde position. a good deal of ground is gained and backwards momentum can be continued, or easily reversed. i will try to make a video clip of this from a russian team camp in kansas. it is on aging vhs, though, so quality is poor. perhaps i will just try to make one myself on mini dv.

[Fencergrl]

I'm unlikely to teach any crossover footsteps.

When my epee coach does footwork and incorporates front and back crossovers, I now do just do normal steps. She knows I'm trying to break the habit of crossing my feet when fencing either weapon.

The reason??? Since sabre is a relatively new weapon for me, I am finding it far too easy too cross my feet as I move forward. I am trying to break the habit myself, so I am very careful with my footwork and any training I do.... besides even when I do epee, I find I cross my feet because I'm not quite balanced... so for me, at this time, it's best I don't. So I won't teach my beginners to, as they can learn this when they get into an advanced sabre class.

[VorpalCat]

Good points, all, and exactly what I was looking for. Am new to the finer points of saber myself and tend to think of it from a foilist-learning-saber standpoint so things like balance are already (hopefully) at least partway in the fencer's pocket by now -- one of many mental habits to be broken! Thanks, all.