Sabre-->Foil

[egarde29]

Hello,

I fenced sabre in China for 3 years (though not very regularly, with school happening, and being involved in too many things to really specialise in one sport), and now that I've returned to Singapore, I've joined the fencing club in the national university here... but they only offer foil!! I'm trying to get new members interested in sabre, but there's no coach available and apparently the equipment is more expensive~ so does anyone have any ideas how I could go about convincing people to start a team?

So far it looks like I must learn a bit of foil for the time being. I don't really have a big problem with that, because it's probably good to know more than one style... though I'm a tad worried that my sabre techniques will get affected... right now I'm having quite some trouble switching to foil. I'm also feeling rather stuck, 'cause it's back to basics and I really want to accelerate my training in order to start fencing in bouts.

In addition, I'm completely out of shape, having taken a long break (half a year) due to exams and college apps. So my overall speed has suffered. I guess I've never really fenced a lot--mostly drills and stuff--so I haven't pushed myself to the limit yet, and reaction time on the piste is relatively slow (probably 'cause my opposition is usually just a beginner or at my level)... there's no proper coach here and the drills aren't all that useful (just practicing technique but no tactics), but again, I want to improve, and fast! Any tips?

Oh, and I have no equipment with me. Just a glove. I think I should get some shoes soon, though...

[epeefencer74]

Hi Egarde,
Welcome to Singapore. People in Singapore are generally quite tightfisted when it comes to money, and the universities more so. You can't really convince anyone in the Uni to take up sabre until they see that there is a possiblity of success for them.

I'm not sure if you've been down to the latest competition, Pesta Sukan to have a look. Sabre is dominated by mainly SAFSA (that stands for Singapore Armed Forces Sporting Association) and the national team, and they are really good. So most starting clubs are hard pressed to include sabre. In fact my club has decided to drop sabre altogether and concentrate on foil and epee. We don't have enough manpower to manage all three weapons.

If you are looking to improve your sabre, you could go down to Clementi stadium which is a skip and a hop from the university. Go look for David Chen or Felix. David is one of the sabre national team members and Felix is the president of Fencing Singapore. They'll be able to offer some advice on how to get some training in. There is a Romanian Sabre coach that has just been employed to coach our national team. Maybe you could become a training partner for the national team. Explain your situation to Felix, he's a sabre fencer as well, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to help you. (Sorry I'm primarily an epeeist). The best time to go is on a Saturday afternoon around 3pm. That's when the whole national squad trains, foil, epee and sabre.

As for equipment there are a few people that supply them here. Jeffrey Lopez is the distributor for leon paul, allstar and pbt equipment here and Ullmann's agent is a guy named Aik Gee, you can also get Chinese equipment from the national foil coach Wang Wei Ming, he's from China and regularly brings in equipment from there.

I've Jeffrey's contact if you'd like to buy some stuff from him. You'll have to get Aik Gee's contact from Felix though.

Just drop me a PM if you need anymore info.

[egarde29]

First of all, let me clarify something: I'm Singaporean, but I stayed in China for 8 years .

Thanks for the welcome, Octavia! I see you're new here too, eh? Epeefencer74, that's some useful info! Yay! Thanks a bunch! I'm afraid I have classes on Saturday though... and I have to check with the fencing club chairperson (who also fences sabre but seems to have given up on finding a coach) first before running off and organising everything myself . But I shall definitely look into it...soon, hopefully. Right now I'm also working on the design for the team's T-shirt~

Foil is alright so far, but I don't like how NUS (National University of Singapore) doesn't provide members with any choice... and the newbies don't even know there is more than one blade !!! But yeah, cost is a major factor here. I still can't believe that there's no coach though~ *mumble grumble*

Epee sounds fun. Perhaps when I have mastered (or come close to mastering) either sabre or foil I shall try epee...

Oh, and about China. It's pretty nice once you get used to it. I mean at first I was all, "eek it's so dirty here!" and "these people are so crude" but China is developing REALLY fast--Shanghai and Beijing have changed so much over the last decade... now I miss the place, haha~ Some provinces like WuXi, Suzhou and Pingyao are very beautiful...then there are the terracotta warriors in Xi'an and the Great Wall in Beijing...plus the various tombs... if you want to see the most stunning scenery of China go buy yourself the "Hero" DVD (directed by Zhang Yimou)--I don't know if you can get it where you are, but it's a wonderful movie. Good subtitles, too ! Or visit China, hehe~

Well, gotta dash. Bye!

[epeefencer74]

Oops I maka da mistaka, well welcome back then egarde29. Maybe I'll see you at next year's novice's no?

[OCTAVIA]

I had a roommate from Singapore named Steve, he and other housemates were great, it was HongKong, China, Singapore, Malaysia and me - USA. He was the 'dad' of the family and let me drive his car around, by now, he's a pilot and his favorite show was "airwolf" believe it or not.

Well, those people over in China would prOLLLY give their last foil to log into a Fencing Site and talk with other fencers bout the world. I hope you take the suggetions seriously, and pursue the ideas thought of for you. Good luck in Singapore, they're very tough there, according to Steve, spitting or throwing paper on the ground is a $500 fine or jail. [always trying to send the american girl to jail, oh well!]

[epeefencer74]

Originally posted by OCTAVIA
......Good luck in Singapore, they're very tough there, according to Steve, spitting or throwing paper on the ground is a $500 fine or jail. [always trying to send the american girl to jail, oh well!]

Sorry Octavia, they've upped the fine to $1000 and it's no longer a jail term but community service where you have to go an pick up rubbish off the streets for the number of hours you are sentenced to.

[pkt]

Wang Yung's 'pupil' Howard, a sabreur, who's from Taiwan is now training in Shanghai...

PK

[OCTAVIA]

PK, keep us informed, we're waiting to hear more about those wild men from Asia! They're not as well known in fencing as the Europeans. It seems to have taken a long time for fencing to catch on in Asia, they're very much into the kendo/martial arts thing, maybe saber would turn them on?

I am not about to venture off to Singapore, though I had given it some consideration at one time. I am thinking though of the South Pacific again.

[pkt]

Originally posted by OCTAVIA
PK, keep us informed, we're waiting to hear more about those wild men from Asia! They're not as well known in fencing as the Europeans. It seems to have taken a long time for fencing to catch on in Asia, they're very much into the kendo/martial arts thing, maybe saber would turn them on?

... I am thinking though of the South Pacific again.

Ahhhh, South Pacific, Bikini [Atoll], ...

- -

Put it this way, i started fencing in HK in 1965.
In HK, with a population of 6 Million at that time, there were 3-4 schools that have fencing clubs.
There's not much fencing in HK before WWII.

When Luan Jujie became WF World Champ in 1984 it heralds a new dvelopment:
1. She's the first Asian to win any fencing championship
2. Her coach was Chinese not Russsian.

This all took time to develop esp. when one takes into consideration the Russia /China split in 1958.

Kendo is of course Japanese, Asian, yes, but Japanese.

[Most Asians, esp. the older generation still do not like the Japanese. Just like the Hungarian fans in F1 races still boo the German national anthem.]

I s'pose since there are indigenous, native martial arts with sword in it, it is therefore more difficult for fencing to take hold. In fact, in Cantonese fencing is still referred to as "Western-seas sword" literally.

Furthermore, in Asian martial arts, a MA master should be conversant with more thandiscipline of the 'art'. One should be able to fight with spear, sword, and in the unlikely event of losing one's weapon, bare hands.

So, concentrating in only one discipline is an alien concept.

When I read the Martial art novel, western swords have always been described as 'elusive' referring to, of course, the feints which is workable only in point weapon and sport fencing. not if one has to chop someone up!

PK

[40Saberthieves]

Furthermore, in Asian martial arts, a MA master should be conversant with more thandiscipline of the 'art'. One should be able to fight with spear, sword, and in the unlikely event of losing one's weapon, bare hands.

So, concentrating in only one discipline is an alien concept.

Not really.

A bojitsu master is expected to be able to fight with a staff, a karate master with his body, a archey master with a bow, etc

[pkt]

RN,

I'm talking the ultimate, utopian MA Master. Not a run of the mill, everyday MA master.

Watch any Gung-fu ( NOT K-U-N-G) or samurai movie and you'll understand what i mean.

PK