How To Fence Sabre
Fencing sabre at first could be difficult or confusing to understand but with practice fencing sabre can be a very fun and rewarding Experience. Since you are reading this guide I am assuming that you do not know very much about fencing sabre so I tried to make this guide as simple and easy to understand as possible. Below I have explained the core principles of fencing which consist of what a bout is, an explanation of right of way, how to score a point, what is against the rules, and how an electric bout works. All of these terms may seem confusing now but after you read this guide everything will be as clear as day.
What Is A Bout?- A bout is another word for a sabre fencing match. The word bout is used within the fencing community and it is vocabulary that every sabre fencer must know. A bout consists of two sabre fencers, and anywhere from one to five judges. The two sabre fencers stand facing each other while the primary judge stand facing the two sabre fencers while the other four optional judges stand behind the two fencing players. The bout will begin with salute to the judges and then a salute to the other sabre fencer. The judge will then begin the bout by saying fence and the action will begin. The action will only stop when a point is scored and the judge calls for a stop. The entire bout will end when one of the two sabre fencers scores five points. This is a basic explanation of a bout and the rules in which you must follow are listed below.
Right Of Way- Right of way is the most complicated aspect of sabre fencing and could take a while to properly understand. Right of way can best be explained as who is the attacker and who is the defender in the situation in which a point is scored. In order to have right of way, (which is the only way to score a point when two touches have been made) is to be the attacker. This means that your sabre is out in attack position before your opponent’s sabre. You can lose right of way by having your sabre parried or deflected by your opponent’s sabre. In other words to get right of way from your opponent is to parry the opposing sabre fencer’s sabre. Attacking and defending is explained in the section called: Sabre Fencing Techniques. The idea of right of way may seem complicated and it indeed is, but when you begin to practice fencing sabre it will become clearer.
How To Score A Point- The main goal of sabre fencing is to score give points before the opposing sabre fencer scores five points. In order to score a point the blade of your sabre must make contract with the opposing sabre fencer’s lame while up have and maintain right of way (which is explained above). In sabre fencing, and only sabre fencing, you may make a contact with any part of upper sabre blade, this is unique compared to other forms of fencing where you may only make contact with the point of your blade. Also unique to sabre fencing is the fact that up ,ay ,ale contact with the sabre fencer’s mask, lame, sabre glove, or wrist lame. In other words contact must be made where the opponent’s lame is present.
What Not To Do (Rules)- There are a few rules in sabre fencing which if disobeyed you could either give the opposing sabre fencer a point, you could receive a yellow card, a red card, or stop the bout. A rule that could give your opponent a point is stepping off the strip or the area in which you fence. You could receive a yellow card, also known as a warning, for intentionally attempting to harm or hurt the opposing sabre fencer, or trying to distract the opposing sabre fencer by making a sound or yelling. You could receive a red card by repeating a yellow card offense or insulting the judge. A red card will result in automatically losing the bout. A way that a bout could be stopped includes having faulty equipment, or removing equipment during the bout. revealingly stopping the bout could result in either a yellow or red card.
Electric Fencing- Electric fencing works the same way as a normal bout except for two major differences. The first difference is that both sabre fencers must wear their electric fencing equipment. The other main difference is that both sabre fencers have their body cords plugged into the electric box which will register when a sabre blade makes contact with the opposing sabre fencer’s lame. This makes it easier for the judge to determine who scored the point. An explanation of electric equipment can be found in the section labeled Equipment.
