Sabre (fencing)
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The sabre is one of the three weapons of modern sport fencing, and is alternatively spelt saber in American English. The sabre differs from the other modern fencing swords, the épée and foil, in that it is possible to score with the edge of the blade. For the other two weapons, valid touches are only scored using the point of the blade. Like foil, sabre uses the convention of right-of-way to determine priority.
The term sabreur refers to a fencer who fences with a sabre. A sabreuse is the female equivelant of that term.
Sabre was the last weapon in fencing to make the transition over to using electrical equipment. This occurred in 1988, 31 years after Foil and 52 years after Épée.
The target area originates from dueling sabre training. To attack the opponent's leg would allow him to "slip" that leg back and attack one's exposed arm or head given that the higher line attack will outreach the low line (there is a classic example of the leg slip in Angelo's Hungarian and Highland Broadsword of 1790). The target area is from the waist up excluding the hands. Right-of-way applies, much as it does to foil.
A common misconception concerning the origin of sabre's target area is that the legs are removed as targets due to sabre's origin as a cavalry weapon. Essentially, this line of reasoning goes, the legs of a horseman were not a valid target in war, since cutting the leg of a man riding a horse would not stop that man from continuing his charge. This myth has largely been refuted and several older texts demonstrate low sabre parries to protect the mount's flanks and the fencer's legs. For more information on this topic consult Christoph Amberger's book The Secret History of the Sword.
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[edit] The Weapon
The sabre's blade is V-shaped, unlike the quadrangular shape of the foil, but not as stiff as the epee. Blades are standardly 88 cm (35 inches) in length. At the end of the blade, the point is folded over itself to form a "button," although no actual button exists. The bell guard of the sword is curved around the handle, giving the fencer hand protection. On electrical sabres, a socket for the body wire is found underneath the bell guard. A fastener known as a pommel is attached to the end of the sword to keep the bell guard and handle on. The handle of a sabre is standardly a French grip, as most other grips are incompatible with the bell guard The entire sword is generally 105 cm (41 inches) long, and 500 grams (1.1 lb) in weight. It is shorter than the foil or épée, and lighter than the épée, making it easier to move swiftly and incisively. Many equate the sabre's blade to a matchstick, in that they are extremely easy to snap, although relatively cheap to replace.
Unlike the other two weapons, there is very little difference between an electric sabre and a steam or dry (non-electric) one. The blade itself is the same in steam and electric sabres, as there is no need for a blade wire or pressure-sensitive tip in an electric sabre. An electric sabre has a socket, which is a Foil socket with the two contacts shorted together. Early electric sabres were equipped with a capteur socket. The capteur was a device that was intended to detect a parry by use of an accelerometer. If a parry was detected, the electronics were supposed to invalidate any subsequent closing of the scoring circuit due to the flexible blade whipping around the parry. This device never worked as intended and was quickly discarded. The electric sabre also has insulation on the pommel and on the inside of the guard to prevent an electrical connection between the sabre and the lamé. This is undesirable because it effectively extends the lamé onto the sabre, causing any blade contact to be registered as a valid touch.
[edit] The Principle of Sabre
Sabre, unlike epee or foil is about distance, timing, and bladework. Though all of these principles are needed in sabre, neither is as important as distance. Since distance is the main principle, a lot of preparation goes into each attack. A single attack may last longer than 5 seconds in order to control distance and put the opponent at the right distance for a touch.
[edit] Target Area
The target area for sabre consists of the torso above the waist, as well as the arms and head (excluding the hands). When fencing with electric equipment, a manchette, or sabre cuff, is used in conjunction with the lamé and electrically conductive mask to ensure that the entire target area forms a single circuit.
Because touches can be scored using the edge of the blade, there is no need for a pressure sensitive head to be present on the end of the blade (thus having the button). When fencing "electric" (as opposed to "steam") a current runs through the sabre blade. When the blade comes into contact with the lamé, the electrical mask, or the manchette, the current flows through the body cord and interacts with the scoring equipment.
[edit] Scoring
Like foil, sabre uses all four lights (the two white lights, known as secondary lights, and the red and green lights, known as primary or scoring lights) on the scoring device (generally referred to as the box). A red or green light shows a positive touch, red being a touch from the left fencer and green being a touch from the right fencer. A white light signifies that the fencer is touching his blade to his own equipment, or (depending on the scoring machine) that their body cord has come unplugged from their weapon or broken.
A sabre action has three possible outcomes. Either one of the scoring lights turns on, both turn on, or the referee stops the action before either turns on.
[edit] Lockout
A lockout is when only one of the scoring lights turns on. This occurs when one fencer gets a valid touch, thus triggering their light, and the other fencer does not make a valid touch within the lockout time. In a lockout situation, the fencer whose light is on scores the point unless the action was made after the "halt."
The lockout time for sabre was originally 300 to 350 milliseconds (varying by the reliability of the machine used). In 2005, however, the FIE voted 51-33 to decrease the lockout time. They then proceeded to vote 50-32 to decrease it to the specified time of approximately 120 milliseconds.
[edit] Right of Way
When both lights turn on, it rests upon the referee to decide which fencer scores the point. The decision is based on the concept of Right of Way (RoW) which gives the point to the fencer who had priority, i.e. the attacking fencer. Priority is gained in many ways:
- Beginning to extend the arm before the opponent, which signifies an attack
- Causing the opponent to miss, either through a parry or retreating out of distance
- Establishing a point in line
- Beating the opponent's blade
- Deceiving the opponent's search
If neither fencer has priority in a double touch situation, the action is called simultaneous and no point is awarded.
[edit] Referee
The referee may halt the action for reasons such as a safety hazard, fencer injury, or violation of the rules. When the referee says "halt," no further action may score a point. For cases of rules violation, the referee may choose to either warn or card the offender. A warning has no scoring implication. Cards, on the other hand, have further penalties:
- Yellow Card: Offender's touch is annulled
- Red Card: Offender's touch annulled, point awarded to opponent
- Black Card: Offender is removed from the tournament
[edit] Technique
In the past, the action in sabre had been criticized for being extremely fast and hard to follow, and the cutting motion causes people to think of it as a hack and slash weapon, despite the extreme precision required to wield a sabre properly.
Recently, the rules for sabre have changed to prohibit the forward cross-over (one foot of the fencer passing in front of the other). It is now impossible to perform a flèche attack on one's opponent. Because of this, many sabre fencers have begun to use what is known as a "Flunge" (flying lunge). The attack begins like a fléche, but the fencer pushes off from the ground, and flies forward. The legs almost cross at the high point of the jump, but then the front leg is brought forward to catch the fencer. This technique has afforded only limited success in international competition. Nevertheless, it remains popular, especially among American sabre fencers.
Sabre defense is comprised of the three primary parries:
- Tierce, high outside
- Quarte, high inside
- Quinte, head
and two secondary parries:
- Prime, generally taken in a sweeping motion to cover the entire inside line
- Seconde, either guarding the low outside line or as a substitute for tierce
[edit] References
- Amberger, J. Christoph (1998). The Secret History of the Sword: Adventures in Ancient Martial Arts. Burbank, California: Unique Publications. ISBN 1-892515-04-0.
