Origin & Concept of Sabre Fencing

Series Summary

Fencing is the art of swordsmanship. It has developed into a competitive sport, being one of four sports featured at each of the modern Olympic Games. Protective fencing gear consists of masks, gloves, breeches and plastron. Typically made of tough cotton and nylon and Kevlar, the full-body padding is very protective and cannot easily be punctured. Sabre fencing uses right-of-way like foil fencing, but points can be scored with the edge of the blade. This follows from the original design of sabres as edged swords, whereas the rapiers which led to foil fencing were usually pointed, thrusting blades.

In this free video series, expert fencer Jason Sheridan teaches you intermediate sabre fencing. You will learn the origins of sabre fencing, how to parry 3, 4, and 5, how to riposte, how to maneuver, and how to practice direction. Jason will also show you how to do acceleration, explosive, advance, and waiting lunges.

Video Transcript

"JASON SHERIDAN: On behalf of Expert Village, my name is Jason Sheridan from the Sheridan Fencing Academy here in New York City, and today, we're going to demonstrate some intermediate sabre fencing. Sabre is one of three weapons fenced in the Olympics. It comes from cavalry weapons, people on horses pointing out their swords and charge, and later developed into a dueling weapon especially in Eastern Europe. The sabre is--well, this is a sabre. It is a cutting weapon. You use the edge of the weapon or the tip to score a point. The target area is from the waist up including the head, and to score, as I said, you make cuts to different parts of your opponent's target, okay? As you see, there's a guard that is curled which can protect your hand and help you parring, help you block your opponent's attacks. Okay. Unlike the movies where the fencing is mostly sword play, real fencing is about the way you move your feet, which we'll see in a moment."