The Rules of Sport Sabre Fencing

Video Transcript

"JASON SHERIDAN: On behalf of Expert Village, my name is Jason Sheridan for Sheridan Fencing Academy here in New York City. Today, we'll be talking about beginning sabre fencing. The rules of sabre are often referred to as "the rules of right of way." The way you score in sabre, of course, as I said before, you're making cuts and the target is the waist up. A very important thing to know though is it's not just a matter of who hits first. In sabre, to score, you have to initiate the action first. And I'll go more into that later but as a brief understanding, you want to be the one who's coming forward, looking to hit the opponent before he's looking to hit you and, of course, you have to hit. If I'm the one initiating the movement, my arms coming out, my legs coming out, and I hit even if he's hitting me maybe a slightly ahead of me, I'll still score. If I'm doing this and, of course, I don't hit, he then has the opportunity to score. Again, the goal is not just to hit first but to be the one initiating the movement first."