|
The modern sabre is
descended from the cavalry sword which had a sharp point, a cutting edge
the full length of the front of the blade and a cutting edge on the
upper 1/3rd of the back of the blade. In battle, the sabre was mainly
used while on horseback and the modern version of sabre fencing is
designed to approximate many of the aspects of mounted combat.
In the days of classic
sabre battles, well trained horses were an expensive commodity thus,
every attempt was made to avoid injuring the horse of one's opponent in
hopes of capturing the animal once it's rider had been dispatched. Given
the proximity of the rider's body below the waist to the body of the
horse, any attack made was aimed above the rider's waist in order to
spare injury to the horse. This custom is what has lead to the
assignment of target area for modern sabre fencing to everything above
the waist including the head and arms. An electrically conductive mask,
gauntlet and jacket (called a lamé) are worn to denote this target area
and allow for the registering of touches via the scoring machine.
As in
foil, modern sabre fencing incorporates the
concept of priority
with only a few subtle differences. Points are scored by touching
any part of the weapon's blade against the target area of one's
opponent. Due to the speed of running sabre attacks and the potential
for serious injury they present, rules have been implemented that do not
allow crossing of the feet when moving forward and a penalty (yellow
card) is issued should this occur during a bout.
Sabre is by far the
fastest, most energetic form of modern fencing. So much so, in fact,
that time is not kept for bouts in many national competitions because it
is so rare for a bout to last more than a few minutes.
Further information
about sabre fencing rules can be found on the
USFA web site.
Épée
Foil |
USFA
Askfred.net
Fencing.net Forums
Fencing Videos
