Sabre fencer, coach, referee and general nerd in Sydney Australia.
No matter how good you get at sabre, you will always lose more than you win. Something about it hurts. It hits you right in the lizard brain. You just lost a sword fight. You’re dead. If you lost at a big tournament that you’ve travelled across the world to be at, well, that hurts … More Valhalla: On losing in sabre
Sabre is professionalising. The standard at the big A-grade tournaments – the World Cups and Grand Prix – is spiralling rapidly upwards. Full-time funded professionals are cut from poules. World champions don’t survive to the T64. It’s getting increasingly scary out there. And you should go. I’m assuming for the purposes of this essay that … More Why you should go to World Cups
Why learn sabre? You can get into a lot of hand-waving aesthetic arguments about the beauty and elegance and history of fencing and whatever, but that’s a hard sell to make to someone who’s not already committed. There’s plenty of books and blog posts out there arguing about how it makes your kids (and … More Courage and Collaboration: Why sabre makes you a better person.
Let’s start with a statement that’s both dangerous and self-evident: At professional level, sabre is not refereed according to the rule book. It hasn’t been for decades. So what’s going on? It’s worth noting that this essay is not about the first and last sections of the rule book, the procedural stuff. These parts cover an extensive … More The Common Law: How sabre refereeing really works, and how to make it better
Sabre refereeing is tough. Things happen very fast and decisions need to be made based on very subtle differences in complex movements. You’re also dealing with a pair of (often) fired-up people with weapons. It can be scary at the best of times, but we reckon learning to deal with that is a powerful skill. … More An Armed Society Is A Polite Society