How to watch Modern Sabre Fencing
December 3, 2018
Learning sabre? Kids learning sabre? Just feel like watching a different sport? Here’s our video guide to how the game (really) works:
Category: Analysis
Valhalla: On losing in sabre
April 15, 2018
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
Why you should go to World Cups
April 10, 2018
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
Courage and Collaboration: Why sabre makes you a better person.
February 8, 2018
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.
The Common Law: How sabre refereeing really works, and how to make it better
November 15, 2017
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