Grounding: Sabre fencing, in the LEF style, is a parry-riposte game, emphasising compound attacks and ripostes. The thrust is generally reserved for fast ripostes and for feints. Compound strikes invite the use of timed/stop strikes.
Skills and Key Considerations: These are the key skills developed by the game.
Considerations for HEMA sabre fencing:
Preference for compound attacks over simple strikes?
Preference for the thrust as a riposte?
Use of compound ripostes with cutting strikes
Questions for game participants:
In which circumstances is a compound attack better than a simple attack?
How does lateral movement (even half a step to one side or the other) alter the chance of success?
Which compound action combos (in attack or riposte) have a higher chance of success?
In which circumstances is the thrust the best riposte?
In which circumstances is a compound riposte better than a simple riposte?
Initial Set-up: One fencing partner is the attacker (A). The other fencing partner is the defender (D). The only rules at the base level is that A must start out of distance and approach to strike, and that D cannot move backwards (slips and side-steps allowed). The exchange aims to simulate an attack followed by parry-riposte reactions.
The attacker is allowed a single simple attack. The defender must parry but cannot riposte.
Scoring: The base rule is that the striker wins the game if they land an attack on the other fencer. Otherwise, if the striker is parried, the other fencer wins.
Ramp Up the Complexity: Once the base game is mastered, the following additions can ramp up the intensity and the particular fencing problems to the solved.
The defender must parry and then make a simple riposte using a thrust, which the attacker must defend.
The defender must parry and then make a simple riposte using any strike, which the attacker must defend.
The attacker may choose to either attack with a simple or compound attack. The defender must then make a simple riposte, which the attacker must defend.
The attacker may choose to either attack with a simple or compound attack. The defender may choose to riposte with a simple or compound riposte, which the attacker must defend.
Other aspects to play with:
Mobility: This comes in two variants similar to the standard Follow the Leader game. Either the defender is the leader and the attacker must maintain distance and find the right time to make their attack, or the attacker is the leader and the defender must maintain distance while dealing with the attacker’s strike(s).
Stop Strikes/Timed Strikes: The defender’s parry, and the attacker’s defence against the riposte, may include timed strikes and/or stop strikes. See
Attacks in Time.