British Military Saber Techniques Starter Set 

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It's a fine weapon!

@@resolvedinsteel Oh yes it is. I'm hoping to find a HEMA club in my town, because learning saber was for a long time my dream. Especially that by the Poles it is also concidered as one of our historical weapons.

Have you looked on the HEMA Alliance club finder? Great way to find out what's local to your area.

@@resolvedinsteel WOW! Oh thank you! There is a club in my town! ARMA-PL. I guess no excuses now, I'll try to call them on monday 😁

Thanks : D This is just a short video reference for our newer students, so they have something to refer to when practicing outside of class. I find that text descriptions don't always do the complete technique justice. So, to answer your question, Yes! there's a great deal more, this is just the super basics.

My pleasure!

I couldn't agree more! I would never recommend anyone stay still and frozen honestly. Fencing is all about being dynamic, adaptable and deceptive. This one is really just showing the mechanics of certain movements that can then be incorporated into a greater game plan.

@edi9892 Well, one can traverse, pass, etc. in this sabre art, but yes, in general you never want your weapon pulled back from between yourself and the opponent, so you tend to keep your lead leg matching your sword hand, but it's not like a fixed rule. Now, when I've pitted BMS vs. Meyer's dussack, I found that with a shorter weapon like that, one is almost forced to constantly change lead legs and basically every action taken is with a passing step. Meyer's dussack curriculum contains the same shapes and steps as military sabre in addition to a larger variety of techniques wherein the shorter dussack moves around the body more like a Chinese dao or Indian talwar. As such, given your comment, I recommend you consider training dussack. I'm new to it, having recently joined a Meyer club, and it's a blast!

@@brandonwells1175 I thought more of Messer fighting than Dussak, but it makes sense. Also, I've seen absolutely beautiful demonstrations of footwork from Indian saber fencing.

@@edi9892 Yeah man, I'd be stoked as a mauve folker to receive legit instruction in talwar! Funny enough, Meyer's curriculum doesn't include the Langmesser, which was so popular in his day. Any comment I have on it would be speculative.

⁠​⁠@@brandonwells1175 Dussack is just the 16th century evolution of messer fencing, in early 16c the use of messer and dussack was interchangeable

Thanks 😁

Oooh Indonesia amirite? Thanks for the sub!

It really depends on the context. If you're in a tournament context and your goal is to score a hit AND you're fast enough to hit your opponent on your initial strike, then there's nothing wrong with that type of snapping cut from the guard. In a real-life situation where someone is attempting to end you with the sword, such a cut is unlikely to end the engagement. By going to your hanging guard first you dramatically increase your cutting power. This is NOT the only benefit though. The primary reason I do this (and the reason it was taught this way) is because your true attack is rarely your first. A snapping cut is great to provoke your opponent into an ill-timed attack. You take your hanging guard to parry it and launching your cut from there, you are miles ahead of your opponent on Tempo. Using the full circular cut as both parry to a provoked attack and the launching point for a powerful cut gives you the greatest chance of striking your opponent powerfully without being hit in return.

Cutting from hanging allows you to cut with a wider moulinet, giving you a stronger cut. Cutting 2 from outside guard would be a direct cut which is a good way to do a fast touch without much preparation. However, the way you mentioned, cutting 1 from outside, usually involves a circular cut which, although not being as fast as a direct cut, it still allows for a shorter moulinet which helps generate momentum and force. Now, back to your question, transitioning to hanging before a cut is rarely useful unless you engage or parry with it. Parrying in 1st gives you the strongest riposte out of all parries, and it's also quite fast if you execute what's called a "flying parry" which catches the opponents blade a split-second before unchambering the cut.

I also enjoy using the full circular cut after threatening a thrust. Most times they'll bare the blade inside or out and open the opposite line allowing me to cut around quite handily with the moulinet.

Tam, gdzie go kupiłem, oznaczono go jako węgierski, ale jestem pewien, że był to projekt powszechny w całym regionie. Może nie do końca odpowiedni do brytyjskiej szabli, ale nie mogę mieć każdego miecza haha. Dzięki!

The saber coming back actually serves two purposes. First is to charge up the that heavy cut, but in doing so it also forms a guard position. The key to using circular cuts or "Moulinets" is to use them at the right time. You're correct that if an opponent launches a thrust at just the right time, they could potentially hit me during that wind up. However, there are methods to deal with that and it's actually not as attractive a prospect as it may at first seem. First of all, if I'm in my long measure when I begin and my opponent lunges in with a thrust, I can step backwards and cut their arm, or I could simply cross cut their thrust to both defend and open the line for a second attack. What's more, even if they hit me with that thrust, the most likely scenario is that they'll get hit as well immediately afterwards. This is sub-optimal for me, but certainly something that they would consider before attempting the thrust. Kind of like "check" in chess. The best way to use these is to use that pulling back of the sword as a defense against an attack (flying parry) and then strike with the Moulinet after the defense.

Thanks a lot for your answer. There is a lot in it to think about.@@resolvedinsteel

We have been studying Roworth