An excellent session on Wednesday for the OCRA Easter Sabre Camp. We didn’t promote it here because it sold out in short order.
A mixed age group from 7 to 14 years, both boys and girls, the session began with basic footwork. A little different this time as the coach is injured, but we moved on.
Conventional wisdom says begin with foil and move on to the other weapons. However, we’ve always maintained fencing is fencing, whatever the weapon. And foil is the one that looks least like sword fighting to young beginners.
That said, this group picked up sabre very quickly and proved the tidiest and most controlled we’ve had in a long while. No wild slashing or hacking, good form, good movement and a good grasp of the rules. No problem taking these kids to competition if they decide to carry on.
Our next junior session is likely to run during May half-term holiday.