C3. Waite's Sabre Curriculum

Professor J. M. Waite authored a small volume entitled Lessons in Sabre, Singlestick, Sabre & Bayonet and Sword Feats, published in London in 1880.  Professor Waite had served in the 2nd Life Guards, an elite regiment of the British Household Cavalry, and had studied fencing under Maitre Prevost (smallsword) and Mr. Platts, a student of Bushman, (sabre and singlestick).  His resume includes teaching fencing and sabre for the London Fencing Club, the Honourable Artillery Company, the London Athletics Club, and a variety of volunteer rifle regiments.  His students won a variety of first and second places in fencing (foil) and singlestick in London competitions.

Waite's approach to the sabre is a mixed system.  In his opinion, English sabre fencing at the time could be considerably improved, largely because most sabre fencers has only moderate ability and no previous fencing experience.  Thus his sabre curriculum reflected the parts of English practice that were, in his opinion, good, along with a significantly increased attention to the thrust.

Those interested in singlestick should note that Waite believes that all the material in the sabre portion of his manual is applicable to singlestick.  This is consistent with the singlestick fenced as sabre of the late 1800s-early 1900s, and not the original and traditional country game of singlestick (also known as backswording) that survived as late as the 1950s as a village sport.    

Waite presents a significant number of actions in his manual in an order tied to the illustrations he includes.  In many cases these are combinations of an action and its counter, one of the common ways of teaching technique in the classical period.  As a result, his curriculum does not have clear groupings of like techniques typically found in modern fencing manuals (for example, a chapter on attacks on the blade, another on parries, etc.), or even later volumes of the classical period.  However, the presentation of techniques organized into plates offers the reader a good view of how Professor Waite viewed the progression of instruction.

How to hold the sabre

Plate I

• Preliminary position before going on guard

Plate II

• Engaging guard
• The inside guard or quarte
• The outside guard or tierce
• Advance
• Retire
• The attack
• Recover
• Opposition

Plate III

• Feinting
• Guards

Plate IV

• Direct lead off at the head, and guard
• Guard for the head (prime)
• Feint a straight thrust at the breat, and cut at the head

Plate V

• Feint at the head and cut at the left cheek, and guard
• Guard for the feint at the head and cut at the left cheek

Plate VI

• Feint at the head and cut at the left breast, and guard

Plate VII

• Feint at the head and cut inside the wrist

Plate VIII

• Feint at the head and cut under the right arm, and guard
• Guard for the cut under the right arm

Plate IX

• Feint at the head and cut outside the leg, and guard
• Guard for the outside of the leg 

Plate X

• Feint at the breast and cut inside the leg
• Another way of attacking inside of the leg
• Guard for inside of the leg

Plate XI

• Shifting the leg to avoid a cut, and countering on the head

Plate XII

• Shifting the leg when a man attacks with his hand below the shoulder, and counter on the arm.

Plate XIII

• A draw and guard for shifting the leg to avoid a cut and counter on the head or arm

Plate XIV

• A draw and stop for shifting the leg to avoid a cut and counter on the head or arm
• Feint and cut at the arm
• Guard for the arm - the engaging guard

Plate XV

• Guard for an upward cut at the fork (groin)
• Straight thrust
• Thrust by disengaging over the blade
• Feint a straight thrust and disengage over the blade
• To guard the attack
• "One, Two"
• Attack made with an advance
• Returns - from guarding the head
• Returns - from guarding the right side under the arm
• Returns - from guarding the left breast with the point of the sword down (prime)
• Returns - from guarding the left breast or left cheek with the point up (quarte)
• Returns - from guarding the outside of the leg
• Returns - from guarding the inside of the leg
• Returns - from guarding the thrust under the blade
• Returns - from guarding the thrust over the blade
• Stop Thrusts

Plate XVI

• To deceive the beat under the blade (quarte thrust)
• To avoid the deception of the beat under the blade 

Plate XVII

• Stop cut after deceiving the beat over the blade
• To draw the stop thrust and stop cut

Plate XVIII

• Another  stop thrust used against a man who lunges with the arm bent or who draws his hand back when attacking
• Remise
• Renewal of the attack or redoubling
• Reprise attack

Plate XIX

• Time thrust with opposition
• Another time thrust
• To draw and stop a time thrust

Plate XX

• A time cut
• Drawing

The text also includes a number of observations that expand the material found for each plate:

• Observations on feinting
• How to deal with a man who is constantly countering
• When opposed to a man who engages in quarte to tierce
• On countering and hard-hitting
• Cut versus thrust
• Useful hints
• The salute (a formal salute for opening a bout)

Note that when Waite follows an attack with the phrase "and guard," he is describing an attack followed by the assumption of the best guard for the fencer who has executed the attack against any return.  The term guard appears to be used as both a position to assume and the parry that results. Also note that the leg is considered part of the target.

Source: Waite, J. M.; Lessons in Sabre, Singlestick, Sabre and Bayonet, and Sword Feats; [Fencing Manual]; Weldon and Company, London, United Kingdom; 1880.

Copyright 2019 by Walter G. Green III

Waite's Sabre Curriculum by Walter G. Green III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.