question on effectively saber dueling

[beans22]

Hello I am new to this forum and am most interested in dueling so I have a few questions. I was sparring with my buddy the other day and I was was sort of doing a makashi type form because I did some fencing for a little while so I understand dueling a little but am no real expert anyway he has no real experience but basically just held it in one hand but just hit very hard and fast, essentially just wailing on me. I kept looking for openings but his aggression just sent me backwards with no real hope I kept thrusting but he kept blocking and countering. My question for all of you who may have sparred before is how do I redirect strength and get past his defense with a hit? Also it should be noted I am about 7" shorter than him so my reach is a lot less than his.

[Jedi Knight Spex]

First, defend yourself. Take note of his every strike and defend as best you can.  Be patient, it may take time to get a hang of it, but once you think you've got his fighting style down to a science you should be able to pull off a successful parry and strike him where it'll hurt.  I used to really suck at dueling of any kind, no experience... but the other day at a party i was throwing, my best friend, who would always kill me dueling, challenged me.  We picked up sabers and fought for a long time and he barely got 1 or 2 hits while i got at least 1 good one.
Also work of fast movement. Both with your saber and your footwork... the faster your feet, the less his range will be a problem.

[Jammo]

Try to pick off his hands on the way in. If he's using aggression to keep you from attacking, that can be exploited through cuts at the probable positions of his strikes, letting his offensive move walk him into your cut. As has already been said, footwork helps too. Good footwork can control the depth of contact, giving you a chance to extend and retract yourself as the situation dictates.

[ShadowKatt]

My advice is simply for you to keep moving. When you cannot defend yourself and hold ground, don't stay attatched to the ground. Duck, jump, weave, circle around him, whereever he attacks, don't be there. Parries will be your friend; deflect his strikes away from you and keep moving. From there you can exploit openings or create your own by forcing him to occupy himself with pressing his offensive and following you at the same time.

But then I perfer Ataru, so that's just what I feel comfortable with.

[Novastar]

* Some drills that I have (that are going on the DVDs Caine & I are making) might help you.

* Real-time sparring (of any kind)... is tough.  It takes years to develop both a sense of measure and it's a MUCH tougher road to develop timing.

* Compile that with the fact that flaws or slowness in technique... can destroy (or debilitate) your ability to work effectively on the above stuff (Measure & Timing).

* Yes, your -7" reach will make things MUCH more difficult.  Attacking the arm/wrist/hands MAY be some of the only hope for the time-being.

* I would need to see video (I think many of the people responding would need to) in order to even BEGIN to help in a major fashion.  As a guess, I would actually think that you do NOT want to attempt

* Finally, if my guess is correct... on THIS particular dude/dudette... you'd want to make usage of some VERY well-timed attacks during the preparation of your opponent's aggressive (and continuous) swings.  Additionally, this probably means some seriously decent feints or indirect attacks... and--as ANOTHER guess--you'll probably need to launch forward (like a bolt of lightning) at the precise moment in order to hit.  Yes, it's a chance you'll both be hit...

Some of this won't make sense without actual martial training... or at least a lot of experience dueling, dueling, dueling, etc.

[SJJedi]

I agree with both of the two previous comments.  When I used to duel with friends I had shorter reach and they were using more aggressive styles, so I rapidly came to appreciate the "he who fights and runs away" adage.  I'd say stick to the defensive and then go when you have an opening, like Nova's suggesting. 

Just as a thought, if you're working with Makashi anyway, which is similar to fencing, the one thing that might complicate things is that you're probably gripping the saber relatively lightly.  When I was working with Makashi, and my pals were smashing their sabers down on mine, I found that it was hard to keep a proper grip.  I guess my thought is try to avoid saber contact, or contact of any sort, by retreating until you can pull off a successful riposte or just get a good stab in.  Wear them out, if possible.

[Kaiden Shardsbane]

One note for people who seem to have trouble blocking heavy attacks and/or are using a light grip:  Don't block their attacks.  If you're letting their sabers slam against yours at a 90 degree angle, they're gonna smash through your defense.  Instead, use your saber to deflect and redirect their attacks and step out of the way.  It puts minimum stress onto your saber, and more often than not, they'll stumble when their attack doesn't hit anything, leaving an opening for a quick strike.

[Manroon]

I totally agree. Deflect and re-direct attacks. Blocking generally puts you at a disadvantage, but deflect and re-direct allows YOU to control your opponent's blade and momentum to an extent which gives you the advantage and the ability to CREATE an opening in his/her defenses that you can exploit as you wish.

Also, I was once given a piece of very good advice I believe has already been mentioned. It is hardest for your opponent to hit what is not there. When he strikes at you: move. Duck. Dodge. Weave. Whatever, but if you stay away from his blade he cannot hit you. And this does not always mean that you must keep your distance from your opponent, merely his blade. For example, my next recommendation:

When he cuts at you, try going low. Let your lesser reach work FOR you and attack his legs. You are closer to them, and since he is tall he will be thinking of attacking higher targets because of his inexperience. He will not look to guard his legs, and a solid hit to the thigh or calf will have him moving alot slower and stiffer for the rest of the day giving you FURTHER advantage as fights wear on. Don't be afraid to use a roll in these attacks either. They make it harder for him to know whether the strike will come from one side or the other, and in his confusion you may very well land a hit he might otherwise have blocked.

[Kaiden Shardsbane]

You might avoid this if you're uncomfortable with physical contact, but...  I've found that if you're facing an opponent with a large weapon and/or reach, if you step in close to them right after deflecting an attack, they can't effectively attack you.  If you've got a shoto this works wonderfully, allowing you to slash at will, but even with a full saber you're still able finish the fight if you make the attack while you're still moving.

[beans22]

Thanks every body for your advice. Yes my form changes a lot when dueling its sort of open against a less aggressive opponent it is like ataru with spinning and jumping but against aggresive oppenent it is more like soresu sort of like obi wans style but when I panic I go straight to makashi which happens when I am fighting a strong opponent fighting one handed because he has power and reach on his side which I do not have

[Novastar]

I will go further a bit by saying... if your opponent is using 2 hands and you are using 1... it's *probably* a mistake.  Especially if you mean to defend yourself effectively with VERY LITTLE MARTIAL TRAINING.

That being said--short story--a friend of mine (a BOP I & II performer!) did a lot of Kendo--2 handed weapon, primarily.  I am a sabre fencer--1 handed weapon, period (when you're using a fencing sabre).  I convinced him to spar with me, with him being able to use his shinai + his own techniques... and myself, my own techs + my fencing sabre.  We left the target at waist and up... mainly because I didn't have leg armor!!  Neither did he (at the time), lol...

With all that setup in mind--remember: he could go 2-handed to my 1 at any time.  I was able to successfully defend/parry/block enough times to be able to say "Yes, it can work."  Was I hit, too?  Of course.  Was he hit also?  Of course.

THAT all being said... I'm pretty big on setting, controlling, tweaking and generally abusing the MEASURE in order to make my opponent fall SHORT with any given attack... or have so little of it able to reach, that I have maximum leverage during a parry (or even a beat).

Again... NONE of the above may make a lick of sense to you... but the bottom line is--1 handed vs. 2 handed when you're pitting same weapon against same weapon and even if both fighters are of similar skill...

...it's gonna be tough! 

[beans22]

actually I should clarify my last post may have been confusing my opponent actually was using one hand but putting a lot of power behind it