Learn to use the "Floating Cut"...

[Cang Snow]

...like our man Sean in Lightspeed Saber League. Here in the league, we're all about learning and crafting new movements that will help make you a more effective lightsaberist. And one of the best intermediate Lightspeed skills is the float-cut.

A "float" is any action in which you rise up on your toes or briefly leave the ground, usually to avoid an attack. However, when paired with a cut, it can be used to gain an elevation advantage, sometimes critical against an opponent taller than yourself.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7-0njMSB0I" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7-0njMSB0I</a>

In our number one example, Sean uses an "invitation." That is, he purposely leaves his hands vulnerable in order to draw a predictable attack from his opponent. As his opponent commits to the hit, Sean "floats", evacuating his hands from the target area while simultaneously delivering a counterhit.

Have you mastered the Floating Cut? Give it a try and let me know how it goes for you.

[asrah]

Take this with a grain of salt if you will, im not a resident master here so i dont expect anyone to particularly care what my opinion is on martial practice. With that disclaimer out of the way.

I learned in sword sparring with Ninjato's and Katana's (i took ninjutsu), that to defend against an attack, you dont always have to make blade to blade contact or dodge. Sometimes a feint and counter works just fine. Its essentially the same thing as you described, but can be used both with and without the "invitation" part. Works better (in my experience and practice) with attacks not aimed towards center mass. Stabs or upward or downward, diagonal thrusts can be used as a pseudo-defensive option against people who try to rely heavily on feinting (again in my experience). Puts your blade in a sort of defensive position over the zone they go for, and with some wrist and arm dexterity, you have yourself a potential cut by sliding over their blade, or weaving it around their blade all together.

Cheers, and i hope your saber event goes well! May the force be with you!

[Master Nero Attoru]

I enjoy the commentating in these videos, makes for a more fun way to show saber combat!  That said, as a fencer, I do want to make one correction - the word "riposte" is pronounced ree-pohst or ri-pohst (long "O" sound).  Just a pet peeve of mine!

At any rate, I love the protective gear used in these videos.  I take "float" to mean any avoidance of the opponent's blade while executing a counterattack.  In fencing, I would classify all these techniques as counterattacks, but more specific ones include the stop thrust or stop cut.  Very useful technique, but difficult to execute consistently without a firm mastery of distance manipulation (therefore footwork is key).  I would recommend that more blade interaction is trained here, as I see a common theme of "playing tag" with no attempt to engage the blade.  Using distance and timing in that way is fine, but it's only one piece of the puzzle - engaging the blade opens up a whole new set of possibilities!  Binding, counterparries, and other blade manipulations can all be extremely useful in situations where speed and timing aren't enough (for instance, if you're encountering an extreme reach disadvantage).

Good stuff, keep it coming!

[Cang Snow]

Take this with a grain of salt if you will, im not a resident master here so i dont expect anyone to particularly care what my opinion is on martial practice. With that disclaimer out of the way.

I learned in sword sparring with Ninjato's and Katana's (i took ninjutsu), that to defend against an attack, you dont always have to make blade to blade contact or dodge. Sometimes a feint and counter works just fine. Its essentially the same thing as you described, but can be used both with and without the "invitation" part. Works better (in my experience and practice) with attacks not aimed towards center mass. Stabs or upward or downward, diagonal thrusts can be used as a pseudo-defensive option against people who try to rely heavily on feinting (again in my experience). Puts your blade in a sort of defensive position over the zone they go for, and with some wrist and arm dexterity, you have yourself a potential cut by sliding over their blade, or weaving it around their blade all together.

Cheers, and i hope your saber event goes well! May the force be with you!

You're very kind, asrah. Thank you. The tournament was fun, and really intense. Heard reports of people being sore and having trouble getting out of bed this morning!

I must confess I'm a little confused by your description. If you feint in response to an attack, you're almost certainly going to be hit, isn't that right? A feint should be executed as part of an attack, not as part of defense, and not even as part of counteroffense.

I certainly agree that special considerations must be made regarding attacks targeting center mass. In the Lightspeed instructional system we call these "flat cuts."

[Cang Snow]

I enjoy the commentating in these videos, makes for a more fun way to show saber combat!  That said, as a fencer, I do want to make one correction - the word "riposte" is pronounced ree-pohst or ri-pohst (long "O" sound).  Just a pet peeve of mine!

At any rate, I love the protective gear used in these videos.  I take "float" to mean any avoidance of the opponent's blade while executing a counterattack.  In fencing, I would classify all these techniques as counterattacks, but more specific ones include the stop thrust or stop cut.  Very useful technique, but difficult to execute consistently without a firm mastery of distance manipulation (therefore footwork is key).  I would recommend that more blade interaction is trained here, as I see a common theme of "playing tag" with no attempt to engage the blade.  Using distance and timing in that way is fine, but it's only one piece of the puzzle - engaging the blade opens up a whole new set of possibilities!  Binding, counterparries, and other blade manipulations can all be extremely useful in situations where speed and timing aren't enough (for instance, if you're encountering an extreme reach disadvantage).

Good stuff, keep it coming!

Thanks for your comment, Nero! I must confess that I picked up a habit of "Americanizing" traditional fencing terms to make them easier for me to say in regular speech. I probably won't be changing anything but you got me there!

In the Lightspeed system, a float is any action in which the fencer rises up onto their toes or briefly leaves the ground (a jump), usually to avoid a hit, but sometimes to gain an elevation or angle advantage. (It's essentially the equivalent of a duck except the displacement goes up instead of down, to really get technical with it.) Paired with a stop-hit, it is referred to as a float-cut.

I would like to see more bladework as well, but takes a few months of consistent practice before our beginners start to get decent at it, due to the enhanced difficulty of bladework in our system. Our top people display a lot more skilled beat-attacks, counterparries, and voids. Something more like this, starting around 6 minutes in:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVClyihBE1U&amp;t=6m0s" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVClyihBE1U&amp;t=6m0s</a>

One thing we can't do, however, is the bind. That is virtually impossible in Lightspeed.

[asrah]

You're very kind, asrah. Thank you. The tournament was fun, and really intense. Heard reports of people being sore and having trouble getting out of bed this morning!

I must confess I'm a little confused by your description. If you feint in response to an attack, you're almost certainly going to be hit, isn't that right? A feint should be executed as part of an attack, not as part of defense, and not even as part of counteroffense.

I certainly agree that special considerations must be made regarding attacks targeting center mass. In the Lightspeed instructional system we call these "flat cuts."

Here lemme see if i can word it a bit better. Opponent has their saber in their right hand, you have yours in your right hand. https://youtu.be/U7-0njMSB0I?t=43 With that attack in mind, visualize keeping your saber held a bit lower to block that strike, taking a slight step forward, acting like youre going to slide your saber along theirs for a stab to the arm or side. Instead, slide your saber along the outside of theirs for a few inches, and quickly extend your arm so the tip ends up connecting on their chest. If your opponent tries to angle your blade away from them at the angle their blade would currently be at, by quickly extending it horizontally, they risk clipping themselves since the surface area of the blade has more area near them to intersect their body.

Unfortunately, i lack cameras and a partner to show you exactly what i mean. I can try to find an example if you like? Ive never done fencing, so Nero would be the one to ask on that. Maybe he has an idea of how to explain what im getting at, since its technically a bit of blade to blade stuff, and your group seems more like saber fencers than say traditional 2 handed Katana users.

[Master Nero Attoru]

One thing we can't do, however, is the bind. That is virtually impossible in Lightspeed.

It's tricky with a lightsaber, but it can be extremely useful.  It's typically used more with a two handed grip for added leverage, whereas I see most of the folks here using one hand, so I can see where it would be tough to implement.  I recommend looking into it sometime!  We have some TPLA vids on the topic, so let me know if you'd like me to send you some links.

Here lemme see if i can word it a bit better. Opponent has their saber in their right hand, you have yours in your right hand. https://youtu.be/U7-0njMSB0I?t=43 With that attack in mind, visualize keeping your saber held a bit lower to block that strike, taking a slight step forward, acting like youre going to slide your saber along theirs for a stab to the arm or side. Instead, slide your saber along the outside of theirs for a few inches, and quickly extend your arm so the tip ends up connecting on their chest. If your opponent tries to angle your blade away from them at the angle their blade would currently be at, by quickly extending it horizontally, they risk clipping themselves since the surface area of the blade has more area near them to intersect their body.

Unfortunately, i lack cameras and a partner to show you exactly what i mean. I can try to find an example if you like? Ive never done fencing, so Nero would be the one to ask on that. Maybe he has an idea of how to explain what im getting at, since its technically a bit of blade to blade stuff, and your group seems more like saber fencers than say traditional 2 handed Katana users.

I think I'm grasping what you mean... you're referring to a feint to the outside (opponent's right side) with a disengage to the chest?  The concept is a good one, feints are useful in these situations, but the real trick is to make sure you're changing lines of attack in a way which won't compromise your own bladework.  For instance, if you feint to the opponent's weapon arm (as in your example) and extend to the chest at the last moment, you run the risk of the opponent parrying your attack easily, since the parries for those two targets are virtually the same.  Parrying to the outside to protect the sword arm would also protect the chest, unless you maneuver your blade to the other side of your opponent's blade.  The position of the two blades relative to each other is vital to any feint-disengage, parry, or bind, so it's something to think about always.

[asrah]

I think I'm grasping what you mean... you're referring to a feint to the outside (opponent's right side) with a disengage to the chest?  The concept is a good one, feints are useful in these situations, but the real trick is to make sure you're changing lines of attack in a way which won't compromise your own bladework.  For instance, if you feint to the opponent's weapon arm (as in your example) and extend to the chest at the last moment, you run the risk of the opponent parrying your attack easily, since the parries for those two targets are virtually the same.  Parrying to the outside to protect the sword arm would also protect the chest, unless you maneuver your blade to the other side of your opponent's blade.  The position of the two blades relative to each other is vital to any feint-disengage, parry, or bind, so it's something to think about always.

Im not sure of the technical terms for it, so ill go with what you said. Yeah, i figured deflection of your blade from the line of attack would be a major risk so i outlined that in my statement. Even with the change of trajectory and angle, its still possible to move it out of the way without being hit. I suppose success of the concept as i described it would depend on your opponent attempting to divert your blade based on the perceived original attack trajectory towards the sword arm, rather than the chest. If they take that bait, and youre fast enough, the tip of the blade could be close enough that deflecting the blade at the wrong angle would mean theyd make the blade connect somewhere between the middle of the sternum and the sword arm. Obviously, the manner i stated is not a perfect concept. I was just trying to think of an example of how feinting off the result of your opponents attack might become potentially useful.

Another option i personally think might work (and again im not a fencer by any means) would be the slight step to the outside of their sword arm, and a lunge to push the flat of your blade across their body. Horizontally, at an angle, whatever works. At first thought, seems like it would help minimize the risk of being parried, but at the least, your legs would be wide open.

Once again, thank you Nero for your help. Im glad we have a resident master that has fencing experience, since the concept of long, thin sabers seems to fit well with the concepts of fencing.

[Master Nero Attoru]

Im not sure of the technical terms for it, so ill go with what you said. Yeah, i figured deflection of your blade from the line of attack would be a major risk so i outlined that in my statement. Even with the change of trajectory and angle, its still possible to move it out of the way without being hit. I suppose success of the concept as i described it would depend on your opponent attempting to divert your blade based on the perceived original attack trajectory towards the sword arm, rather than the chest. If they take that bait, and youre fast enough, the tip of the blade could be close enough that deflecting the blade at the wrong angle would mean theyd make the blade connect somewhere between the middle of the sternum and the sword arm. Obviously, the manner i stated is not a perfect concept. I was just trying to think of an example of how feinting off the result of your opponents attack might become potentially useful.

Another option i personally think might work (and again im not a fencer by any means) would be the slight step to the outside of their sword arm, and a lunge to push the flat of your blade across their body. Horizontally, at an angle, whatever works. At first thought, seems like it would help minimize the risk of being parried, but at the least, your legs would be wide open.

Once again, thank you Nero for your help. Im glad we have a resident master that has fencing experience, since the concept of long, thin sabers seems to fit well with the concepts of fencing.

Sure thing.  Most of the time, successful execution depends on a couple factors, the main ones being your opponent's expectation (which seems obvious for a feint) and the complexity of your change in target.  As a rule of thumb, in fencing or in lightsaber, the shorter distance you have to travel to the target, the better chance you'll have.  Shorter distance means less time, which can score you a strike before the opponent can put a parry in place.  The advantage of the situation you described is the simplicity of the disengage from one line of attack to another.  Efficiency is definitely a good thing!

[Cang Snow]

It's tricky with a lightsaber, but it can be extremely useful.  It's typically used more with a two handed grip for added leverage, whereas I see most of the folks here using one hand, so I can see where it would be tough to implement.  I recommend looking into it sometime!  We have some TPLA vids on the topic, so let me know if you'd like me to send you some links.

Ah! Sorry. Didn't see the reply. Yes, that would be fantastic. I hope it can be applied into our format.