Sabre Drill 001 (les Dix Gammes Geuna)

This is Drill #1 from René Geuna’s famous Ten Drills (les Dix Gammes Geuna) . The pupil makes a quarte beat on the coach’s blade (the pupil’s forward or cutting edge makes the contact) and immediately cuts to the cuff/wrist; this is followed by a beat (with the back of the blade) then a cut to the upper arm; then another beat (again, with the back of the blade) with a cut to the cheek, or mask. Simple. But there’s actually a lot going on. First off, once pupil/coach are happy with the drill, it can be done at varying speeds (Geuna says to gather speed for the second and third cuts); secondly - and probably most importantly - it can be done while moving, either backwards or forwards; thirdly, it’s a great tool for running over arm movement and placement, wrist movement (especially in the first action, where the hand has to come over to beat the coach’s blade and then drop to make the cut to cuff) and finger manipulation in all the cuts as the arm extends through the drill. We really like this drill because, as well as the wrist/hand/finger movements, it is a simple and effective means of helping the pupil judge distance. It’s almost like an epée exercise where the front, mid and deep targets are covered; and it really underlines this while it is performed on the advance or retreat. In fact, as Geuna points out, once pairs have mastered the drill in its basic form, the person in the role of the coach can give themselves the objective of trying to break the drill by using footwork to outwit the person in the role of pupil. The key component of the ’collective lesson’ as envisaged by Geuna is that both fencers are active in their respective roles. This drill often segues into drills #2 and #3, but its end position (with the pupil’s blade just off the coach’s right cheek) can tack onto a few of the other drills in the Geuna set. Geuna’s Ten Drills came to prominence (and some controversy) in the 1970s and 80s following his success in nurturing high-level fencers (several of his pupils have won Olympic and World titles) to national level, mostly on the basis of his “collective lessons“, conducted out of his fencing club in Tarbes, southwest France - the land of d’Artagnan! In the original, Geuna does not distinguish between pupil and coach, rather viewing the partnership as one of a slightly more experienced fencer showing a novice the ropes. From then on, it would form a key component of the club night, with fencers looking to improve technique or speed or both. The drills were such that Geuna could call out the drill number and the fencers in the club, paired off, would execute it while Geuna would walk around, correcting technique where needed, offering encouragement or reminders. Hindsight renders the past concrete but the original drills were the product of evolution, of Geuna going to fencing competitions, seeing warm-ups and, where he liked them or thought they could refine his drills, tacking them on, adding to them, or altering them to suit.