The Invisible Saber

Hopefully I'm not going to get flamed for this or start some kind of ridiculous trend of sissiness in the ranks of my loyal followers.

Due to circumstances somewhat out of my control, the time of day today when I really wanted to work out with my saber left me limited and unable to do so. I did some tracing with it because I can do that in the house without fear of wrecking things, but that's pretty much where the indoor saber line is drawn other than standing practice. Thus, I did a bunch of empty-handed stuff, mostly of the striking variety, and some calisthenics for about an hour and a half for my workout earlier.

In the process, because I wanted to do my saber and work on some of the fundamental drills, particularly some of the ones I feel less good at and a few that I've decided I really like at the moment, I started going through the motions of them without a saber in hand. Some of them only went okay, but on others, I really got a depth of understanding of the movements that I don't think I've had before, particularly in the use of the waist to drive the saber and generate power and economy of movement with it. Some of these "drawing back" and then "bursting forward" or "secretly marching" kind of techniques are particularly benefited, at least in my practice tonight.

I might encourage folks looking to build their ability with the basic skills of the saber to throw this kind of drill into your saber training. When you're working with the sword itself, being that it's a bit heavy and awkward (until you're ninja-good with it, like Swedish-powdered-steel good), it's more difficult to focus on the body movement. With it laying nearby, awaiting to ride the improved ride, you can refine your technique with otherwise difficult to access precision and attention to detail -- looking for the proper way to move the blade. Then you can wrestle the huge blade up and apply what you learned with almost surprising results if you've sought the movement carefully and honestly until you're pretty certain you really found something.

Of course, more time with saber than without is my advice for getting good with the saber, but as with anything: training means refining.