Sabre (fencing)

The sabre is one of the three weapons of modern fencing, and is alternatively spelled saber in American English. The sabre differs from the other modern fencing weapons, the épée and foil, in that it is possible to score with the edge of the blade; for this reason, sabreur movements and attacks are very fast. For the other two weapons, valid touches are only scored using the point of the blade. Like foil, sabre uses the convention of right-of-way to determine who acquires the touch.

The term sabreur refers to a male fencer who fences with a sabre. Sabreuse is the female equivalent.

The weapon

The cross-section of the sabre blade is Y- or V-shaped, unlike the quadrangular shape of the foil, but not as stiff as the épée. Adult (size 5) blades are 88 cm (35 inches) in length. At the end of the blade, the point is folded over itself to form a "button", although no actual button exists. The bell guard of the sword is curved around the handle, giving the fencer hand protection. On electrical sabres, a socket for the body wire is found underneath the bell guard. A fastener known as a pommel is attached to the end of the sword to keep the bell guard and handle on. The handle of a sabre is standardly a straight saber grip, as other grips are incompatible with the bell guard. The entire weapon is generally 105 cm (41 inches) long; the maximum weight is 500g, but most competition swords are closer to 400g. It is shorter than the foil or épée, and lighter than the épée, making it easier to move swiftly and incisively. Many equate the sabre's blade to a matchstick, in that they are easy to snap but relatively cheap to replace.

Sabre

The sabre or saber (see spelling differences) is a type of backsword, usually with a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger.

Ultimately based on a medieval type of single-edged weapon, the sabre was adopted as the weapon of heavy cavalry in Early Modern warfare. Although sabres are typically thought of as curved-bladed slashing weapons, those used by the heavy cavalry of the 17th to 19th centuries often had straight and even double-edged blades more suitable for thrusting. The length of sabres varied, and most were carried in a scabbard hanging from a shoulder belt known as a baldric or from a waist-mounted sword belt, usually with slings of differing lengths to permit the scabbard to hang below the rider's waist level.

History

Origins

Sabre-like curved backswords have been in use in Europe since the early medieval period (some early examples include the falchion and the Byzantine paramērion). The oldest well-documented "sabres" are those found in 9th and 10th century graves of Magyars (Hungarians) who entered the Carpathian Basin at this time. These oldest sabres had a slight curve, short, down-turned quillons, the grip facing the opposite direction to the blade and a sharp point with the top third of the reverse edge sharpened.

List of Marvel Comics characters: S

Sabra

Sabre

Sabre I

The first Sabre was a former knife thrower named Paul Richarde until he was selected by Modred to oppose Black Knight. Paul Richarde was given an armor, an animated gargoyle. and Mordred's Ebony Dagger (the weapon with which Mordred had killed the first Black Knight). He was defeated by Black Knight after his horse Aragorn kicked the dagger from Le Sabre's hand.

Sabre II

The second Sabre is a mutant super villain. His first appearance was in X-Men #106. Young and reckless, Sabre was chosen by Mystique to join her new Brotherhood of Mutants, though never actually participated in any missions. He had the mutant ability of super speed, and took the name of the deceased Super Sabre. It is unknown if he continues to serve Mystique behind the scenes, or if he even retains his powers after Decimation. Hyper-accelerated metabolism augments his natural speed, reflexes, coordination, endurance, and the healing properties of his body.

Sabre (computer system)

Sabre Global Distribution System (GDS), owned by Sabre Holdings, is used by more than 350,000 travel agents around the world with more than 400 airlines, 100,000 hotels, 25 car rental brands, 50 rail providers and 17 cruise lines. The Sabre GDS enables companies such as American Airlines, American Express, BCD Travel, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Hogg Robinson Group (HRG), Expedia, Holiday Autos, Zuji, LastMinute, JetBlue, GetThere and Travelocity to search, price, book, and ticket travel services provided by airlines, hotels, car rental companies, rail providers and tour operators.

Sabre Holdings is a travel technology company serving airlines, hotels, online and offline travel agents and travel buyers. The company is organized into three business units:

The company is headquartered in Southlake, Texas, and has 10,000 employees in 60 locations around the world with datacenters in global locations.