Sabre Fencing: by Károly Leszák (Austro-Hungarian Military Sabre Series)

Russ Mitchell's translation of Károly Leszák’s _Sabre Fencing_ (1906) is not just a solid translation by a skilled scholar and translator, but a window into one of the most important and influential sabre traditions in history. When it comes to fencing Hungary is synonymous with sabre. This is the first glimpse, in English, into a major work on a dynamic fencing tradition. Students of sabre, be they Olympic, historical, etc., will find a wealth of insight within Mitchell's edition. His prose is clear, the explanations and notes super helpful, and his forward perfectly situates this book in context. Part II includes chapter upon chapter of lessons and drills, each well-explained, and covering everything from actions on the blade to second-intention. While every sabre fencer will benefit from reading _Sabre Fencing_, those of us who came up in the Italo-Hungarian tradition will perhaps find reason to cheer most. Mitchell, in translating and explicating a key work in the development of the I-H tradition, has provide those of us who can't read Hungarian a window into how Radaellian sabre and Hungarian practice merged to form the game most of us know. Even fencers learning now, with the sweeping changes electric scoring brought, rely on this tradition for most of their curriculum. This is an important work and I only hope that Russ Mitchell, easily the person best qualified to tackle these texts, will continue to produce translations of the key Hungarian sources so that we may all benefit from them.

As the title says, this is another great resource for people interested in sabre fencing.

As a literal military manual, it's no surprise that it's useful for learning the saber. Despite the radically different time period and context however, I have found it quite useful for modern Olympic training in addition to HEMA. The manual is well translated, with plenty of writer's notes to help understand more complex actions, ideas, and language peculiarities.

First, the TL;DR: This is a fantastic manual, if you want to learn about Hungarian flavored Radaellian sabre, start here. I truly appreciated the author's attention to detail and his concern with not only translating the manual accurately but to try and preserve the original state of the text. I have actively applied many of the small changes (such as slightly more point forward guards) into my fencing "toolbox". I heartily recommend this book and this author, his scholarly ability, attention to detail, and dedication to preserving this art cannot be overstated.

This is a valuable addition to our knowledge on sabre fencing. While it is generally well known that at the end of the 19th century the Hungarian military wanted to build upon the traditional Hungarian system, we have unfortunately a limited number of translations of Hungarian sabre treaties. Russ’ experience learning sabre fencing, and his training as a historian with a deep knowledge of Hungarian history makes him an excellent translator for this work. The work shows Hungarian fencing during a transition point between the traditional Hungarian sabre fencing, and the new Italian sabre fencing that came to the Austro-Hungarian Empire courtesy of Radaellian Masters Santelli and Barbasetti. The book is nicely laid out, and while the reproduction of photo quality is not always perfect, they are clear. Thankfully the book emphasises a clear translation, rather than the odd "translationese" that is common in HEMA translations. The use of understandable fencing terminology and theory is also appreciated. This book will be a necessary addition to the libraries of those fencers looking for more information on Eastern European sabre, and the history of Italo-Hungarian sabre.

Good content but very poor images

Loved the book. Beautiful to see the translated words of the actual practitioners of the time and not some modern hack trying to re-invent the past. I have respect for people trying to revive and piece together historical disciplines for contemporary pleasure as well as posterity. Unfortunately, there's been too many people trying to make-up their own "histories." From every angle, this book has been a delight. ----I would ask about a Volume 1. The book reads, "Volume 2."

Livre d'escrime dans la lignee du sabre, trop meconnu actuellement mais indispensable pour tous les praticiens des arts martiaux europeens (AMHE en fr ou HEMA en anglais). Serie a suivre, Russ Mitchell etant un specialiste en ces matieres, je ne peux que recommander tous ses livres. Jean-Paul, membre d'un club a Bruxelles.