GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA— On Saturday, December 14th , Lightspeed Saber Aiken (Aiken Saber Academy) and Knights of Siena Fencing School jointly conducted the Palmetto State Combat LED Saber Open Competition. The competition was the first Lightspeed Saber League and Saber Legion combined event ever held in South Carolina, and the second in the United States. The morning was dedicated to a Lightspeed competition and the afternoon dedicated to hosting a Saber Legion meet. The following is a summary of the Lightspeed Competition.
Competitors for the Lightspeed competition came from both North and South Carolina. There was both a Novice and Open Division. Only teens were allowed to participate in the Novice division and only teens with significant fencing experience and adults were allowed to participate in the Open Division.
The Novice Division mostly consisted of teens from Lightspeed Saber Aiken. The students were well aware of their competitor’s fencing strengths and weaknesses. Still with medals on the line, the fencers put on a good show using all their skills to defeat their opponents. Making full use of the battle space they maneuvered and using all their knowledge to score multiple points on the body instead of single points for hand strikes. Top seed was Nick Webb (who was last seen taking second at the RISE North Carolina competition) who surprisingly came second to Daniel Miller. Finishing in third place was Scott Woodworth.
The Lightspeed Open was very interesting. There were three fencers from Lightspeed Saber Aiken and a couple of fencers from the Knights of Siena Fencing School. The competitors had experience fencing in the Lightspeed style. The bulk of the competitors were first time competitors in Lightspeed. They generally participate in Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) competitions mostly in Long Sword events. Bringing their mostly two handed training style to a quicker mostly one handed sport was going to be a great contrast in how the two sports differ. As the morning pool competition wore on the contrast became apparent as the Lightspeed trained and classically trained fencers from Lightspeed Saber Aiken and Knights of Siena were more consistent with their strikes and points. This was especially true for Aiken’s Cade Bargeloh (16 years old) who is one of the highest ranked students at Aiken and Knights of Siena’s Erika Whisnant (17 years old) who is a very experienced classically trained fencer. These two teens rolled through their competitors in the morning pool matches with Erika ending undefeated and Cade only losing to Erika. According to Cade the HEMA trained competitors left a lot of targets open as they used the long winding full arm strike techniques instead of the fast wrist action strikes used in classical saber and Lightspeed fencing.
In the single elimination finals to determine the top three winners of the competition however the older competitors were able to adjust their strategy and fencing style and the matches were quicker and scores closer. John Livingston AKA as Little John and John Parrington AKA Big John were men big of stature but also quick with their defense and offense. They eliminated both the HEMA trained competitors and two knight ranked fencers from Aiken. Erika was also eliminated.
In the end the top three were John Livingston in First Place, John Parrington in Second and in third place Cade Bargeloh.
In summary the Palmetto State Combat LED Saber Open was a first for South Carolina. It proved that one event could be host two leagues to attract more competitors. It showed that fencers with different martial arts backgrounds could try something new such as LED combat fencing and really enjoy the experience. It showed that a well run competition could generate much honor and camaraderie among the contestants.
A special thanks to Lightspeed Founder Cang Snow for creating a truly wonderful sport in Lightspeed Fencing. Also a special thanks to Knights of Siena Fencing Club and its owner Alan Blakeborough and his staff for hosting this event.
Full results are still pending.
Written by Commander Negron
Edited by Cang Snow
