Welcome to a show about generating curriculum! That should be a sufficiently brief and misleading description of what you'll actually hear on this episode of The Saber Martial Arts Podcast. Fode and Alan are honored to intrude on your car stereos and earbuds to share this chat, and we hope you'll share it with every geek and martial artist you know! Thank you as always for listening.

Don't forget to Subscribe to the podcast! Still need to apply for SMAF Affiliation? Take 5 minutes or less to do it now, for yourself, your school or club, or as a Holiday surprise for some special geek in your life:

Saber Martial Arts Foundation Applications

Use the code "HOLIDAY20" throughout December to save 20% on the most durable, affordable, combat-ready tools from our Master Sabersmith:

Ki Sabers Official Site

Sweat. Huffing and puffing. Blood. Tear-stained cheeks. Caloric breakdown. Fear. Anxiety. Loss. Doubt in the face of adversity. No end in sight. Weight of mind and body. These are the preclusions all martial artists must overcome to reach motivation and self-improvement. If you never push yourself past your limits, you will never know where they exist now, or how far you can stretch them in the future. If you do not train to break down personal barriers, you will not achieve betterment to any degree. If you do not expect and admonish the hard knocks that are sewn into the fabric of martial arts, you will not be educated in the intricacies of the stitching. If you don't get your butt whooped every once in a while, you will never butt up to your own greatness. *Please excuse the ambient chirping of crickets and night-critters in Fode's audio.

Thank you for listening to SMAFcast! Please Subscribe and Share!

Still need to apply for SMAF Affiliation? Take 5 minutes or less to do it now:

Saber Martial Arts Foundation Applications

Durable, affordable, combat-ready tools from our Master Sabersmith:

Ki Sabers Official Site

Fode, Alan, Katie, and Nick from the SMAF Board of Directors discuss some of the ins and outs of starting a saber school or club. Whether you're an experienced Head Instructor or a fledgling practitioner who's been bit by the sharing bug, you can benefit from this breakdown of some of the basic concepts and FAQs that apply to nearly all combat-based saber groups, and hopefully we inspire a little bit of clarity from the perspective of the instructors as well as the students in how you consider the operations of your own school or club. We surely don't have all the answers, but we do have the experience of running time-tested SMA programs and decades in the Martial Arts, with which we aim to flatten the curve of growing pains that all groups go through. Please enjoy! Thank you as always for listening to SMAFcast.

Have you looked into SMAF Affiliation yet? Fill out the application here:

Saber Martial Arts Foundation Affiliation

Need a heavy-duty combat saber at a fair price? Visit our Master Sabersmith:

Ki Sabers Official Site

Questions, comments, concerns about starting your own school or group? Reach out to [email protected] or [email protected] and let's chat about how SMAF can help bolster your progress!

In the premiere of a new SMAFcast serial, SMAF Master Sabersmith and the owner of Ki Sabers, Kyle Vaz, walks listeners through the experience of buying a new combat LED saber, specifically his flagship Persuader model. The saber-buying process can gray the hair of even the most laid-back and financially flush geeks, and Kyle aims to alleviate the stress of this endeavor for beginners as well as seasoned saberfighters. Tech specs, martial strategy, training regimens, physicality, philosophy, and nerd-meter are all crucial aspects of selecting a new saber, so we try to turn all the stones and get you behind the reins of a workhorse martial arts tool. Thank you for listening, subscribing, and sharing SMAFcast!

Need more "Persuasion"? Head to:

Ki Sabers Combat-class Sabers

Apply for SMAF Affiliation! Should've done this yesterday, homies:

Being Part of SMAF

SMAFcast is infiltrated by Head Instructors from six different Affiliate Schools to resuscitate the series of podcasts that started this whole SMAF thing in the first place, "Swords & Sabers"! Fode (DESMA) and Sifu Venable (PHX) are "determined" to dissect SMA Form 1 with Kenny Novero of PHX, Kay Sakaue of SCSA, Noah Kim of CIS, Courtney Monroe of SLK, and Ben Fuson of PBSA. Gotta listen to find out what all those initials stand for! Also in this episode: a very nonchalant-yet-special-and-completely-overdue Knighting Ceremony! Thanks for tuning in, and don't forget to share with your saber homies!

To find all of the SMAF Affiliate Schools & Instructors featured in this edition of "Swords & Sabers Redux", please visit:

Saber Martial Arts Foundation Affiliate Schools

Become a SMAF Affiliate! Individuals and Schools can fill out our free, quick, easy Application here:

Become a SMAF Affiliate

To order yourself a masterfully built combat-grade saber:

Ki Sabers Official Site

Kenny Novero, 3rd Degree Black Belt and Instructor for Phoenix Saber Academy, spends a couple hours talking about the nerd-turned-teacher life with Fode and getting totally bragged on by Sifu Venable. Fode couldn't choose a title, so call this episode whatever you want in your Head Canon. Kenny is a one-of-a-kind student that any Martial Arts Teacher wishes they had 100 of, which has made him a 1-in-100 Teacher in his own right.

Please and Thank You for Sharing SMAFcast with a geek or three who needs to hear about Saber Martial Arts!

Drop Kung Fu Kenny or Sifu Venable a line at Phoenix Saber Academy's Official SMAF Page:

Phoenix Saber Academy (SMAF Official)

Become a SMAF Affiliate! Individuals and Schools can fill out our free, quick, easy Application here:

Become a SMAF Affiliate

Please visit our sponsor for a combat-ready LED Saber:

Ki Sabers Official Site

Participate in the Saber Light Summer Open Tournament:

Saber Light Summer Open (Registration)

Fode-san and Sifu Venable are super honored to bring this week's guest, Sensei Kay Sakaue from SMAF Affiliate School SoCal Saber Academy, to your ear-dojo! We discuss East-vs-West in the world of martial arts, how we should all be on the same team despite our supposed differences, the benefits of opening your mind and heart, and of course, the three-sectional saber rears its ugly stupid head once more (thanks Sifu). WARNING: This episode contains over 100 years of combined martial arts experience, wisdom, and hilarity.

Thank you as always for Subscribing to SMAFcast and sharing with a geek or seven in your life!

Drop Kay Sensei a line at SCSA's Official SMAF Page:

SoCal Saber Academy (SMAF Official)

Become a SMAF Affiliate! Individuals and Schools can fill out our quick, easy Application here:

Become a SMAF Affiliate

Please visit our sponsor for a combat-ready LED Saber:

Ki Sabers Official Site

Participate in the Saber Light Summer Open Tournament:

Saber Light Summer Open (Registration)

Tonight's guest is Noah Kim, Founder and Head Instructor of SMAF Affiliate group, the Confederacy of Independent Saberists. Noah shares tales of his martial upbringing, how he became a sabersmith out of necessity, and lets us roast gobs of fight footage from a meet-up between CIS and Penguin Saber Academy! Be sure to follow the fights with us by using the link to the YouTube playlist here: Penguins vs. CIS Playlist

Thank you as always for listening, Subscribing, and Sharing!

If you live in the LA or Riverside areas of CA, get in contact with Noah and CIS here:

Confederacy of Independent Saberists (Official SMAF Page)

Palm Desert and Palm Springs residents, visit and train with the Penguins:

Penguin Saber Academy (Official SMAF Page)

Become a SMAF Affiliate! Individuals and Schools can fill out our quick, easy Application here:

Become a SMAF Affiliate

Please visit our sponsor for a combat-ready LED Saber:

Ki Sabers Official Site

Participate in the Saber Light Summer Open Tournament:

Saber Light Summer Open (Registration)

This week's featured guest is Matt Maughan, aka Maestro, from Bendu Saber Combat! The BSC YouTube channel has been a standard of quality for Forms-based SMA over the last decade, taking a highly academic approach to the phenomenon of online lightsaber instruction and making martial arts digestible to lay-geeks everywhere. And somehow, we figured he's always doing Juyo/Vaapad, especially when he's doing Soresu (chew on that for a minute).

As always, we appreciate your listenership! Please Subscribe, and Share this with someone who could use a little more saber illumination in their life.

Get some education from the Maestro himself:

Bendu Saber Combat YouTube Channel

Are you a SMAF Affiliate yet? Individuals and Schools can fill out our quick, easy Application here:

Become a SMAF Affiliate

Please visit our sponsor for a combat-ready LED Saber:

Ki Sabers Official Site

Participate in the Saber Light Summer Open Tournament:

Saber Light Summer Open (Registration)

In our latest SMAF Affiliate School feature, Fode and Alan are joined by some of our oldest allies in the saber community, San Diego Sabers' own Andre, Marina, Matthew, and Serena! We learn about the mystical way of the Wanderer, the inherent risks of feckless sabery, which version of Robin is the most Juyo, and plenty more to keep your ears perked!

Thank you all for listening! Please Subscribe and Share!

Find our friends at San Diego Sabers:

San Diego Sabers Official Site

Are you a SMAF Affiliate yet? Individuals and Schools can fill out our quick, easy Application here:

Become a SMAF Affiliate

Please visit our sponsor for a combat-ready LED Saber:

Ki Sabers Official Site

Participate in the Saber Light Summer Open Tournament:

Saber Light Summer Open (Registration)