Advancement
Completely optional
Advancement is an add-on, not a requirement. Any organization using the Saber Standard is free to adopt it as a way to add another dimension to what it offers, and equally free to leave it aside. It has nothing to do with adopting the notation: reading, writing, and teaching Saber Standard Notation calls for no rank, sash, or program of any kind.
Advancement covers the ranking and recognition programs built on top of the Saber Standard.
The program documented here is the SaberCraft Knights program, run by SaberCraft, the founding school. Knights gain rank and are recognized in any LUMINA or SaberCraft-based school or club.
SaberCraft Knights
Saberists may reach a point where they want to test their skills and take on the road to Saber Mastery.
Saber Mastery is harder than many expect. Performing saber choreography from memory, and improvising combinations on the fly, takes dedicated training and commitment. The aim is to make saber play second nature while staying mindful of your movement and your safety.
Being a Knight is about contributing to the future of SaberCraft and its students. The Knights Program empowers people who want to learn saber choreography while adopting principles of wellness into their lives. Through it, members develop Saber Mastery and leadership while building a positive wellness and fitness routine.
Knight sashes
Based on established martial arts programs, the Knights program uses a curriculum with a rank system built on merit and personal accomplishment. Ranks are designated with sashes, using the same sashes available for other martial arts.
| Sash | Rank | Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| White | Honorary Knight | For contributors who have helped SaberCraft in a meaningful way, without needing to demonstrate knowledge of the CMs |
| Yellow | Initiate Knight (1) | Involved with SaberCraft for a minimum of 6 months or sessions, or proficiency with 5 CMs. The first sash granted to students advancing through the ranks |
| Orange | Scribe Knight (2) | A minimum of 12 months or sessions, or proficiency with 10 or more CMs. Also contributes to class, including coordinating and helping with setup and takedown, and has taken part in at least one external event |
| Indigo | Keeper Knight (3) | A minimum of 24 months or sessions, proficiency with 15 or more CMs, and conducting group instruction or event participation. Has also participated in LUMINA |
| Green | Master Knight (4) | A minimum of 36 months or sessions, proficiency with 20 or more CMs, and conducting group instruction or event participation. Has also completed and judged several LUMINA games or seasons |
| Red | Instructor Knight (5) | A minimum of 36 months or sessions, proficiency with 15 or more CMs, competed in one season of LUMINA, taught a minimum of 5 group sessions, and completed a fitness certification. Regular participants, judges, and coordinators of LUMINA |
Testing your skills
Those enrolled in the program have access to exams that test their skills and open up leadership roles in classes and community events, including workshops.
Rather than practising with others occasionally, or whenever partners can make the time, the Knights program means there are like-minded people setting aside time to practise their saber craft fully. You dedicate yourself to the art and to your practice. It can mean arriving a little earlier to help out, or taking on a new student and working through a particular form with them. For some it is about community events; for others it is a sense of accomplishment.
Each level of Knight has a number of CMs they must commit to. These may be demonstrated by successful attack and defence, either in a class demonstration or in a recorded LUMINA battle.
Knights who are grandfathered in may opt to take the legacy tests. Knights who are grandfathered in manually, and new Knights, cannot take the old tests.
Time requirements
Time is defined by a minimum number of sessions. As classes are monthly, a requirement of 6 months means either 6 months of attendance, or however many months it takes to reach 6 sessions.
Sessions are cumulative and linked to rank. A Yellow Knight who has attended 6 months needs only a further 6 months of attendance to qualify for Orange.
Age requirements and disqualifications
Age requirements, and the conditions that lead to disqualification, are set by each school or club running the program rather than by the Saber Standard. Saber combat is a delicate dance, so safety is the highest priority.
SaberCraft's own conditions are documented at disqualifications from the Knight program and general disqualifications.
Becoming a Knight
Knights start by showing up to class regularly and asking to join. To join, a candidate completes the following:
- Preliminary steps. Complete 6 months of classes, or 6 sessions.
- Ask to join. Talk to one of the Knights and mention that you are interested. After a brief interview with several Knights, they discuss it among themselves and your membership goes to a vote with those who interviewed you. A simple majority welcomes you in.
- Test and pass rank 1. The final step before you join, demonstrating that you understand the minimum number of CMs needed for recognition in a rank.
Sashes are optional. Holding Knight recognition is free, and a suggested donation of $24 per rank covers the cost of a sash. Schools and Saberists are equally free to source their own sashes and award them. Enrolling in the Knights program is not required to be part of SaberCraft; it is for those who want tokens of advancement.
Acceptance and voting
Candidates who wish to become Knights are voted in. For each candidate, a team of Electors is chosen at random to vote on whether the candidate may become a Knight. Randomising the Electors prevents control by a total majority, or by cliques that may develop.
Most candidates are expected to be accepted. Where a candidate is rejected, there should be a clear reason.
- Each round of candidates is reviewed by the instructors, who are encouraged to seek a consensus among active Knights on whether there is a reason the candidate should not join. Any voice of dissent must come with a reason.
- The instructors review the case and may either reject the candidate early, or abstain and forward the information to the Elector Knights. Instructors may interview others involved in the rejection, and may interview the candidate to hear a rebuttal.
- A group of randomly assigned Knights forms the Electors, who vote on the candidate.
- If approved, the instructors purchase the sash and schedule a presentation date, verifying the candidate will be present.
- If rejected, an instructor informs the candidate why they were not accepted for the program.