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When The Dark Side Of The Force Has A Severely Limited Choice Of Lightsaber Colours

Published Tue, 28 Mar 2017 07:45:39 -0500

Sofia Annunziata writes,

Needless to say I was psyched when I received an invitation to train like a jedi!

I joined the Empire Saber Guild, a Lucasfilm recognized Star Wars costumed performance group specializing in lightsaber stage choreography and education. They perform all around the country, while raising money for charities.

Walking into the room, I noticed the array of lightsabers in the corner of the room and immediately wanted to start swinging away.

Of course being the inexperienced padawan that I am, this was not a good idea. I was presented with a fitting green lightsaber, and boy let me tell you, it was surprisingly heavy.

The lightsabers used varied in brand and design, but they were all incredibly sturdy. Even accidentally whacking them against the floor or the low ceiling a couple of times didn't cause any damage to them. Jedi:1 Ceiling Vent: 0

We started off with the basic two handed hold on the lightsaber, making sure not to grip too tightly lest you need to rotate for a maneuver.

Then moving forward there were brief descriptions of some of the many lightsaber combat forms, including Juyo, Djem So, and Shii-Cho. Then it was time for battle!

Ok, well, training for battle. We were taught basic strikes and blocks as well as the significantly difficult "bread and butter" maneuver.

Needless to say I had a bit of trouble buttering the bread with the offensive and defensive blocks and strikes. When watching the instructors put them together it really looked like a disciplined fighting style.

Overall I learned that acting plays a pretty big part in lightsaber choreography and acting the part of sith or jedi persona as well. Also, the dark side is tempting, but leaves much to be desired as far as lightsaber color choices.