LIGHTSABERS tested by HEMA FENCERS! Star Wars fencing with

I was sent some lightsabers by Damiensaber ( www.damiensabe... ) to review - so what better way to review them than let HEMA fencers give them a good thrashing?!
#lightsaber #starwars #Damiensaber
3 extra videos each month on Patreon, which hugely helps support this channel:
/ scholagladiatoria
Facebook & Twitter updates, info and fun:
/ historicalfencing
/ scholagladiato1
Schola Gladiatoria HEMA - sword fighting classes in the UK:
www.swordfight...
Matt Easton's website & Pinterest:
www.matt-easto...
www.pinterest....
Easton Antique Arms:
www.antique-sw...
#damiensaber #lightsaber #starwars #review #lightsaberduel #fencing #martialarts

[@cargo_vroom9729]

The lit blades make the action very easy to follow as a spectator, which is neat. Hema is often so fast and subtle hits and angles are hard to see as a layman.

[@scholagladiatoria]

Very interesting point!

[@Nacimota]

@@scholagladiatoria do you normally tap which part of your body was hit like that, or was that just for this demonstration? I also found that helped a lot as a fairly ignorant spectator.

[@airgunsanonymouslesslethal1904]

that's what i was going to say ;-[

[@seriousmaran9414]

​@scholagladiatoria the modification of the handle with a disk guard would be easy, not to protect you from enemies but yourself. That is not just hand slipping off but accidental activation when drawing or someone inadvertently walking into the beam. Good job they have great medical options. An advantage is there is no blade alignment. A real hit would slice through no matter what the angle.

[@kanucks9]

​@@Nacimotait's common in sparring, to let your opponent know they hit you. Less so in competition, where there's no incentive to call your own hits.

[@Drachinifel]

This was a lot of fun, but very happy that HEMA sparring gear is good at absorbing impact!

[@scholagladiatoria]

Always great to spot a real Drach out in the wild. Thanks for coming out to play!

[@bull614]

That was a lot of fun to watch. I have followed Drach since his channels robo voice days, and I have to say it's nice to see him enjoying his other passions. Loved the vid. Tons of useful info. Will be following your channel closely.

[@laisphinto6372]

I expect him to blast you with spacenavy Grade Turbolaser batteries "Party this you freaking space Wizard!"

[@jiffypoo5029]

To be fair, losing a hand seems pretty common for Jedi. They just have really good cybernetic replacement hands.

[@jm9371]

Maybe they should add that to one of the movies.... just saying.

[@thekaxmax]

Of course, they should be wearing armour. Pref armour with a coating or infusion of phrik or beskar or any other of a dozen different lightsabre-resistant materials, as is sometimes done in novels. Movies, not so much, cos the 'George Lucas' basis of the jedi stories are essentially 'samurai off the battlefield and carrying only their self-defence weapons'.

[@ariochiv]

Since the Sith seem to have been so rare that they were almost unknown by the time of the prequels, it doesn't seem that the Jedi spent very much time actually fighting opponents armed with lightsabers. (To the point where one wonders why they even bothered continuing to practice.)

[@thekaxmax]

@@ariochiv as noted in several places, duelling amongst themselves. It's why they had so many combat forms, that's the added complexity you get when off the battlefield. :P The later descriptions of 3 sub-forms of the one combat form--Fast, Balanced, Strong--is more what you'd expect of a battlefield form.

[@OddBallPerformance]

​@jm9371 add it to the movie... like Anakin losing an arm... and then the other arm and both legs. Luke losing his hand, other characters in the expanded universe being cut in half and living, etc.

[@BIG_ump]

That looked like Dooku v Dooku, which makes sense in 2 ways. Christopher Lee was fairly practiced with an actual saber which they leaned in to, and in universe Dooku's style was supposed to be the ultimate in pure sword play

[@JenksAnro]

Just working it out in my head, out of 13 lightsaber fights in the original 6 movies, there are 10 strikes to hands/wrists and lightsaber handles. So your injuries, while painful, are at least lore-accurate Also, i love the idea that the addage "always wear protection" which is of course applicable to protecting your hands in HEMA, in this instance has led to the suggestion of sword condoms...

[@luxordeathbed]

Wrapping your arm around a light saber and realizing what you have done... priceless. Arm bits ALL over the place.

[@TytonidaeIndustries]

the little chuckle too, LOL

[@GarMcGregor]

We've done some lighsaber sparring at my fencing club, and we quickly realised that the number of jedi with missing hands makes a lot of sense.

[@lalli8152]

Yeah not only no hand protection, but the blade would cut the hand in any way it connects. I guess lack of very protective handguard isnt actually all that rare even with two handed swords historically outside Europe at least

[@lindybeige]

They appear to be 'base-lit' blades. They get all of their light from the hilt. Other more expensive ones have lines of LEDs up the blade. I don't know whether this makes much difference to the strength. Possibly very little, though I have heard of individual LEDs getting broken, so that the blades develop dim spots. One advantage of the blade-lit blades is when they are turned on, the light visibly travels up the blade. They are also brighter. We didn't hear much of the sound effects during your sparring. Possibly they are a bit quiet?

[@brotherkhrayn3525]

I have a base lit and a neopixel (the one with the leds up the blade). And the major difference to me is weight. The neopixel is MUCH heavier, and requires me to gauge my strikes more so I don’t use more energy.

[@GiveMeBackMyUsernameYouTube]

I'll be honest, I didn't take you for a connoisseur of reproduction lightsabers. I could easily imagine you as a Sith lord, however.

[@chalion8399]

For fighting, you want to use base lit, for a few reasons. They're more robust. They're more balanced. They cost less. Since there's no electronics in the blade, it keeps most of the mass in the hilt where it belongs, safely in the metal. So it means, less tip lag for faster attacks and parries/defense. With pixel blades, the mass is more distributed, so the tip gets slowed because it's throwing the weapon balance off. So pixel is not ideal unless you're used to having the mass distributed like that. pixel lightsabers are more like a pike staff than a sword, at least to me.

[@chalion8399]

Also, a rubberized coated blade has been tried and it kind of works, but drastically throws the balance off and puts more mass on the blade. A silicone adhesive was also tried, but if it's too thin, it flakes off and could be an eye irritant. I've also seen people rough up the blade by light sanding, so maybe that and an infusion of a binding coating too? I guess that's worth a try on the hollow base lit blade tube (polycarbonate, btw.) Also, not acrylic, which is optically clear, but shatters easily.

[@a-blivvy-yus]

Generally speaking, "stunt" sabers which are intended for use in high-impact or full contact sparring will (almost) always be base-lit, because neopixels, and any lower qualty means of putting lights up the length of a blade, are always going to be more expensive and less durable than a base-lit saber of equal quality. It's partly a matter of protection and mounting, but also due to torque. The blade is subjected to far greater and more frequent acceleration than the hilt (especially for lightsabers, where mordhau is less likely to be considered than with a normal sword). Transparent material is needed for the light to pass through, and the blade has to be flexible for safety reasons, so while hilts are often made from fairly durable metal (usually some kind of aerospace-grade aluminium) the blades are polycarbonates (high-strength plastic). Being flexible means they need to accomodate that with looser fittings on the electronics, which allows them to shake in their fittings, and the simple fact that you're holding the saber by the hilt means that the blade is going to be subject to greater and more frequent acceleration in every direction. This combination of less secure mounting and more impact on the mounting means that the electronics inside a neopixel blade take much more impact from the same actions than the electronics in the hilt. High-durability neopixels can be used in heavy sparring and other stunt work, but they'll wear out faster than a base-lit saber of equal quality being used in the same role, and they'll cost a *LOT* more, as well as costing more to repair or replace any damaged parts even before considering that the damage will happen more frequently. There are some brands which say their neopixels can hold up under heavy sparring conditions, but similar quality base-lit sabers will hold up even better, and the nature of the limitations on how sabers are built and how the laws of physics interact with those properties means that will always be true.

[@RobertFisher1969]

That was fun! “Ingenious” isn’t the word I would choose for using one button to control lots of functions. “Frustrating” is the most polite word I’d use. 😄

[@artemisdarkslayer]

My club and I have started doing lightsaber nights every few months or so just for fun. Tons of fun! Never too old to play with lightsabers!

[@VacuousCat]

Yes, this is the type of content I wanted for years

[@itsapittie]

Who would have guessed that a lot of sword nerds are also Star Wars nerds? 😂 (Meant in the nicest possible way since I fall into both camps myself.)

[@jollygoodfellow3957]

Try lightsaber sparring in the dark. What you quickly realize is that the bright blade held out in front of you starts to overpower your vision, making it harder to see your opponent as your eyes are adapting to the bright light. It's kind of like how you can't see behind a street light at night due to the brightness of the bulb. What I learned is holding the lightsaber just behind your field of view helps a lot with this, and interestingly enough the stance of Qui Gon Jinn works great for this. This way your eyes are adapted to seeing your opponent while your own blade is not interfering with your vision so much.

[@thekaxmax]

another trick, if you have a lightsaber that lights quickly, is stand in standard ready but with the 'saber off and ignite as you start to attack or defend.

[@TheUncleRuckus]

There's just something about seeing two grown men in full sparring gear play with Lightsabers that puts a smile on my face. 😂 I will say though the lighted blade makes following the action as a spectator much much easier, normally I have a hard time seeing all the quick strikes but here I saw everything. 👍👍

[@theoneandonlysoslappy]

Great to see Drach 😊

[@samirish6696]

I tried a stunt model saber doing some two handed stick work with my Kali crew. It survived rattan and everyone got a good chuckle out of it.

[@thycauldron]

What brand or shop did u use please?

[@samirish6696]

@@thycauldron Mine is just a basic ultrasabers.

[@CharlieVrallstak]

After whatching this I'm trully scared on what real lightsabers could do to people (of course if they could work as we see in movies) because those fast lunges, uff that is scary, but yeah! this was lots of fun to watch, hope that movie coreografs also give this a look, because how you all do the moves, look amazing and they could be added into coreographs imo, great job as always!

[@RainMakeR_Workshop]

There are silicone blade sheaths you can get for these types of lightsabres and its easy to make your own using clear silicone caulking. I imagine they would help with the slippery blades preventing binding... Actually... If they do, I wonder it it would work on the Red Dragon synthetic swords?

[@999wilf999]

Since they added the fluff about Beskar steel being lightsaber proof, I've wanted to see a lightsaber with a complex hilt made out of it!

[@DKhuluq]

Do a search for lightsabers of the High Republic. There's some fairly ornate hilts there. None made of beskar, but they are much more ornate, some with cross guards(both as part of the hilt and beams).

[@wesleybarrett9502]

Nothing too complex but even a simple cup hilt or extended disc guard

[@marty2129]

Quite possible in-lore, and there wasn't just beskar... phrik was another lightsaber-resistant metal (Palpatine's lightsaber hilt and Grievous' Magnaguard droids' staves in RotS were made from it), then there was cortosis that could, if properly made, short-circuit the blade, there were some EM projected fields and energy shieldings that could stop the blade, sith alchemy could produce blades that could stop lightsaber and few Force-imbued objects were able to block lightsabers... But man, all of those would cost you an arm and leg, sometimes even literally... beskar and phrik were insanely expensive and rare (plus in case of beskar, getting a Mandalorian smith to make one for you might be the last thing you ever do because they liked neither jedi nor sith), cortosis was rare and extremely brittle unless used in alloy where it lost its unique anti-lightsaber property (and even when that alloy was lightsaber-resistant, it was hard to work with), energy shielding usually required vehicle or ship-grade power source, imbuing anything with Force was poorly understood subject even among those who somehow managed to do it (lightsaber creation was exact science when compared to that), and don't let me even start on all the issues with creating anything through sith alchemy... P.S. using old Legends lore here with which I am familiar with... in case of the new continuity (the current canon), the Story Group lore on this very topic is along the lines of "whatever is convenient for the writer even if it was estabilished otherwise before".

I would imagine that styles like bartitsu or similar that rely on weapons without crossguards would translate well into this.

[@thekaxmax]

including savate.

[@kevinschultz6091]

or Escrima/Arnis/Kali.

[@treeboi]

I've fenced with lightsabers for many years & like you, the blades hold up really well & are cheap to replace, about $20 to $30. The bigger breakage is the electronics, so you have to disassemble, resolder, apply hot glue to capacitors (a common break) & a bit of foam to dampen movement.

[@itsapittie]

From the time I saw the very first movie, I've thought a real lightsaber would almost certainly have a flange or the like at the distal end of the handle. It would be catastrophic if your hand slid off the handle onto the blade. I've always written it off as one of the compromises Hollywood makes for visual appeal. With regard to hand protection from parrying, in the films, it appears that one lightsaber "blade" doesn't slide down the other one but almost "sticks" where they struck. This actually could make sense for an energy weapon; i.e., the two beams interact with one another in an entirely different way than two steel blades.

[@Archontasil]

Even real steel blade sometimes bites into each other. Still no excuse for the lack of hand protection. Look at how many lost limbs in star wars

[@elijahoconnell]

@@Archontasilid say that might be quite a big point in terms of internal consistency

[@95DarkFire]

Some light saber have discs to prevent the hands from slipping. It is more of a personal choice.

[@AWPtical800]

As far as the blades sticking goes, the canon explanation (going both off of Rebels and Jedi: Fallen Order) is that the Kyber crystals in lightsabers are a conduit of physical energy, the Force, and the user's thoughts and feelings. The blade becomes more and more powerful as you put more energy, Force and emotion through it, though you can overload a crystal and detonate it with devastating effect. The blades are also attracted to one another: the more powerful the blades, the more powerful the attraction. Think of it as if the blades are magnetized.

[@SingularityOrbit]

What's funny is that the original Skywalker and Vader lightsbers do have something to stop the hand moving up onto the blade. It's a couple of fin-like protrusions within the last inch or so of the handle. Kenobi's weapon in the old films narrowed quite a lot just behind the emitter, which might be helpful; it's hard to tell, but Luke copied that design, and if anybody needed to stop careless slippage it's Luke with his leather-covered cybernetic hand. From the prequels on the designs really didn't seem to bother with anything to protect a wielder from running their hand up into the blade. At least until Kylo Ren's weapon with the crossguard emitters, which would definitely do the job.

[@drokangel]

This is fantastic. There are several groups out there that train specifically for LED saber combat. The Saber Legion is maybe the most well known in the US, and Ludosport is big in Europe. I teach my trainees the Lightfencing rule set, which parallels the ASL-FFE rules approved by the French government.

[@EchoesDaBear]

Great review & test Matt!! I purchased a pair of sabers last year (Saber Masters - here in Canada) for a relatively economical price (under $250 - compared to the 'custom' movie replicas that you can get, which can be >$600 with all the features!), and they have been a LOAD of fun! I am a consummate Star Wars nerd/fanboy, child of the 80's, so the 'weapon' of choice has ALWAYS been a lightsaber! So to have access to a 'toy' like this now, one that is durable, sounds awesome and usable is amazing!! (compared to the cheaper plastic toys that were released in the 90's) I have used them up at the cottage, around the campfire, sparring with my kids & nephews (also Star Wars nerds), so seeing it used in a more realistic HEMA application makes me know they are well built (just an FYI - they use Polycarbonate for the blades - a basically 'indestructible', impact proof plastic - and you and Alex proved that point nicely!!) This makes me want to find a local HEMA club and start training!! Cheers - may the force be with you all!

[@yeahnaaa292]

DARTH CONTEXT Oi ! Who wants to see Matt shoot Force Lightning from his Pommel - thus ending them (B)RIGHTLY?⚡️⚡️⚡️

[@bull614]

I love the advice for the constructors. You make VERY good points that they really need to pay attention to. They really should work with someone of your skill and knowledge. Side note: I would love to see your design for a light saber, especially if it has a cross guard

[@okhistotainment]

Great video Matt, I have been porting HEMA fencing to LED Saber for about 8 years now, ever since I started my Cologne Lighstaber Combat Group when EP7 created a new interest into Lightsaber fencing. I mainly use Huttons Long Stick, bastone a due mani, canne and regimental saber as a base and Bolognese sidesword and Spadone as well as Meyer for advanced concepts. Since then i regularly teach LED Saber fencing and I also started to compete in the "Saber Tour" tournament format at the Paris international Open last year. There I made it into the round of 16, but I got kicked out by the later tournament winner, who is hosting the UK Open in London on the 11.11, if you want to check out the current state of Lightsaber tournaments.

[@p4riah]

i own two similar sabers from a different brand, and one thing i did (that seems to be semi common in the custom saber world) was replace the flush hex screws that hold the blade in with thumbscrews that stick out. this gives two benefits - it means that you can remove and reattach the blade without having to carry around (and potentially lose) the hex wrench, and it adds handstops at the top of the hilt to prevent your hand running up the blade. i also think it looks cool. it definitely makes the very smooth clean hilts of many of these custom duelling sabers look somewhat more like the greeblie'd-up movie props. im not super surprised they held up. the custom saber community has, i think, figured out durability for the most part. with the single superbright LED mounted in the hilt, the blade design can be almost completely focused on durability. its merely a thick, flexible clear polycarbonate tube with a white diffuser film on the inside to spread the light more evenly. the point where the blade meets the hilt is definitely the weakest point. i also think that ppl who seriously spar with these things DO consider the blades semi-disposable. the fact that they can be easily replaced definitely helps, and they arent too expensive. rubberizing it is an interesting idea. i wonder if you could replace or augment the internal white diffuser with a translucent white rubber on the outside. one of the design constraints you have with these lightsabers is that the construction of the blade can drastically effect the clarity and intensity of the light. some of the duelling blades with thicker walls get rather dim because of it. putting the diffuser on the outside would also cause the light distribution to change over time as it gets damaged. i suppose if there exists a really clear rubber that doesnt block much light, that could work.

[@hamstermk4]

My experience with light sabers is the lack of hand guard really messes with you at first, then you devolve in to a game of voiding and hand snipes.

[@persuisixh4804]

Same. The only way it works is if one person has a heavier longe blade, to force people to come into range

[@EriktheRed2023]

I'm sitting here grinning like a mad man. Just the sounds they make! 😆 Looking forward to hearing Matt's perspective. Maybe this will give him some new insights into lightsabre fighting.

[@OddBallPerformance]

Something difficult to recreate in real life that is a part of the lightsaber lore: moving the "blade" requires a level of effort as you are changing the direction of the flow of a lot of energy. The other aspect is that the blades "stick" to one another, or have a level of magnetic like atttraction.

[@Nacimota]

I've never thought much about lightsabers not having a guard before this video. I suppose the opposing lightsaber could cut through it (unless it's made of that exotic material, the name of which temporarily escapes me), but surely preventing your own hand from slipping up onto the blade is still a useful thing to want to do. Maybe lightsaber fighting techniques are just different enough that it's somehow not a problem? Or maybe it's explained somewhere in the universe that I'm not aware of? I've really only seen the main series and a couple of the spin-off films, so I have no idea.

[@sealpiercing8476]

Bollock lightsaber

[@myfaceismyshield5963]

That Night Lord suit on that guy with the blue lightsaber at one point is dope af.. fun to see people having personalised gear

[@RainMakeR_Workshop]

I've been working on a few custom lightsaber designs based on my understanding of swordplay. I have a one handed gymnasium sabre hilt one (to be used with a death watch personal combat shield), a longsword one with a short lightsabre blade nagel and also with a lightsabre blade crossguard, angled away from the wielder and towards the opponent. Also a Swordstaff polearm (which could also be a winged spear with shorter quillon lightsabre blades).

[@RainMakeR_Workshop]

Damn it. Got a heart from Matt as I was editing a typo and lost it... D:

[@RainMakeR_Workshop]

Yay, got it back lol

[@shercove]

I've owned a few stunt sabers, was always worried the electronics for anything more than just the light would be too fragile. I'm impressed that the speaker and it's chip managed to survive.

[@ias1985swe]

More of this please, was so cool seeing you guys fight with lightsabers, very tempted to buy a pair of those.

[@0326jlc]

Hi their and thanks for this video . I have been practicing HEMA for a few years now, and I have been concurrently fencing with lightsabers as well. Your absolutely right about needing protective Gear. Most competitive tournaments require a steel gorget. While they do flex a bit getting stabbed in the throat by one of these sucks.

[@TheFlyguywill]

I’m just imagining how many of these hits would be absolutely lethal with a real lightsaber. The hits are so fast compared to the movie choreography!

[@Desdinova721]

Matt and Drach Bat'Leth sparring when?

[@scholagladiatoria]

What have you done.....

[@Drachinifel]

Ooh, now there's a thought....

[@damiensaber]

Thanks for the great video, the review and fighting footage of the lightsaber were really impressive! 👍

[@scholagladiatoria]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@thepagan5432]

Very interesting, the fighters would have at least lost one arm, 4 ribs, a kidney, half a liver and 3 fingers of the remaining hand. Your point about thrusting is very pertinent as it is easier to thrust than to swipe in close proximity to allies and space craft walls. When Star Wars first came out there were many kids fighting with PVC pipe light sabres, that was back in 1977. The hand protection was obviously overlooked as there would have been many digitless Jedi and Sith. Good post, thank you.

[@Skenderbeuismyhero]

Don't forget that you don't actually have to smack the shit out of someone to cut with a lightsaber haha

[@blackmage471]

There was a fantastic video made by Corridor (To The Death) that showcased what a choreographed lightsaber duel should actually look like. The advisors they brought in noted that strength is a not a component in a lightsaber duel. The energy weighs nothing and it cuts through almost everything. Speed, reflexes, and hand-eye coordination is everything. All that completely changes how they should be wielded and makes stabbing attacks incredibly potent. Basically, Hollywood gets it wrong.

[@libraeotequever3pointoh95]

Choreography is about conveying a story and/or character emotions, too. Vintage Errol Flynn pirate swashbuckling sword fighting scenes come to mind as an example, along with the movie "The Court Jester" with Danny Kaye and Basil Rathbone.

[@MrMartinSchou]

Looking at how the blades impact, I'm wondering if you could put UV-reacting powder on the sabers between each "duel" (each exchange) and use that to light up exactly where the impacts are on the combatants.

[@erikascovenoftransness4493]

this is the kind of star wars content we need from a historical youtuber talking about the cool stuff

[@Nah1100]

This channel cures my depression by assuaging my cognitive dissonance about being both a loving human being and a psychotic murder machine. Making conflict conscious and civilized is one of the best things society can do for itself right now, especially young men.

[@jm9371]

The force is definitely with you! That was fun to watch.

[@krispypriest5116]

I practice Hema with lightsabers and "Other" stuff. The tactics are the same but speed and light touches are better as the blade is suppose to do the damage. Darth Krispy 💀at your service my Emperor Palpatine! Thank you Scholagladiatoria for covering this. You also helped with my "real" sword choices.

[@Laochri]

I was building Lightsaber back when we tore apart Hasbro, Master Replica and and built OG custom Sabers. We also used the Graflex Flash Gun that was the original Luke Skywalker prop. We used EL (electroluminescent) Wire before LED's. The blades are polycarbonate and can take an absurd amount of punishment. Single LED's, gave way to RGBW LED's, to LED Strings, to Neopixel micro LED's.

[@Halbared]

The best sabre move was by Obi wan in Star Wars, using it like a torch. Sir Alec had clearly thought this through.

[@TheCaniblcat]

Regarding rubberizing the blades. I own some silicone 'tupperware' that are soft and grippy in some places and hard and smooth in others, translucent enough to see through. I think that material would be perfect. Making the inside of the tube hard and the outside of the tube soft and squishy/grippy with white (or if possible clear) silicone shouldn't be too difficult.

[@rogerwilco2]

I've had several Ultrasabers for almost a decade. A great trick to walk around with the hilt on your belt is to sow a pocket into the lining of a robe, cape or mantle for the blade.

[@VegetaLF7]

I have an Ultrasaber myself (as well as some Galaxy's Edge ones) and I actually have a sword frog on my belt when I take it to conventions that works rather well for carrying.

[@allinaxford]

The handles of the old light sabers are made from camera parts and where more for holding a flash, or a camera steady, not combat at all. Keep up the fun videos.

[@scottfumc]

Also, the competition lightsabers usually have tsuba, 16 inch maximum grip, and 51 inch overall maximum. This is for the TSL standard division.

[@bernieeod57]

Skallagrim had an excellent critique of light saber combat. One point he made as "Why would anyone need to perform a two handed power stroke with a plasma blade able to slice just about anything? If all one needs to do is tap one's opponent and you vaporize flesh, wouldn't the rapier technique be the preferred method?"

[@scholagladiatoria]

That is somewhat addressed in Star Wars canon (I think in Rebels and Mandalorian/Book of Boba Fett) in that lightsabers are supposed to be difficult to control. They are actual not supposed to be simply a beam of light, and the difficulty of wielding them is mentioned in a lot of the 'source' material. Of course, that does make them less like these very fun toys!

[@alexanerose4820]

That's what Makashi/Form 2 is but you you seem to forget that when 2 lightsabers connect they're pretty much solid which means you can add force behind the blows thus I'm sure a 2 handed Powerstroke would beat wrist action by sheer OOMPH in the strike

[@Modighen]

The owner of my club broke down and bought a few. They are a lot of fun but I find their weight make them more conducive to one handed use and accidentally triggering the options because you can't feel the button, especially with heavy gloves. I would have preferred the options for color and sound to be separate to the main button which would be fine for activating/deactivating the saber. Still, they're really, REALLY tempting whenever I see ads for them to pick up a few.

[@ignacnovotny2808]

Great video. It's even said in rebels there is slight pull between two lightsabers.

[@JainaSoloB312]

Awesome video! I've always said that the basic $10 plastic lightsaber toys are more accurate to how you'd actually fight with lightsabers, because the blade is in 4 sections that extend telescopically, so when your opponent's blade slides down yours, it gets caught on the top of the next section. It doesn't bind exactly, like steel, nor does it magnetically attract like real lightsabers would, but it does mostly prevent the blades from sliding around. It was interesting to see how you adapted your fighting style to the lack of hand protection, and very cool to watch real historical swordsmanship applied to these fantastical weapons! What would you compare the weight and point of balance to? And what fencing system was the duelist wearing blue using, Sidesword?

[@procinctu1]

Thank you sir! Love this channel.

[@farkasmactavish]

I do lightsaber combat every year at DragonCon, at the Last Party on Alderaan event, as well as with my HEMA sparring partners off and on. My strategy mostly involves thrusts, and cuts using the very end of the blade, because it's very easy for lightsaber contact of _any_ kind to "count".

[@TheRenegadeBeautyKimberlyJCamp]

1, Always give the blade retention screw a tweek before beginning a sparring or workout session. 2, The blades are 1-inch diameter polycarbonate tubing, the two industry/hobby standards being 2mm (mid-grade) and 3mm (heavy grade) wall thickness. 3, if you use them for real sparring the blades will eventually crack but replacement blades are readily available and only take a minute swap out. I tend to keep at least 2 replacement blades on hand. 4, several light saber brands offer models with a tsuba style guard which goes a long way in preventing finger hits.

[@billwinston7912]

Matt, this was a fun one. I got into Japanese swordsmanship because of my love for Star Wars at an early age. I have been competing in and judging sport kenjutsu with my sensei for 23 years. Please allow me a day to rewatch and post my very humble point of view. I have much to say but I fear I cannot express it all right now.

[@yobgodababua1862]

After the fighting I paused to type out a long post about how the blades "stick" more in canon and how that would help prevent fingerless padawans, but then you covered absolutely everything I said... so I've repalced that post with this one saying "Well done!" and "Looks like fun!"

[@ao1778]

I dont care for star wars at all, but tuned in for the sparring session and it was absolutely beautiful! Certainly did not disappoint.

[@Archontasil]

its better to use lightsaber like a rapier right? You don't need any heavy swing at all, just little poke of doom. I think count dooku has that style of fighting as well

[@kristianjensen5877]

The nature of lightsabers is all over the place. The way they are being used in the movies etc. implies that the blade has mass and that swinging them harder has some kind of effect (eg. Luke swinging at Vader using the weapon like a baseball bat), yet at the same time the blade is allegedly energy based and "melts/burns" rather than cuts on impact. Generally speaking, assuming the blade has a lot less mass than a metal sword is probably the correct one so a fighting style relying on "flicks" and thrusts like that of a rapier is probably the most effective way of using them. Eg. if all it takes to sever an entire limb is brief contact, brief contact would probably be the predominant method of fighting.

[@wladff]

@@kristianjensen5877, according to the lore lightsabers can resist movements due to kyber crystals being not "tuned" to the fighter. It's even shown in the Book of Bobba Fett where Din Djarin struggles with the darksaber because his mind is in the turmoil. If I'm not mistaken it was also shown in Rebels. So a novice (Luke) has to really fight against his weapon to make it move while an experienced fighter is "in tune" with his/her blade and can swing it around with ease.

[@kristianjensen5877]

@@wladff Luke was not a novice at the end of ROTJ though. Obi Wan Kenobi was also not a novice in either Clone Wars or ROTS, neither were Mace Windu or pretty much any saber user in the first 6 movies. Guess they're trying to retroactively "fix" the lore behind the baseball bat saber use so it makes a little more sense.

[@Archontasil]

@@kristianjensen5877 it was a character moment. Luke was supposed to be angry at that moment. He forego all his jedi training and turns to hate and anger.

[@SibylleLeon]

I love that they're making the sound ❤

[@Moredread25]

Yeah, that's one of the most unreal parts of lightsaber fighting - so many people would loose fingers because there's no guard. I was going to comment on the lack of binding which happens in Star Wars for some reason.

[@XansStuff]

We have a lightsaber combat club. If you want to increase the friction, you can actually sand the blades a bit. Especially if you are using a thick walled polycarbonate over the thin walled. We fight in costume without protection, however, and use strike zones. Basically, it's the opposite of foil. Arms above the elbow, legs below the knee, forehead, and deltoid area of the shoulder. Also, typically, those sabers can take a lot more abuse than you put them through.

[@Shenordak]

The old lore had this idea that the actual lightsaber blade (as opposed to the light bleed around it) was almost infinitely thin and did not really give off all that much heat because of it. It was also infinitely sharp though. That meant that although you could thrust with it, a thrust on its own wasn't going to do much damage, as the diameter of the puncture would be microscopic. On the other hand, this meant that a slash, preferably connecting as far down on the blade as possible, would be absolutely devastating, severing a whole torso with little effort for example. It's the lateral movement that inflicts damage. This is discussed in Heir to the Empire when Thrawn's officers can't find any visible marks on dead stormtroopers, until Thrawn tells them to look for submicroscopic cuts and micro burns. This however is contradicted by the lightsabers in the prequel trilogy.

[@eddys.3524]

nice light effects while stick-fighting... the lights make the movements easier to follow for the audience.

[@TheHorzabora]

Re: Rubberising blades. Speaking as someone who does all three ‘styles’ (HEMA, Lightsaber, LARP) I would seriously look at some thin rubber/latex-alike layer atop an equally thin foam layer and then - this is key - something akin to isoflex to seal the lot (which is how LARP weapons in the UK are made) OR something like the injection moulded foam that Calimacil weapons are made from. Making this transparent is not easy, I’ve seen plenty of attempts and done some myself. But it can’t be impossible with money and time. The reason for this advice is that LARP weapons behave exactly as you describe, it’s the big flaw with LARP sword fighting - the lack of a strong rebound on the parry and the tendency for the blades to stick. You essentially want to maximise this as much as possible. I would say, if you had infinite money and didn’t care so much about the blades lighting up, a carefully positioned set of magnets or magnetised wires in a paired set of blades would be perfect for recreating how the blades seem to function in one on one duels - but obviously is no good for larger melee (or indeed, with any form of fixed natural magnet, people unlucky enough to have the same polarity on their blades).

[@TheUncleRuckus]

Super surprised by how well these held up, they're a lot more Skookum that I thought they'd be. 👏👏👏 Didn't want to edit my original comment and remove the like from Matt lol

[@somniferousSirenSocial]

I got to say, the cut of the fighter with the green blade at 12:24 was beautiful

[@Lungorthin666]

Maybe a thin vinyl sticker strip would help the blades stick in a bind.

[@ForceSmart]

Many lightsabers in Star Wars have better or more substantial crossguards or other methods of hand protection than these examples. Luke Skywalker's lightsaber is a great example with how its emitter is both flanged and extended away from the main lightsaber body's textured grip. Baylan Skoll's lightsaber is another good example with a small crossguard and the emitter extended away from the main grip. Although a crossguard made of durasteel or other common materials would help keep your hand in a safe place, it wouldn't do anything to stop an enemy's lightsaber from slicing clean through. Very rare and exotic materials like beskar or cortosis would be another story. The Darksaber is the only known lightsaber made from beskar and it has a crossguard. Whereas cortosis was rarely used to make items like blades, shields, and armor, I don't think it was every used in the construction of a lightsaber itself. However, Roan Fel's Imperial Knights did use cortosis gauntlets in lightsaber combat against the One Sith Order.

[@ariochiv]

That always seemed kind of obvious to me, that a real lightsaber would be used one-handed much more like a rapier than a longsword, since one presumes that it doesn't take much force to do damage. The brief bit where you sparred one-handed seems to bear that out. This was really fun.

[@Kingdomkey123678]

In current canon lightsabers aren’t just weightless light rays. They’re more so flowing energy beams with inertia, the beam wants to go in a direction and you have to actively counter act that or use it to your advantage. Or somehow attune your self with the Kyber Crystal so you and the beam work in concert

[@rupertgarcia8062]

I bet you enjoyed sparring with that. Looks fun!

[@vodostar9134]

I would think a light saber wouldn't have hand protection because the blade would just slice though any physical material you used for the guard. But yeah, sticky blades... good idea. They certainly seem sticky in the movies.

[@cypressz]

I used to be part of a club that sparred with these every week! It's a shame that group ended, it was one of the most fun I've ever had.

[@cypressz]

Also you can buy parts and assemble your own! I've found I get perfect balance when I make my own saber.

[@gildouglas7844]

In The Saber Legion, we frequently add tsubas to our hilts to help protect the fingers. Those polycarbonate blades will wreck your joints.

[@Zbigniew_Nowak]

Interesting... Are you planning to go more in this direction - sci-fi melee weapons, fantasy or speculations about weapons that could be used in fictional worlds, steampunk, etc.? :)

[@scholagladiatoria]

I've already made quite a lot of videos on this topic. I guess it will continue to be an occasional distraction, but the main focus of the channel is always history.

[@Zbigniew_Nowak]

@@scholagladiatoria Since we're sticking to historical topics, tell me what you think about this case: wicker shields. We know they were. Apparently they provide good protection against cuts. But they do not protect against piercing weapons at all. Apparently this is why the Greeks easily massacred such opponents with their spears. But then all cultures used spears, even mainly spears. Which undermines the point of such wicker shields.

[@anantasheshanaga3666]

Isn't a lightsaber a saber weighing less than 300 grams?

[@ErikMikkelsen1]

That's a light saber. You need a space in there. 😆

[@CreepyCave]

No, it's a saber with reduced fat

[@carlcramer9269]

The lack of binds and the need to make the blades stick together better was very clear from the first to the last clip of this.

[@hic_tus]

we can see you're doing rapier matt, so much thrusting haha! btw the hand is absolutely in danger with light sabers, no wonder luke lost his in the movies. i suddenly feel like you really need a space wizard to use them properly, without incinerating your own knee at the first training session lol

[@sealpiercing8476]

Most lightsabers in the movies have rather minimalist handles apart from the greebling. According to the premise I suppose most materials wouldn't function as hand protection, so a little feature to stop your hand sliding up is all that would be needed or desired in most cases. Therefore I propose the bollock lightsaber.

[@Grechaj]

Kylo Ren's lighsaber design was protecting hand with crest guard, i loved it when the film came out because it solves very big issue of unprotected hands. I dont know why people hated it that much, the guard itself most definitely from the material that withstand lightsabers (there are quite a few in SW universe) and its not that to remember that your guard is also lightsaber and you can even use it as a weapon effectively

[@sealpiercing8476]

@@Grechaj I thought the movie was ok as long as I didn't think about it too hard, but I agree a guard on a lightsaber is sensible in and of itself. One might reasonably ask why lightsabers wouldn't have guards by default, but star wars isn't a setting meant to stand up to that kind of scrutiny imo

[@Grechaj]

@@sealpiercing8476 i saw very reasonable argument about poor lighsaber design is that it's suppose to be more ceremonial weapon rather than an actual combat weapon, because jedis were suppose to be kinda like monks but later were weaponised by the Sidious.

[@ao1778]

Lightsabers in general are just such dumb weapons, especially considering how people fight with them in the movies...

[@libraeotequever3pointoh95]

the first light sabers used in a movie were re-purposed filming equipment. Everything follows from there.

[@tones7mca]

These look really well made for sparing. But I was immediately struck by there being absolutely no guard of any kind. A simple rim at the top of the hilt would even help practically, perhaps similar to Katana etc.

[@brentbartley6838]

In the Original Trilogy the Anakin/Luke blue and Vader's sabers were made from lighlty modified Graflex camera flash units which is why they're not ergonomic. The Kenobi blue/Luke green sabers have the same box on the side but I don't know if they were also camera flash handles. The Sequel Trilogy sabers were mostly custom machined and more ergonomic, Qui Gon, early Kenobi, Windu etc had better grips though Anakin's were still patterned after the OT Graflex's.

[@Lerna_Arier]

Thank you very much! When I'm listening to you I begin to think that I'm not so stupid as I thought before. You tell the same things Ithought about lightsabers' blades with some friction. They are so slippery that any "avasse" is impossible.

[@lukerettie]

That looked like a lot of fun, hope lightsaber manufacturers can come up with friction blades of some kind. Will you be doing videos on the lightsaber battles from Ahsoka? *mild spoilers* Im particularly curious on your take on Baylan Skoll and Ahsoka's battles, outside of the half-swording Ahsoka did. To an absolutely untrained eye like mine it looked a bit like movie samurai technique v movie high medieval knight technique but thats from someone with very limited knowledge of these things

[@joshuadavey8947]

What i found interesting is when you use the ones with sound. Your ability to anticipate increases a ton!

[@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145]

I've played with lightsabers but never used them for long but I too noticed the lack of guard (this is why I loved Kylo's lightsaber) but if one adjusts ones thinking/technique to stick fighting rather than sword fighting it helps.

[@cazmarius3442]

A light coating of clear soft drying contact glue like rubber cement would be an interesting experiment.

[@elijahoconnell]

i always thought it was interesting how the lack of any need for edge alignment affects how you would fight, especially with someone being “bound” by muscle memory to have proper edge alignment. could disarms be considered a form of the force lol.

[@m.vondrake5534]

There are leg attacks in HEMA, both at distance to keep the opponent at a distance and also while engaged up close. My own technique swipes at the leg after disengaging from from a binding.

[@egm01egm]

What's your Force level that you can touch plasma blade without any harm?!

[@scholagladiatoria]

High, really high. 11 probably.

[@asraarradon4115]

@@scholagladiatoria As strong as a small pony? Well, that's quite strong that is!

[@ErikMikkelsen1]

@@asraarradon4115 LOL! I get to see Suzy Eddie Izzard later this month. (Welsh accent) Very excited!

[@jlan7844]

After taking a look at the site provided, I think I saw a model of saber that Matt would prefer over the ones he was sent. The banner on the opening page of Damiensaber has a lightsaber option that looks like a futuristic version of the classic longsword among the example sabers. So that model has a full cross guard on it.

[@renoblevg5375]

I like how you guys work with the sabers. But I'm interested in seeing how your techniques change with different style sabers, longer blades and or hilts, crossguard, curved and double bladed lightsabers and all that

[@johnspencer2914]

I did Light sabre for a year and agree, they need to increase the friction to create a bind.

[@classicfrog80]

Two questions: Have you considered that with lightsabres double hits would be very unlikely due to devastating effects of even the slightest touch, offering the ultimate stopping power, and have you tried to incorporate this idea into your fencing moves? These lighsabres are very bright glowing and thick. Did the blade visibility affected the fencing in any way? Like, was it any easier to follow it and move accordingly, compared to normal swords?

[@RobKinneySouthpaw]

I would like a lightsaber with a beskar 3-bar hilt. Or a field projected bowl guard like a transparent blue highland basket hilt.

[@Fadeing]

Nice points on texturizing for binding friction. - An interesting point under the theory of them being plasma encompassed in an immutable energy field. This sliding might be closer or farther from the fields interacting with each other like magnets repulsing each other. -Testing Idea: what is it like trying to spar with magnetized swords?