Lightsaber Dueling Is Now an Official Sport in France
Star Wars fans have been waiting for the day when lightsaber dueling would finally be recognized as an official sport! Ok, maybe not, but thanks to the French Fencing Federation, that’s exactly what has happened! Yep, lightsaber dueling is now an official sport in France, and I imagine that will eventually spread to other countries.
According to the Associated Press, the Jedi athletes will fight using blades made of polycarbonate. Unfortunately, there’s no energy light blade powered by kyber crystals. Regardless, it’s still pretty cool, and it looks like it will be a fun sport to watch!
Here are the details on how it works:
Combatants fight inside a circle marked in tape on the floor. Strikes to the head or body are worth 5 points; to the arms or legs, 3 points; on hands, 1 point. The first to 15 points wins or, if they don’t get there quickly, the high scorer after 3 minutes. If both fighters reach 10 points, the bout enters “sudden death,” where the first to land a head- or body-blow wins, a rule to encourage enterprising fighters.
Blows only count if the fighters first point the tip of their saber behind them. That rule prevents the viper-like, tip-first quick forward strikes seen in fencing. Instead, the rule encourages swishier blows that are easier for audiences to see and enjoy, and which are more evocative of the duels in “Star Wars.” Of those, the battle between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul in “The Phantom Menace” that ends badly for the Sith despite his double-bladed lightsaber is particularly appreciated by aficionados for its swordplay.
They hope that by doing this it will encourage fans to get off the couch and phones and get active. They explain, “With young people today, it’s a real public health issue. They don’t do any sport and only exercise with their thumbs. It’s becoming difficult to (persuade them to) do a sport that has no connection with getting out of the sofa and playing with one’s thumbs. That is why we are trying to create a bond between our discipline and modern technologies, so participating in a sport feels natural.”
Wouldn’t it be crazy if one day we saw lightsaber dueling at the Olympics!? There’s a long way to go, but anything is possible.
Check out a video below that shows you what lightsaber dueling will be like to watch: