The Art of Lightsaber Combat: Techniques and Strategies for Jedi Warriors

With several action-packed films, TV shows, and video games under its belt, the Star Wars franchise has no shortage of epic duelling scenes. Each and every one of these duelling scenes features the use of lightsabers (the melee weapons wielded by Force-sensitive individuals) and several different combat techniques and strategies which captured the imaginations of fans.
The captivating nature of these duelling scenes unsurprisingly led to replica lightsaber duelling – an activity where Star Wars fans and duelling enthusiasts come together to recreate favourite duelling scenes and engage in lightsaber combat.
In order to master the art of lightsaber combat and become a real-world Jedi warrior, you will need to learn some combat techniques and strategies. Some of the most useful ones are;

Getting the Right Combat Lightsaber

The type of lightsaber you use greatly impacts your combat experience. In order to fully immerse yourself in combat and come out victorious, your lightsaber needs to be able to withstand harsh swings and strikes. This is where combat-ready lightsabers come in.
Combat-ready lightsabers are the ideal choice for duelling because their hilts and blades are made from high-quality materials which are strong and sturdy enough to withstand lightsaber duelling. This means that you won’t have to worry about your breaking on impact and compromising the safety of you and your opponent.

Combat-ready lightsabers also come fully equipped with features like motion-sensitive sound effects, a power source, quality blade lights, and RGB colour-changing that can really reflect your personality and set the tone for every lightsaber duel. For example, if you favour the dark side, getting yourself a combat-ready Kylo Ren lightsaber can be a way to showcase your Force connection while duelling.

Learn how to Hold the Hilt Properly and Securely

As with many other combat sports that require wielding a weapon, lightsaber duelling can pose a number of challenges. You may not be able to have good control over the weapon when you first start duelling. However, you can learn to properly hold the weapon by embodying the teachings of other martial arts. Treating your lightsaber as an extension of your body is a good way to have better control over your movements and how they influence your weapon.

Learn Proper Combat Posture

Once you’ve learned to properly hold your lightsaber, the next useful technique you need to learn is the correct fighting stance, particularly the Jedi stance.
The get the Jedi stance, start by placing your weaker foot a step ahead of your dominant one, then properly grip your saber’s hilt at hip-level while pointing its blade at your opponent’s head. This stance keeps you on guard to swiftly dodge incoming attacks. Learning to breathe deeply through your stomach (rather than your chest) can also help improve your combat posture.

Study the Various Lightsaber Fighting Styles

As you probably already know, there are seven different forms of lightsaber combat used by the Jedi in combination with the Force. While learning all of these different fighting styles may not be possible in real life, there are some doable fighting styles that you can learn. Many of the lightsaber fighting styles used in Star Wars were inspired by real-life martial arts (Kendo, Fencing, Bojutsu, Capoeira, and Kenjutsu), so you can learn about the martial art forms that inspired lightsaber fighting styles.

Learn To Feint

This simply means faking strikes and making false moves to trick your opponent. Taking your time to master the art of feinting is the best way to ensure that your opponent cannot predict your moves and counter your attack. A sudden change in your movement can catch your opponent off guard, thus giving you an advantage over them.

Avoid Overswings

Swinging your lightsaber too hard is a rookie mistake that you should try to avoid as it increases your chances of not only completely missing a strike but leaving yourself vulnerable to a retaliatory attack from your opponent. Avoiding overswings and perfecting your strikes is the only surefire way to ensure that you maintain a strong defensive position during combat.

Learn the Lightsaber Spinning Technique

Let’s face it, swinging your lightsaber randomly at your opponent (in no particular fashion) just makes your duelling skills look poor. Learning the art of spinning your lightsaber will not only make you appear cool, but it will improve the flexibility of your wrists and enhance your ability to swing your lightsaber in a wider range and direction.

The different lightsaber combos that you will be able to execute by learning the lightsaber spinning technique are also guaranteed to psych out your opponent and give you an edge over them.

Learn the Lightsaber Throwing Technique

Another cool technique that can take your duelling to the next level is the lightsaber throwing-kick technique which involves throwing your lightsaber and getting it back into your hands with the use of a thin transparent thread that has been attached to the end of your lightsaber’s hilt. In addition to giving you a wider range of motion, this throwing technique gives the illusion of you summoning the lightsaber back into your hands with the help of the Force.

Enrol In Lightsaber Training

Mastering the footwork, forms and techniques involved in lightsaber combat is no easy feat, and sometimes, you might need a little coaching to really hone your skills. Enrolling in a lightsaber training school where you get to learn from expert duelists is the best way to do so.

Conclusion

Mastering the art of lightsaber combat requires learning certain techniques and strategies. The above are some of the important ones that you should really take your time to learn.