This guy is my new hero.

So it looks like saber fencing combat is the closest to what a lightsaber combat would look like.

guard position is keeping the blade in front and hits are made using only your fingers and wrist while extending the arm for reach. A lot of cut to the opponent arm and lunge to strike.

38 minutes ago, Red Castle said:

So it looks like saber fencing combat is the closest to what a lightsaber combat would look like.

guard position is keeping the blade in front and hits are made using only your fingers and wrist while extending the arm for reach. A lot of cut to the opponent arm and lunge to strike.

Either classical sabre, (so taking you off the piste and into much more varied footwork) or rapier with a little more emphasis on cutting.

Obi-Wan vs. Vader in the original film is probably the duel that comes the closest to what an actual lightsaber fight would look like; very small movements, and the weapons are extended well out from the body with the points always online.

He makes a lot of very good and valid points, but he is also assuming there is nothing we don’t know about how a lightsaber handles. I remember way back when Lucas commenting that he choreographed the duels (in the OT) based on the idea that sabers generally needed 2 hands because the amount of power flowing through them made them difficult to control. Obviously he moved away from that specific rationale, but the guy in the video just assumes there is no effects or conditions we are unaware of influencing how one is used.

Its very much like fan arguments about space battles in SW being “WRONG” instead of hypothesizing things like invisible etheric rudders to explain what we see.

There's three big x-factors to jedi using lightsabers to duel.

1) The blades are either weightless or near weightless, which means you won't get tired as fast while dueling, and you can swing them at maximum speed.

2) The blades don't have 1 or 2 sharp edges like metal swords, so positioning doesn't matter at all for both attacking and defending.

3) The biggest x-factor of all is the force. Not only can it make you faster than non-jedi, but pre-cognition is a huge advantage that has no real world equivalent.

Because of all these factors it's hard to judge if what we see on screen is accurate or not, let alone the fantasy and suspension of belief aspects.

@markcsoul There's still going to be some universal facts that aren't going to change:

1) The human (or humanoid alien) body can only move so many ways, so biomechanics alone are going to establish a lot of limitations on how the weapon is used.

2) Large, elaborate, showy cuts are slower than small, simple, and direct attacks. No amount of Force ability or precog in the world is going to make that any different. If it came down to a Force-user performing Prequel flips, or a Force-user doing the very small flicking movements from the Vader/Ben duel in ANH, the latter is going to have a SIGNIFICANT advantage simply because their attacks are going to be coming so much faster.

3) Taking your feet off the ground in a fight is INCREDIBLY stupid. Your feet are what provides you stability, and allow you to react to the flow of a fight. A swordsman in the air is a big, fat target with a "HIT ME" sign flashing over his head.

As the video points out, you don't NEED to swing hard for a lightsaber to cause serious damage. Vader sliced off Luke's hand with barely more than a flick of his wrist. Kylo Ren killed Han just by ACTIVATING his while pointed in the vicinity of his torso.

@Forgotten Lore I don't believe it was the power of the weapon so much as it was a gyroscopic effect that would provide feedback similar to having a blade with mass. However as you said, that concept was pretty much abandoned by the time the Prequels came around. Also keep in mind that in the earliest treatments (and even up into the later drafts and concept art stage) lightsabers were going to be a common weapon used by everyone. In one version the Stormtroopers boarding Leia's ship switched to their lightsabers for the action because of the risk a stray blaster shot would cause a hull breach.

53 minutes ago, Ambaryerno said:

Also   keep in mind that in the earliest treatments (and even up into the later drafts and concept art stage) lightsabers were going to be a common weapon used by everyone. In one version the Stormtroopers boarding Leia's ship switche  d   t   o their lightsabers for the action because of the risk a stray blaster shot would cause a hull breach.   

True.

Which I think would have actually been a cool callback in the sequels, have the first order troopers (some of them, at least) armed with sabers. Not as proficient with them as force users, but still a useful weapon. Would have done a lot to make the ST different from the OT, while still connected.

9 hours ago, Ambaryerno said:

This guy is my new hero.

It took this long for Shad's vid on lightsabers to pop up here? Wow... Link the one where he tears apart the TLJ fight scene on the Supremacy next.

9 hours ago, Hiemfire said:

It took this long for Shad's vid on lightsabers to pop up here? Wow... Link the one where he tears apart the TLJ fight scene on the Supremacy next.

I came across it while looking for real staff-fighting videos after I triggered some hurt fanboys by mentioning I thought Darth Maul's double saber is the stupidest movie weapon ever.

I actually did NOT like the Rey video because of the double standard she was being held to that I've never seen applied to ANY male character. I've watched a LOT of movies where "master swordsmen" are given horrendous fight choreography, yet it's never used as fuel to attack the character the same way he attacked Rey. ****, I thought the Mace Windu/Palpatine choreography is even WORSE (seriously, Samuel Jackson was the WORST swordsman in the entire franchise) yet no one has a problem with Mace being considered the best PT-era swordsman despite how awful his fight in RotS looked. I mean half the fight he's circling with his arms wide open like he wants to give Palps a big ol' hug. Additionally, the Royal Guard fight scene is no different than any other Ninja Circle fight scene in any movie ever, and yet Rey is the only one being called out for it.

Also, if you've seen the comments from that video, it was pointed out that what Rey is doing in her training montage IS part of certain Eastern styles of martial arts. And well, it's a FLOURISH by a character learning how to formally handle a weapon, not an actual fight, so judging her by that scene is absurd in of itself.