THE French Fencing Federation officially recognized lightsaber dueling as a competitive sport. The physicality of lightsaber combat is part of why the French Fencing Federation threw its support behind the sport and is now equipping fencing clubs with lightsabers and training would-be lightsaber instructors.
“With young people today, it’s a real public health issue. They don’t do any sport and only exercise with their thumbs,” says the federation secretary general. “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.”
The LED-lit rigid polycarbonate lightsaber replicas look and, with the more expensive sabers equipped with a chip in their hilt that emits a throaty electric rumble, even sound remarkably like the silver screen blades that Yoda and other characters wield in the blockbuster movies. Combatants fight inside a circle marked in tape on the floor. Fighters wear the same wire-mesh face mask, protective body armor (sturdy gloves, chest, shoulder and shin pads) for fencing.
Strikes to the head or body are worth 5 points; to the arms or legs, 3 points; on hands, 1 point. The first 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 10 encourage enterprising fighters. Blows only count if the fighters first point the tip of their saber behind them. 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.
