[J. D. Carter]

If any of those advisories were using Mandalorian iron,Songsteel,Neuranium,Phrik or Ultrachrome forged blades then the results would likely come down to individual skill. Any opponent using a blade with a Cortosis weave fashioned blade could not only counter the light saber but would have a very good chance of shorting out the lightsabers crystal.

Wookiepedia, lol.The things one can find when working a 48 straight shift in the wee hours of the morning.

[Greyson Brown]

[David Wilson]

[Harry J. Fletcher]

I was wondering where the light sabres got their power, from batteries? Might be a bit of a downer in the middle of sword fight when you go to parry and the light cuts out or you can't turn the sabre on when you need it. Could it be powered by a minature nuclear generator which could supply unlimited energy to power the sabre? Perhaps the power source is from mysterious antimatter or antienergy in an antibattery or something like that.

There is something else to consider about a light sabre especially when carrying one and that is the on/off switch. Bit of a bummer having it come on accidentally when it was pointed at certain parts of masculine anatomy...yikes! I have to laugh about no half swording...maybe that is where Hand Solo got his name?

[A. Heidalen Skog]

[Ken Speed]

Colt wrote,".... Two there are, so which is the master and which is the apprentice?.............If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny..."


Wow Man! You need to get out more!

[Ed Toton]

[A. Spanjer]

[Ian S LaSpina]

Don't forget, to defeat a lightsaber, even armor was developed that could not only withstand a blow, but would even deactivate a lightsaber upon impact. As far as weapons go, any vibro-weapon smithed with cortosis weave can be used effectively against a lightsaber. Here's the excerpt on cortosis weave being used in both wepons and armor from wookiepedia:

"Cortosis-weave was a swordsmithing technique commonly used on high-quality vibroblades and other melee weapons when combat with opponents wielding lightsabers was considered to be likely. It also was a descriptor for equipment that had been crafted utilizing cortosis ore. Cortosis-weave was employed primarily because it made the weapon able to withstand lightsaber blows. They could also be fashioned into armor or other gear. Weapons needed very little cortosis to be effective but armor required a substantially larger amount. The greater quantity provided an additional benefit to wearers though—a lightsaber would deactivate after contact was made with cortosis armor. Cortosis was extremely rare though and, thus, extremely expensive, resulting in few weapons and armor made with it. Several cultures developed various techniques for insulating traditional melee weapons against such sparring damage, but the art of bonding cortosis to blades in such a manner was first perfected by Echani weaponsmiths sometime prior to the Mandalorian Wars."

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Benjamin Rial]

J.D. and Ian, you guys got to it before I could. Phrik, cortosis, etc.
Love it.
I knew there had to be some fellow Star Wars geeks on here!

STAR WARS RULES!!!!
Okay, I'm breathing, I'm okay...really...
yes it is normal for me to make those "vshooom" noises...

[Jess Rozek]

This thread makes my little nerdy heart very happy.

And if it's good chocolate, I'll join the Dark Side

By the way, in the original Star Wars movies, during one of the battles between Luke and Darth Vader, one of them loses a lightsaber and it goes tinking off things instead of cutting holes in everything. Methinks friction still plays a role in the cutting ability of a lightsaber...

[Robert Hinds]

Since the Original jedi masters (Liechtenaur, Fiore, Talhoffer) depict Half-swording in their manuals, it must be one of the lost arts that we don't know how to do today.

I'm sure that in time historical research and the HEMA sith will re-discover how to perform this complex and challenging move.

The short light sabre's evolved from the *really* short light sabre's we incorectly call "messers" today.

Also in I.33 those are cortosis bucklers, not steel bucklers like living history groups wrongly use.

[Joshua R]

I apologize for the necropost, was looking for someone using actual, historical Western sword fighting techniques with a lightsaber, but...

Couldn't one make a glove with lightsaber-resistant material and half-sword with that? Heck, you might not even need a glove, if you're strong enough in the Force!

[Ian S LaSpina]

[Craig Shackleton]

As an aside, I do teach a kids class called "Star Swords, Knights of the Galactic Republic." It is (not-very) secretly German longsword techniques using LARP katanas with brightly coloured blades. In addition to actual sword techniques, we practice deflecting nerf blaster bolts and thermal detonator stress balls with the "star swords."

All the kids like the zwerchau best.

[Ian S LaSpina]

[William P]

in truth there is a canonical set of lightsabre styles each with different purposes and one reserved for the dark side which is a very agrressive style that apparently was used by darth maul (double bladed lightsabre isnt needed to do it though..)

dookus and obiwans style represent the changing demands placed on the lightsabre on the field, just like when armour evolved with swords evolving to meet them and the changing needs like how the smallsword evolved to fill a specific niche.

dookus style issupposed to be mostly suited to sword vs sword, as mentioned it doesnt take much to sever a limb or slice etc but you cant bleed someone out since the lightsabre cauterises wounds.

the style you see used by most characters is a style bourne out of the fact that the jedi will spend a very large portion of his time using his lightsabre to deflect blasters

so its why obi wan etc hold their lightsaber close to their bodies and it often stays upright or in a semi 'plow' configuration.

also regarding lightsaber mechanics i heard that how the blade works is that its a very very tight;y controlled energy loop most of the lightsabre is dedicated to keeping that energy arc under control.

also speaking of this i also have this mental image of using a kind of energy based hand shield. not unlike a buckler, but bigger.

its a central handle 4 telescopic struts like spokes that mostly are collapsed and hidden within the central mass so it takes up minimal room,. and a ring around that of a sort of piping or steel that can telescope outwards as an expanding rim..
essentially, you whip it out, press a button and the spokes extend and unfold, the outer ring expands with it telescopically, and between it and the centre will allow a conduit for a defensive field to be formed which also forms a small dome to specifically cover the central handle... aka a shield boss. essentially, we a very futuristic, portable, viking style roundshield.

the gungans use something alot like that in battle with the droids in episode 1 except the frame for containing the deflector field isn't collapsible.

this shield idea makes sense, since luke and obi wan spend their time mostly fighting people who are shooting them with blasters. and a very small item which expands to form a energy hand shield is still a interesting idea.

[Mark Moore]

It's 5:15 am where I am, and thanks to waaay too much coffee, I've been up all night looking for something just like this thread. Heck, I may never sleep again! Give Yoda a claymore and lets see him git jiggy wit it !! Seriously though, swords, Star Wars, and sci-fi nerds freakin' RULE !............mcm

[Lafayette C Curtis]

Having met up with (and joined) a local lightsabre group in the last couple of months, now I have to wonder about how the Jedi coped with the lack of any sort of guard on their typical weapons. Many of the moves that are relatively safe and effective in medieval German swordsmanship suddenly end up in double hits (especially on the hands and arms) due to the lack of a cross. Even hard blocks in the manner of later sabre parries often fail to "stick" and result in the parried blade bouncing or sliding down to the hands. I suppose it's common knowledge that this is why the guard at the base of the blade is so widely used across so many cultures, even if most of them aren't as prominent or as central to the swordsmanship system as in the Liechtenauer school, but then there are swords without such pronounced guards and I have to wonder how their users kept their hands safe. Probably with shields--but that means I'll have to compile a comparative list to see whether any of these cultures used guardless blades without shields or a second weapon in the other hand.

On a different tangent, perhaps it also has something to do with the slick round polycarbonate tubes used as the blades for the lightsabre simulators. Perhaps the plasma loops used for "real" lightsabres stuck and bound together better?