Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Stunt Lightsaber Combat: A Review

Taking over my less than scheduled blogging (sorry, life hit me in a hard way. I've got like six blogs sitting in queue that I will finish.) I wanted to a review of a book I read today. It's not a game book, it was a book on lightsaber dueling. Stunt Lightsaber Combat For Beginners: The Unofficial Guide to Dueling Like a Jedi, by Carey Martell. It is a guide to help fans of Star Wars to spar or choreograph fights using prop lightsabers.

As many of you know, lightsabers are kind of a passion of mine and sort of an amateur profession. I have been a member and instructor with the New York Jedi, the oldest lightsaber choreography group in the fandom, since February of 2009. I am currently one of the Headmasters for Terra Prime Light Armory, which seeks to use Real Life martial arts to make the lightsaber into (as close to) a real martial curriculum. I've taught lightsabers privately and with other groups, as well as written a few papers on lightsaber combat, particularly on the subject of the Seven Forms of Lightsaber Combat.

I'm saying all of this for a few reasons. I want you all to know where my biases are in regards to this. I also want you to know that I'm someone who actually takes this seriously, or as serious as you can take running around with a glow stick for the entertainment of yourself, your friends and whatever audience you cater to. Finally, I'm mentioning all of this to underscore that I am a massive nerd who has had a lot of time on his hands in his life. But most of you have read this blog, you already knew that part.

All that said, I was interested in reading Martells book. Because there is very little discussion about lightsaber dueling as a real world thing. As someone who writes about this stuff and teaches this stuff, I get enthused about new material because it helps me gain a new perspective. It's amazing how something that is make believe is really hard to develop. Perspective matters.

So, imagine how bummed I was reading the introduction for Martells book. In his introduction, he acknowledges the lightsaber groups, and then casts them off as amateurs on Youtube "squabbling" (his word) about the word "Master". So, in his first paragraph he undercuts the community who would most likely want to buy his book. But, dear readers, fear not! We are promised in this book that, Martell claims, is "so obviously missing from the market" that there will be no showboating! Not at all!

While I don't nearly have the martial prowess as Mr. Martell or even that of my peers in the lightsaber groups (one black belt and a gumbo of whatever I picked up from my better trained friends), I do have experience in one thing: promoters trying to sell themselves by undercutting the other people in the 'market'. Lightsaber dueling, either staged, sport, or spar, is a great gateway for geeks who never thought they would learn a martial art to get in to it. I know people who have gone from learning the lightsaber to being instructors in Kung Fu.

But a lot of the individuals in the community starts off alone and looking for some help about this weird hobby. So in comes a promoter that goes "Hey! Look at me! Don't look at these guys! I can help you here!" and then promptly sell their wares on you. It's a predatory kind of mentality, a mobile McDojo. It's not cool, it's not fun, and everyone who has been in the community long enough recognizes it and is zero impressed by it.

Now, that isn't to say that Martells text isn't good. As far as technique, it is a passable manual. But not for lightsabers. "I believe trying to create a functional sparring art based on a choreography which was only ever meant for the silver screen is folly," he says. This is odd because it contradicts part of the function of the book: to help choreograph fights. It also takes away one of the core aspects as to why someone would want to read a book on lightsaber dueling: the lightsaber itself.

In the book, Martell discusses the lightsaber as a prop. As simply what it is: a glorified flashlight with a polycarbonate tube shoved up the opening to create a blade with no edge. Martell's terminology openly tells you to disrgard that, and uses the technical terms for broadsword and fencing. The 'sabers' in the illustrations look more like longswords than lightsabers with crossguards added 'for hand reference' This is itself fine, in fact as far as sword manuals go its not bad. But this feels like someone wrote a decent longsword manual and added 'lightsaber' to it to make a draw. If I'm going to read a book on lightsaber dueling, I want there to be more than just lip service about the lightsaber.

If I'm going to read about lightsaber dueling in real life, I want to talk about the spirit of what is going on (because science hasn't made it practical yet) and try to find ways to make it real. I want to discuss ways of blocking and defending with a weaon with no real blade and that cuts at all angles, something that Martell actively disregards, insisting to use edge terminology of traditional swords. We're talking fictional martal arts for a fictional weapon. Let's get creative. Use real world stuff as an anchor and go for it.

Also,I want it to be stated in no uncertain terms that regardless of sport, spar, or stage combat, you're are effectively playing make believe. Lightsabers are the coolest weapons in fiction, tied in to a lush fictional culture of good guys and bad guys. Regardless of why you picked one up, you're choosing to use a lightsaber because somewhere the little kid inside you wants to play Jedi with your friends. Yes, it's geeky as hell, but it also means you have an active imagination and a degree of courage. You'll need both if you're running around public parks with a neon shinai.

And unfortunately, Carey Martells book treats lightsabers just like that: a glowing practice sword. Again, it's a passable book on basic drills, strikes, and footwork, but it does it at the cost of its main selling point. It's a book about lightsaber dueling that doesn't want to be about lightsaber dueling. If I wanted to learn about longsword and fencing, I can dig up a few manuals and study, or call up some instructor friends I met through that community Martell was quick to disparage. If any one who reads this wants to learn how to make make believe real, I suggest you check for these groups:

New York Jedi: World Famous Lightsaber Stage Combat Group, oldest in the community
Terra Prime Light Armory: Martial Artists making the unreal Real.
Saber Guild: Lightsaber Choreography Fan Group, Recognized by Disney like the 501st.
Ludosport: Lightsabe school and system for sport lightsaber combat

In the end, I give Stunt Lightsaber Combat For Beginners: The Unofficial Guide to Dueling Like a Jedi, by Carey Martell 2 out of 5 stars. 1 star for being a passable modern manual on swordplay, and another star for being one of the first published works on the subject of lightsaber combat. I assure you, it will not be the last and the bar will raise higher. It loses points for not really discussing being about lightsabers and for outright being condescending to the reader and the demographic who would actually buy this book. It isn't worth the 9.99 on kindle or the 20 bucks in print.