Saber Forum

SPIN WARS EPISODE VI: The Return of the Spin

Here we are again saber community. The younglings are practicing their carols, the snow is starting to fall for some of us, and the weather is getting colder. Another year has come and gone. Hopefully we have spent some time improving our sabering  skills. Now it is time to put that last part to the test. That’s right, the time has come once again to break out those sabers, cameras, and fancy moves, and get ready for this year’s Spin Wars!  This is the announcement you have all been waiting for. Good lord, this is episode VI already. I can't promise there won't be Ewoks.

What is Spin Wars?

Spin Wars is Tradition!!!

Simply put, most of us here tend to do our own things. We do choreographed fights, martial arts demos, spinning routines, costume work, etc. What if there was a way to get several of those things into one project that would showcase a wider picture of what we, as a community, do with lightsabers? That is what Spin Wars did last 4 years. For anyone unfamiliar, the archived videos are here.


! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_fabiOtA6Y#)
! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOXLGXuPRQA#)
! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtBuaBYkTjE#)
! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUMKS1tbufw#)
! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYYyPhHF3jQ#)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzI5lK_47gI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzI5lK_47gI#)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O83Wl90oTI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O83Wl90oTI#)
So what about this year? Anyone willing to volunteer, post a video in which you show us your saber work. You can choreograph a fight, you can give us spinning, you can film some freeform work, you can do it with lit or unlit blades, in costume or in plain clothes, outside, inside, or on green screen. This footage will be edited together into a montage. This year we will be looking at a light side and a dark side cut. There will be a base music track for each side with a second track to expand the music if we get enough videos.


The criteria:


1. For editing and theme purposes, the video should be designed to accompany a piece of music posted below. Please have the music playing in the video so that I can hear it in the background for timing. If you record it without the music or while the music was playing through headphones, please attach the music track to it before you post.


2. Your video must include a lightsaber (or exotic light weapon of some sort) and be something recognizable as "a performance".


3. Your content should not violate youtube or forum rules.


The details:

If you are interested, please post and say so. Also please indicate if you will considering yourself dark side or light side for this performance. The initial interest will help determine if we are doing one audio track  or two for each side but I will operate as if we are using only 1 until the situation proves otherwise. When you have a video, please post it here or on my Darth Cephalus Facebook page. I can rip things from youtube without a problem for editing, but if you post it directly to facebook, please send it through something like google dopcs as well, so I can grab it. Please include the name or moniker you would like to appear in the credits. If you have a signature move, pose, or other brief trademark, please post it as a separate video or still image as you would like it to appear in the credits. If none is submitted, I will use a short clip from your routine. If you have a youtube channel or web link, post it and I will include it in the description. Please try to submit material as soon as you are able. I would like to start editing in mid December (let's say a final deadline around Dec 20th) with a video release on Youtube around the first of the year.


The Music:


The tracks
Light side primary track
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdhe_6KfHBI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdhe_6KfHBI#)
Light side secondary track
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSAHg0f9nOM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSAHg0f9nOM#)
Dark side primary track
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea7m2BfBDEA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea7m2BfBDEA#)
Dark side secondary track
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEYrRNMr2kg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEYrRNMr2kg#)
Additional notes and disclaimers:

This is not a professional video. This is by and for those who are willing to donate time and energy to make it happen. I will have to decide what makes it in and what does not. I will attempt to give everyone equal time (provided they submit a long enough clip to accomplish this). We are only working with a few minutes of audio. I will try to include everyone, and if too many people are interested to do that, I will try to make a second cut. This may have to come out after the first though. If you have a favorite segment, feel free to let me know the time range and I will do what I can, but no promises. Other than that, feel free to discuss and ask questions if you wish. If there is anything I can do to help you put together a submission, let me know. Otherwise, let's make this one a good one.
Now Get Spinning!.

I have literally been thinking about this for the past couple of days, wondering if we were actually doing another one. I'll have to see if I can get something together. Depending on interest, I can go either LS or DS. For now I'm going to plan on DS though. Looking forward to this years Spin Wars.

You just gave me am excuse to wear my kilt. So, Light side for me.

May have to consider it this year

Great idea, entirely new to this scene, but maybe I'll enter if I can get a decent enough performance together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NeHiAZohZA# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NeHiAZohZA#)
I got excited and made my submission already.
As for my choice of attire. I mean, you brought this on yourself by choosing bagpipes.

If anyone needs help putting a demo together shoot me a message.  Maybe I can help out!

Yes! Count me in!!! Video to follow

Yes! Just Yes.
4 things
1: love the kilt. I was planning to use one of mine in the video as well.
2: love the isolations. I don't know that I have seen many people use those in quite a while.
3: Is that an acrylic counterweight on the other side of that saber?
4: The cat disowned you during the course of that video I think

Thank you kindly, and yes, that is a contact ball I've had for a number of years, and last week I took my dremel tool, made a hole, took a connector, and epoxied it in there; and voila! counterweight!
As for the cat, as soon as i sit down she is all affection, so I'm good.

Dude freakin epic!!! I’m a Scotsman myself!! And I raise my saber to you!

Ohh gebusss (sry off topic) I just noticed ur display pic! Roflz I’m loving ur prof pic as well! Cheers!
Also can’t wait to see you bust a groove!

What’s the limit of entries one person can make?Darth Cephalus?

Technically you can do one for each music track but that would just be you giving me more editing options. I will honor people’s choice of preferred side for the first video. If one side is light (no pun intended), I will give people who submitted a video on both sides a chance to be in both videos. I want to get everyone in first and make sure there is space before we cross that bridge.

Spin wars ... a moment I personally wait for as the vids are always great due to the skills of people here. THANK YOU for that DC ;)

I wish I could participate once ... but time ... and I do not have especially high spin skills  :P

The deadline seems to be 20th of December ... I will try* ;)











* And I perfectly know that there is no try  ::)

Do it
 Do it! Don't be intimidated by those with greater skill. The only way a person gets better is by doing, and doing, and doing it again. Everyone starts at step 1 and progresses from there.

I am too old and, like every lightsider, I have not enough ego to be intimidated  ;D

Plus, the Saberforum community is not full of hater ;)

I am not a good spinner so, I need time to think about a routine or a choreography for a 1 min vid and I need time to make the vid itself ... Will try ;)

Roger that. and hey, you're only as old as your knees/back.

Well now you have to do it haha.  I'm more than happy to help if you need it.

I'm in.


....Lightside if you please.....just this once....

Probably need to defend myself against my dark side brethren!  ;D

Man I like the secondary tracks more than the main ones tbh.

Then go for one of those...or shoot one for both tracks on both sides. If last year is an indicator, we may well have enough people.

....

I just listened to the alts. the Dark side backup is Celldweller.....
I have no choice now

the dark side is calling.

::heads outside to the do the demo right now::

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9-IQNCIOb4&feature=youtu.be# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9-IQNCIOb4&feature=youtu.be#)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRUnyP70ico&feature=youtu.be# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRUnyP70ico&feature=youtu.be#)

When you see the two " gray Jedi " sabers....they are my new trainers, each weights just a little over two pounds.(without the blade)
Literally just completed the Dark side demo. The lightside is a mashup of different training sessions. I wasn't even going to post it to be honest, but I am a man of my word and it must happen now....I have spoken. (lol)


Hope you enjoy!

So I fixed my lightsaber, and a dark side submission was in order... you know, just in case. Not because I wanted to do it. Not at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foTTBRU1P_s# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foTTBRU1P_s#)

Looking good, Master Resolute. 

I shall have my submission by the end of the week/weekend

Ryan, I don't know what is up with the red saber, but my inner cat came out hard watching that little red dot dance around your yard. Awesome stuff guys. Keep them coming.

Lol. The cap went flying as soon as I picked up speed. I’m out of backup blades atm or I would of switched it out.

Want some inspiration? Here is what we have so far.

DARK
Mat Leu
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1chzL_MpEg&feature=youtu.be (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1chzL_MpEg&feature=youtu.be#)
Resolute Ryan
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9-IQNCIOb4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9-IQNCIOb4#)
Finlay Fox
www.youtube.com/watch?v=foTTBRU1P_s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foTTBRU1P_s#)



LIGHT
Ryan Riff Parks
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ahhyS0zLv0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ahhyS0zLv0#)
Everett Ratcliffe
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bzOCl0MJKI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bzOCl0MJKI#)
FinlayFox
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NeHiAZohZA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NeHiAZohZA#)
Resolute Ryan
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRUnyP70ico (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRUnyP70ico#)

And then...
This is my entry for the dark side video for Spin Wars 2019. A bit of trickery in here, but I managed to pull off a lot of my contact moves so I am pretty happy with it. This is parked down from a 30 minute session. I will have a couple longer versions uploaded at some point, but this one fits the track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwZr2hf-6PA# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwZr2hf-6PA#)

Working on mine, will have it posted

I'm planning to get on it after this weekend.

Thanks for the reminder. I will try to get one in, but it will depend on the weather. If it is cold, I might not get one done.

Likely won't make it in this year. Have been able to do about zero saber work lately

Sorry to hear that Therion. It is understandable, but if you change your mind, there is still time. Remember that the compilation is about having fun and celebrating the fact that we are still here and still spinning. I encourage people not to be overly self critical and just get out there and keep working on it.

In the meantime...

New submission on Dark side from Darth Morbidius
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xitKGjtCKsA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xitKGjtCKsA#)

Here's the light side entry from my friend Nightarmz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0GGc9Xtn-0&feature=youtu.be# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0GGc9Xtn-0&feature=youtu.be#)

Your friends have got skill!

Being the self critical lightsaber newbie here, when is the deadline for entering the Spin Wars?
Just in case I'll decide to leave that critic alone and enter.

Spin Wars 2019, Dark Side

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X4KpekNiSU# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X4KpekNiSU#)

Nightarmz is back. Great. I recall his entry from last year. Glad he could participate again.

Also... new entry

Lonaki: dark side
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Eix-kWT69E (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Eix-kWT69E#)

Allen can't be bothered to put shoes on, but he can wear a full suit of armor.

That's what I was thinking, lol

(https://media.giphy.com/media/29HRejgahYenVsohB5/giphy.gif)

I believe deadline is Dec. 20. At least that is what it says in the original post. I hope you can enter.

Have you entered, Taegin? I was hoping that you would enter as well

Also waiting on Sam to enter

Here's my entry Cephalus. I didn't quite hit the 3 minute mark, but I was getting cold, I the first time I tried to record, it didn't record. >:( So I had probably another 3 mins or so that didn't make it onto camera. If you need more, or something different, let me know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7sLVvLK6XU&t=3s# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7sLVvLK6XU&t=3s#)



Yeah I did. ;) :D

This one was fun. I used a hilt with an extension on it. A little bit different look even though you can still for the most part do everything exactly the same. I have another video up on my channel where it is light out and you can see what I'm doing a bit better.

Yay! I can't wait, I've been looking forward to this since last year's ended and have been hoping to see certain members to partake once again. Your one of them, of course ;)

Added you to the list. Dark side I infer from the blade color? Glad you got a chance to enter Taegin.

Thanks to some subtle encouragement from this forum. This is my first time submitting a video.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to record in the evening, so it's a bit light.
Hope it fits the parameters and a quick question. Is there a copyright text we should put in the description vecause of the music used? In case Youtube or anyone else takes offence...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO9gMPfkLHc# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO9gMPfkLHc#)

Looking good, Chuan! You should post more videos

Yeah, Dark Side if possible.

Got it. Added as light side. Don't worry about the music; youtube recognizes the clips and runs ads for the music creators automatically on any video in which they are used. I will mention them in the main video credits as well. You probobly got a note from them about that when you uploaded.

I'm so excited for this! Lots of good flow artists participating!

Thank you all for the nice compliments.

I was thinking of doing a darksided saberstaff version as well, since I might have some spare time tomorrow, but unfortunately one of the two HG-blades broke today, so...

Thanks to my lovely wife, I had some extra time to train, wich ended up with a new recording, and well I think it's good enought for my darkside entry of this years Spinwars.
So here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXel0EpQ7aI# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXel0EpQ7aI#)

So, Mr. Wijchen, I finally have 2 pieces of advice I can give you based off of watching your 2 videos off of here. 1 - stop doubting yourself - keep your practice up and learning what does and does not work when it is a lightsaber instead of a sword. Your forms are perfect, and I'm not saying that lightly.
2 - and feel free to completely disregard me in this because your forms are cleaner than mine so I don't get to tell you much - for entertainment value you can do deeper thrusts and lunges, you can be more dramatic on the blocks with throwing the elbow out instead of keeping it tucked in, and maybe throw in an extra wrist twist when unnecessary just to create more blade movement.

But yeah, as I said, I don't get to tell you much.

Mr. Fox, thank you for your advice, true words spoken.
And to be honest, the things you say, really do make sense and yes I've heard them before, let's say it's a learningcurve I'm in.

What Finlayfox said. Keep up the good work, Chuan. You're doing quite well and please post more videos, I'm a fan!


Finlayfox, you have great form and moves, continue to work on them as always. I've been doing this for over a year now and it's part of my daily life.


You'll only get better with more time and experience so keep spinning and keep posting! ;)

Oh don't get me wrong(I hope my next statement doesn't sound too conceited), I have a lot of good flow forms down, but it's been a good 5 years since I've brushed up on my martial arts; and I know for a fact(thanks to a friend currently in Wing Chun) that my forms and stances are not up to snuff. Though I am planning on rectifying that in the near future.

Awesome moves seen some cool stuff, glad I didn't miss the war how much time do we have left?

First pages says deadline is 'around' december 20th and realease one of the first days of the new year. So maybe if you hurry up, you can still enter.
Would be nice to see some more videos.
 

I only had 15 mins this morning before work, if I'm approved another 2 days can do something way more solid. But I'm not risking not being apart of the war so here is best I can do if this is even acceptable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Dx4zZY83Xo&feature=youtu.be# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Dx4zZY83Xo&feature=youtu.be#)



Video embedded by your friendly neighborhood, Mod ;)

Looks like you're having fun.

Maybe do Darth Cephalus a PM, he's the one initiating and editing this Spinwars (as far as I know), so he can tell you about the deadlines and editing.

  To much fun lol, I missed using my saber a lot. I did he gave me 1 day after Christmas I should be able to get a solid 3 mins in by then.


  That was awesome, the roll overs and balance was amazing. Definitely made me want to fix my staff and try it out.


   Awesome bro epic!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Bpw_EfQec&feature=youtu.be# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Bpw_EfQec&feature=youtu.be#)

Solid 1:40 and my saber broke smh

All multi-posts have been merged into one, please try to avoid double or multi-posting as to keep our threads and forum nice and clean. :)

Into the editing now. Checking on my final count. If I missed you, please let me know quick like.

DARK
Mat Leu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1chzL_MpEg&feature=youtu.be# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1chzL_MpEg&feature=youtu.be#)
Resolute Ryan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9-IQNCIOb4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9-IQNCIOb4)
Finlay Fox
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foTTBRU1P_s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foTTBRU1P_s)
Darth Morbidius
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xitKGjtCKsA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xitKGjtCKsA)
Darth Cephalus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwZr2hf-6PA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwZr2hf-6PA)
Infintit01
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X4KpekNiSU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X4KpekNiSU)
Lonaki
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Eix-kWT69E (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Eix-kWT69E)
Taegin Roan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7sLVvLK6XU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7sLVvLK6XU)
Taichi Chuan Wijchen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXel0EpQ7aI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXel0EpQ7aI)
Jaymes1980
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Bpw_EfQec (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Bpw_EfQec)
LIGHT
Ryan Riff Parks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ahhyS0zLv0# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ahhyS0zLv0#)
Everett Ratcliffe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bzOCl0MJKI# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bzOCl0MJKI#)
FinlayFox
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NeHiAZohZA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NeHiAZohZA)
Resolute Ryan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRUnyP70ico (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRUnyP70ico)
Nightarmz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0GGc9Xtn-0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0GGc9Xtn-0)
Venturous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePAw2Bth-sM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePAw2Bth-sM)
Taichi Chuan Wijchen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO9gMPfkLHc# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO9gMPfkLHc#)

So much talent!

And it is done. Stay tuned as voting will begin tomorrow.
Spin Wars episode VI: Return of the Spin Masters

The Spin has returned to its home planet, in an attempt to revitalize the sabering community.

Little does the community at large suspect that more and more people, lightsiders and darksider alike, have discovered the spin and are now adding to its power. No longer a small band of rebels, their numbers grow.
 
But will they set aside their differences and works towards a common goal, or is the Spin Wars about to ...spin out of control.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLaIcYUCN-Q (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLaIcYUCN-Q#)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwoprvERxgc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwoprvERxgc#)

Great work mister Cephalus! Much appreciated and of course rewarded with points!

  Agreed incredible work looks awesome  points coming for dark side 😃

Had some errors in the originals and some footage that got lost in the final edit. Here are the corrected versions
www.youtube.com/watch?v=29PknRzYdPY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29PknRzYdPY#)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM6eRU81-nI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM6eRU81-nI#)

well done DC, as always. Very nice sets everyone.

Special shout out to MV!! Good to see you good sir!

 Now the time has come to find out who "won". There will be a "winner", an MVP on the non winning side, and a third winner selected from those who vote. The third winner does not have to have had a video in the Spin Wars.

VOTING RULES
Now hang tight, this gets a bit complicated.

WHERE TO VOTE
Voting for this contest is going to need to take place on Youtube. The video links below will take you to the videos, you may comment on either one to vote. Please do not comment on both. Please comment on the new corrected versions of the videos rather than the original releases. There is a list of names of the participants in the video descriptions and at the end of the video for reference.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=29PknRzYdPY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29PknRzYdPY#)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM6eRU81-nI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM6eRU81-nI#)

WHAT TO VOTE ON
In a lot of my stuff, voting has been a no holds barred scenario with people being encouraged to pull their friends and family in and to vote for themselves. This time, I want to make it more about the performance than about your social network. it is going to be honor system here of course and sure you can still share the video, but if you do, encourage your friends and family to vote for the spinner they think should win rather than the person they know. Likewise, in this event, you cannot vote for yourself.

HOW TO VOTE
Each vote should consist of the side you think won the spin wars and the MVP from both sides. and example vote might look like this:
"LIGHT SIDE FTW: John smith and Sarah Jones MVPs"
In this case, John Smith and Sarah Jones would have been on opposite sides. Like mentioned earlier, this vote should be placed in the comments of either of the 2 videos. There are a couple people on both sides; if you vote for them as MVP of one side, you may not vote for them as MVP of the other.

HOW WE DETERMINE THE WINNERs
The winning side is the side with more votes. The winning spinner is the person with the most votes as MVP from the winning side. The runner up is the spinner with the most votes as MVP from the non winning side. The voting audience winner is determined at random from those who voted. All 3 winners get a mystery prize.

The voting stays open till the 1st of February when the winners will be announced.

Good luck to all!

I voted. Lightside wins, with Finlay Fox being the MVP for both sides. Great job Finlay, I hadn't watched your vids yet, so this was my first time seeing what you had done.

Love the enthusiasm, but the rules say you can’t vote for the same person twice. So you need to decide if Finlay is Finlier in light or dark.

Ahh, didn't see that initially. I guess I'll have to modify my vote.

My vote is fin for the light Darth Cephalus for the dark. But my favorite of all was fins use of the force 😃 I want to try that.

Dark Side - Ryan Resolute
Light Side - Nightarmz

As a just in case, I posted on the LS and the DS video, but I'm now also putting it here - Ryan Riff Parks for LS and Lonaki for DS.
Ryan has them sweet body and angel rolls down, and Lonaki threw some fun Wu Shu in in his routine that I particularly liked.

So I know who the winners are, but you all made me work for it. I swear everyone who voted found a different way to do it. Winners and winning side will be announced soon in a video announcement and winners will be contacted for ...reasons that shall not be mentioned here as they break forum rules. ;) I will post the results here as well
(https://media3.giphy.com/media/aiL06ZH64pof6/giphy.gif)