Jar'Kai Spinning

[Darth Cephalus]

Here's a teaser of the upcoming Jar'Kai dual wield tutorial series. This started as a practice session where I was working on the dual hand switch, but after I landed it a few times, I slipped into freestyle and ended up doing most of the moves that will be covered in the series. I left it as one take and set to Iron Maiden's 2 Minutes to Midnight. Enjoy.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk0QTtl5SKo" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk0QTtl5SKo</a>

[Genkaku Sho`shyk]

NOCE!!!!!!!

[Darth Burgaar]

D.C. you never cease to amaze with your skills and superior dexterity! I gotta LOOoong way to go before I get to that level . . 

[Darth Cephalus]

As an addendum, here are some freestyle clips taken at Faerie Worlds 2014 in Eugene Oregon last weekend. I think the band playing in the background was called Woodland.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDzvDXS6xSM" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDzvDXS6xSM</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R1E0Bde3Ic" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R1E0Bde3Ic</a>

[Echo Trval]

Your spins are amazing and your taste in music is awesome. I will follow you into battle.

[Master Venturous]

Nicely done

[Darth Cephalus]

Your spins are amazing and your taste in music is awesome. I will follow you into battle.

Excellent. Now all we need is the location of the hidden Rebel base.

[Darth Cephalus]

I started it off today with the first two parts of the tutorial series.
The first is an introduction to Jar'Kai (Dual wield) Saber spinning. In it I cover blade length, weight and balance; practice habits, including feedback; basic theory; and other tips for learning.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8jbxoTiTI4" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8jbxoTiTI4</a>

The second deals with the directional building blocks of Jar'Kai (dual wield) moves, discussing the direction and timing of one saber relative to the other using simple single spins.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMnjo4tWV6c" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMnjo4tWV6c</a>

[Vex]

Really cool and interesting!!!!!!!

[Darth Cephalus]

I just got through the next three parts. They all deal with parallel blade work.

The second part deals with the parallel downward in action. It covers the parallel downward crossover and the parallel clockface transition between upward and downward wield. I linked it to venturous's video on double downward figure 8s. The double clockface is basically the poi transitions.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNl7vqujksE" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNl7vqujksE</a>

The third builds on the last and deals with the upward wield and associated crossover.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkmt03OwtCo" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkmt03OwtCo</a>

The fourth deals with getting parallel blades from one side of the body to both sides simultaneously. What appears as an upward wield on one side and a downward on the other is shown to still be parallel blades. I consider this to be the foundation for the next video which will cover the parallel obi/ani and plum flower, leading into the simultaneous 7 beat flower.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agOj7eVyVEY" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=agOj7eVyVEY</a>

[Dauntless Seven]

Thanks so much.  I really wish that you and perhaps some other members could make a tutorial dvd for purchase.  What US sabers do you recommend especially for spinning, for a female with medium sized hands and a rather short height of 5'2".  I am using a Prophecy right now.  Find the Aeon and Initiate not as comfortable.  Want to buy another staff that may be both narrower and smoother (meaning less cut outs and ridges).  Any suggestions?

[Master Venturous]

Thanks so much.  I really wish that you and perhaps some other members could make a tutorial dvd for purchase.  What US sabers do you recommend especially for spinning, for a female with medium sized hands and a rather short height of 5'2".  I am using a Prophecy right now.  Find the Aeon and Initiate not as comfortable.  Want to buy another staff that may be both narrower and smoother (meaning less cut outs and ridges).  Any suggestions?

Anything with a choke point is good for spinning. A few that I would recommend would be the Catalyst, Liberator, or the full sized Aeon. If you are only 5'2", I would also recommend initiate blades or the medium grade 32 in blades.

[Dauntless Seven]

Master Venturous.  Thanks so much for your reply and suggestions.  Fortunately I already have some of your saber/blade suggestions.  I am learning much from your videos and started with the wooden staff.  Found it easier not to get as confused related to staff spinning direction, by putting a bright but different color on each end.  What car did you end up buying and I hope that you now have some great sabers.  By the way, you rock big time!   

[Master Venturous]

Master Venturous.  Thanks so much for your reply and suggestions.  Fortunately I already have some of your saber/blade suggestions.  I am learning much from your videos and started with the wooden staff.  Found it easier not to get as confused related to staff spinning direction, by putting a bright but different color on each end.  What car did you end up buying and I hope that you now have some great sabers.  By the way, you rock big time!   

Unfortunately, I still don't have a car or any new sabers lol. I've upgraded smartphones a lot lately though and now I have one that is capable of slow-motion video, so I may put up some slow-mo vids as well on my channel to help clarify some things people have been having trouble with. I'm glad the videos have helped you.

[Darth Cephalus]

Thanks so much.  I really wish that you and perhaps some other members could make a tutorial dvd for purchase.  What US sabers do you recommend especially for spinning, for a female with medium sized hands and a rather short height of 5'2".  I am using a Prophecy right now.  Find the Aeon and Initiate not as comfortable.  Want to buy another staff that may be both narrower and smoother (meaning less cut outs and ridges).  Any suggestions?

I agree with Venturous on the spinning saber suggestions. I would clarify though that the Aeon and Initiate only have chokes in the v3 model like he and I both use in our videos. For my single saber, I use a Warglaive emitter because it has that built in choke but the length it adds is a bit excessive with an initiate blade; you might have the same issue with a Catlyst. For dual wield, a v3 initiate with 24" blade is great, for single I would go with a 32" blade and Warglaive (no claws), the catalyst, the v3 Aeon, or get a choke from the other guys (Pm if you don't know what that means) and add it to any relatively short mhs compilable saber like an Archon. The Prophecy is a pretty good alternative as well, as the narrow bit acts as a choke, just watch out for the knobby set screws.

As for a narrower staff, the v2s (Initiate and Aeon) are narrower than the v3s and have a minimum of ridges. If you can add AV switches, they are even more streamline. I would think that the ideal though would be a couple older gen liberators if you are lucky enough to find them. These were not mhs compatible because they were too slim. They ran 3 AAs end to end in sequence and were just wide enough to do that. I came across one recently and it was a slim, sleek saber. It would make a great staff.