Fighting with a Shield

[Tasardur]

I was trained by my father in SCA form shield+sword combat. Is there anyway to aplly this to fighting with a single lightsaber. Or are there any lightsaber style shields available?

[Master BStone]

a shield or the idea of a shield can best be thought of as distance between you and your enemy.  with the single lightsaber keeping the weapon between you and the opponents' weapon is a good idea. of course...there are a few instances of personal deflector shields being used...the Gungan army at the battle of naboo in ep 1...the bounty hunter Durge's use of energy fields mounted on his forearm armor when he engaged obi-wan in single combat...droidekas use self contained deflector shields...but all of these would be seen by jedi as a needless complication.  use your inherent ideas about combat you learned from your father to control  the distance, and create the opportunity to strike.

[DandoKhaan]

Well i dont know of any styles, but u could always use ur own. Theres no real rules on how to use a lightsaber, if u wanna use a sheild then i say go for it. there are a number of lightsaber resistant materials, so its definitely possible realisticly, and u could use it for rp i just use basic kendo when i duel, so just do what feels comfortable to u

[Vex]

Pick up another saber and dual wield ! Use the second for defense and parry ( shielding you ) use the other for offense.

[imperialknight23]

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Cortosis_shield

that is a type of shield used against lightsabers.  but i agree with some sentiments here that the way the jedi fight, there is no need for a shield, but then again this a community of role players.  jedi try to restrain from going on the offensive, and having a shield would only reinforce that point. 

as for lightsaber, when i first tried out an initiate blade in an initiate hilt it felt less like a lightsaber and more like gladius/short sword.  i could very well see a shield in my off hand.

[Master Uilos]

When our group first began, one of our Masters had made the arguement that most audiences wouldn't understand that lightsabers could be resisted. They were cut-alls. This meant that if you wanted to use something as a shield, it had to make sense in context. So he got a round, clear riot shiled, wrapped the rim with blue EL wire and attached a pressure pad to the center that registered a hit and made the wire glow brighter. There was the birth of the Light-Shield.

As far as martial arts styles to recommend, there is none that I can outside of historical societies. The Greeks and Vikings were notorious for using their shields in combat, there is a start

[Master BStone]

there is a manual for sword and buckler (a small, maneuverable shield with a center grip) combat designated I33...a quick google search ought to turn up some images or ideas.

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

Captain america Disc launching shield.

It can be painted.

Used with a mid-grade it works very well. Just pad the back cause the hard plastic hurts.

It can take the beating. So long as you dont care about the disc launching part which will inevitably break but the shield is still capable of working as a great buckler.

[Master Lucien Kane]

If you want to stick to more Star Wars looking combat you could always use a shoto, like an initiate. Get good at using the initiate in your offhand as a shield.