Funny enough the flag in the background makes for a nice touch.
I'm still warming up, my body is sore just from 2 days of light practice. Plus the dang weather keeps getting gloomy with patches of rain, and I won't risk getting my new acquisition wet and short it out. It's killing me not being able to rock and roll outside yet, but I'd be way more upset frying my lightsaber. I have to film something in the next 2 weeks for Spin Wars anyway, so I'll get something up "soon". SO far the only thing getting owned are the light fixtures, I thought I had enough clearance setup but the reach on this is intense (I knew this going in but stubbornly wouldn't wait to take her for a test drive). I'm getting cleaner in movement again, and refining my control. So far getting comfortable with this new beast is fun, glad for the 32" blades, even though a lamp or 2 wouldn't agree. Hopefully tomorrow will be a clear day so I can try it. I'm realizing hand position pre-coupler disconnect makes all the difference in instantaneous attacking options. And trying to iron out that reconnect. This double bladed lightsaber configuration was the perfect choice for what I wanted in my 1st "training lightsaber". I'd probably freak out holding yours with like 7" less on each blade, but God you must be able to bring it around so horrifyingly fast. I've seen the videos, but sparring against that would be intense.
I've gotten to the point (for the most part) I wouldn't sear my fingers off or cut myself in half. I chastised myself the 3 times it grazed my shoulder, calf, and back. Retraining the mind to stay in only the center of the staff is killing me, but I mostly have it down (and haven't tucked the blade into an armpit). I'd say I'm getting the feel of it again quickly. I wish I'd been harder on myself training so I could go for more than an hour straight, but I guess I'll use the pain as motivation to train harder. I've already killed my batteries in a day though so I guess that's a good sign.
It is the neighbor's flag, but I agree, it is a nice touch. Soreness is to be expected with a heavy staff I'd say. I know I still have to be mindful of the length and frequency of my sessions, since my delts can end up pretty sore from extended sessions paired with heavy lifting. I know people probably wouldn't think a ~3 pound staff is really heavy, but it's over twice the weight of a lot of wood bo staffs, and even up to around 3x the weight of some of the thinner competition graphite bos. On the plus side, if/when you go back to using a standard light bo, it feels super light, and moves very fast, sort of like how you see some old photos of Babe Ruth warming up by swinging multiple bats, so when he gets up to the plate to swing only one, it feels lighter and faster.
And don't sweat clipping yourself with the blades. I still do it pretty regularly, particularly when picking up a new move, or trying to put moves together in a new sequence, or just trying to push the speed a bit. Particularly the occasional clip on the knee/thigh area when turning my body when spinning, and clipping my shoulders while doing the new over/behind the head spin. I assume that with a "real" lightsaber, one would dedicate years of training with a practice staff first, or at least practice new moves and combinations with a practice staff before attempting them with the real staff. Unless they could just obtain a Beskar suit of armor haha.
I'm glad you are pleased with the blades you picked. I'd probably be freaking out using much longer blades, particularly about hitting it on the ground doing some low spins and strikes, although I've seen some really impressive moves with longer ones, as the longer blades can look really sharp when they pick up speed. I just checked and it looks like my hilt is ~5 inches longer than yours, but you have 16" total of blade length on me, so you have 11 inches of total length on me, or 5.5 inches of reach per side. Although I suppose I could potentially mitigate that a little bit by using a more offset grip, and holding it further back towards the rear-hand blade, to push more of that long hilt towards my opponent. But I am very glad for the longer hilt, as my grip when I'm using a double overhand grip is often pretty close to the end of the hilts. But you mentioned being a bit taller than I am, so longer reach paired with a longer saber would mean I'd really have to capitalize on that increased mobility and maneuverability to close the gap. What are the rules on kicking? I assume it's frowned upon in lightsaber sparring for pretty obvious reasons, but in an actual lightsaber fight, kicking could be a very useful option, especially with a staff, as evidenced by Maul's fight in Episode 1, which is likely due to the actor's martial arts background.
Not to mention that people who only practiced against traditional lightsabers may not be prepared for it. Going up against a saberstaff is it's own challenge for someone only used to going up against single-bladed sabers, so they may think they succeeded when they manage to account for both blades, but that can leave them particularly vulnerable to a kick.
Be sure to keep us all updated with your progress!
