Do you actually duell with Lightsaber forms?

[SJJedi]

Sounds like the same idea as using a regular saber and a shoto.  That could actually work nicely.

[JdiKnhtJMH]

Anyone can defeat you if you allow yourself to be intimidated, and thus prepare yourself for defeat. The spectacle of a saber staff or a duel wielder can be daunting, but understanding the weaknesses of both styles will help you to learn to defeat them. Wielding a saber staff is no more a guarantee of victory than wielding a single bladed lightsaber,

With the double blade, it leaves the user's center completely open. Try it. It's nearly impossible to properly block your center with a saber staff, hence why Darth Maul's weapon ended up getting cut in half. Also, if you lock up one half of the saber staff in the right position, the entire weapon is rendered useless, unlike with dual wielding.

The trouble with the saber staff is that it allows for some very furious attacks, and doesn't detract from the user's strength the way dual wielding does. You can put quite a bit of force into a blow with a staff, so you should try to keep moving and dodge more than you block so that the momentum of their strikes will throw them off.

I've fought people wielding 2 sabers, the Jarkai style quite often, and it's a lot easier for me to fight someone doing that as a result. Check out the lightsaber combat megapos in this forum for info on defense against Jar'Kai.

[Master BStone]

i'd have to say that during a duel i use a form that comprises a mix of makashi and soresu, heavily leaning towards soresu.  lots of defense, lots of critical thinking regarding openings. 

[SJJedi]

Anyone can defeat you if you allow yourself to be intimidated, and thus prepare yourself for defeat. The spectacle of a saber staff or a duel wielder can be daunting, but understanding the weaknesses of both styles will help you to learn to defeat them. Wielding a saber staff is no more a guarantee of victory than wielding a single bladed lightsaber,

With the double blade, it leaves the user's center completely open. Try it. It's nearly impossible to properly block your center with a saber staff, hence why Darth Maul's weapon ended up getting cut in half. Also, if you lock up one half of the saber staff in the right position, the entire weapon is rendered useless, unlike with dual wielding.

The trouble with the saber staff is that it allows for some very furious attacks, and doesn't detract from the user's strength the way dual wielding does. You can put quite a bit of force into a blow with a staff, so you should try to keep moving and dodge more than you block so that the momentum of their strikes will throw them off.

I've fought people wielding 2 sabers, the Jarkai style quite often, and it's a lot easier for me to fight someone doing that as a result. Check out the lightsaber combat megapos in this forum for info on defense against Jar'Kai.

Thanks for all the advice!  Yeah, I've been practicing recently against a couple of people who were dual wielding, and staff-wielding.  I actually found that using a two-handed grip on a saber with longer reach actually worked out very nicely.  More power, more range.

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

I practice double-bladed reverse grip with V2 initiates, using Muay Thai inspired strikes. I only have a bit of fencing experience, and training in Muay Thai, I am by no means well versed.

I find it to be quite practical in that if you have a 3ft blade, moving that around, being close to your opponent would be kind of hard so using the shorter blades, they almost feel like a fighting with Tonfas or Galdius; Tight quick jabs and cuts.

[Master Nero Attoru]

I practice double-bladed reverse grip with V2 initiates, using Muay Thai inspired strikes. I only have a bit of fencing experience, and training in Muay Thai, I am by no means well versed.

I find it to be quite practical in that if you have a 3ft blade, moving that around, being close to your opponent would be kind of hard so using the shorter blades, they almost feel like a fighting with Tonfas or Galdius; Tight quick jabs and cuts.

Cool style man, I always thought dual wielding the Initiates would be a good idea.  Nice and maneuverable due to the short blade length and all.  On the subject of a Gladius, I always thought the idea of a saber and shield would be kinda cool, something I'm going to look into in the future.

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

Cool style man, I always thought dual wielding the Initiates would be a good idea.  Nice and maneuverable due to the short blade length and all.  On the subject of a Gladius, I always thought the idea of a saber and shield would be kinda cool, something I'm going to look into in the future.

Sabers and Shields!


Clash of the Titans (2010) would have been so much more awesome with sabers.

[Master Uilos]

I tend to favor Shii Cho and Djem So in my movements. That's not because I planned to, but because of the way I'm built and like to fight. I'm 5'10, 250lbs. I tend to eat up combat zone (Shii Cho's speciality) and limit my opponents options. So when I started sabering, those two seemed to come naturally

[Master Nero Attoru]

I tend to favor Shii Cho and Djem So in my movements. That's not because I planned to, but because of the way I'm built and like to fight. I'm 5'10, 250lbs. I tend to eat up combat zone (Shii Cho's speciality) and limit my opponents options. So when I started sabering, those two seemed to come naturally

Sounds like a pretty good combo.  The simplicity of Shii Cho with the strength and aggression of Djem So.  Both are good two handed styles too, so they probably fit well together.

It's much the same with me, my styles flow from my training as well as my size.  I'm 6'2" so something I've always tried to do in fencing is to learn to keep a BIG distance to maintain my advantage - this is something I extend to saber dueling.  I use Makashi as a result of my background in fencing, with my own interpretation involving a lot of maneuvering and feints.

I've noticed that my style is relative to my opponent:  I get a feel for how well I can "push around" my opponent and adjust based on this.  I use much more Makashi when facing my friend Artorius, as he has a great deal of swordsmanship experience and is not easily thrown off guard.  My apprentice, on the other hand, isn't as experienced (though he is learning quickly!).  I find myself using more of a Djem So style offense when facing him.

Actually one thing I always feel frustrated with is my inability to go like 50% in sparring.  I'm typically very reserved, especially when facing less experienced foes, for I fear to hurt them.  I tend to aim for arms and legs to disable him or her.  I always feel like the only other option is to truly cut loose - which I would never do without protective gear.  I guess the only solution is to obtain said gear!

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

What moves from Ataru are actually practical? Because a lot of the videos I've seen it just looks like asinine flipping.

I could see Parkour movements being beneficial, being able to move around your environment as easily as possible by running on walls and clearing gaps getting the High Ground.

[Master Uilos]

What moves from Ataru are actually practical? Because a lot of the videos I've seen it just looks like asinine flipping.

I could see Parkour movements being beneficial, being able to move around your environment as easily as possible by running on walls and clearing gaps getting the High Ground.

Alot of people confuse Ataru with "Any form of flipping will do". I watch a lot of guys choreo fights claiming to use Ataru and I'll sit there with a "Unnecessary Acrobatic" count. If they reach three, I stop the fight and tell them to actually think about what the hell they are doing.

That being said, Parkour can be used as an analogue for Ataru. Anything that involves using the entire body in a continuous motion, which is what Parkour excels at, is Ataru. Also, let me bring up this video:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y4SpqKPm7U" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y4SpqKPm7U</a>

For the record, he's based that off of chinese straight sword

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

Thank you for posting the video, it was a great.

I see the Chinese sword in there, I like to watch Kung Fu. 

[Master Nero Attoru]

That's a good one, I love seeing the martial arts emerge from a saber form - you can totally see the Chinese swordsmanship roots in there.

My method of defining these forms is this:  I cut them down to their most basic strategies and strengths.  For Ataru, this core tactic is straightforward:  overwhelming the opponent through fast, unpredictable attacks.  If I had to use a phase to describe it I would say this:  "the best defense is a good offense."  The objective with Ataru is to keep your opponent from recovering enough to mount an offensive, keep the momentum going against him so he cannot counter and is eventually struck down.  While you see Yoda using his immense Force abilities to hop all over the place, don't forget that Qui-Gon was said to be a skilled Ataru stylist, and his technique involved little flipping and hopping around.

Being as we can't really use the Force (sadly), I typically go with the latter variant of Ataru.  High mobility, fast and unpredictable attacks.  Keep the pressure on the opponent, but if you HAVE to use defense, move your body rather than parry if possible.  Dodging and using good footwork allows you to quickly turn a defense into an offense, which is what you always want to do with Ataru!  Look what staying on defense did for Qui-Gon... the poor guy got speared by Maul.

I personally find it difficult to execute Ataru in sparring - not only is it quite tiring, but it can be dangerous to implement due to the wild nature of it.  In a REAL fight, you would want to take your opponent out... but in practicing with a friend that's the last thing you want.  Whew... sorry for the long post, hope it was somewhat helpful - that's just my own take on the form.

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

Thanks for the Ataru lesson Nero. 

[Master Uilos]

That's a good one, I love seeing the martial arts emerge from a saber form - you can totally see the Chinese swordsmanship roots in there.

My method of defining these forms is this:  I cut them down to their most basic strategies and strengths.  For Ataru, this core tactic is straightforward:  overwhelming the opponent through fast, unpredictable attacks.  If I had to use a phase to describe it I would say this:  "the best defense is a good offense."  The objective with Ataru is to keep your opponent from recovering enough to mount an offensive, keep the momentum going against him so he cannot counter and is eventually struck down.  While you see Yoda using his immense Force abilities to hop all over the place, don't forget that Qui-Gon was said to be a skilled Ataru stylist, and his technique involved little flipping and hopping around.

Being as we can't really use the Force (sadly), I typically go with the latter variant of Ataru.  High mobility, fast and unpredictable attacks.  Keep the pressure on the opponent, but if you HAVE to use defense, move your body rather than parry if possible.  Dodging and using good footwork allows you to quickly turn a defense into an offense, which is what you always want to do with Ataru!  Look what staying on defense did for Qui-Gon... the poor guy got speared by Maul.

I personally find it difficult to execute Ataru in sparring - not only is it quite tiring, but it can be dangerous to implement due to the wild nature of it.  In a REAL fight, you would want to take your opponent out... but in practicing with a friend that's the last thing you want.  Whew... sorry for the long post, hope it was somewhat helpful - that's just my own take on the form.

You hit on the main weaknesses of the form (something few people really get into when developing them). Ataru is high energy, and even though there was The Force involved, it still required a being to exert energy. That costs. Many believe that Qui-Gon was killed because after a while he ran out of steam. Yoda is wiped after his fights.

Another point: There is a very strong similarity between Ataru and Form VII: Juyo. Both valued offense over defense, with Juyo taking it to the extreme by having NO defense whatever. Where Ataru was continuity, Juyo seemed (though not always) random and unpredictable. Ataru was an automatic weapon, overwhelming the opponent with a barrage of gun fire in a quick burst while Juyo was more along the lines of "Shock and Awe".

As for sparring with Ataru, the key is to overwhelm. Find and exploit his openings before they realize they are open. Make your partner work to defend their soft points. Eventually, they will tire, or miss by a fraction, and you'll get them...or you'll tire, and they'll exploit. Either/or