Buff, NY Next Jedi Academy / saber session

Attention all Jedi Knights. The time is now to hone your lightsaber skills.... the Sith are back with a vengence! Wait a minute.... two out of the bunch who are interested are Vader?! LOL

OK, anyhow, on with the details.

The next session will be on SATURDAY, JULY 16 at 3PM at BASSETT PARK on the corner of Youngs and Klein Roads in East Amherst. There usually is not alot of people there and it is a BIG open space that we can use. If you need directions just LMK or meet here and we can all go together. We can see how this location works out.

We broke most of the practice sabers and I dont know how many we have left in one piece (literally ) SO if you dont have a bopper saber, just go to Home Depot and get a red tipped wooden dowel and some foam pipe insulation and tape with duct tape. It's cheap and works for now. LMK if you need assistance.

Please post below if you can come! Or if you cannot make this week but are interested, let me know that too. I would like to get in as many practices as we can now that the weather is so nice.

May the force be with you!

 

I'll be up in Rochester, so I guess I'm out for this session Hopefully next time!

 

I can't make it that Saturday.
But the next Saturdays after that look good for me.

 

I'd like to show up with the video camera if that is okay. I've been playing around with rotoscoping and such and would like to have better footage then my 9 month pregnant wife swinging an empty wrapping paper tube around. (clickie here warning! is 40meg I'm still not good at compression). BTW NOONE EVER tells my wife they saw that video if you meet her. Otherwise Dan is a dead man.

Lisa,
Like I said I'm not sure if I will swing a saber. My stomach doesn't get out of the way fast enough. (Dang smilies!!!)

 

omg, this sounds like so much fun. And I'd love to have a practice saber anyway... who's the teacher? Because I'll probably be quite the challenge.

I'm also sort of craft-retarded... as well as Home Depot challenged... does anyone have a step by step instruction thing for a practice saber I could use if I plan on attending? Thanks in advance!

 

colesearr,
I think the instructions go something like this:
1. Get stick (wooden dowel or similar material).
2. Get soft non-lethal padding material (pipe insulation or similar material).
3. Wrap stick with soft non-lethal padding material.
4. Get retaining device (duct tape or similar material).
5. Secure soft non-lethal padding material to stick with retaining device.
6. Whack away.

Of course I'm a novice at building practice sabers myself so you may want to consult an expert. I'm sure there are many different ways of accomplishing the same end result.

(insert smilie here)
(I really need help with the smilies or someone is going to take me too seriously)

 

Hahahaha... yay for my dumbass instructions!

Silly, the faces are right above the box you type in, on the left. Marked, "faces" Press that and fire. Viola.

Hahaha, I seriously feel like we gave each other the simplest instructions ever. Because... we did.

No one make fun of us!!

 

Saber clinics eh?
This sounds interesting? Are Rochesterarians allowed to cobble together a Saber and come over for the fun?

My sword moves are pretty basic and I wouldnt mind some practice and lessons. Is the practice Saber recommended or can I bring my cheap-o 7 dollar play with my cousins with Saber?


Wingnut

 

Yeah I tried that little button thingy for faces but it just shows a bunch of "......" and no graphics. When I type the semicolon and parenthesis it just disapears. It doesn't show up as text and doesn't show up as an image it just disappears. Maybe it's just me. Here I will type one now and you tell me if you see it.

Dan

 

i see it

 

Well then I guess I will just put them in then even though I can't see them. I wonder why it is that I can't see them. Wierd.

Dan

 

I'll have to check our schedule and see if I can make it. The sabers are very easy to make.

 

im in

 

I think I can make it...

 

I'll email Ken and see if he is free

 

So, is this based on any particular style? Who`s the head instructor? Do you also have Teras Kasi seminars? Believe it or not, I`m not being sarcastic...

 

Dan... I love the video footage!!!!

 

Hi everyone!
Yes, the sabers are very easy to make. If you would like, I can whip (no pun intended ) up a few for around $5 each. That is what we did in the begining of our saber school. Just LMK. This way everyone has the same one. OH the $7 cheapo Wingnut probably would not make it through a class

For all practical purposes, I am the teacher. I took fencing for 3 plus years, which is a little different than lightsaber fighting, but has some of the same basics. This is my baby. I also have some wonderful input from Ken who teaches Tai Chi and is a great assest to our academy.

I just love getting together and dueling. It is such great fun! I started the academy because a lot of people have had no background in technique or martial arts to be able to duel aggressively and safely and I just wanted to get together and duel! After a few bruises, we went to the padded bopper sabers... they have worked pretty well, if they would stop breaking.

We are also trying to get some basic and not so basic routines down in case we need them for an appearance sometime. Chris and I and Marty and I have a couple kinda down... kinda. So we do need to practice on them.

But if you are serious about learning, then come on over and join in! Wingnut, that includes you too. PM me if you have any particular questions or if you want directions. Fall and winter sessions may need to be "closed" due to space limitations at the studio we duel in when its too cold outside to do so.

Snappa, what exactly do you mean regarding Teras Kasi? No, we dont do any "mortal combat" type of stuff. That can be too dangerous without proper martial arts background and training. No, there is no particular style per se. Everyone's style is going to be their own. If anything, we are now more Tai Chi like with Ken helping us out. We just go through basics and routines and have some free play. Once the basics are down with everyone then we can start doing some more detailed stuff.... watching the movies and copying moves, etc. If you have some moves down that you want to show us, great!

Chris, I have emailed Ken regarding Saturday. Thank you.

 

There was a SW video game a while back for playstation called Masters of Teras Kasi. It was supposed to be a fighting style in the Star Wars universe...I just assumed you guys would know that. So, that was kind of a joke, I guess. But, I was curious about the basis of your lightsaber techniques. I don`t necessarily have any particular "moves" to speak of.

I have some knowledge of kendo and several other styles of martial arts and was just wondering if someone in this group did. I`ve always wanted to duplicate the Darth Maul fight from Ep 1 but no one at my dojo really shared my interest in SW. We used to do alot of demos around town and I always thought that would be an awesome thing to do.

 

I know that was a video game. I never played it though. I thought it was along the lines of mortal combat.... The basis for the classes is basic fencing, for that is what I know. But the basics of fencing are the basics for any type of swordmanship.
I wanted to do Kendo, but never had the time to devote to it. I know it has some very cool Samauri type fighting when I looked in on a class/club on Transit in Lancaster. I would love to do it sometime.
I will be starting Tae Kwon Do soon, once my daughter gets her yellow belt and we can do a family class together. But that doesnt have any sword fighting until way past black belt, so I dont know if I will stay with it or not. I want some sword fighting!!!! I dont know what martial art would be the closest....
SO that is why I took fencing for almost 4 years. But it wasnt exactly what I was looking for. Nothing is exactly lightsaber dueling though, so it is difficult. Lightsaber techniques are such a mixture of many different martial arts and fighting styles. I think Nick Gillard told me there are only 28 distinct lightsaber moves which are, of course, put into different combinations to make the different fights. He chuckled at the Q&A at C3 when someone mentioned there are supposedly like 5 different lightsaber styles (ie. obiwan, mace, dooku, vader, etc). He said there is only ONE style. Later when me and 2 of my friends met with him personally to present him with the Rebel Legion plaque, he told us about the 28 moves and he even showed a few! It truly was amazing, to say the least!
But I love dueling and I would love to replicate the Darth Maul fight in Ep1. If you have techniques you would like to share, by all means. We all help each other out. I am no expert for sure. Just teaching others what I know and getting some people together to do what I love to do. Now if we had foils and rapiers... well, that is a different story.

 

Ok. I'll go back to just being a figurehead here.

Just kidding. It's nice to have a little break after Ep III.

 

I think this is such a great idea, and a really cool way to meet you guys.

I'd love it if someone could whip me up a practice saber, and I'll pay you when I get there... I'm so incredibly not crafty, and might have my own fall apart with the first swing.

 

Too bad my wife doesn't share the appreciation.
And I'm sure Chris can definatly relate. So remember Chris. Just empty the trash....


Dan

 

Well, kendo is very different from other sword styles. Actually, Modern Arnis would be a good style to practice, believe it or not. I think there is a studio in West Seneca that teaches it. It`s a great style and a lot of fun.

As far as training sabers go, did anyone ever try a bamboo kendo sword (called a SHINAI)? They can really take some abuse and they`re pretty lightweight. You can get one for around 20 bucks...probably right at that dojo on transit rd. (I assume you were talking about the one near Antoinettes? That`s the only Kendo school I can think of on Transit)

 

That's the school!


I can whip up a few sabers and bring them along. You can never have too many of those around anyway. Look what happened with Vader's rage at previous practices!!!!