O.C, CA Orange County Saber Academy [formerly The Lightsaber Training Class]

Greetings;

My name is Zhi-don Aquintas, Headmaster and Co-founder of this class. The other founder is the man who trained me, Smudge [go ahead and ask him how he got his name] Take a bow, Smudge!

The is to inform those not in the know about the Lightsaber Training Class, now to be known as the ORANGE COUNTY SABER ACADEMY.

This class meets Wednesdays from 630pm until 900pm at Twila Reid Park. This park is located on Orange avenue between Beach Blvd and Western in Stanton.

The second class meets on Sundays at Willow Park in Anaheim from 2pm until 5pm. This park is located at the corner of Crone and Loara streets. We meet on the Crone street side about midway down where there is a shaded clear area. PM me if you plan to attend this class, or need more information.

The purpose of the Wednesday class is to learn to use EL and LED lightsabers in a safe and correct manner. This class includes pratice and training sessions, circle battles, line battles, free for all battles and other fun games. We use the shinai school of training for this. Shinai's are bamboo training swords used for centuries in lieu of katanas, for safety reasons. Some of us cannot afford El or LED lightsabers or are saving for them or do not want to use them for practice. That is why we use shinai's. Those attending class are required to have gloves to protect thier hands. We DO NOT use armor. This means we must be especially careful to avoid injuries. You must wear closed toed shoes to particiate in this class. We recommend that you wear loose clothing that covers your arms and legs. You may at your option use safety glasses as well. This is only an option because the first thing we do is to train you not to hit someone in the head and how to block accidental hits in that area. Although we do train to pull our hits as to not hurt anyone, you will get bruised during this class. This is unavoidable because as stated above we do not use armor. We warn you about this in advance to avoid any misunderstandings. That being said this is a fun and social class. All of us do this because we want to have a good time. We do have rules in place and they WILL be inforced by the Instructors and Marshals. A Marshall is like a referee and his job is to stop combat and make decisions on hits and in case of any other problems. We also do coregraphy at these classes although not at every class. Coregraphy is for those who have EL or LED Lightsabers and want to participate in staged combat battles at Charity and other events. We also offer training in more unusual types of weaponry such as pole arms, warhammers, maces and others [dont be surprised at the names given to these weapons] This training is sponsored by our Co-founder Smudge and other instructors.

Sundays class is more informal and is mostly to hone the skills of those who are already trained and to offer training to those who need it. I am usually the only instuctor on hand, so this is more a one on one class than Wednesdays. These classes are open to anyone who wants to attend. However if you want to participate in charity work or events, you do need to join our club.

If you have any other questions, please PM me or Smudge.

May the FORCE be with you,

Zhi-don

 

Yay, I get the first comment.

go osha

err a

OCSA!


"The can take our taxes, they can garnesh our wages, but THEY CAN NEVER TAKE OUR LUCUAS ARTS, MASTER REPLICA, LIGHTSABERS! ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

 

LucasArts makes the games, not the lightsabers

 

I forgot where are the classes held?

 

Please read the first post for location and directions.

 

Go, go, Knock offs!



Zor-Don, we await your command in the megasaurs.

 

You're still doing it, Alex. You can say misspelling and mispronouncing Zhi-don, is a joke, but when you keep doing it, it still seems disrespectful and is just getting tiresome.

And I thought Twila Reid park was still technically Anaheim?

 

Edit


nm just looked on my dispatch map at wokr and its in anaheim

 

I stand corrected. It is in Anaheim.

 

No flaming.

 

[image=http://nexus.polaris.net/services/image-archive/fractals/flames.jpg]

Where can I get a Shinai? (Spelling, JediL, please correct it.)

 

No need, you spelled it correctly.

Any decent Martial Arts store will have them, or you can order them online. We usually use the 39" ones in our classes. They are around $25 or so.

[image=http://www.karatedepot.com/catalog/images/items/wp-ke-03.jpg]

 

Sunday's class will be held as normal on Aug 20th. Please post if you plan to attend.

 

I should be there.

 

Sweet, i'll look out for a store to get one. Hope to venture down to the OC once in a while to join in.

 

There's a store in South Coast Plaza that has them and a store over on Beach Blvd that has them. The one on Beach is called Musashi Martial arts (I think that's the name). The address is 12463 Beach Blvd. It's just north of Lampson.

The one in South Coast Plaza is actually an anime store (all kinds of cool Japanese stuff) that happens to carry shinai.

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks, i'll see if I can find one in the Cucamonga area, if not i'll get one next time i'm down that way.

 

D'oh! Sorry about that. I totally spaced on the whole Inland Empire thing.

 

No worries , should be able to find one, there's a martial arts class accross the street from me, i'll try and ask them.

 

Before you blow your money on a knockoff, come by on Wednesdays. And we'll teach you how to find a good one.

Of course you could just go cheap, and run the risk of it splittering, breaking, causing a fractional danger to others when practicing, or just looking cheap with a cheapy.

Being, the "enthusiast" Don describes, hell-depending on price I may just get one for you (one actually made in japan) and you can just pay me back. I show you a comparison of crap and quality. What it boils down to is if you can afford a master replica, or even more so a full contact use parks saber, why not buy quality?

Everyone has their preference, but I encourage quality (at and below $50 USD), especially in a sport of clubbing- err I mean fencing (and by this I mean 'choreographed saber fighting' for the club's techinical definitions and definers).

PS. I really had fun at the OC Beach party. Despite smoke, wind, and poor eye sight from which I could only see the sabers in the dark instead of my opponent body movements, it was really super fun. Chick seem to dig lightsabers, and yet I don't own one yet (been CADing and planning my own for way too long). There's a poll, "Do chicks dig lightsabers?" Inland empire boyz, you saw it right?

 

all 3 of mine were bought at Musashi and i have never had to oil or do anyting to them execept use them one of the 3 i turned into a 2 saber/rapiers and it has held up now for well over a year and a half - 2 years

 

I only have one, but I bought it at Musashi just like Rion. I haven't used it in a while, but when I was coming to class (every wednesday) it held up just fine. Shawn and I use to fight like mad men with them (ask Don or Rion or Smudge or just about anyone that saw us). It never splintered or anything. I've never oiled it either (though I'm sure it could use some). Musashi was also recommended by Smudge, which is why I bought it there. I think it was only $30. Well worth the price. Definitely more sturdy than a MR and a lot cheaper than a Parks.

There was a place selling them at Con a few years back too for really cheap (I think under $20). Problem was they were packaging them with those moisture absorbant packs, which basically ruined them. I don't know the name of that place, but Smudge might. Probably just good to know as a place to avoid or something to avoid when purchasing one.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll get my lazy butt up and get one, hopefully this side of christmas.

 

Both Barry and Alex are correct.

If you have the money and can afford it, then by all means let Alex get you the cadillac of shinai. If you are a poor ole working man like myself and would rather spend money on REAL lightsabers, then get one at the martial arts store on Beach Blvd as Barry suggests. I got my first one there and Smudge picked up another for me, I know not where. I should oil them more than I do [Don't yell at me Smudge] but they are sound and have served me well. If you want one with a sci-fi flare, then ask Smudge. He wrapped mine in colored and aluminum tape and I like it much better than the standards. Lori of course, wrapped her own. She likes the personal touch and wants to be a tad more than just the usual in everything she does. It's a good thing too, without her we would never have the standard by which all EL lightsabers blades are made.

 

Cool. I'm setting money aside for an Ultrasaber, does anybody have one from Ultrasabers? Are they pretty good?