Did Lucas unknowingly make Light Saber duels almost obsolete?

I imagine the Jedi train very hard with their LightSabers, but so far in the Star Wars Saga it seems like the Jedi really only use them, to cut down doors, villains, droids and deflect blaster fire, and every thousand years or so, duel with a Light Sabre welding Sith apprentice. But nothing that would really require the skill of a master one-on-one duelist. Lucas didn't really think the whole Light Saber/Sith/Jedi thing out to well, especially after he decided that the Light Saber would only be used by Jedi and Sith. It would have worked well in the original ANH draft of Star Wars when Lucas had the Legion of Letto(more than just two Sith Warriors in rough draft of Star Wars) and Stormtroopers,Clonetroopers etc. using them, like in Ralph Mcquarries concept art portfolios for A New Hope. But when he made the Light Saber a Jedi/Sith only weapon, it seems to throw off the continuity of why a Light Saber is really needed. It now seems like the Light Saber is only a traditional weapon and no longer a weapon of the Duel!

 

Jedi apprentices duel with their jedi masters during the trials. Jedi are very skilled with a lightsaber in duels because they practice to be good. And also, Jedi four thousands of years fight crime in the Republic. They need a lightsaber to take down criminals.

And its Lightsaber not Light Saber




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I also see it as that of Samuri. The Jedi Code is like the Bushido. Samuri don't fight with their swords anymore (to my ignorant knowledge). It's more a part of discipline. To wield such a deadly weapon takes practice and concentration. Sure, anyone could pick up and slice with a lightsaber or Samuri sword. But, to wield it with an artistic and exact style takes practice.

 

They learned it because it was a discipline and very difficult. Its a skill to master that reflects your progression. We learn A LOT of stuff in school that we may never need to know. I don't know when I'll ever need to find the intestines in a frog or when knowing the atomic weight of helium will help me. But it is something our societies think we need for a rounded education.

There is also something to dueling and using the force at the same time. You have to have a great deal of calm and discipline to relax and open yourself to the force when someone is coming at you with a sword. It could be looked at as a skill that has more to it than just the physical action. A Jedi can use that self-control the learn by dueling in other instances as well.

 

`And its Lightsaber not Light Saber'

Lightsabre, I think.

 

Do Padawans really have to fight their Masters for the trials? I didn't think we knew anything about the trials.

Is that EU or something?

 

A jedi is almost untouchable when armed with his lightsabre, he can deflect blaster fire, hack through doors, chop off limbs...
people not trained in the jedi arts would simply cut their own arms off! A jedi, with the Force as his ally and a lightsaber can take on at least 20 blaster-equipped whippersnappers! Something other people would find hard to do, so the idea of having everybody carry laser swords is at best silly.

 

Jedi don't carry lightsabers as a matter of practicality to defend themselves in a fight. They aren't going to encounter opponents who fight with sabers very often. A Jedi's lightsaber is actually more of a status symbol that indicates its bearer is learned in the arts of the Force and can fight if necessary. The comparison someone made between Jedi and the samurai is probably a good one.

 

I don't think Jedi just carry sabers around as a status symbol, DLM. I mean Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon used them all the time, even before they knew that a fellow saber-wielder would be their ultimate foe.

I think there's a grain of truth in what you say, though. Despite the lack of Republic presence on Tatooine, Qui-Gon's saber was an immediate signal to Anakin that he was someone to be respected and even a little feared, a Jedi.

Lightsabers ARE a universal sign meant to elicit reverance and fear, but that does not make their utilitarian value obsolete.

 

SithLegion
Lucas didn't really think the whole Light Saber/Sith/Jedi thing out to well, especially after he decided that the Light Saber would only be used by Jedi and Sith.

Sure he did. They train as tradition even though the sith arent around. Its an art form that they have passed down for millenia. Oh and I think the generalizing of lightsabre use is really corny and takes away an exclusive weapon of force users.

ST-TPM-ASF-TNE
Jedi apprentices duel with their jedi masters during the trials. Jedi are very skilled with a lightsaber in duels because they practice to be good. And also, Jedi for thousands of years fight crime in the Republic. They need a lightsaber to take down criminals.

Ditto. Skills with a sabre also reduce the risk of killing an innocent person while policing the galaxy, as Obi Wan pointed out in ANH. Its not as random.

And its Lightsaber not Light Saber

Thats funny. I thought it was Lightsabre. Ah well, it really doesnt matter.

 

The funny thing is, some of the film credits say lightsaber and others say lightsabre. I wish those LFL people would get a little internal consistency.

 

I agree, that the Jedi training with lightsabers can be seen a lot like samurai training.

Consider all the things that a lightsaber is capable of, and think what was it's original purpose. Was it originally designed to be used in a duel, or to deflect blaster bolts?It's a great weapon, capable of defense as well as offensive, so it's perfect for both Jedi and Sith to use.

Now imagine this, a person practices martial arts, and spars with students at the same level, but also the black belts. The person eventually becomes a black belt, and knows that they'll never actually encounter a black-belt thug in a dark alley, but they know the possibility is always there, and they're prepared to fight them.

The same situation applies to the Jedi concerning the Sith and those who would weild lightsabers against them.

 

...the jedi use lightsabres because they are the most efficient hand held weapons in the star wars universe...

...the reasons everyone doesnt use one are:

they are extremely difficult to learn
they are no good to you defensively if you cannot see things before they happen
an individual needs to be trained very well in order for them to be effective
stuff like that

...that hasnt been said yet...and i think thats the answer to the question posed here...

 

To say that the average Joe can't use a Lightsaber is foolish. Solo did fine in Empire. Even Qui said to the effect when talking to Anakin that maybe he wasn't a Jedi, maybe just a guy who acquired the Saber. I'm sure a Jedi is better than the average guy, but to act like some guy who found one couldn't use it, some what, is ridiculous.

I would love to see a non-Jedi pick up a Saber and get his ass kicked by a Jedi!

 

I don't think you can argue that a regular person can use a lightsaber in the ways it's supposed to be used. Can they light one? Yes. Solo lit the saber and cut the Taun Taun open. Not exactly brain surgery.

Blocking laser blasts is an entirely different thing, as it using it as a dueling weapon without inadvertantly killing yourself.

 

I think it depends on what side of the ocean you live on in regards to how you spell "lightsaber/lightsabre". Is it theater or theatre? Center or centre? Either version is correct.

 

That's "correcte".

 

I assume Lucas invented the Lightsabre for dueling first, all the other things we see the Jedi do with the Lightsabre are obviously Lucas afterthoughts. I'm sure after he changed the script he needed to find other uses for the Lightsabre. It's very obvious that the Lightsaber was going to be used by more than just the Jedi and Sith. Again all you have to do is look at Ralph Mcquarries art of the Storm Trooper welding a Lightsaber and Shield. If you had 20 Lightsabre & Lightsabre Proof Shield welding Storm Troopers trained some what in the arts, take on a single Jedi. Eventually the outnumbered Jedi will go down!!!

 

Jedi Padawan? Maybe.
Fully trained Jedi Master? Definatly not.

 

Also in the scene where Vader blocks Solo's laser blast with his hand. I bet Lucas would like to change that now. Make it so Vader uses his Saber instead. It obvious Lucas didn't come up with the Saber's Blocking Lasers idea back then. Lucas needed a way to make Saber useful in the age of the Blaster, otherwise it would be an obsolete weapon, do to the fact that there's no one to duel with, because of the Two Sith Rule.

 

We'll since Luke blocks laserbolts (or trise) in ANH Lucas must have though of the blocking buissness pretty early on.

I think the main reason ordinary people can't use lightsabers is that it requires the use of the Force to use one.

How can you block a strike or a laserbolt?
You listen to /feel the force and it tells you how to position your sabre.

 

Luke did it in training, not against a live person with a gun. Big difference in my opinion. Yes it helps to have the Force to block bolts, but to pick up a Saber and slice someone or something, could be done by anyone

 

But the idea of blocking bolts was there, yes?

 

Zaphod, you are correct, I'll give you that.

 

I wish Luke had used his Saber in the garbage compactor in ANH. The way Qui did against the Blast doors in Episode 1. Did Luke even have his Saber in those scenes?