Two lightsabers better than one?

At the end of AOTC during the fight between Dooku Anakin and Obiwan, After Obiwan is taken out by Dooku and laying on the floor basically disarmed, he throws Anakin his saber to which Anakin wields it along with one saber he already is wielding, hence now he is wielding two or duel wielding sabers. Anyway my point is...is Anakin somehow better off fighting Dooku with Two sabers as opposed to just one? in the scene it appears like he has had some practice duel wielding since hes pretty impressive with them. Later on we all know Dooku destroys one saber, and proceeds to chop of Ani's arm. I had a problem with this scene cause it seems like Obi giving Anakin the second saber to help "even the odds" against Dooku didn't really make any sense. The only thing i can thing of is that duelwielding would be for a more offensive style similiar to the duelbladed saber style Maul uses but clearly Anakin is better off single wielding since never again in the saga do we see him trying to duel wield again. And an all out offensive style against the likes of Dooku is pretty...well dumb imho. I can see the advantages of having two sabers, one for fighting and one for throwing, Im not positive but i think Aayla Secura might do that. Now I'm rambling on, sorry if this has been posted before and sorry in advance if this is not a worthwhile topic just something that bothered me while thinking about StarWars the other day.

 

I don't know how much of a better fighter Anakin was, but
his action figure sure was cool!

[image=http://www.sandtroopers.com/AOTC/coll1/ani_hd_side.jpg]

 

well if your trained in wieleding two it will prolly make you better

cuz it allows you to defend with one saber and attack wit the other

 

From a filmic standpoint, I believe Lucas said Anakin used two lightsabers because they hadn't done that sort of duel before - and in the behind the scenes footage, you see Christopher Lee's stunt double going through some choreography with two swords as well, presumably against a little green opponent.

Now from a swordfighting point-of-view, the florentine style (which is basically two weapons: such as a sword and a dagger or in this case, two swords) would serve to Anakin's advantage as he can both block and attack at the same time. I believe the AOTC novelization describes this particular tactic. Having only one lightsaber, Dooku will have to work twice as hard to prevent his weapon from being enveloped when he attacks and his defense battered down when Anakin attacks.

One advantage that the florentine style has over Darth Maul's saber staff is that both blades can be employed at the same time from different angles. Aayla only uses two lightsabers in the Battlefront II videogame. In the "Republic" comics where she is most prominent, she always sticks to single saber. I think the game developers gave her a second weapon to balance out Grievous on the villains side.

 

It toatally depends on the person.

The fact that Anakin could wield two sabers says something about his swordsmanship. Normally, you need to crawl before you walk. Normally you need to master wielding one blade before you can be trusted to use a second.
I think Obi-Wan mentions the fact that Anakin practices his saber skills a lot. So, it is not suprizing that Anakin could pull a few tricks out of his sleeve with another saber. On the other hand though, he only really has one move with it in AotC, and just a killing blow in RotS.

So, in conclusion: 2 sabers isn't definatly better then one, it depends on the training of the fighter, and the circumstances of the fight.

As for Aayla Secura... I don't think she has 2 sabers in the movies, or in the one graphic novel I have read, but she does in Battlefront II. Meh.

 

I like your responses as to why two sabers would be "better" than just one, but I think it raises the question why don't all jedi/sith, or at least the capable ones(those strong enough in the force or those who are exceptional with the lightsaber), for example Anakin, Yoda, Dooku use two since it would provide a substantial advantage and it seems they would have the skills and force abilities to master duel wielding. In any case, I would have like to seen more duel wielding and possibly a predominate character use two sabers, I think part of Darth Maul's popularity is due to his doublebladed saber.

 

IMO: The only reason I think GG is even half-way cool is the fact that he has 4 sabers.

One thing you also have to consider... in this period of time, when would Joe-Schmo-Jedi ever really get into a lightsaber duel?
Remember, the Sith are supposed to be extinct in TPM. Even after TPM, the JC dosn't really know whats up with the Sith. They only think there are two (Master and Apprentence) and they have no idea who they are, where they are, or what they are doing.

Most Jedi are trained to handle problems that don't encourge the use of violence. They try the diplomatic approach of talking their way out of situations, and using aggressive negotiations if the situation calls. Even then, the primary weapon is a blaster. Most Jedi are trained to deal with blaster shots (and dodging and deflectiong them) then with dualing techniques.

Only the really elite Jedis stepped out of their confort zone when it came to fighting. Most of these (afaik) are on the Council. These would be the only ones that would really be suited for multiple fighting styles.
Then, it just comes down to the indivudal. Some people don't want to dual-wield. Some would prefer to be a master in one specific form. Some try to make their own form with what they are good at. Some (like Anakin) try to learn as much as possible (This may be attributed to Anakin's at-then subconsious desire for power)

 

Hmmm...I kinda assumed that Anakin somehow just improvised in his fight against Dooku. After all, lightsaber duels are supposed to be about the Force than the actual swordfighting. But then again...

*shrug*

 

IMO its a balence between the two. The force may guide your movements in terms of block, stab, slash, but your basic sword fighting techniques are something you learn.

 

One-handed swordsmanship is weak. It's pretty good for thrusting, but cuts are weak, the blade seems heavier and slower, and it's easy to "beat" it out of the way because you don't have a really good hold on it. For a lightsaber it's probably OK because speed is more important, and you don't need 2 hands to cut someone very deeply, but I would stick with one blade held with 2 hands, or a double-edged lightsaber.

 

To be honest, I would say a twohanded style is alot more defensive then offensive since your main perpose is to block your opponents attacks with the first sword and then swiftly counterattack with your other sword.
Probablem with many LS duels is that they use two long swords, were one short and one long gives you much more advantage (since it's alot easier to wield).

 

This is defently not a good idea! If you attack with both swords at the same time your just so vornable for stabs... It's not that hard blocking two swords att the same time; but it's way harder to block two swords rapedly exchanging blows. (even though I wouldn't hack and slash, but take it quite calm and wait for the opponent to attack, block and than counter attack, as it's taught in Kendo - the Nito-style)

(sorry for doublepost)

 

Two sabres have given no advantage to anyone in Star Wars.

Ask Anakin and Assaj Ventress. Dooku cut up their sabres on both occasions.

If you are not good enough to defeat a Sith Lord with one sabre, what makes you think you are good enough with two?

 

Myomoto Musashi was a real world wielder of two swords in many of his duels and never lost. It's not a matter of two being better/worse than one, it is a matter of the skill of the wielder. Dooku beat Anakin because he was a better dueler. There is an advantage to wielding two swords, and Dooku took that advantage away by taking out one of Anakin's blades.
The advantage for a single blade over two(Kendo folks help me out here)is that you have less that you have to think about for one, and with both hands on that hilt you have a greater strength to deflect cuts and stabs, can give and take ground easier and quicker, where wielding two swards means you may be overcome by a two handed swipe against your one handed defense.
Lightsaber blades have no weight, so wielding two saber blades would be easier than wielding to real world swords, but the inherant advantages and disadvantages should be the same.

 

It's definitely the more common technique. Two long swords can easily get in the way of each other if not used properly. On the other hand; with equal attacking range, the opponent won't have the luxury of knowing which side the long range attacks are coming from.

Musashi Miyamoto was definitely the man. And the book was a fun read as well.

 

For whatever reason, using force powers (Push, lightning, Choke, etc.) we see in almost every case the Jedi gesturing with a hand. Double wielding sabres would take this away from them. Seeing as how most of the Jedi didn't do much dueling and usually faught enemies with ranged weapons, the ability to force push and such would be more im portant than dual wield.

In a sabre to sabre dual, I think that 2 (Or double bladded) lightsabres would hold an advantage if used correctly. I think Anakin probably did practice it time to time but wasn't really proficient enough to use it effectively. He went toe to toe with Dooku for a decent amount of time, but only had the two sabres for about 2 seconds.

The last thing that proably keeps Jedi from Dual wield is having a free hand. The enemy sees the empty hand as much less of a threat than the lightsabre hand, but it can still do some damage. We see punching in Dual of the Fates, we see Anakin grab Dooku's hand to cut them off in RoTS, and we see some punching in the Anakin/Obi-Wan dual. Obviously it doesn't do the same amount of damage, but if you can stun your opponent or grab a part of them it can create an opportunity for you.

So the bottom line is that in addition to most Jedi not doing alot of two sabre training, there are advantages that do not apply to the real world (Force powers).

Carnage

 

Actually a hand gesture isn't needed. It's used in the films to show what is happening. If they didn't show Maul raise his hand to Force push Obi-Wan, everyone would think he had slipped.

The Force comes from the mind, not from the body.

 

From a dueling point of view, 2 swords is better than 1. I mean, if you suck and your opponet is skilled, then it wont matter a lick. But with 2 evenly matched foes, 2 gives one guy the advantage. He can

a) throw his sword without ending up defensless(dishonorable, but effective)

b) cut and block simultaneously (too bad anakin didnt use that tactic)

c) attack from two sides (it works if you're not facing a sith lord.

edit- two swords isnt better than one if you are using large broadswords or whatever. but with one-handed swords (cutlass style) it usually is. Sabers are as light as the handle, so with them, 2 is better.

 

Or do something as simple as sticking a rebreather in your mouth, as Obi-Wan did but Asajj was unable to do when they took an unexpected tumble into the water during their duel in "The Cestus Deception."

 

Free hand? Maybe in Star wars, but ina real duel, you wont get so close to someone as to punch them.

Besides, a punch would be way more effective if a lightsaber was on the end of it.

 

Relying only on Canon sources, do you EVER see a Jedi manipulate the force without using a gesture? Sure you could go "Out of universe" and say it was done for the benefit of the audience, but IN UNIVERSE We have gestures whenever the force is used. For that reason, I think you have to regard the needed free hand as fact.

Carnage

 

In ESB, Vader didn't even raise his hand when he Force choked Admiral Ozzel. Also when he was using the Force to throw things at Luke during their duel in Bespin, he didn't raise his hand.

 

Ok, I'll help you out mate:
another disadvantage is that some parts of the body is alot harder to defend while wielding two swords since generally wielding two swords - if wielding them right, that is not like they wield them in SW, because that's even worse - will cause some block of sight that doesn't accure when wielding one sword. In kendo you usualy have one sword raised above your head so you can swiftly make a rather heavy blow, and the other, shorter ifront of you, defending your body (Remember, holding the center is one of the most important aspects when wielding swords). This will make the side of your head where the raist arm is quite vurnable, since it's really hard to block it with the smaller sword.
One might say, why not use two long swords instead?
To be honest; do you know how clumsey it is? It's quite combersume and as you pointed out hard to hold track on what your doing so on; if your using two equallength swords both should be rather short, 60-70cm total where an ordinary samurai sword is about 90cm (and our Kendoswords are somewhere around 110cm)