Fencing with a lightsaber – now possible in France
Those of you who are active on social media will surely have heard already: lightsaber combat is now a recognized sport in France. The official French Fencing Federation (FFE) now combines the elegant weapon from a galaxy far, far away with the classic sport of fencing and is adding this form of fencing to its repertoire as a new discipline. The fights use lightsaber replicas whose polycarbonate blades are lit by LEDs – just the way we know them.
However, this unusual combination probably won't make it to the next Olympic Games in Tokyo, and we probably won't see any lightsabers in Paris in 2024 either.
For all the attention this news is currently getting, the sport of fencing behind the lightsaber is still clearly recognizable: just as other groups have already tried to combine kendo, the Japanese art of fighting with a bamboo sword, with lightsaber combat, this is now happening in fencing, admittedly officially.
But lightsaber combat basically exists first and foremost as an art form, as a choreographed performance, the way we know it especially from Episodes I to III. Lightsaber combat thrives on its dynamics, its speed and its elegance, which makes it closer to dancing than to sword fighting. The form recognized by the FFE is unlikely to be comparable to the lightsaber combat we know and love so much.
So it remains to be seen to what extent Star Wars fans in France will get their money's worth, or: does the sport of fencing really need the lightsaber alongside the foil, saber and épée?