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Hapki's Saber Saga

Saber Staff Build Log, I

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At some point, I may train with a sword, but at the moment, my martial arts training is limited to the staff. Recognizing that the staff can be cumbersome and impractical, I've decided to make one. Darth Maul's saber staff has very long blades, which for theatrical purposes, is very cool. For the way I'm trained to use a staff, however, it is not so cool. I think the maximum length of a saber staff is five to six feet. I'm six feet tall.

The martial arts tradition in which I've trained requires the staff to slide through hands white a bit. One generates power by holding onto an axis point of the staff and sliding the hand down to move the staff in a circle by decreasing the radius between of the circle. What this geometry of staff power means is that the staff needs to be as smooth as possible. Any things sticking up across the staff will prevent hands from sliding. Many staff movements require the hands to reach the very end of the staff. Obviously that's not gonna happen with a saber staff. So the hilt needs to be as long as possible, but the longer it is, the shorter the blades have to be; that or the staff gets too long.

As a starting point, I'm going to set the hilt length at 2 feet. That gives two feet per blade, which is very short. I'll probably need to revise these measurements. I'm keeping in mind that the blades don't have to be symmetrical. I may opt for a pike of sorts, with a short blade on the butt and a longer blade on the other end.

I also plan on using the saber staff as a saber, as Darth Maul did in the attack on Qui Gon Jin on Tatooine. (Recall, "Anakin, Duck!") In fact, one of the most dramatic images of the movie is Darth Maul holding his saber off to the side and deactivating it as the Nubian transport departs. My plan is to make the bad holders symmetrical and to use a blade plug in one when I'm using it as a staff. It'll be long and bulky, but that's the tradeoff. Some katana had very long hilts, I have heard.

I'm using the TCSS MHS I to sink tube adapter.

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Instead of sink tube, I'm using a series of aluminum tubes that fit together quite nicely. These will be cut and layered. Rather than accessing the inside from the end of the tube, I'll access it from the side. This will require a horizontal cut along the inner tube. I'll then cut a panel off of a slightly larger tube so that it can be used as a cover. The tube/hilt will have a series of panels that can be taken off (by screws) to provide access.

I'm still working out the details. Work is in conceptual stages right now.

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