Duelers Got a question on hand placement.

[Hasid Lafre]

Iam trying to figure out the best hand placement for the form 5, djem so.

IAm used to one had closer to emitter and one closest to the pommel but then I have a limited range of movment for twisting my hands around for a block or such.

Now Iam right handed but I use a left handed stance, strangly thats how Ive alwase fought or dueled so I have to adapt things for my style.

But Im also wondering about placement of say the covertech button. Where would the best place for it to go? In that open space between finger/end of palm when grasping the hilt?

Edit.

How deep does the 2.1mm recharge port sit down in the hilt?

[Novastar]

Forward hand closest to emitter, rear hand closest to pommel. The "saber" is actually a lever. Hold the saber loosely in the rear hand--you should be able to manipulate it in any way you like if your wrists are strong and your COG regarding the saber is good. If you use the 1" OD, 3/4" blades, excellent. If you use the thin-walled ones, it should be even easier.

On/off button placement is up to the owner, but I recommend in the center of the hilt, basically where your hands normally won't be when USING the saber.

I don't use covertech buttons, so I've no idea on that. Place as you like it, I'd imagine.

Finally, I hate to say it but the saber "forms"... are basically a joke. There is only what works and what does not. What you prefer and what you do not. There are a finite amount of targets on a human, as there are ways to protect a target... but using as many as you can in a variety of ways is the best "form"... if we want to label it as such.

Which I don't.

[Mor-El Kesav]

Novastar, I'm going to have to completely disagree with you on this one. While many of the aspects of the forms are unobtainable without the force, many of the aspects are legitimate & based off how you approach lightsaber dueling. If you approach it as you would traditional steel blade dueling, then yes they are worthless. Lightsaber dueling cannot be properly approached as one would approach traditional steel blade deuling. This is a mistake that many real world blade masters make. That is why the 7 forms were created in the first place.

Steel blades have one to two sharp edges and 2 to 3 flat edges. Therefore you can only cut on one to two surfaces and this dictates how your blade is going to move towards the enemy. The same is true of defending against a cut. As you know, in steel blade deuling you don't block on the cutting edge you block on the flat.

A lightsaber cuts on every aspect of its surface. True these are not real lightsabers, but the blade should be treated as such while dueling. This changes how one uses the blades. You also can block on every aspect of the blade, something you cannot do in steel bladed dueling. The 7 forms of lightsaber dueling take this into account and are no more "a joke" than diffentiating between Eastern and Western styles of steel blade dueling.

Hand placement for each style is different. Proper hand placement for Djem So is for the the dominate hand to be near the emitter head, gripping with the pinky and ring fingers while loosely wrapping the middle, index and thumb to make a losely closed fist. The non dominant hand is near the pommel, again gripping with the pinky and ring fingers while loosely wrapping the middle, index and thumb to make a losely closed fist. The non dominate arm provides the power and dominate arm provides the control. Standard offensive and defensive positions, to include foot placement, exist for form V and should be mastered before adding your own flair to the style.

If one is going to approach lightsaber dueling, one should do so seriously to avoid injury. Do NOT use standard Eastern and Western steel bladed dueling techniques as a basis for forming your lightsaber dueling techniques. Use the forms that were designed for the specific weapon.

[neophyl]

Im sorry but the '7 forms' are a fictional creation and have absolutely NO basis in reality at all. You do understand that starwars is a fantasy right ?

Its not real, we dont fight life and death battles (except in our imaginations maybe).

From a safety point of veiw you shouldnt be doing freeform fighting anyway without LOTS of experience. With anything that choreographed for display purposes theres no such thing as forms, its script.

[xwingband]

That is why the 7 forms were created in the first place.

No... they were first introduced in a SW Insider or Gamer article. No one with any real knowledge had input. Take Form VI... diplomat's form? That doesn't even describe anything related to actual use.

I'd have to agree with Novastar to use what works as the choreographers and people like Ray Park all used the sabers like real world weapons. Unless you go and get training in all the various martial arts that they mashed together it's what works and doesn't.

[Arthelion]

The concept of forms is really amusing to me. Example.....Qui Gon and yoda supposedly both practice Ataru, but its clear to anyone who watches the movies that while yoda is clearly jumping on almost every strike, Qui-Gon does very little in the way of acrobatics(surely no more than any other jedi). Additionally, if one were to go by the descriptions of the forms in the books, the ready stance of Vaapad is a flurry of strikes almost too quick for the eye to see (in shatterpoint for example) which is clearly not what sam jackson does in the movie. I can almost make an exception in my mind for Dooku, but even there its a stretch. Forms make for great story telling in text forms such as novels, but in movies, pretty pretty spins and neat looking moves are king, no matter who is doing the fighting.
Forms are made up, just like the rest of star wars.....it makes for great descriptions, but just doesn't translate into real life.

[Novastar]

Novastar, I'm going to have to completely disagree with you on this one. While many of the aspects of the forms are unobtainable without the force, many of the aspects are legitimate & based off how you approach lightsaber dueling. If you approach it as you would traditional steel blade dueling, then yes they are worthless. Lightsaber dueling cannot be properly approached as one would approach traditional steel blade deuling. This is a mistake that many real world blade masters make. That is why the 7 forms were created in the first place.

Everyone has their opinion, and they are entitled to it. The truth comes out in choreography vs. a "real world" application since "light sabers"... do not exist.

In sport SABER fencing, you can hit with ANY part of the blade you like. Long ago, this was not the case, but it is now.

If anyone on here knows what it means to manipulate a sword-like weapon in a way that somewhat "disregards" the cutting edge... it is now the current time period saber fencer (as of 2003 to 2007/present).

Geez. I called my business "The Cutting Edge". It used to have some real relevance in saber fencing. Not anymore! Still... saber choreo is like saber fencing to me.

Sword forms that require usage of cutting edge vs. flat are irrelevant to polycarbonate tube "combat". My opinion. Everyone has one!

[Ravage179]

as long as we all have only two eyes, two arms, and two legs ALL fighting styles will share a the same principals and as for form V its supposed to be a power form so you want maximum distance between your hands giving yourself maximum leverage I would study european longsword and kendo style grips and observe how they use them to power their attacks.

[Novastar]

Right on the 2 arms, 2 legs thing... Bruce Lee used to say this all the time.

It's true that the closest "differences" in human styles have to do with:

1. Height (also limb length, lol is that a term)
2. Body Weight

A good fencing pal of mine, Jesse... he's like 6'4" and is easily 250# or more. I'm 5'7" and I weigh about 140#. Our fencing "styles" are not the same... but the targets are still alike.

He's been fencing for about 25+ years, while I have been fencing about 6 or so. He wins many bouts against me... but I also defeat him fairly often... sometimes it's 50-50.

We manipulate the weapons differently... but in essence, it's all the same. We threaten and hit different targets within the confines of the sport rules, and we use timing, measure, tactics and technique to achieve the results desired. Neither of us obey any "forms". To me--there is no such thing.

There is only what achieves results--and what does not... in a "real time" situation. Whether for sport... or for a battle for your life.

[Jacen_Aurion]

everyone has their own form but depending on how you fight, you could classify yourself to a specific form that was mentioned in kotor2. I'm probably best described as having a very very defensive nature, so in that regard i use my own version of Soresu. My objective is slightly different though, I use Makashi to use precise strokes so that i use as little energy as possible, but by the time your energy is spent hopefully mine is still around and at that point I go all out Juyo. Resilience, Contention & Ferocity I believe.