This weeks guest instructor is : Reid Iford

Lightsabers are NOT based on Samurai swords

I think everyone assumes Lightsabers are a variation of Samurai swords. I've been guilty of spreading this tale myself. However, while this comparison may seem "obvious," I think it's erroneous. After comparing the fighting "styles" shown in the Star Wars movies to kendo and other styles, I'm convinced that lightsabers, as they are portrayed in Star Wars, are actually high-tech LANCES.

Samurai swords, except in certain battlefield situations, were almost never used in protracted fights. In fact, the most common killing blow is delivered upon the draw, and most duels were decided in the first second.

The lance, on the other hand, was more practical for a lengthier fight. And, aside from not being worn on the hip, fighting with a lance has a lot more in common with a Lightsaber duel than does fighting with a katana.

A lance is like a lengthy staff with a sharp blade on the end. It can be used to stab (a use for which Samurai swords are somewhat impractical, due to their curving shape), it can be used to chop and slice, and it can be used much more effectively to block another lance in combat. I recently dug out my copy of "The Hidden Fortress," the 1958 Toshiro Mifune, Akira Kurosawa movie that inspired George Lucas to make Star Wars. It's a great movie, and the big fight scene in it is fought with lances, not Samurai swords.

Many classic Lightsaber fighting techniques we've seen in the Star Wars movies are straight from this lance fight in "The Hidden Fortress." The many blocks, the technique of forcing two lightsaber blades tightly against each other and following them around in an arc, the slashing, the spins and fast footwork -- these are all in this one fight: A LANCE FIGHT!

I recently watched a martial arts documentary which talked about the Chinese Lance used in Kung Fu, and it reported that after fighting against the Chinese, the British military conceded that the Chinese (or Japanese) lance was vastly superior in close combat to the bayonet affixed to a rifle.

It's something to think about.

Reid Iford -- somewhat past his prime Venerable Jedi