TOPIC: Serious Dueler Starter Tips

So I wanted to know from the serious duelers of the saberforge community, what are some good tips for someone looking to break onto the scene? So far I got:

Wear gloves (and other protective gear)
Get a saber that isnt sharp for dueling, example Guardian or Gladius
Watch some Terra Prime Lightsaber Academy videos on youtube
(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN3IsywwpbvOMkkCD2TFMAA) playlists rock
Google possible places for leanring, like the lightsaber academy (I dont see one for Minneapolis )
Wear clothing thats easy to move in and not too loose

What other tips can the pros give? Any videos you think are good to watch or information to read? Where did you guys get your training clothes? How often does the saber break with such continued use? How often do you have to buy a new dueling saber, etc?

In terms of knowledge used for combat, TPLA is a great place to look into. In addition, if you have a nearby martial arts or fencing school, that will help you build a fantastic foundation for sparring. The more of that type of experience you get, the fuller your understand of the TPLA material will be.

When it comes to equipment, I generally wear long sleeves to avoid strikes on the bare skin, and as much armor as I can. I coached fencing for years, so I have a padded vest that I use along with hockey gloves and my fencing mask. The chest and body protection is definitely recommended, but I would say at the minimum you want gloves and a mask for protection. Knuckles and other bones in your hands break incredibly easily, and obviously the eyes and face need to be guarded.

Guardian and Gladius are both great choices, those are actually two of my main dueling hilts. Well balanced, simple designs are the best for such things, but as with many aspects of this hobby it comes down to personal choice. As far as breaking sabers, I've never done that in years of sparring - not even a blade (although I've had tips pop off).

Finally, if I can dish out one random tip, try to spar in the daytime (or at least when it's somewhat light out). I know these things look awesome in the dark, but sparring at night is both dangerous and unhelpful. It's incredibly easy to trip or otherwise injure yourself, and in the end you're not training yourself with visual cues from your opponent, so there's no real point. With the Saberforge 12W and other bright LED options, there's really no reason not to spar during the day.

Great tips! Thanks so much bud!

Do you usually get your dueling sabers with light and no sound?

For me I just started duelling with friends. We didn't wear any protective equipment, though we should have had masks, my eye got poked once XD

I have no idea about finding duelling partners, unless saberforge decides to add my member finder program to the site.

Any staff dueler here? I really could use some tips haha! I'm new to that kind of saber, but I like it so much that I'll do anything (well, almost) to learn how to be a good dueler with one.

Otherwise I'm pretty good at dueling, especially with one or two sabers against 1 or 2 opponents! I can sure give some tips!

Darth Revan wrote: I would say just go for it. Find someone to duel with, and constantly spin the staff sort of like rowing a boat when you need to block.

Well, for now that's mostly what I do, but a staff is a weapon dangerous for the foe, but also dangerous for the user (Well, if it was a real lightsaber it would be). Slowly I'm learning not to hit the back of my leg or places like that.

Spinning the saber and attacking is not that hard. It's using both sides of your staff to guard yourself that is a little bit more complicated!

Darth Revan wrote: Well since you can't block horizontally, since your staff will get cut in half, you would need to knock the enemy blade out of the way. Saber combat seems to be mostly spinning, however this could leave the center of your body undefended. I would recommend blocking by knocking the enemy blade, but when you spin to try and protect the middle.

ModernJedi wrote:
Personally, I change it up. The ones I spar with the most are Warrior level, so no sound, but I also spar quite a bit with my US Dark Prophecy (which has sound). It's more of a collection-related reason why I get mostly SF stunts at this point - I have a number of hilts with sound that I love, so getting stunts lets me try out different hilts without spending too much.

My point is, either works. SF makes hilts ready for combat regardless of the internals (with the exception of some crystal chambers), so I usually tell people to go with what they like personally rather than fear damaging soundboards and other parts.

Some more tips:

1.Try not to do the same move or pattern of moves over and over.

2.Against a vaapad user, corner them. I use vaapad myself and really my only weakness is when I'm cornered... But then again I don't get cornered in the first place.