A long time ago…

In a galaxy country far, far away…

The French Fencing Federation decided to make lightsaber duelling an official competitive sport.

Not a drill. This is real.

The LED-lit lightsabers have been granted the same status as the foil, epee and sabre, the traditional blades used at the Olympics, which means France has officially reached peak nerd.

Here’s APNews:

Of course, the LED-lit, rigid polycarbonate lightsaber replicas can’t slice a Sith lord in half. But they look and, with the more expensive sabers equipped with a chip in their hilt that emits a throaty electric rumble, even sound remarkably like the silver screen blades that Yoda and other characters wield in the blockbuster movies.

Plenty realistic, at least, for duelists to work up an impressive sweat slashing, feinting and stabbing in organized, 3-minute bouts. The physicality of lightsaber combat is part of why the French Fencing Federation threw its support behind the sport and is now equipping fencing clubs with lightsabers and training would-be lightsaber instructors.

Like virtuous Jedi knights, the French federation sees itself as combatting a Dark Side: The sedentary habits of 21st-century life that are sickening ever-growing numbers of adults and kids.

Uh, okay, sure. “Sedentary habits” doesn’t sound quite as impressive as “Sith Lord”, but I get it.

“With young people today, it’s a real public health issue. They don’t do any sport and only exercise with their thumbs,” says Serge Aubailly, the federation secretary general.

“It’s becoming difficult to (persuade them to) do a sport that has no connection with getting out of the sofa and playing with one’s thumbs. That is why we are trying to create a bond between our discipline and modern technologies, so participating in a sport feels natural.”

Indeed! Down with thumbs!

Anyway, you can enjoy watching the Jedi Knights in action below:

Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing lightsaber duelling in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Then again, in the words of Yoda, “if you end your training now — if you choose the quick and easy path as Vader did — you will become an agent of evil”.

Interpret that as you will.

[source:apnews]