Welcome back to the blog I said I was going to keep up with about a year ago. But we're returning with something a little different. Each month we're going to focus on our students and ask them a few questions about their experience at Indy Lightsaber Academy. Jennifer Campbell is the focus of our first student spotlight of 2019 (or ever for that matter). She's already made her way through Initiate I and currently learning Form II (or Initiate II rank). Let's learn a little more about her. How did you first learn about ILA?  I found out about Indy Lightsaber Academy at Starbase Indy. They did a demonstration and hosted a workshop. I know I wanted try it. How long have you been coming to class?  I started going to class in January 2018, so I t’s been a year and a half. What is your favorite thing about ILA?  I love that it’s both fun and in depth. We are actually learning sword fighting but we’re using lightsabers to do it because they’re cool. If ...

To take a break from my long breaks of writing content. I thought I'd do something a little different today. Think Madlibs, but with less rules and no coherent story. Thanks to the dedicated students of Indy Lightsaber Academy, here are "20 thoughts we all have during lightsaber class". Using only gifs posted by students that have no clue what I wanted the gifs for... 20.  When the Headmaster realizes you're making a post like this When I could be writing the follow up Form post. 19. Better squeeze some last minute practice at home... Probably a good thing you're coming to class. 18. When half the class posts they won't be there  Your cat or car won't start.  17. But they show up anyway The allure of illuminated weapons was just too great. 16. And now it's time for warm ups Exercise? 15. What you think you look like during Sally Up How hard can this be? https://www.youtube.c...

7 Forms of Lightsaber Combat - Part 1 History of Lightsaber Martial Arts This post is probably a long time coming. But today I'm going to briefly cover what the 7 Forms of lightsaber combat are and how they're mostly ridiculous. In part 2, I'll go over what our Forms look like. Although (and I'll probably mention this several times) our forms may or may not align with existing canon. Or basically, yes we have 7 forms. But they might not be what you're expecting. Good luck with your training Speaking of canon. The 7 Forms that we all know and love have only been canon since 2002 (shortly before Episode II). And even then a lot of their mentions have been expunged when Disney bought out the franchise (even the current descriptions have been altered or reduced). It's also important to note that there are very few direct references to the Forms other than visual guides and the like. And NONE of the movies prior to AotC directly integrated or even a...

Happy almost-fall folks! It's Doug with Indy Lightsaber Academy. And today we're going to list my top 6 lightsaber duels in the franchise. I'm limiting the list to only the movies. As covering everything would take a lot more time. And keep in mind that this list is more about how "influential" a fight was, as opposed to just my favorites. What am I basing my choices on? How  important  was this duel to the franchise or story? What  impact  did it have at the time/film industry? What did it do  different ? (also see innovation) Fight  choreography  (both fantasy and reality) Is it  fun  to watch? I'll give each duel a score or a rating in these categories to mildly explain why it is where it is. However the score may or may not actually reflect where on the list it is.  6. Obi-Wan vs Darth Vader (A New Hope) You can hardly start off a list of lightsaber duels and NOT include the original.  This is what ...