The Philip DeFranco Show - MS 4.23 Why Lightsaber Dueling Is Now A Competitive Sport

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello, hello, welcome to your Extra Morning Show. My name is Philip DeFranco, and today we're gonna do something a little bit different. We're gonna start your day off with something that's not completely horrible. And that's because we are talking about lightsaber dueling actually being a thing. And before you're actually like,

Starting point is 00:00:13 well, Phil, it's actually been a thing forever. Well, what I'm talking about today is a little bit different. What I'm talking about is that the French Fencing Federation has officially recognized lightsaber dueling as a competitive sport. So all those hours you spent reenacting your favorite duels, you can just consider that practice at this point. And thanks to the French Fencing Federation's decision, fencing clubs across France are now going to be equipped with lightsabers of different

Starting point is 00:00:31 colors and styles. We have some very basic ones which are just on-off buttons and with different colors or shapes, but there is also much much much improved weapon Now you might be wondering at this point why would the Federation even consider doing this they risk obviously seeming like a joke Well members of the Federation are hoping that this move will encourage people to ditch their screens their devices and practice sports during a recent Press conference the Federation's secretary-general spoke about the intentions behind their actions saying, quote, With young people today, it's a real public health issue. 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,

Starting point is 00:01:17 so participating in a sport feels natural. And as it turns out, films that feature sword fights and lightsabers have had a pretty big impact on the growth of France's fencing Federation. In fact, according to the Federation, outside of the Star Wars franchise, movies that featured capes and swords like Zorro and The Three Musketeers, they actually led to increased interest in fencing as a sport. And so that's why, in part, they're hopeful that the popularity of the Star Wars franchise will encourage more people to take part. So, next logical question after finding out something is a thing, how does that thing work? How does lightsaber dueling actually work? Well, unlike traditional fencing where competitors fight on a horizontal stage,

Starting point is 00:01:46 lightsaber dueling will allow fighters to go head-to-head in three-minute rounds fought inside a circle. Jabs to the head and body are worth five points, hitting arms and legs are worth three, and a blow to the hands counts for one. The first person to reach 15 points or get the highest score after three minutes wins. Unless both fighters tie at 10 points, in which case they go into a sudden death round. And there the person to land the next hit to the head, or body wins the fight. But unlike fencing, you need to bring the lightsaber behind you before Like this, like this, like this, like this. Doing these movements encourages these movements. Because we have time to do it, we know there won't be counter-attacks.

Starting point is 00:02:32 And so we stay in the universe. And this actually brings us to our next point and why we're actually talking about this today. The controversy surrounding this move. Some of the rules in lightsaber dueling, like the ones mentioned earlier, exist to make the fight appear more visually captivating for the audience and look more like the fights in Star Wars. And that's not to say that the movements aren't complex or that they don't involve athleticism, they do.

Starting point is 00:02:49 Physically, I never really had to push myself that hard. And stamina wise, you're like, oh my God. It's just rigorous in a great way. So you can't half-ass it. But these rigorous and sometimes even dangerous motions also contribute to the overall showmanship. And so this is some people worried that the spectacle of the sport may actually be taken away

Starting point is 00:03:13 from the athleticism, which in turn can potentially be bad for fencing. And as it stands now, fencing is an Olympic sport, which on that note, fencing has been a part of the Olympic program since Athens, 1896. And since then, we've seen more modern sports introduced into the Olympics. You have beach volleyball, snowboarding, race walking,

Starting point is 00:03:27 which is pretty much speed walking. And actually on the note of more modern sports, organizers of the 2024 Olympics in Paris have even proposed adding competitive break dancing to the list. Something that people have argued is also a spectacle sport, something intended to entertain audiences and again, be visually compelling. And considering all this, it almost seems like there's

Starting point is 00:03:42 an effort to modernize the Olympics. So adding something like lightsaber dueling down the road doesn't seem too far-fetched. But that does not mean we're anywhere close to that actually happening. And that's because, among other things, in order to be included in the Olympics, a sport must be played by men in at least 75 countries on four continents, and by women in at least 40 countries on three continents. But also at the same time, joking or not, you have people arguing, well, what's the difference between this compared to any other made-up thing? And now I know there's a lot of haters out there that are like, oh, this isn't a real sport. It's just some made-up nonsense. Yeah. And you know what? All sports are made-up nonsense, all right?

Starting point is 00:04:13 I don't know if you've seen the Olympics, but it's all made-up nonsense. A guy pushes a ball off of his shoulder and they give him a gold medal. What is that? Huh? That's not a sport. Then another guy's like, what if we put a ball on the end of a chain and swing that around? Yeah, you can have a gold medal too. It's just as ridiculous as lightsabers. And before continuing to move forward, I still think we need to go back to, you know, this whole move of it being an official sport in France. The move here is to improve overall public health.

Starting point is 00:04:36 But still, just the mere thought of lightsaber dueling coming even close to becoming an Olympic sport has some people concerned about the status and image of Olympic fencers. But also, fencers don't seem to be too bothered by this new development. People like Philippe Bondi, for example, practiced fencing for 20 years before making the decision to switch to lightsaber dueling. Which for him actually turned out to be a rather easy decision considering how much he's loved Star Wars his entire life. And his experience isn't all that different. He still fights in the same wire mesh face mask used for fencing. He still wears protective armor. The only difference is that he got to trade in his up pay for a Federation approved lightsaber. But still that's the potential future of all this. I think it is important to go back to the main reason this is happening.

Starting point is 00:05:09 According to a new study conducted by researchers from the World Health Organization, over 27% of people across the globe do not meet WHO's physical activity guidelines. The study was based on data from 358 surveys conducted between 2001 and 2016, and covered over 1.9 million people from 168 countries. And for those of you who don't know, those guidelines encourage 75 minutes of vigorous exercise or 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week. But physical activity percentages vary drastically from country to country and France, for example, has actually been very serious in its approach to public health. According to the French Ministry of Sports, 64% of French people play sports at least once a week and more than 16 million people belong to a sports club of some sort And keeping in mind that's out of a total of 67 million people and when we compare these percentages to say the United States

Starting point is 00:05:50 It's possible that we could benefit from new sports like these two according to data published by the CDC in 2018 only about 23% of Americans Between the ages of 18 and 64 are meeting physical activity guidelines and for years The United States has been facing declining rates of physical activity Which is a major problem considering lack of exercise has been a leading cause of morbidity, disability, and premature mortality. In fact, estimates are that some 300,000 deaths each year in the United States occur because of physical inactivity and poor eating habits. And it's not just the states. Worldwide, that number is roughly 3.2 million. And in response to all of this, the World Health Organization has set a goal to reduce physical inactivity worldwide by 10% by 2025. And their hope is that countries individually work

Starting point is 00:06:26 to address this issue by implementing more physical activity into daily life, which is why introducing something like lightsaber dueling makes sense. And something that I acknowledged in the beginning and now I'm gonna expand on, it is worth noting that France's move is not unprecedented. In fact, lightsaber dueling has been around for as long as Star Wars has, since 1977.

Starting point is 00:06:41 But for years, the sport has been confined to private gyms and clubs that specialize in the practice. And actually one of the most well-known among these is the Saber Legion, which is a worldwide saber combat club. You've also got lightsaber combat schools like Ludo Sport Lightsaber Combat Academy, which is another organization based in Italy that teaches seven different styles of lightsaber combat. And then there's New York Jedi, where on top of the classes, combat, dueling techniques. There's also an online option where you can connect with an entire community of teachers, cosplayers, lightsaber enthusiasts just by visiting their site.

Starting point is 00:07:06 Hell, if after this video you are inspired, chances are if you google lightsaber clubs near me, it's very possible that you're gonna find more than one option near you. But obviously with France's move to legitimize the sport, it's on a completely different level. But with all that said, it brings us to the part of the video where I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts about any and all of this? Are you in favor of recognizing this as an official sport? Do you ultimately think that it could have a negative impact on the fencing community? Also, if you are a fencer and or fencing enthusiast, I'd love to know your thoughts. And for those who have not been a part of this, what do you think about it?

Starting point is 00:07:32 You gonna check it out? No matter what you think though, I'd love to hear from you down below. With all that said, thanks for watching. If you liked the video, be sure to take a little time to hit that like button. If you're new here, subscribe. Also, if you're not 100% filled in, you missed the last Philip DeFranco show, the last deep dive. You can click or tap right there to watch those. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. I love your face and I'll see you back here on this channel later today with an all new Philip DeFranco show.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - MS 4.23 Why Lightsaber Dueling Is Now A Competitive Sport

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