Learning Saber Combat with TPLA!

[Master Nero Attoru]

Some of you know that I'm involved with Terra Prime Lightsaber Academy, now known as Terra Prime Light Armory (TPLA).  For a while we have been training various Apprentices as well as interacting on Facebook with "Learners in Exile", which is a term we use for distance learners who we instruct online to reach the level of Apprentice.  I'm please to announce that we now have a forum which assists in this function!  Here is the address.

http://tplalxforum.boards.net/

If you'd like more information about TPLA, or if you intend to come join us, that's the place to do it!  If this is a little much for you, I'll just give a quick rundown of our process for those who may not already know.

Most of us know about the Seven Forms of Lightsaber Combat, different styles and methods used by Jedi and Sith in the ages of the Old Republic.  There are many interpretations of these online, but ours is a bit unique in how we utilize them.  Instead of seven different styles that a warrior would choose from, we treat them as a progression.  This is similar to the in-universe lore, where they were developed to address new challenges in the galaxy (dueling for Makashi, blasters for Soresu, etc).

To give an example, a Learner in Exile would start by applying to become an Initiate.  We add them to the Initiates group on the forum, and this group studies Shii-Cho to build their foundation.  The standard progression in any Form is Formula, Accelerations, Dulon, and Velocities.  Each of these builds on each other, culminating in the final Velocity.  Therefore, an Initiate would submit video for each of these in turn, and have an Achievement awarded by a Knight or Headmaster.  This gives them permission to move onto the next step.

Once an Initiate clears Shii-Cho, he or she can begin studying the other three pillars - Makashi, Soresu, and Ataru.  These each have specific focuses which build further on the student's foundation.  At this point, he or she is officially a TPLA Apprentice, and will be paired with a Knight or Headmaster for more focused instruction.  That staff member will award Achievements from this point on.  Once the four pillars are cleared at the Student level (see the Achievement document for more info), the Apprentice may apply for Knighthood.

Our entire process was built carefully from the ground up to teach lightsaber combat via real world martial arts, so it's designed in a way to ensure the strongest foundations possible.  It's a great program full of cool people who want to help newcomers learn, so if you think you might be interested... give it a try!  Any questions, please feel free to ask here (or PM me if you'd rather).

[Master Seblaise]

The standard progression in any Form is Formula, Accelerations, Dulon, and Velocities.  Each of these builds on each other, culminating in the final Velocity.  Therefore, an Initiate would submit video for each of these in turn, and have an Achievement awarded by a Knight or Headmaster.  This gives them permission to move onto the next step.

Is it possible to have some example of these videos?

Thank you

[Morgoth136]

i am a huge fan of this group's youtube page. ill be looking into this more this weekend

[Master Nero Attoru]

Is it possible to have some example of these videos?

Thank you

Well I don't like to share submissions outside of our boards, but I can certainly provide this video of the Shii-Cho Primer (which is the Formula that everyone starts on first).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUaNZV0MFPc

I'll see if any of our Knights have video they would be willing to share, but this gives you a good idea of the basics that are built in Shii-Cho (namely the different strikes, stances, and movements).  Accelerations string these together, and it's built up from there onwards.

[Master Seblaise]

Well I don't like to share submissions outside of our boards, but I can certainly provide this video of the Shii-Cho Primer (which is the Formula that everyone starts on first).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUaNZV0MFPc

I'll see if any of our Knights have video they would be willing to share, but this gives you a good idea of the basics that are built in Shii-Cho (namely the different strikes, stances, and movements).  Accelerations string these together, and it's built up from there onwards.

Thanks,

It is just to have an idea about the level ... in order to imagine the time that is needed considering family life and other addictive hobbies

[Master Nero Attoru]

Thanks,

It is just to have an idea about the level ... in order to imagine the time that is needed considering family life and other addictive hobbies

Many of our Apprentices have quite a bit going on, so we work with them given that information.  We're all about keeping this fun and not work, so we keep it as flexible as possible.  To give you an idea, each video submitted is generally only a couple minutes long (since you're being tested on specific portions of the curriculum at a time), and most of our Apprentices submit a couple times a month at minimum.  We suggest doing it no slower than this pace, because it becomes difficult to keep skills sharp if you wait too long in between submissions.

Again, once Apprentice level is reached, you get paired with a Headmaster or Knight, so the scheduling stuff can be worked out on a one-on-one basis.  We have a pretty laid back group of teachers who wouldn't give anyone trouble (especially since our schedules can be busy as well!)

[Darth Sabre]

 



That being said  :

I second much of Master Nero's thoughts above: many of you know the videos and stuff TPLA has to offer. For me, the new achievement system is very motivating, indeed, because it is very specific on the student level and the instruction videos are very clear on what you are supposed to do next. And, of course, the tutor/student pairing gives you a reliant base to ask questions and get frequent feedback.

As for time: the system is very flexible, as are our tutors. We all are very busy and still we find enough time to train and post progression results ... if we do not disappear for a month or two, it is up to us how active we want to be and how fast we want to tackle the next step. We all have our lives ... 

We're all about keeping this fun and not work(...)

Here, with all due respect, I disagree a bit!  It is definitely fun ... but, to move on, it is hard work, too!!!

[Master Seblaise]

Many of our Apprentices have quite a bit going on, so we work with them given that information.  We're all about keeping this fun and not work, so we keep it as flexible as possible.  To give you an idea, each video submitted is generally only a couple minutes long (since you're being tested on specific portions of the curriculum at a time), and most of our Apprentices submit a couple times a month at minimum.  We suggest doing it no slower than this pace, because it becomes difficult to keep skills sharp if you wait too long in between submissions.

Again, once Apprentice level is reached, you get paired with a Headmaster or Knight, so the scheduling stuff can be worked out on a one-on-one basis.  We have a pretty laid back group of teachers who wouldn't give anyone trouble (especially since our schedules can be busy as well!)

Ok, thank you for the information

I am going to start by trying to apply my knowledge to light saber but i would like also to learn from other old little green masters

[Whitakker]

I didn't want to make a new thread for my simple question, so I dropped it into this one, since it directly involves a TPLA video.

In your "Fighting the Saber Staff" video, it seems to me that in a 1v1 duel, the single blade duelist has the advantage, as long as they keep their focus on the hilt itself, and not allow themselves to be thrown off by two blades coming at them from two places.  So with that said, are there any instances where a saber staff has the innate advantage over a single blade?  I would think that if the single blade could enter within the larger zone created by the staff, it'd be a quick duel in the single blade's favor.  Is there something I'm not considering here?

[Master Nero Attoru]

I didn't want to make a new thread for my simple question, so I dropped it into this one, since it directly involves a TPLA video.

In your "Fighting the Saber Staff" video, it seems to me that in a 1v1 duel, the single blade duelist has the advantage, as long as they keep their focus on the hilt itself, and not allow themselves to be thrown off by two blades coming at them from two places.  So with that said, are there any instances where a saber staff has the innate advantage over a single blade?  I would think that if the single blade could enter within the larger zone created by the staff, it'd be a quick duel in the single blade's favor.  Is there something I'm not considering here?

Generally speaking, we find that the saberstaff isn't as efficient a weapon as you'd think, for a variety of reasons.  You do get two blades, but the fact that they're connected limits their usage.  You'd have a more effective, albeit more difficult, usage of two separate lightsabers.  When compared to a real staff, where the major advantages are reach and power, the saberstaff also falls short due to the limited handhold.

Overall, it's a very cool weapon in concept, and the unorthodox nature of it can trip people up, but ultimately it's not really a superb weapon in practical usage.

[Vivectius]

I didn't want to make a new thread for my simple question, so I dropped it into this one, since it directly involves a TPLA video.

In your "Fighting the Saber Staff" video, it seems to me that in a 1v1 duel, the single blade duelist has the advantage, as long as they keep their focus on the hilt itself, and not allow themselves to be thrown off by two blades coming at them from two places.  So with that said, are there any instances where a saber staff has the innate advantage over a single blade?  I would think that if the single blade could enter within the larger zone created by the staff, it'd be a quick duel in the single blade's favor.  Is there something I'm not considering here?

To follow up on Master Nero, the most important thing to remember when facing a Saberstaff is that you don't have two blades coming at you from two directions.  You only have one blade coming at you at a time.  That's a reflexive issue that most people have to overcome.  You don't have to keep track of both blades, you only have to keep track of one, because by the nature of the construction of the saberstaff, knowing where one blade is automatically means you know where the other blade is.  And only one blade at a time can be moving towards you.

The biggest advantage lies not in the staff, but in the person using it.  An experienced saberstaff user against someone inexperienced, either in saber combat in general, or against a saberstaff in particular, can have an advantage.  Speed can also make a difference, but that's true either way and in pretty much every form of combat.

Despite all the big deal that was made about a saberstaff being too offensive a weapon in the Star Wars universe, it's actually much more effectively used as a defensive weapon, as blocking/parrying/deflecting a single saber with it can allow the other blade to be brought around. There are a number of ways to "push" your opponents blade away with a saberstaff that keeps it from being able to block the other blade as its brought around.  In those cases you either dodge or get hit.

I think, from my experience, that when using a saberstaff positioning, and thus footwork are even more important than fighting with just a single saber.

(And I'm not even going to bring Jar'Kai (dual wielding) into this discussion, because that's another whole set of issues.)

[ThreadJack]

To follow up on Master Nero, the most important thing to remember when facing a Saberstaff is that you don't have two blades coming at you from two directions.  You only have one blade coming at you at a time.  That's a reflexive issue that most people have to overcome.  You don't have to keep track of both blades, you only have to keep track of one, because by the nature of the construction of the saberstaff, knowing where one blade is automatically means you know where the other blade is.  And only one blade at a time can be moving towards you.

The biggest advantage lies not in the staff, but in the person using it.  An experienced saberstaff user against someone inexperienced, either in saber combat in general, or against a saberstaff in particular, can have an advantage.  Speed can also make a difference, but that's true either way and in pretty much every form of combat.

Despite all the big deal that was made about a saberstaff being too offensive a weapon in the Star Wars universe, it's actually much more effectively used as a defensive weapon, as blocking/parrying/deflecting a single saber with it can allow the other blade to be brought around. There are a number of ways to "push" your opponents blade away with a saberstaff that keeps it from being able to block the other blade as its brought around.  In those cases you either dodge or get hit.

I think, from my experience, that when using a saberstaff positioning, and thus footwork are even more important than fighting with just a single saber.

(And I'm not even going to bring Jar'Kai (dual wielding) into this discussion, because that's another whole set of issues.)

This was actually addressed in universe, in the first Bane novel. The blade master pretty much told Bane this exact thing.

I would be worried about doing this, only because I don't want to start and drop off due to lack of dedication....

[Vivectius]

This was actually addressed in universe, in the first Bane novel. The blade master pretty much told Bane this exact thing.

I would be worried about doing this, only because I don't want to start and drop off due to lack of dedication....

Yes, Kas'im was correct  . And another example in universe is Bane's apprentice, Zannah, who was a master of Soresu and used a saberstaff to almost perfect effect with it.

Time commitment is my biggest issue with actually participating with the TPLA.  It's not fair to anyone if I have to start and stop and start and stop due to life.  But I love watching the videos, and especially the live discussions.

[Master Nero Attoru]

Funny how despite all the nonsense, you get little bits of good martial arts concepts in those fictional sources sometimes!  I really need to read the Bane books sometime.

As for the time commitment, it's totally understandable - I'm a Headmaster and I barely seem to find the time to keep up.  Just keep in mind that it doesn't hurt to start the Initiate process and try Shii-Cho, at that point there's little in the way of time constraints.

[ThreadJack]

Maybe I'll check it out! (Just another excuse to get that Fire Orange Dark Sentinel I want!)