Right. I've got little experience with swing stuff around (aside from wacking kids with lightsabers when I was little) but I agree with what you've said. But you've got to remember several things:

1. Lightsaber blades don't weigh ANYTHING. So that's gonna make a difference

2. Anyone that does use dual or double-weild in Star Wars would have practiced with it a LOT

3. Star Wars isn't the real world. It's fake. With that in mind, it is canon that double or dual weilders can match with a single saber duelist in Star Wars.

1. That's really another call in favor of single weapons though. You have -far- more blade control with one sword in regards to double wielding. If anything, Luke had the right idea in the EU when his offhand saber was shorter, more like a sort of parrying dagger.

2. Anybody with a single saber would of practiced to the same extent.

3. I think I made that point in my own post, Star Wars is kind of rule of cool. If you watch the original trilogy though, in the few lightsaber battles they had it was very clear the actors had been taught good footwork and movement, it was a lot more believable than backflips.

As it is, the only thing that would stop a real martial swordsman from beating a jedi is their ability to see the future and react to things just before they happen. If HK is to be believed from KOTOR II, you can counteract that by having conflicting emotions and thoughts. Cognitive Dissonance somehow disrupts their abilities.

Anybody remember blaster jedis? What happened to those?

If you wield a double-bladed lightsaber while being attacked from the front and shot at from behind, you would be in a tough spot compared to someone wielding two separate lightsabers.

Anyone attacked from in front and behind is in a a really tough spot, regardless of which weapon style you're using.

Anyone attacked from in front and behind is in a a really tough spot, regardless of which weapon style you're using.

Nah. Just run to the left or right and you're good.

Nah. Just run to the left or right and you're good.

Well obviously lol, but those were the parameters given.

In 1 on 1 combat, single sabers tend to be most effective, although using a shorter guard saber or shoto as an offhand weapon can be effective with proper training.

Double bladed sabers would be more useful in carving through a crowd of adversaries, and wielding two lightsabers together is, well, pretty stupid. I don't know if you've ever tried it, but what ends up happening is either a pattern of repeating or alternating attacks, and anyone with a single blade turns them aside easily and punches through the center of your defenses.

So I used to do LARPing (think of it as live action D&D) every month. We used very light PVC/foam weapons to fight with. I used dual wield swords, mostly for the versatility of them. I could use one up and one down for more defense, or both up for more offence (there were a lot of people who used sword and shield, but that doesn't apply here). There were hundreds of us who played and we had tournaments every year. No one ever used a Bo Staff (double bladed light saber) because they were an easy target. And no one ever used a single sword. I won my divisions tourney a couple of times using two swords. Every time someone swung at me high, you block with one sword and swing at the legs with the other.

There is a lot of theory in this thread, but I can say from experience. Two swords are better than one, and better than a staff.

Ah, and therein lies the problem with LARPing. No one is trying to kill you.

The most effective attacks with a single sword are narrow cuts to the throat and straight thrusts inside the pelvic region and below the ribcage. Since lightsabers don't let you bleed an opponent out, but do cut neatly through just about everything, the attacks against the throat and torso are likely to be the most fatal.

You never swing high or low when fighting someone with two swords, since they'll do precisely what you described there. Instead, you keep your weapon centered and focus your attack against their centerline, where it is impossible to properly defend with two swords. There's a very good reason that no one ever fought with two swords in real battles. Germanic longsword techniques and Japanese katana usage is the most effective demonstration of a single sword, while certain Italian fencing techniques make good use of a defensive dagger in the offhand, but never two equal-length weapons.

Also, as an afterthought: a single sword gives tremendous leverage when you properly use both hands to control the weapon, and allows you to change angles much faster. Holding two swords inevitably leads to wider, sweeping attacks that lack the acceleration of a single blade.

Ah, and therein lies the problem with LARPing. No one is trying to kill you.

 

The most effective attacks with a single sword are narrow cuts to the throat and straight thrusts inside the pelvic region and below the ribcage. Since lightsabers don't let you bleed an opponent out, but do cut neatly through just about everything, the attacks against the throat and torso are likely to be the most fatal.

 

You never swing high or low when fighting someone with two swords, since they'll do precisely what you described there. Instead, you keep your weapon centered and focus your attack against their centerline, where it is impossible to properly defend with two swords. There's a very good reason that no one ever fought with two swords in real battles. Germanic longsword techniques and Japanese katana usage is the most effective demonstration of a single sword, while certain Italian fencing techniques make good use of a defensive dagger in the offhand, but never two equal-length weapons.

 

Also, as an afterthought: a single sword gives tremendous leverage when you properly use both hands to control the weapon, and allows you to change angles much faster. Holding two swords inevitably leads to wider, sweeping attacks that lack the acceleration of a single blade.

They don't have to defend, just attack you first and force you to take back your attack, or move away with it.

Real dual sword is pointless because it's not good for chop, only stab, but lightsaber is different.

So I used to do LARPing (think of it as live action D&D) every month. We used very light PVC/foam weapons to fight with. I used dual wield swords, mostly for the versatility of them. I could use one up and one down for more defense, or both up for more offence (there were a lot of people who used sword and shield, but that doesn't apply here). There were hundreds of us who played and we had tournaments every year. No one ever used a Bo Staff (double bladed light saber) because they were an easy target. And no one ever used a single sword. I won my divisions tourney a couple of times using two swords. Every time someone swung at me high, you block with one sword and swing at the legs with the other.

 

There is a lot of theory in this thread, but I can say from experience. Two swords are better than one, and better than a staff.

With all due respect, I don't see LARP'ing being full of very credible swordsmen; martial, sport, or otherwise. Most LARP's i've seen, while fun, are a lot more randon and chaotic because it's just a lot of people, most with no experience wielding a weapon, just having fun. There's nothing wrong with that, but it does not make for impressive swordsmanship.

A single sword is, generally, more of a proper weapon than wielding two swords; and in battlefield situations like the ones LARPs imitate sword/shield should always come out ontop, but only if people are properly practiced. You don't swing high/low generally, you strike for center mass, generally from just below the neckline and down towards the hip.

When you're in sort of a lowbie area of skill, like in a LARP, two swords probably work because people aren't trained for proper weapon control and how to handle the chaotic, and likely consistent offensive two swords would offer. I think if you flooded a LARP with, say, ARMA students or some such you wouldn't see anybody using two weapons.

That said, of the PVC weapons i've held, they're often too uncomfortable and unwieldy for proper technique. I am sure that isn't always the case though...