ANCHOR INTRO: If you hate going to the gym to burn calories and get your cardio workout then KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando has a geeky alternative. LIGHTSABER 1 (ba) :40 If just the sound of a Jedi light saber gets your heart racing then you are halfway to a cardio workout with Light Saber Team. Jennifer Clark works with a group in Inland Empire. JENNIFER CLARK: There’s a light saber team up there that does fitness and choreography with light sabers and I absolutely love what they do, it’s just a little hard to drive to Inland Empire for regular meetings so I thought let’s have one in San Diego. So she started a Light Saber Team Meetup that swings light sabers and burns calories every Saturday and alternate Wednesdays, which makes Anabelle Benson happy. ANABELLE: BENSON I am a really big geek, a Star Wars fan and I’m here personally to exercise and the only way to exercise is to pretend to be a Jedi. The Force is strong with Light Saber Team. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
If you hate going to the gym to burn calories and get your cardio workout, then try a geeky alternative with members of the new San Diego Lightsaber Team.
Jennifer Clark loves "Star Wars" and cosplay.
"I am part of a group that works up in Inland Empire. There’s a lightsaber team up there that does fitness and choreography with light sabers, and I absolutely love what they do. It’s just a little hard to drive to the Inland Empire for regular meetings, so I thought let’s have one in San Diego. I’m sure there are people who’d love to come and play with light sabers," Clark said.
Alan West also wanted to play.
"I saw on Meetup.com there's a light saber group, which is cool. I love sci-fi and I love Star Wars. I’ve also been studying historical European martial arts for awhile, so a long sword and a light saber is the same thing so I thought I’d try," West said.
Arabella Benson agreed.
"I get to have a lightsaber. And I get to flail, and I get to fight. And I am an only child and I am non-confrontational in real life, so this seems like a really good combination of fake fighting, looking good, getting a light saber and then not getting hurt," Benson said. "I am a really big geek, a "Star Wars" fan. And I’m here personally to exercise, and the only way to exercise is to pretend to be a Jedi."
Lightsaber Team was started by John-Michael Arias.
"I realized that 'Star Wars' is one of the things that makes me happy. And I wanted to incorporate my hobby along with my workout time, my socialization time. I wanted to find my tribe, find people who liked the things I liked, could understand my references and enjoy the things that I enjoy," Arias said.
The meetings do have a structure.
"Our meetings consist of a nice warm up to get the muscles loosened up and then we go into practicing form. There are a couple of different styles we do to practice. Those forms are the basis for future choreography, so you are learning how to theatrically stage combat between two people. All of our stuff is choreographed. Our goal is never to have contact fighting. We understand sometimes those things happen, but it is never our goal to actually hit someone," Clark said.
As participants learn the technique, the pace quickens.
"We have about five different speeds when we are learning and teaching people movements. We go at 1 percent speed. We call it Tai Chi speed, because you are moving very slowly. With 100 percent, you can go as fast as you want. One percent is Tai Chi speed. Then we have what we call performance speed, which is 110 percent. We want you to go as fast as you possibly can," Arias said.
The Lightsaber Team had its first meeting March 21 in Balboa Park. Benson attended the first meeting and was happy with her workout.
"I’m getting a workout. My thighs are going to be so mad tomorrow," Benson said. "I sit in front of the computer all day, and now I have been out all day doing squats. I’ve been swinging, I’m glistening. So it’s definitely a workout, and it’s the only way I’ll get one because the treadmill doesn’t do it for me."
