The Giant List of Lightsaber Stage Combat Choreography, Fighting, Dueling, Martial Arts, Performance, and Sparring Clubs
Here's my giant list of lightsaber stage combat choreography / fighting / dueling / martial arts / performance / sparring clubs.
I expect this shall be stickied.
Too often people say: "Well, there's nothing like this near me!" But yet too often there is, and you are simply oblivious. Perhaps due to poor advertising, word of mouth, etc.
So here's a list - fully researched, with descriptions as provided by the clubs themselves, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, forums, etc.
Yes - MANY are SaberWars clubs, but that's only what I have experience with, and you'll find that many also ARE NOT. Yet. Because I did some exhaustive research.
These run the gamut - from clubs that concentrate on costuming and charity work with mild amounts of choreo, to pure choreography performance groups, to clubs that are full-on intending to convert lightsaber combat to a full-contact martial art.
If you are finding that a club you know of, or your own club specifically, is not mentioned - then I think I would prefer a private message, I intend this list to be a CURATED list for as long as possible.
I am even-handed; listing clubs - and their spin-offs, schisms and competition - in the same breath and the same paragraphs. Please do not be offended. The idea is not to inspire flame wars...
Preferably, I am trying to avoid clubs that currently consist of 1 or 2 people, so please don't let me know about you until you're established - following Caine's guidelines - with a website, a Facebook, Youtube, etc. In a few cases this was unavoidable.
I tried hard to give this list an international flavor, but there are still parts of the world unheard from - Africa, most of South America, Japan, most of Russia and China... if you have more of an idea of what's going on and what clubs exist, let me know!
I also tried to list some of the clubs we've lost along the way. While their websites remain up, they sometimes contain considerable amounts of information.
So, without further ado...