Nick Gillard lightsaber training

This weekend at the Cincinnati Comic Expo, Snips92 and I had the rare opportunity to receive lightsaber training from the “swordsmaster” of the Star Wars prequels, and Honorary Member of The Rebel Legion, Nick Gillard.

photo courtesy of fritzthefox 

What I need you to understand is that I’ve have been lightsaber sparring with my sister, whether it’s as our Jedi characters at events or in our parent’s back yard, since she was 12 years old – we know each other’s moves better then anyone!  So when she suggested we sign up for one of Nick Gillard’s Jedi Training sessions at the Expo, my initial reaction was, “GREAT, so we can kill each other better then we already do?”  Both Snips and myself have had basic fencing training, including against each other, and the countless “duel of the fates” any Jedi costumers may face during an event.  I mean, seriously – who designed a toy lightsaber for kids with a “plastic” blade that works/feels the same as a police baton? OW!

Meanwhile, Nick Gillard and his crew were going to be teaching us a sequence from the Obi-Wan vs Anakin duel in “Revenge of the Sith” – so, nice to know we’d be starting with something easy!  I played the part of “Anakin” and Snips was “Obi-Wan” – because that role required someone with better skills as a dancer.  They’d start by showing us a small 4-5 “hit” (meaning saber clashes) combo, then add on the next 4-5 moves, next add another 4-5 moves, then build up to yet another 4-5 move sequence that marked the end of this particular sequence – that’s a 25 move routine!!!  We all watched the webdoc of Ewan and Hayden rehearsing for weeks of 8+ hour days to get this lightsaber duel perfected for filming… we had 1.5 hours! (no pressure)

Jedi Master Cin Drallig and Krash

In case you were wondering, professional lightsaber training is a physical workout for this 36 yr. old, “battle damaged” former hockey player… and I LOVED every minute of it!  Nick Gillard was such a great teacher, even when I’d miss a step, or when he’d constantly have to remind us to “slow down”, or whenever my knees or aching shoulder wouldn’t keep up with what my mind was telling it to do – Nick would stand there, laugh about how “rubbish” something was, and encourage us to try again.  As we’d progress through the routine, the earlier sequences became almost second nature.  Even when one of us would make a mistake, the other was getting better at protecting themselves from getting clipped by a stray lightsaber blade.

Snips92 working with Nick

Towards the end, we got to this one move where Snips/Obi-Wan had to do this (back foot) pivot, into a counter-move.  When it was over, Nick told her that he’s only see four people pickup that move as quickly as she just did: herself, two other people in one of his training classes… and Ewan McGregor, himself.  Great, because I’m never gonna hear the end of THAT from my own sister. ;)

Overall, this was “fantasy camp” for Star Wars fans, let alone the chance to experience this together.  Not only because we get to learn an actual scene from one of the "Star Wars" movies, but also because Nick Gillard is both a great teacher and also just a wonderful person – a true “jedi master” if I ever knew one!