VIDEO. The first French lightsaber championship is held in Metz

“On guard…Ready? Fight!” In Metz (Moselle), around sixty lightsaber enthusiasts compete, Saturday February 18 and Sunday February 19, for the title of champion of France, a first for this young discipline.

Armed with a light saber about a meter long (popular in the Star Wars saga), everyone tries to hit their opponent, each part of the body earning a certain number of points. To win you must be the first to reach 15 points or to have won the most points in three minutes. A referee and two assessors ensure compliance with the rules, which in particular prohibit heavy strikes. Equipped with a breastplate, elbow pads, shoulder pads, knee pads, shin guards and mask, the “laserist” looks like a mix of Samurai and CRS.

Soon a European championship?

In 2018, the French Fencing Federation recognized the lightsaber as the fourth official weapon, along with foil, saber and epee. After only a few years of existence, there are today 183 clubs in France and around 2,300 members, one third of whom are women. “We practice a weapon which at the base is a fictitious weapon and which has now become the fourth weapon of the French fencing federation”rejoices a 26-year-old woman, Céline Marie Mercier, alias “anxifera”.

The mixed discipline continues to structure itself on an international scale. “At the European Fencing Confederation, we are working to train other countries in lightsaber to make it a European championship”explain Bruno Gares, president of the French fencing federation. The objective, according to him, is to aim “the international federation so that it becomes a sport in its own right”.