lightsabers and self defense

Does anyone use or would use a lightsaber for self defense?

If not would anyone use martial arts or prefer to use their saber

how effective would you think they would be if someone broke into your home or tried to mug you or would it depend on the kind of saber you buy. (I'd think they actually be kind of useful at night due to the fact they glow

Has that ever happened to you where you had to defend yourself with a lightsaber?

Also a bonus

Does anyone use a red lightsaber or lightsaber pike or double bladed, because I have only seen Jedi use standard or shoto and use single or dual blades

Seems there is a fascination in creating new lightsaber threads...

Would we use lightsabers?
How to use Shoto Sabers
What do you do with lightsabers?
Does anyone have a Darksaber
The main difference between these two lightsabers

And I'm pretty sure these questions were answered in at least three of those...

Get a can of soup or green beans out of the pantry, take it outside and hit it with your lightsaber. If you can bust the can open in 3 hits or less or wack it hard enough to launch it onto the roof of your house, then youve got something that can work for self defense.
Tell ya what, make it five hits or less.

Lightsabers have a tactical advantage if used at night...since most have extremely bright led's simply turning one on in an intruders face would blind them long enough to disorient them and allow you to attack a few times before they could retreat or retaliate...and if you have a heavy grade polycarbonate blade....it's as solid as a wooden rod or stronger and can effectively bludgeon them...so defensively, a lightsaber is a good weapon to use depending on its quality....

RyuJin made an important point wth the words “depending on its quality” .
There are people who will back off if you swat them with something that really stings, but the ones you have to prepare for are the ones who will just come at you harder. A bludgeon weapon that cant break a skull or a shin bone or knock a large man senseless is sub par, particularly in a confined space where he can rush you and you cant just back away. If you can keep moving around while whipping the snot out of them with something light then they might eventually decide its not worth the trouble, but if you have your back to the wall they can eat a hit or two in order to get close and then its a grappling match. Id add that bludgeons in general arent great for indoor fighting, as the walls and furniture will often get in the way. Shorter bludgeons are like maybe a pair of nunchucks or an expandable baton or - my preference - a ball peen hammer with a lanyard attached, will be better suited for confined environment.
Stabbing implements would better than bludgeons and projectiles would be better than stabbing.

About the light. The saber may disorient someone but you also have to think youre hitting him with the part that glows. He can see your body in the glow of the light and he can track the weapos movement. Just shining a regular but very bright flashlight into someones eyes effectively blinds them to you. All they can see is that beam of light, and it hurts. They cant see any of your body so they dont know what your holding and cant tell when you move unless the light moves. This with pistol in the other hand is a superior home defense combination. If you dont have a pistol, well like i said, ball peen hammer on a lanyard would be my preference. Or a meat cleaver.

About the light aspect... depend on your setup, if you have no soundboard to fight against, you can (with practise) flicker the blade on and off by lightly tapping the ignition. This creates a strobe, and can easily stun and disorient your opponent while you go in for a solid strike.

Thats an interesting idea. If you could generate a strobe light effect that only he would experience then that would definitely be an advantage. I dont feel too confident about using your finger to manually ignite each burst of light while trying to maneuver yourself and the weapon in a home invasion situation, though. Might, with practice, be able to do such a thin, but probably not under that kind of pressure, tbh. A strobe option on the saber might work. Again, its not an advantage if its affecting you both, equally, so check for that.

OB1Shinobi wrote: If you could generate a strobe light effect that only he would experience then that would definitely be an advantage. I dont feel too confident about using your finger to manually ignite each burst of light while trying to maneuver yourself and the weapon in a home invasion situation, though. Might, with practice, be able to do such a thin, but probably not under that kind of pressure, tbh. A strobe option on the saber might work. Again, its not an advantage if the strobe is affecting your vision of him as well.

I should do a video to demonstrate. I've used it against my brother to mess him up. I hold the blade to the side, so I don't see it, or in a high guard above my head. The strobe affect then is only visible to him (the surprise effect helps, I'm prepared for it, he isn't.). Its sorta funny, because to him, the previously glowing blade dissapears, changes places, strobes, then changes places suddenly and twacks.

Does anyone use or would use a lightsaber for self defense?

No, I don't think I would use my saber as a form of defense unless I would absolutely had no other choices available. I typically only have the saber in one to two places...in the house or in the yard. In the house, it wouldn't be effective, like OB said..it's range is just not appropriate to stop unexpected person in my house. They are in my house for a reason, and I don't want them there. If my lightsaber was in my hand, it'll make a good projectile to either create that space to get away, or to get in and neutralize the threat.

If not would anyone use martial arts or prefer to use their saber

For me, leaning back on what little I do know about combative would be a nice baseline, but I'm looking to do a few things: 1.) Neutralize the threat; and 2.) Not die in the process. Anything I can do to achieve those things, with the least level of intervention possible, in that moment, is fair game.

how effective would you think they would be if someone broke into your home or tried to mug you or would it depend on the kind of saber you buy. (I'd think they actually be kind of useful at night due to the fact they glow

You'd have to think about the mind of the criminal. The glow of the saber is nice, but depending on the situation/environment, it discloses my location and it places me in a situation where I have to face the combatant with my hands occupied. If he is armed, I'm a a giant lighted target. If anything, if I'm holding that saber, you can sure bet it's going to be lobbed at that person to gain some leverage in creating that space or closing the distance. I'm not trying to be a hero in any break in situation, I simply want to live.

Has that ever happened to you where you had to defend yourself with a lightsaber?

Not at all and I hope I never have to.

Does anyone use a red lightsaber or lightsaber pike or double bladed, because I have only seen Jedi use standard or shoto and use single or dual blades

Nope nope nope.

I see what youre saying. Yea, thats pretty cool.
The thing about someone being in your home is that youre not going to think very well or execute fine motor movements very well if it happens. The more details you have to remember for your tactic to work, the more likely something will go wrong. Getting a strobe option would make the tactic more reliable, provided that you and the saber can inflict the level of damage necessary to kill or knock someone unconscious.

EDIT:
A couple people have Thanked me and i hope this doesnt “mess up” your feeling that what ive said was worthwhile but i have to add this: if you are planning to protect yourself from an intruder in your home, get a gun. Lightsabers are cool and fun and theyre the Jedi thing, and maybe some of them even could be useful in some SD (self defense) capacity. But if we are making plans for a life or death encounter, lets be serious: get a gun. Thats the best SD option you have (if you live somewhere that allows it).

Arisaig wrote: Seems there is a fascination in creating new lightsaber threads...

Would we use lightsabers?
How to use Shoto Sabers
What do you do with lightsabers?
Does anyone have a Darksaber
The main difference between these two lightsabers

And I'm pretty sure these questions were answered in at least three of those...

Yes. I actually feel they don't get discussed as much as especially the lesser known kinds of lightsabers like the pikes and curved hilts As you noticed I talk about self defense but not really a thread about using sabers for defense specifically. Also asking if anyone uses or would use a saber besides just a standard or a shoto as I never see Jedi with double blades or pikes or use red ones. If you notice, I asked would we use lightsabers if they are real. Here of course, I am mentioning the plastic lightsabers we use today.

I figured it would do well unless you have a darksaber in which the blade is very brittle.

Useless for the most part, but if its the best thing to grab when I need to grab something... why not!!

Though, making the attacker have a laugh when they see me wield a light saber might give me a moment to jump em, and take them down with a tackle - or more likely leg it into escape and evade

I view them as a physical training and ritual tool, but anything can serve as an improvised weapon for self defense, like a stick or chair etc.

What do you think a lightsaber brings to the self defense situation Yabuturtle?

Adder wrote: Useless for the most part, but if its the best thing to grab when I need to grab something... why not!!

Though, making the attacker have a laugh when they see me wield a light saber might give me a moment to jump em, and take them down with a tackle - or more likely leg it into escape and evade

I view them as a physical training and ritual tool, but anything can serve as an improvised weapon for self defense, like a stick or chair etc.

What do you think a lightsaber brings to the self defense situation Yabuturtle?

Mostly as physical training but potentially useful at night since it helps you light your way a little and a good way to subdue someone without doing too much physical harm. It would still hurt though but some lightsabers are hard plastic while others are like rubber noodles xD

Sound fonts aren't important other than somewhat startling the robber xD But lightsabers can ward off people. I mean it would hurt me if someone whacked me with it x3

Perhaps useful at night on a stroll with a saber cane. Something to walk with and at night it helps illuminate your surroundings. Could just use a cane but then, canes don't glow xD

To the point that people are making about night time use, I bought the toy version of Qui Gon Jinn’s lightsaber and used it to take my kids trick or treating. It was great for illumination and it scared some other kids that tried to sneak up on us at one point too.

Now that I have a Ultrasaber copy (in purple instead of green) I can see how quickly it could be used to beat someone away and cause a temporary blindness that would leave openings to be exploited.

I think people are seriously underestimating how devastating a lightsaber can be. xD Especially when it illuminates at night. I'd prefer the sabercane. I can walk with it and attack at night with great clarity.

I'd be more scared of it than a mugger threatening me with a switch blade to be honest.

We don't need real lightsabers, the ones we have are dangerous enough xD

Especially if you had some acrobat swing a double bladed one right in front on your face. I would get out of there!

In the end, self defense and home defense comes down to: what you're comfortable with, What's available, knowing your abilities and knowing your environment...

RyuJin wrote: In the end, self defense and home defense comes down to: what you're comfortable with, What's available, knowing your abilities and knowing your environment...

Well said. Nice to have your insights here once again.

As promised, a video on the matter of strobes, using a lightsaber for home defense.

I guess I should say... potential epilepsy warning.

The fact that it is a light makes you more of a target not less. You can actually be fairly accurate on where the person is because the handle is fixed to your hand. No one is going to be that blinded by a saber, or disoriented, and the path of attack will be highly predictable due to the nature that it lit up.


Why i wouldnt use a lightsaber for self defense is because they are a)not real and b) there are literally dozens of better options.

The fact that it is a light makes you more of a target not less

A fair enough statement in say, jungle fighting.

In the hallway or lounge room of a house - there might be some merit in their argument.

(not sure why we think a lightsabre would be more useful than any number of bright commerical torches on the market)

in any case, it'll only buy you the smallest advantage, and probably won't be able to be done repeatedly (unlike a mortal kombat move) - so if you don't use that half second of bewilderment to take real, physical control of the engagement, it was all for naught.

and the path of attack will be highly predictable due to the nature that it lit up.

This depends on the other party's experience. You can surprise someone in clear daylight with a very visible weapon if they don't know what they are doing.

In the end, self defense and home defense comes down to: what you're comfortable with, What's available, knowing your abilities and knowing your environment...

Sometimes something as simple as not looking like you have things worth stealing, and not pissing off the street by doing burnouts can be far more effective than all the baseball bats, tasers, or loaded revolvers under the pillow in the world.


(also in pragmatic terms, my understanding is that lightsabres are quite expensive? Unless for some mysterious reason I had no other choice but to beat someone to submission with my expensive toy, I'd probably use something else, like a coffee table)