ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For those of us living on earth, the idea of handling a lightsaber and engaging in a duel was far beyond one’s fantasies — until now.
What You Need To Know
LudoSport Henrietta invites Star Wars fans and combat sport enthusiasts to join in light saber combat
The school is part of an international network called LudoSport. It got started in Italy in 2006, came to the US in 2016 and has been growing ever since
Hoping to expand the sport and the facility, LudoSport Henrietta are accepting new students to join our class every Saturday
“I did judo, I’ve done jiu-jitsu. I’m a third-degree taekwondo blackbelt, and I’ve done a bunch of different sports, and I didn’t know that lightsabers would be an option for sports, but I always kind of secretly hoped for something fun and unique to pop up for me to be a part of,” LudoSport Henrietta instructor Camila Buck said. “I met a lot of my closest friends now. It’s the best community I could have asked to be part of.”
“It’s important to have groups like this because it is this different bit of community where people can show up athletic and be nerdy at the same time, because those things aren’t mutually exclusive,” LudoSport Henrietta instructor Robin Moore said.
It combines Star Wars fans and combat sport enthusiasts.
“Being a huge Star Wars fan and martial artist, I was like, you know, I love this,” LudoSport Henrietta lead instructor and dean Adam Buck said. “Everything about it, just the fun of it. The hum of the light sabers, trying to score a point on your friends and everything like that. And now, because of it, I have friends all over the world.”
LudoSport began in 2006 in Milan, and continues to host world championships every year. There are 80 academies across the globe and over 5,000 participants. Focusing its core principles on care, service and respect.
“I’ve never had an interest in going to Italy,” style judge Robert Zollinger said. “I’ve been to Italy three times now because of LudoSport. I was getting out of the military. I was in the Army Reserves. I’ve done martial arts most of my life, and I was looking for something different, and I literally stumbled on it.”
Although losing a hand isn’t required for admission, you don’t have to be a Jedi hero to participate.
“Not having done anything like this is definitely not a deterrent to stop people from trying this out,” Camila Buck said. “We’re open to anyone. Anyone and everyone is welcome. We’re a very inclusive community.”
“Safety is a huge thing,” Adam Buck said. “All of our techniques are designed with safety in mind first. There’s not any strong hard hits. We want people to be safe and be able to come back and have fun. And if they’re getting hurt all the time, we can’t really have fun.”
“We want this to be an actual sport,” Zollinger said. “At the end of the day, we would like to see it in the Olympics someday, all these people are coming from different backgrounds and yet the lightsaber seems to be kind of like the one thing that really glues everybody together.”
LudoSport Henrietta hosts classes every Saturday from 3-5pm at the Rochester Fencing Club. For additional information on USA LudoSport Academies, you can visit here.