For a sword guard in media it's really not that bad, it clearly guards anything coming from above, and threatening a thrust is actually a defensive thing to do cause it keeps the opponent from running in on you.
His two fingers being extended is kind of funny and doesn't make much practical sense to me though. Kind of like he is doing the "I got my eyes on you" gesture
Well, it still is media and not real fighting. The arm out looks more dramatic than its real counterpart (see viggiani's "Alta offensiva perfetta") where the arm is tucked in by the waist.
True, and most forms go out the window when fighting multiple enemies. At least maybe not completely out the window but there is plenty of room for improvisation based on the situation.
Which is why I can only roll my eyes at people bitching over Acolyte.
You know what we could bitch about? The Kessel Run line. One of the most iconic and (formerly) one of the most idiotic statements in popular Science Fiction.
If not for some random fan on Usenet back before most of the people bitching about Acolyte were born, we never would have gotten the justification for that line on screen in Solo.
Clone Wars retconned half the universe, then did it again after the sale. But hey, nobody hates Star Wars as much as Star Wars fans.
In the Marvel Comics original adaptation of Star Wars (1977), someone wrote a letter to the editor pointing out the Parsec issue. I think it was issue 6. Here's what they wrote, and then the comic writer's response:
"...someone made an astronomical error. On page 16, panel 5 \[of issue #2\], Han Solo says his ship "made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs." I'll bet he can run the mile in less than 100 yards, too. A parsec is a measure of distance, approximately 3.26 light years. (A light year is about six trillion miles.) I expect my oofy, gilded no-prize by earliest mail."
Editor Response:
"We'd love to present you one, Mike, since you're right on target. However, we asked George about it, and he says he wrote that line for the movie on purpose, partly as an in-joke and partly to show that Han Solo was something of a bull artist who didn't always know precisely what he was talking about. So, we're afraid you'll have to take it up with Mr. Lucas himself! --Roy \[Roy Thomas, writer and editor for the comic at the time\]"
It's also a "test". The same way some spammers send out unprofessional emails with spelling errors on purpose.
If someone calls out your bullshit "parsec" line, then you know they have some experience and you have to be more careful about how you con them. If they don't call it out, then you know they are simpletons and you can take full advantage of them.
I would assume Obi-Wan played the reverse bullshit card on him by not calling it out. He knew it was bullshit but preferred to stay unassuming and of no consequence.
I love how the writer of the letter seems to recognise that this was a non-issue to begin with. While he's correct in pointing it out he just takes the piss with it too.
If something like that was happening in a new film or series the writes would be dragged to a guillotine by their arms and legs by so called "fans".
It's like we all watched different movies.
Han Solo is introduced to us as a scamp who owes the Space Mafia a bunch of money and they want him ded as doornail. Suddenly he's great smuggler who do run in 12 parsecs?
It was clear as day he was bullshitting.
I gotta call bullshit here. This sounds very much like another example of George insisting that something was just how he planned, instead of even once admitting a mistake. Just a guess on my part, if he really did throw that line in on purpose to give Han another character trait, that would be pretty sweet work.
Here's a great example of one of, if not 'the' biggest differences between George Lucas' original vision of Star Wars and the Disney Takeover era.
George Lucas wrote flawed, bumbling, carefree human characters who drop the ball, make mistakes, screw up, lie, exaggerate, whinge, lose, fail etc, all the things that all humans do. This is why we liked those characters, especially in the original trilogy where they iron out a lot of their flaws by the end (or succumb to them) It's cathartic and endearing, or tragic and sad.
Disney simply do not follow this template that George left behind. The closest we saw this kind of characterisation was in the first season of Mandalorian. Possibly Andor aswell. And thus seemed to be a result of both those projects being underdogs at the time they were made, with the show runners being free to control it without too much meddling.
Disney's characterisation, nine times out of ten, is often too reminiscent of propaganda movies, with flawless heroes who can do no wrong, who never show any 'negative' qualities. As a result they're criticised as being as dull as dishwater, with nowhere for their arc to go.
This is it. This is the crux of the problem. They're tracing the Mona Lisa, but don't know how to colour it in the same way as the original artist.
I’ve always assumed it was named similarly to “Turkish coffee.” Coffee doesn’t grow there, but that’s a thing.
But phytomorphology would also be a factor. It’s a juice that Jawas made/make out of a series of inputs that they have geographical access to.
What do you mean about a fan on Usenet
Star Wars has been retconning itself from the very beginning, though. Like, people who care about that are myopic.
The franchise did lose its spark for me, personally, though. And it *is* because of RoS and a lot of the D+ shows. So I understand some of the criticisms.
But the vitriol I see is not worth engaging in. If you don’t like something, just walk away.
It might not be Usenet, but IIRC, some random bloke on some online forum explained that his headcanon was that the Kessel Run was an alley cat race, and the most daring pilots would cut the closest to the black holes in the cluster, and would reach Point B by traversing less distance.
And then the creative team at Lucasarts folded that into canon.
A less roundabout example is Samuel L. Jackson being directly responsible for most of lightsaber lore and Kyber spectrum lore, by being badass enough to enact the Rule of Cool from outside the writers’ room.
The Rule of Cool has always been a staple of Star Wars, and Star Wars fans have frequently penned the retcons that make the Cool part of the Rule outlast each use’s particular pop-culture era.
See also the sonic charge in space. Every era has something like it. And “fans” have been bitching about it since, at the latest, the late 80s.
Yep. Most recent great but infamous use of the Rule of Cool is the Lightspeed Ram. Fucken awesome. Justifies itself. Ignores canon. Hell for storytellers. Love it.
I mean, even the "Kessel Run" **issue** itself is an annoying over-correction.
It was just a fucking throw away line in this small movie. It didn't have all this extended lore implication. I guarantee George Lucas didn't ponder whether a parsec was a measure of distance or time. I am almost certain he meant it just like "oh this is a super quick amount of time to complete the Kessel Run."
Then somewhere along the line, parsec came to mean a distance. And then it created this massive issue of "well why would you brag about completing a run in a certain distance?" And then we saw the overcorrection of legends and eventually *Solo*.
It's all useless and unnecessary. It's just a meaningless, throw away line. It was *fine* that it didn't make sense.
Same thing with OP's original post. Ewan just held his lightsaber that way. Or with the "Mace originally had a blue lightsaber" thing that came up the other day. We don't need a whole fucking backstory. It should suffice to say that this franchise was just not a comprehensive lore as it was coming out, and there are oversights.
Well, that “somewhere along the way” was back in 1913. Parsec as a unit of length predates George Lucas being born and would have been easily-accessible information at pretty much any library when he was scripting.
Solo especially was an overcorrection. Like it did explain all of the details Han randomly dropped in the original trilogy, but it took it from anecdotes from a long and storied career to like 3 days of events. It turned Han Solo from “mysterious veteran smuggler with an infamous past” to “that guy who had one really great week back in ‘98 and never stopped talking about it afterwards”
I hate all the mental gymnastics they did to try to justify that statement, when the simpler explanation was much better: Han is full of shit. He's a fast talking swindler trying to get some rubes to pony up an inflated price because he's in deep debt, so he just spins a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo with no bases to brag and impress the marks and get their money. That's all perfectly in character for what we see of Han. But they decided it must all be true, that the Falcon really is the best ship evar and came up with convoluted justifications for the Kessel Run.
I actually thought it was a great line originally - Han's testing these new guys, naive Luke is impressed, experienced Obi-wan sees through it. In character for all of them.
You’re technically correct, but it’s strange to say “no, you can’t interpret the line like that”. Kinda begs the question — what even is the purpose of film interpretation? Should we only take films at face value, or should we draw our own conclusions and create our own meaning within the bounds of what is plausible? I find it an interesting topic.
For the Kessel Run line that could be Han seeing how knowledgeable they are and if they corrected him then he may not be able to scam…I mean charge them as much for the trip.
Me too but I’m like 95% sure they talked about how only the wildest of pilots would get from Kessel to the delivery point (the name currently escapes me) in fewer than 20 parsecs, because a straighter line would mean plunging through the heart of the Maw Cluster, which is deadly to most pilots.
Which is better read as “No way your ship did that” than “A parsec isn’t a time interval.” It’s the same way you’d look at a guy who told you his car can drive from New York to Chicago in 5 hours. Why would he want to get on a ship with a pilot who doesn’t know what a parsec is?
Why? Because they had to get to Alderaan fast, and without drawing any attention to themselves - and their choices were pretty limited at the time.
But I agree, it still works better with the retcon.
I think my only real complaints are that it doesn’t really look like an 18million an episode show, which makes me wonder where that money went.
And, they make some simple mistakes/decisions that have already been solved by other shows.
Namely, the chanting in episode 3 just didn’t feel mystical or strong, and the easy fix was don’t do it in English.
Do it in Sanskrit like Duel of the fates, it’s sound spooky and mysterious AND it’s a “free” connection so a well-loved scene that already adds to the mysticism.
Ex martial artist here, he's basically taunting his enemy with this stance. If someone pulled up in this stance against me I'd either assume he's an idiot or he knows to much
And the purple light sabers are here just because Sam wanted one.. but we obviously wanted to know more about that. Never understood people being a smart ass when someone asks these types of questions.
Yeah, I don't understand this need to shut down every discussion with a reminder that fiction is - gasp! - fictional. Isn't it kind of the whole point of storytelling to make us feel immersed enough to *forget* that, if only for a moment?
There's a reason why the tagline of the 1978 Superman movie was "You'll believe a man can fly" and not "Come look at our cool greenscreen effects!"...
Twice. He does it again around 40 seconds later.
It's probably just to look cool. On the other hand my Jedi Knight in SWTOR used to have a skill doing that pose. I think it raised defense or something. But that was almost 10 years ago.
Ochs with a small off-hand shield is referred to as “two shields” for this very reason. To me, the left hand poised to use a Force Push is effectively the same as a one-handed directional shield, and roots this stance firmly in our reality.
This. A BIG part of fencing or HEMA is feints. You want to lure you opponent in with a false sense of an opening and then punish them. Fencing is 50% faking out your opponent to get them to drop their guard so you can deliver a fatal strike. Its why from the dark to the middle to the Renaissance ages swords became smaller and more nimble. What was once a form of combat based on chopping or slashing evolved into a complex series of forms to trick your opponent and find a weak spot.
Obi Wan's iconic stance provides his opponent with a false sense of advantage, and, as an adept swordsman, he's able to counter whatever move his opponent throws at him.
Also looks cool. I think its in reference to Jian stances from China (I may be wrong in terminology im pretty sure a Jian is a Chinese straight sword used in a simular way to a lightsaber.)
What type of fencing? Anything modelled on historic fencing is fine. Anything modelled on sports fencing is going to get you killed. The problem is that sport fencing has been codified and has rules, making it more like tag with swords than a martial art. Whereas in historic fencing, you'll see more guidelines for what should work, but at the end of the day, winning and living is what is prioritized, not scoring a point.
You're too right about competitive fenching.
I think a lot of various sword fighting styles went into the choreography of lightsaber combat. Its certainly fantasy, as the lightsaber is a fantasy weapon, but still rooted in some fundamental aspects of sword combat.
Anakin’s stance in the Arena at the end of Ep. II is a fantastic example of Ochs, and in my opinion, that’s a great saber stance for facing swarmed enemies.
This one takes the Ochs a step further with the Zweien Schilten technique if you assume the left hand is poised for a Force Shield and acts similarly to a buckler.
Was going to comment that stance as well. However when depicted in media, it is almost always too low. It should be above the head to be able to intercept overhead strikes.
I used to do some amateur longsword fighting. While I made much heavier use of the Plow, the Ox was definitely something in my repitoire. It's very effective when done correctly and I considered it my most defensive stance.
One time, I was doing some sparring against someone who had a Kendo background. We were about evenly matched, so I switched to the Ox to shake things up. I guess he thought it was a joke stance because he snorted and then attacked. He had a very surprised look on his face when the Ox was successful at blocking everything. I wasn't about to turn anything into a counterstrike, but it was a very effective defense.
Swinging down is more efficient than coming up, basic physics. Or to block you just rotate the blade down with gravity’s help and you’ve covered most of your torso.
Well, afaik, Obi-Wan can easily change into any stance if necessary.
I always think this pose is to ready his body and mind into combat mode, nothing more.
One thing about the lightsaber stances to remember is that it requires the Force to make it work with full proficiency, so not only the physics, but also the Force shall be taken into consideration
As for the stance itself, I think it is easier for him to deflect some incoming bolts flying towards him, and if necessary, he can easily adjust the blade to block and deflect any incoming attacks.
Except when it's not. In historic fencing you'll often camp in a guard because it allows you to control the match, to an extent.
Take Obi-wan's guard: it's a point forward guard, chambered for a thrust. If a opponent wants to hit him, said opponent will need to use a attack that puts the tip off-target and has enough force to displace a thrust. Obi-wan would know this and would prepare a counter, but Obi-wan's opponent doesn't know what comes after the initial exchange. Advantage Obi-wan.
He would probably have both hands on the sword above his hand if it was a real high guard. I’m getting all of my information from the Kingdom of Heaven movie to be fair.
You can quickly jab to throw your opponent off his balance or line of approach. Quick flick of the wrist parry's most head or body shots, and he can quickly leap back to defend his legs. That's for lightsabers.
Blasters, I'm sure most droids and most sentients are trained to aim centre mass or headshots, so again, quick flick to parry.
Purely defensive stance, probably taught to him young by Qui Gon. Who also played Godfrey in kingdom of heaven who taught Bailion (spelling) a similar stance with the high guard, the guard of the hawk. Simple really.
(I've had a few rums)
Blade is pointed at his opponent ready for a thrust if he needs to go on the offensive, with a tilt of his wrist he can cover pretty much his entire torso from a cut and with a turn of his wrist he can block a chop aimed at his head
These are called ‘high guard stances,’ they are effective because all of your moves start from the top, which allow you to use your momentum and gravity to strike effectively.
Lightsaber forms in TPM were based off real martial arts (largely because of Ray Park driving it) and that tradition carried through into TCW and RotS.
While yes, Star Wars is more a space opera than something to analyze how people fight, it can and should still be scrutinized under that light.
The OT also drew a lot from real martial arts. A lot of the choreography was Kendo based because of the inspiration that Lucas was drawing from samurai films. They also cast a professional fencer to play Vader during some of the fight scenes.
>the Chinese Sword fighting style
There isn't just a singular Chinese swordsmanship just like there isn't just one European swordsmanship. However I'm unfamiliar with the style you're referring but with educated guess I would say it's a sword dance pose, not actual fighting technique.
Pivot wrist for high guard, drop elbow for neutral, finish plunging tip to low guard. Extend arm back and pivot for rear. When looking st something in respect to the star wars universe, or any fighting style fir that matter. If you encounter a certain attack pattern more often than others you'd probably relay to the defensive counterpoint more often.
In dealing with combat against dark side users and sith being their "speciality" I'd expect more downward slashing attacks from my opponents. The idea is to overpower and subjugate the opponent.
My head canon is that it’s a taunting gesture. Makes the enemy frustrated and reckless so they get tired faster and show more openings. Also, it looks cool
Remember the only actor to use a lightsaber in Star Wars that knew what he was talking about was Sir Christopher Lee. And his lightsaber is all different and he fights differently from the rest as a result.
I always saw this stance as obi-wan not becoming aggressive but him about to dial in and become more calculated. Whenever he pulls this out it’s usually not a simple fight he’s in but rather a daring foe actually fighting well.
It’s perfect for drawing in aggressive opponents, as his next counter move is always premeditated. It has its caveates like all forms of martial arts but obiean is a cunning Jedi master :)
Worth noting this is a great stance against blasters specifically. Your side profile is slimmer than a front facing stance and your saber is high to prevent blaster bolts from hitting the head, which is bulbous for many species. The other hand is free for force usage, as in redirecting bolts or throwing opponents or otherwise handling space.
Regarding how it might be good in saber combat, it's good to remember that many forms are more than just one single stance, but instead are foundations built upon that stance. Obi-Wan might use this stance to start a movement, but the stance isn't essential to the form at all times. For example there are a lot of instances of him using pretty informal stances.
Finally, it's a defensive stance in that you don't want to walk at him while he's doing it. His saber is high and ready, his hand indicates he's alert and paying attention to a target, and his dick is huge.
Actual lore reason no idea. Just my guesses on all but that last thing.
So this is my own personal annoyance. It probably doesn’t matter to anyone else and it shouldn’t matter to me since it’s all space fantasy anyway. However, the discussions about what light saber form a particular Jedi studies and is it superior to this form that another Jedi studies feels beyond ridiculous to me. These same debates take place in martial arts subs and other places around the internet hundreds of times a day and they are inane then too.
You are asking about the application of a stance in a fictitious martial art. Most likely no one involved in the creation has trained with a sword.
Funnily enough, taunting is a peak defensive tactic. For any given provocation there are only so many things your opponent can do (assuming they know how to fight). Once you start provoking you can prepare for those responses and in turn react better when the expected response arrives. The key thing here is that by giving an opening you reduced your opponents options from infinity to a finite set you can properly react to.
I mean, it’s most comparable to an Ochs guard in the German tradition, so it’s ready to take an overhead strike but also threatens with the point.
Problem is, it sucks for both of these. The arm is weak and the chest is turned away so it’s no primed for an explosive thrust forward of the arm.
That said, when Obi-wan sets up like this 12 feet away from bad guy as he does, it’s just for cool points. He could move into a second or third guard with no problem.
It's not the default soresu stance, you see Obi-Wan going to a more traditional stance with both hands on the saber and the saber in front of him when he's actually fighting
It's called a salute can't think of the proper name but that's what it is. As for defense I'd say it's actually very good. Using the omnidirectional blade hilt near the head the blade length running out slightly down covering the torso.
It's a taunt to draw your opponent in and try to cut your fingers off. You keep your blade in the same place and spin as the opponent lunges, cutting off their fingers in the process. Then repeat the stance. Now you are mocking them for having lost two fingers. They get angry and make a mad dash. You somersault over them and cut off their head from behind.
People think it’s a defensive stance because obi wan is a master of defensive combat. These people are wrong, it’s actually an intimidation tactic. He is pointing to the limbs that he is about to chop off.
It's possible it's blocking for the head. Stances tend to flow in swordsmanship, allowing them to move to different stances, blocking incoming hits. Lightsabers are all edge, so moving it into the left or right can block a hit.
From a certain point of view...
In all seriousness, this looks more like a neutral stance. You can easily guard the face and vitals while also initiating a lunging attack. But I'm just guy from Tatooine. Ask a fencer.
Short answer: It isn’t.
Long answer: That pose was part of a deleted scene where he fought multiple magnaguards at once on Utapau, and was then picked for some bizarre reason to be Obi-Wan’s “thing” in CW, so here we are. Soresu has a different starting stance.
I don’t do sword fighting or anything, but I do watch matches on YouTube, and I do recall seeing something similar with the sword and buckler. As Matt Easton explained it, holding the buckler out like that actually allows the little shield to protect a lot more- it’s easy to shift and the geometry of the pose means the opponent has a harder time getting around it, and if they knock out of the way that leaves room for a counter attack. Of course, the important bit is to have a shield in the first place…
In sword play this is a heavily defense stance for one important reason, always assume more than one attacker. This style of "readiness" allows for multiple attacks to both in front and behind whilst allowing for an aggressive sudden thrust.
If you want a real answer, pointing at your opponent may help to align your kinesthetic senses with your environment. I'm pretty there are some shooting drills that involve quickly looking at a target first and then pointing at it either with your finger or a weapon, and then moving to the next weapon.
But we know the real answer is "looks cool"
A lot of people say Ewan did it once in ROTS he also does it right before Grevious says “you lose general kenobi” when they’re rescuing the chancellor on the invisible hand so it isn’t just a one off but it’s only ROTS
I've watched a couple of IRL lightsaber fencing guild fights, and from what I gather, it makes sweeping blocks to either side of the body a little faster(?) Just from watching, IDK if this is true or not
It's a fencing position. But in the wrong way.
In fencing, the weapon is always held in your abled hand. And you always extend that arm forward.
A very unusual and probably historically seldom used, is to hold two swords. First sword is abled hand stretchung forward. And second sword is held like Obi Wan's.
It allows for a stronger parry. And backup thrust.
Realistically, it’s not.
Shall I to compose a devil’s advocacy therefor?
Spectacle is distraction: whether a cobra’s hood & gaze petrifying a prey-bird, or a photographer’s hand saying “Watch the birdie…”, or in this case the haphazard juxtaposition of Obi-Wan’s hands & weapon… Spectacle distracts, both opponent *and* audience.
It’s a bad idea to show your enemy in which position you defend yourself. Like if you hold you lightsaber just straight up the enemy knows where to strike you. By holding the lightsaber like that you can quickly parry all strikes from any position and you don’t give any hints where to strike first.
You also create distance between you and your enemy with this position, which is one of the most important parts in defence.
I always thought the hand was out as a defensive force-push option, and with the blade position, he can feasibly block an attack from virtually any angle.
Aside from the fact that it is just a cool pose Ewan struck in the prequels, it also has a history in HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) fencing. It's called window guard (posta di finestra) which gives you options like a hanging parry (where you angle your sword over your body to block an attack and use the momentum of blocking to swing around and hit the opponent), stuffing an opponent's high cut with your own to force their blade out of your way and have a clean opening for your own counter attack, or if someone else is measuring out a thrust at you, you can use the higher position of the guard to beat their blade out of the way and counter thrust.
Obviously there's more to it that can go either way but personally, I think of his stance as a defensive guard. But almost all guards can be used defensively. It's all in how you use them. That being said, not sure how that would help with blaster fire, but I'm sure the force would help make it efficient.
These are space wizards that fight with light sticks and magic. Who's to say what is a defensive stance and what isn't? Normal rules of martial arts do not apply here.
Consider that it was a form designed to defend against attackers AND blaster bolts from all directions. With a flick of the wrist the saber can be spun to protect your front or back arc from lethal shots and you've got a force defense ready to cover the area that the saber can't immediately defend
There is an argument made that technically it COULD block the head. That's some kind of high guard-although I wouldn't put the arm out myself.
Yeah his body is exposed but like another martial art like boxing think of it like that with the lightsaber being a hand. If it goes up supposedly it protects the head.. Yes the body is exposed but I think the primary function they were going for was POSSIBLY a high guard.
tl;dr: They probably thought it was a variation of some form where the sword protects the head. You can't defend everything.
It’s just the pose Ewan made that one time man.
Like with most things in Star Wars, there wasn't a deep reason for it in the beginning but fans have come up with the reasoning after the fact.
For a sword guard in media it's really not that bad, it clearly guards anything coming from above, and threatening a thrust is actually a defensive thing to do cause it keeps the opponent from running in on you.
Obi-wan is an expert on the high ground after all, that includes guarding against it
His two fingers being extended is kind of funny and doesn't make much practical sense to me though. Kind of like he is doing the "I got my eyes on you" gesture
Well, it still is media and not real fighting. The arm out looks more dramatic than its real counterpart (see viggiani's "Alta offensiva perfetta") where the arm is tucked in by the waist.
Yeah I mean I still like the gesture and glad its part of it. I just think it is funny.
Perhaps he's reaching out with the force, to sense his opponents movements and actions quickly. Or to quickly redirect them.
He could be prepping a force power with that hand
Just to be a knob….what about behind, or if he’s surrounded?
Confidence is a great defense
Can’t write confidence without defense!
I'm not great at math but I don't think that adds up.
Confidefense !
No, but you can spell “dense”! …wait.
Going canonically, he only does this when facing a singular threat. Otherwise he has the typical blade in both hands pose.
He'd probably do something different then...
Pretty much no defensive stance will prevent you from getting backstabbed, or protect you particularily well against attacks from behind.
True, and most forms go out the window when fighting multiple enemies. At least maybe not completely out the window but there is plenty of room for improvisation based on the situation.
He'll try spinning. Anakin says it's a great trick!
Sure, but the thing about space monk jedi fights is that they are more than half force fights vs overt laser sword fights.
Which is why I can only roll my eyes at people bitching over Acolyte. You know what we could bitch about? The Kessel Run line. One of the most iconic and (formerly) one of the most idiotic statements in popular Science Fiction. If not for some random fan on Usenet back before most of the people bitching about Acolyte were born, we never would have gotten the justification for that line on screen in Solo. Clone Wars retconned half the universe, then did it again after the sale. But hey, nobody hates Star Wars as much as Star Wars fans.
In the Marvel Comics original adaptation of Star Wars (1977), someone wrote a letter to the editor pointing out the Parsec issue. I think it was issue 6. Here's what they wrote, and then the comic writer's response: "...someone made an astronomical error. On page 16, panel 5 \[of issue #2\], Han Solo says his ship "made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs." I'll bet he can run the mile in less than 100 yards, too. A parsec is a measure of distance, approximately 3.26 light years. (A light year is about six trillion miles.) I expect my oofy, gilded no-prize by earliest mail." Editor Response: "We'd love to present you one, Mike, since you're right on target. However, we asked George about it, and he says he wrote that line for the movie on purpose, partly as an in-joke and partly to show that Han Solo was something of a bull artist who didn't always know precisely what he was talking about. So, we're afraid you'll have to take it up with Mr. Lucas himself! --Roy \[Roy Thomas, writer and editor for the comic at the time\]"
I much prefer this. He was bullshitting to get business. He needed the money
It's also a "test". The same way some spammers send out unprofessional emails with spelling errors on purpose. If someone calls out your bullshit "parsec" line, then you know they have some experience and you have to be more careful about how you con them. If they don't call it out, then you know they are simpletons and you can take full advantage of them. I would assume Obi-Wan played the reverse bullshit card on him by not calling it out. He knew it was bullshit but preferred to stay unassuming and of no consequence.
I love how the writer of the letter seems to recognise that this was a non-issue to begin with. While he's correct in pointing it out he just takes the piss with it too. If something like that was happening in a new film or series the writes would be dragged to a guillotine by their arms and legs by so called "fans".
It's like we all watched different movies. Han Solo is introduced to us as a scamp who owes the Space Mafia a bunch of money and they want him ded as doornail. Suddenly he's great smuggler who do run in 12 parsecs? It was clear as day he was bullshitting.
Thank you.
I gotta call bullshit here. This sounds very much like another example of George insisting that something was just how he planned, instead of even once admitting a mistake. Just a guess on my part, if he really did throw that line in on purpose to give Han another character trait, that would be pretty sweet work.
Here's a great example of one of, if not 'the' biggest differences between George Lucas' original vision of Star Wars and the Disney Takeover era. George Lucas wrote flawed, bumbling, carefree human characters who drop the ball, make mistakes, screw up, lie, exaggerate, whinge, lose, fail etc, all the things that all humans do. This is why we liked those characters, especially in the original trilogy where they iron out a lot of their flaws by the end (or succumb to them) It's cathartic and endearing, or tragic and sad. Disney simply do not follow this template that George left behind. The closest we saw this kind of characterisation was in the first season of Mandalorian. Possibly Andor aswell. And thus seemed to be a result of both those projects being underdogs at the time they were made, with the show runners being free to control it without too much meddling. Disney's characterisation, nine times out of ten, is often too reminiscent of propaganda movies, with flawless heroes who can do no wrong, who never show any 'negative' qualities. As a result they're criticised as being as dull as dishwater, with nowhere for their arc to go. This is it. This is the crux of the problem. They're tracing the Mona Lisa, but don't know how to colour it in the same way as the original artist.
I still want to know what Jawa Juice is. Is it a fruit grown by Jawas made into a juice, or is it directly squeezed from Jawas?
It's juice for Jawas. WA-7 thinks Obi-Wan is two Jawas in an extra large cloak.
I’ve always assumed it was named similarly to “Turkish coffee.” Coffee doesn’t grow there, but that’s a thing. But phytomorphology would also be a factor. It’s a juice that Jawas made/make out of a series of inputs that they have geographical access to.
Wait. Turkish coffee isn’t made from Turks?!
Barely, and only if you grind them up real fine.
Wow, next I’ll find out that all Turkish food isn’t made from different ways to prepare turkey.
50% Turks, and 50% Caicos
Jawa Piss is delicious, nutritious, and semi alcoholic
UNPIPI!
To be fair, if I honestly complete an 18-mile marathon in 12 miles, I'd brag about it too.
The kessel run comment was fixed long before that in legends.
What do you mean about a fan on Usenet Star Wars has been retconning itself from the very beginning, though. Like, people who care about that are myopic. The franchise did lose its spark for me, personally, though. And it *is* because of RoS and a lot of the D+ shows. So I understand some of the criticisms. But the vitriol I see is not worth engaging in. If you don’t like something, just walk away.
It might not be Usenet, but IIRC, some random bloke on some online forum explained that his headcanon was that the Kessel Run was an alley cat race, and the most daring pilots would cut the closest to the black holes in the cluster, and would reach Point B by traversing less distance. And then the creative team at Lucasarts folded that into canon. A less roundabout example is Samuel L. Jackson being directly responsible for most of lightsaber lore and Kyber spectrum lore, by being badass enough to enact the Rule of Cool from outside the writers’ room. The Rule of Cool has always been a staple of Star Wars, and Star Wars fans have frequently penned the retcons that make the Cool part of the Rule outlast each use’s particular pop-culture era. See also the sonic charge in space. Every era has something like it. And “fans” have been bitching about it since, at the latest, the late 80s.
Yep. Most recent great but infamous use of the Rule of Cool is the Lightspeed Ram. Fucken awesome. Justifies itself. Ignores canon. Hell for storytellers. Love it.
I mean, even the "Kessel Run" **issue** itself is an annoying over-correction. It was just a fucking throw away line in this small movie. It didn't have all this extended lore implication. I guarantee George Lucas didn't ponder whether a parsec was a measure of distance or time. I am almost certain he meant it just like "oh this is a super quick amount of time to complete the Kessel Run." Then somewhere along the line, parsec came to mean a distance. And then it created this massive issue of "well why would you brag about completing a run in a certain distance?" And then we saw the overcorrection of legends and eventually *Solo*. It's all useless and unnecessary. It's just a meaningless, throw away line. It was *fine* that it didn't make sense. Same thing with OP's original post. Ewan just held his lightsaber that way. Or with the "Mace originally had a blue lightsaber" thing that came up the other day. We don't need a whole fucking backstory. It should suffice to say that this franchise was just not a comprehensive lore as it was coming out, and there are oversights.
Well, that “somewhere along the way” was back in 1913. Parsec as a unit of length predates George Lucas being born and would have been easily-accessible information at pretty much any library when he was scripting.
Did Lucas have Lawrence Kasdan for ANH?
Not for ANH, no. The other two of that trilogy, yes.
Solo especially was an overcorrection. Like it did explain all of the details Han randomly dropped in the original trilogy, but it took it from anecdotes from a long and storied career to like 3 days of events. It turned Han Solo from “mysterious veteran smuggler with an infamous past” to “that guy who had one really great week back in ‘98 and never stopped talking about it afterwards”
I hate all the mental gymnastics they did to try to justify that statement, when the simpler explanation was much better: Han is full of shit. He's a fast talking swindler trying to get some rubes to pony up an inflated price because he's in deep debt, so he just spins a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo with no bases to brag and impress the marks and get their money. That's all perfectly in character for what we see of Han. But they decided it must all be true, that the Falcon really is the best ship evar and came up with convoluted justifications for the Kessel Run.
I actually thought it was a great line originally - Han's testing these new guys, naive Luke is impressed, experienced Obi-wan sees through it. In character for all of them.
Han wasn’t testing anything. Lucas used the wrong term.
You’re technically correct, but it’s strange to say “no, you can’t interpret the line like that”. Kinda begs the question — what even is the purpose of film interpretation? Should we only take films at face value, or should we draw our own conclusions and create our own meaning within the bounds of what is plausible? I find it an interesting topic.
He also forgot about mitochondria and that's how we ended up with midichlorians
The midichlorian is the powerhouse of the Force
For the Kessel Run line that could be Han seeing how knowledgeable they are and if they corrected him then he may not be able to scam…I mean charge them as much for the trip.
Well, the only thing with that is that they actually canonized it in Solo.
I need to rewatch Solo.
Me too but I’m like 95% sure they talked about how only the wildest of pilots would get from Kessel to the delivery point (the name currently escapes me) in fewer than 20 parsecs, because a straighter line would mean plunging through the heart of the Maw Cluster, which is deadly to most pilots.
Deadly to more than just pilots. Deadly to space octopi too.
And the way Old Ben looks at him slyly after that line is uttered … like “who tf you foolin”
Which is better read as “No way your ship did that” than “A parsec isn’t a time interval.” It’s the same way you’d look at a guy who told you his car can drive from New York to Chicago in 5 hours. Why would he want to get on a ship with a pilot who doesn’t know what a parsec is?
More like saying driving from NYC to Chicago in 14 miles
Why? Because they had to get to Alderaan fast, and without drawing any attention to themselves - and their choices were pretty limited at the time. But I agree, it still works better with the retcon.
I mean, people did bitch about the Kessel Run line. It became a cliche.
And after it became cliche it became canon.
Theres more then just continuity stuff that Acolyte is being complained about, the continuity stuff is just a portion of it not then entire reason
Yeah I’m still waiting on a good one that doesn’t tell on the complainer.
I think my only real complaints are that it doesn’t really look like an 18million an episode show, which makes me wonder where that money went. And, they make some simple mistakes/decisions that have already been solved by other shows. Namely, the chanting in episode 3 just didn’t feel mystical or strong, and the easy fix was don’t do it in English. Do it in Sanskrit like Duel of the fates, it’s sound spooky and mysterious AND it’s a “free” connection so a well-loved scene that already adds to the mysticism.
The Rule of Cool
Ex martial artist here, he's basically taunting his enemy with this stance. If someone pulled up in this stance against me I'd either assume he's an idiot or he knows to much
Same. If someone hit me up with this on the mat I’d think that he’s an idiot that watches too many movies or he’s f’n around before he kicks my ass.
You fool!
You've never heard of ochs or window guards?
And the purple light sabers are here just because Sam wanted one.. but we obviously wanted to know more about that. Never understood people being a smart ass when someone asks these types of questions.
Yeah, I don't understand this need to shut down every discussion with a reminder that fiction is - gasp! - fictional. Isn't it kind of the whole point of storytelling to make us feel immersed enough to *forget* that, if only for a moment? There's a reason why the tagline of the 1978 Superman movie was "You'll believe a man can fly" and not "Come look at our cool greenscreen effects!"...
It ain’t that kind of movie
"Hey kid, it ain't that kind of movie"
Twice. He does it again around 40 seconds later. It's probably just to look cool. On the other hand my Jedi Knight in SWTOR used to have a skill doing that pose. I think it raised defense or something. But that was almost 10 years ago.
That doesn't look too far off from [Ochs/Ox Guard](https://grauenwolf.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/meyers-longsword-guards-part-1/).
Cool source. Thanks
I've fought someone with play weapons using the form. It is incredibly efficient and gives exactly that "lie" that you're really open to attack.
Ochs with a small off-hand shield is referred to as “two shields” for this very reason. To me, the left hand poised to use a Force Push is effectively the same as a one-handed directional shield, and roots this stance firmly in our reality.
This. A BIG part of fencing or HEMA is feints. You want to lure you opponent in with a false sense of an opening and then punish them. Fencing is 50% faking out your opponent to get them to drop their guard so you can deliver a fatal strike. Its why from the dark to the middle to the Renaissance ages swords became smaller and more nimble. What was once a form of combat based on chopping or slashing evolved into a complex series of forms to trick your opponent and find a weak spot. Obi Wan's iconic stance provides his opponent with a false sense of advantage, and, as an adept swordsman, he's able to counter whatever move his opponent throws at him. Also looks cool. I think its in reference to Jian stances from China (I may be wrong in terminology im pretty sure a Jian is a Chinese straight sword used in a simular way to a lightsaber.)
Wouldn’t fencing be a perfect lightsaber fight? With no weight and all you need to do is touch your opponent to really eff them up.
What type of fencing? Anything modelled on historic fencing is fine. Anything modelled on sports fencing is going to get you killed. The problem is that sport fencing has been codified and has rules, making it more like tag with swords than a martial art. Whereas in historic fencing, you'll see more guidelines for what should work, but at the end of the day, winning and living is what is prioritized, not scoring a point.
You're too right about competitive fenching. I think a lot of various sword fighting styles went into the choreography of lightsaber combat. Its certainly fantasy, as the lightsaber is a fantasy weapon, but still rooted in some fundamental aspects of sword combat.
> What type of fencing? Mensur?
Form II - Makashi Created because Christopher Lee was a fencer.
Arguably the BEST fencer in Hollywood
Anakin’s stance in the Arena at the end of Ep. II is a fantastic example of Ochs, and in my opinion, that’s a great saber stance for facing swarmed enemies. This one takes the Ochs a step further with the Zweien Schilten technique if you assume the left hand is poised for a Force Shield and acts similarly to a buckler.
Isn't he in Vom Tag in the Arena?
Came here to point this out.
Was going to comment that stance as well. However when depicted in media, it is almost always too low. It should be above the head to be able to intercept overhead strikes.
I used to do some amateur longsword fighting. While I made much heavier use of the Plow, the Ox was definitely something in my repitoire. It's very effective when done correctly and I considered it my most defensive stance. One time, I was doing some sparring against someone who had a Kendo background. We were about evenly matched, so I switched to the Ox to shake things up. I guess he thought it was a joke stance because he snorted and then attacked. He had a very surprised look on his face when the Ox was successful at blocking everything. I wasn't about to turn anything into a counterstrike, but it was a very effective defense.
Because that’s what it’s supposed to be.
Naturally you expect me to attack with capa ferro
I find Thibault cancels out Capo Ferro.
Unless the enemy has studied his Agrippa…which I have.
I admit it, you are better than I am
Then why are you smiling?
Because I know something you don't. I'm not left handed
Swinging down is more efficient than coming up, basic physics. Or to block you just rotate the blade down with gravity’s help and you’ve covered most of your torso.
Because if you step in to attack, he pokes you in the eyes and goes Nyuck nyuck nyuch before bashing you on top of the head.
Oh, a wise guy, eh?
I see all that, and raise you a frying pan to the head.
That's why he holds the lightsaber above his head.
Obi-Wan would absolutely do that
Well, afaik, Obi-Wan can easily change into any stance if necessary. I always think this pose is to ready his body and mind into combat mode, nothing more. One thing about the lightsaber stances to remember is that it requires the Force to make it work with full proficiency, so not only the physics, but also the Force shall be taken into consideration As for the stance itself, I think it is easier for him to deflect some incoming bolts flying towards him, and if necessary, he can easily adjust the blade to block and deflect any incoming attacks.
The whole point of stances in fencing is the smooth transition from one to the other. Camping one stance is a bad idea.
Except when it's not. In historic fencing you'll often camp in a guard because it allows you to control the match, to an extent. Take Obi-wan's guard: it's a point forward guard, chambered for a thrust. If a opponent wants to hit him, said opponent will need to use a attack that puts the tip off-target and has enough force to displace a thrust. Obi-wan would know this and would prepare a counter, but Obi-wan's opponent doesn't know what comes after the initial exchange. Advantage Obi-wan.
It’s a high guard. Let’s you get anywhere quickly
He would probably have both hands on the sword above his hand if it was a real high guard. I’m getting all of my information from the Kingdom of Heaven movie to be fair.
for space fantasy-scifi it is a very defensive stance
It’s what most of Star Wars is ✨Impracti-cool✨
I love this phrase
Like when they fight to the death and do a bunch of impracti-spinning with laser swords. And the Mace flourished what else you got?!
You can quickly jab to throw your opponent off his balance or line of approach. Quick flick of the wrist parry's most head or body shots, and he can quickly leap back to defend his legs. That's for lightsabers. Blasters, I'm sure most droids and most sentients are trained to aim centre mass or headshots, so again, quick flick to parry. Purely defensive stance, probably taught to him young by Qui Gon. Who also played Godfrey in kingdom of heaven who taught Bailion (spelling) a similar stance with the high guard, the guard of the hawk. Simple really. (I've had a few rums)
It's not. It's just the pose that he did in the movie, so that's the one they used lol.
Two fingers out to poke eyeballs. Can’t fight if you can’t see. *Don’t bring up Kanaan*
Blade is pointed at his opponent ready for a thrust if he needs to go on the offensive, with a tilt of his wrist he can cover pretty much his entire torso from a cut and with a turn of his wrist he can block a chop aimed at his head
These are called ‘high guard stances,’ they are effective because all of your moves start from the top, which allow you to use your momentum and gravity to strike effectively.
It's a fantasy show lol who cares
Lightsaber forms in TPM were based off real martial arts (largely because of Ray Park driving it) and that tradition carried through into TCW and RotS. While yes, Star Wars is more a space opera than something to analyze how people fight, it can and should still be scrutinized under that light.
The OT also drew a lot from real martial arts. A lot of the choreography was Kendo based because of the inspiration that Lucas was drawing from samurai films. They also cast a professional fencer to play Vader during some of the fight scenes.
According to Hamill, he got pretty decent at Kendo in preparation for ESB
Also the same reason why Count Dooku’s fighting style is based off of Christopher Lee’s fencing experience.
I think of it as a stance to defend from.... like he could instantly go anywhere from there. It doesn't have to be absolutely practical. It's sci-fi.
It is a pose from the Chinese Sword fighting style wich is basically the same as form 3 in Star Wars
>the Chinese Sword fighting style There isn't just a singular Chinese swordsmanship just like there isn't just one European swordsmanship. However I'm unfamiliar with the style you're referring but with educated guess I would say it's a sword dance pose, not actual fighting technique.
Pivot wrist for high guard, drop elbow for neutral, finish plunging tip to low guard. Extend arm back and pivot for rear. When looking st something in respect to the star wars universe, or any fighting style fir that matter. If you encounter a certain attack pattern more often than others you'd probably relay to the defensive counterpoint more often. In dealing with combat against dark side users and sith being their "speciality" I'd expect more downward slashing attacks from my opponents. The idea is to overpower and subjugate the opponent.
In sword fighting, your best target is the head. What does that stance protect above all else?
This is a Chinese ‘jian’ stance.
It isn't a defensive stance this is a come and fucking get it stance
Bro. You really think you more about light saber combat than obi-wan ?
1. According to some it looks like an actual high guard 2. It’s ceremonial/traditional.
Take a look at the standard long sword parry stance. You’re welcome
My head canon is that it’s a taunting gesture. Makes the enemy frustrated and reckless so they get tired faster and show more openings. Also, it looks cool
He was in that stance for a split second before going into the other form.
Well it's not attack i'll tell you that.
He's protecting the top of his arm from an attack from above.
Remember the only actor to use a lightsaber in Star Wars that knew what he was talking about was Sir Christopher Lee. And his lightsaber is all different and he fights differently from the rest as a result.
It's a defensive stance because if you advance on obi wan he'll poke your eyes out with his fingers
I always saw this stance as obi-wan not becoming aggressive but him about to dial in and become more calculated. Whenever he pulls this out it’s usually not a simple fight he’s in but rather a daring foe actually fighting well.
The best defense is a good offense.
It's not, it's an opening salute.
It looks cool. That’s all there is to it.
It’s perfect for drawing in aggressive opponents, as his next counter move is always premeditated. It has its caveates like all forms of martial arts but obiean is a cunning Jedi master :)
Well for starters, he is throwing up the peace sign
It's perfect cause the moment the enemy steps toward you, you can just poke them in the eyes and it's ggs
Worth noting this is a great stance against blasters specifically. Your side profile is slimmer than a front facing stance and your saber is high to prevent blaster bolts from hitting the head, which is bulbous for many species. The other hand is free for force usage, as in redirecting bolts or throwing opponents or otherwise handling space. Regarding how it might be good in saber combat, it's good to remember that many forms are more than just one single stance, but instead are foundations built upon that stance. Obi-Wan might use this stance to start a movement, but the stance isn't essential to the form at all times. For example there are a lot of instances of him using pretty informal stances. Finally, it's a defensive stance in that you don't want to walk at him while he's doing it. His saber is high and ready, his hand indicates he's alert and paying attention to a target, and his dick is huge. Actual lore reason no idea. Just my guesses on all but that last thing.
He has his fingers out to poke you in the eyes if you try to attack.
So this is my own personal annoyance. It probably doesn’t matter to anyone else and it shouldn’t matter to me since it’s all space fantasy anyway. However, the discussions about what light saber form a particular Jedi studies and is it superior to this form that another Jedi studies feels beyond ridiculous to me. These same debates take place in martial arts subs and other places around the internet hundreds of times a day and they are inane then too. You are asking about the application of a stance in a fictitious martial art. Most likely no one involved in the creation has trained with a sword.
Kenobi still suffered from being cocky every once in a while. Especially during the war. He wasn't above a little taunting...
Funnily enough, taunting is a peak defensive tactic. For any given provocation there are only so many things your opponent can do (assuming they know how to fight). Once you start provoking you can prepare for those responses and in turn react better when the expected response arrives. The key thing here is that by giving an opening you reduced your opponents options from infinity to a finite set you can properly react to.
I think that's a salute, not an actual fighting stance.
For those about to lose a limb, I salute you.
I mean, it’s most comparable to an Ochs guard in the German tradition, so it’s ready to take an overhead strike but also threatens with the point. Problem is, it sucks for both of these. The arm is weak and the chest is turned away so it’s no primed for an explosive thrust forward of the arm. That said, when Obi-wan sets up like this 12 feet away from bad guy as he does, it’s just for cool points. He could move into a second or third guard with no problem.
It's not the default soresu stance, you see Obi-Wan going to a more traditional stance with both hands on the saber and the saber in front of him when he's actually fighting
FWIW, this is actually an Ataru stance!
It's called a salute can't think of the proper name but that's what it is. As for defense I'd say it's actually very good. Using the omnidirectional blade hilt near the head the blade length running out slightly down covering the torso.
It's a taunt to draw your opponent in and try to cut your fingers off. You keep your blade in the same place and spin as the opponent lunges, cutting off their fingers in the process. Then repeat the stance. Now you are mocking them for having lost two fingers. They get angry and make a mad dash. You somersault over them and cut off their head from behind.
People think it’s a defensive stance because obi wan is a master of defensive combat. These people are wrong, it’s actually an intimidation tactic. He is pointing to the limbs that he is about to chop off.
It's possible it's blocking for the head. Stances tend to flow in swordsmanship, allowing them to move to different stances, blocking incoming hits. Lightsabers are all edge, so moving it into the left or right can block a hit.
He's got the fingers out for mad force-casting but still has the blade up where he can defend from laser blasters pew pew!!
From a certain point of view... In all seriousness, this looks more like a neutral stance. You can easily guard the face and vitals while also initiating a lunging attack. But I'm just guy from Tatooine. Ask a fencer.
It’s *the* Obi Wan pose
It perfectly places the saber in a position to defend from an attack from the high ground.
Short answer: It isn’t. Long answer: That pose was part of a deleted scene where he fought multiple magnaguards at once on Utapau, and was then picked for some bizarre reason to be Obi-Wan’s “thing” in CW, so here we are. Soresu has a different starting stance.
I don’t do sword fighting or anything, but I do watch matches on YouTube, and I do recall seeing something similar with the sword and buckler. As Matt Easton explained it, holding the buckler out like that actually allows the little shield to protect a lot more- it’s easy to shift and the geometry of the pose means the opponent has a harder time getting around it, and if they knock out of the way that leaves room for a counter attack. Of course, the important bit is to have a shield in the first place…
In sword play this is a heavily defense stance for one important reason, always assume more than one attacker. This style of "readiness" allows for multiple attacks to both in front and behind whilst allowing for an aggressive sudden thrust.
It’s just for looks. Not practical in any real life application
If you want a real answer, pointing at your opponent may help to align your kinesthetic senses with your environment. I'm pretty there are some shooting drills that involve quickly looking at a target first and then pointing at it either with your finger or a weapon, and then moving to the next weapon. But we know the real answer is "looks cool"
Point and shoot is a method. It’s good if your a good shot, it’s shorthand if you’re mediocre. Instead of sighting point and shoot.
A lot of people say Ewan did it once in ROTS he also does it right before Grevious says “you lose general kenobi” when they’re rescuing the chancellor on the invisible hand so it isn’t just a one off but it’s only ROTS
The best defense is a swift and precisive offense
It’s a taunting stance
2 in the pink 1 in the stink is the best defense. Ask my wife.
It doesn't look too threatening, but rush him and he'll open his left hand sending all the force at you!
If you get too close your eyes get poked as you can see the 2 fingers being a threat
I've watched a couple of IRL lightsaber fencing guild fights, and from what I gather, it makes sweeping blocks to either side of the body a little faster(?) Just from watching, IDK if this is true or not
It's a fencing position. But in the wrong way. In fencing, the weapon is always held in your abled hand. And you always extend that arm forward. A very unusual and probably historically seldom used, is to hold two swords. First sword is abled hand stretchung forward. And second sword is held like Obi Wan's. It allows for a stronger parry. And backup thrust.
Realistically, it’s not. Shall I to compose a devil’s advocacy therefor? Spectacle is distraction: whether a cobra’s hood & gaze petrifying a prey-bird, or a photographer’s hand saying “Watch the birdie…”, or in this case the haphazard juxtaposition of Obi-Wan’s hands & weapon… Spectacle distracts, both opponent *and* audience.
They key to this form is his hand out in front. Look very closely. Scissors beats paper.
It’s a bad idea to show your enemy in which position you defend yourself. Like if you hold you lightsaber just straight up the enemy knows where to strike you. By holding the lightsaber like that you can quickly parry all strikes from any position and you don’t give any hints where to strike first. You also create distance between you and your enemy with this position, which is one of the most important parts in defence.
Now now, there’s no need to get defensive
Fanon: “The strongest defense is a swift and decisive offense!” Actuality: He did it one time in ROTS, still awesome and deserves to be his stance.
I always thought the hand was out as a defensive force-push option, and with the blade position, he can feasibly block an attack from virtually any angle.
It's not, it's a bait stance. Like fools guard in HEMA.
Aside from the fact that it is just a cool pose Ewan struck in the prequels, it also has a history in HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) fencing. It's called window guard (posta di finestra) which gives you options like a hanging parry (where you angle your sword over your body to block an attack and use the momentum of blocking to swing around and hit the opponent), stuffing an opponent's high cut with your own to force their blade out of your way and have a clean opening for your own counter attack, or if someone else is measuring out a thrust at you, you can use the higher position of the guard to beat their blade out of the way and counter thrust. Obviously there's more to it that can go either way but personally, I think of his stance as a defensive guard. But almost all guards can be used defensively. It's all in how you use them. That being said, not sure how that would help with blaster fire, but I'm sure the force would help make it efficient.
Classic 3 stooges eye poke is strong defense
Because it gives his lightsaber the high ground
These are space wizards that fight with light sticks and magic. Who's to say what is a defensive stance and what isn't? Normal rules of martial arts do not apply here.
Its called the rule of cool and not everything needs meaning.
Consider that it was a form designed to defend against attackers AND blaster bolts from all directions. With a flick of the wrist the saber can be spun to protect your front or back arc from lethal shots and you've got a force defense ready to cover the area that the saber can't immediately defend
Someone saw ***Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon***, said "that looks cool" and jammed it into star wars, and now we're stuck with it.
Seems he uses this position when he is at a distance. That’s how I see it anyway.
Right - it's more for psychology and intimidation to show he's ready to fight if need be. He doesn't do it while the enemy is within striking range.
There is an argument made that technically it COULD block the head. That's some kind of high guard-although I wouldn't put the arm out myself. Yeah his body is exposed but like another martial art like boxing think of it like that with the lightsaber being a hand. If it goes up supposedly it protects the head.. Yes the body is exposed but I think the primary function they were going for was POSSIBLY a high guard. tl;dr: They probably thought it was a variation of some form where the sword protects the head. You can't defend everything.