Sports and Star Wars: The Convergence of My Two Passions

Anybody who knows me knows I am a HUGE "Star Wars" fan.  No, I didn't dress up in costume for the movies and I have not read all the novels.  But I did own the comic books, I push my sons aside so I can build their Star Wars Lego sets, I am currently binge watching "The Clone Wars" on Netflix.

And obviously I am a sports fan.  I've made a pretty good living working in college athletics and teaching students to report on and broadcast sports.

So, imagine my level of geeked up when I saw that my favorite cable channel, ESPN, had produced "The Evolution of the Lightsaber Duel".

Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader:  The first epic lightsaber duel.

This seems a perfect marriage because the duels truly are athletic feats to behold.  ESPN also does a super job of describing how the skills learned in the martial art called kendo inspired and fueled the epic battles between Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, and now between Rey and Kylo Ren.

The Japanese martial art Kendo inspired
the duels in the Star Wars franchise.

If you are as big a fan of the films as I am, I'm sure you'll be geeked out, too.  Enjoy!

ESPN Presents:  The Evolution of the Lightsaber Duel.