Students Use "The Force" in Out-of-this-World Martial Arts Class
By Gabrielle Lucivero
Saturday, May 7, 2016 at 07:32 PM EDT
Themed workouts are gaining popularity across the country. More and more gyms are tapping into pop culture for a different spin on standard workouts. Here in Syracuse, our Gabrielle Lucivero takes us to a martial arts studio that is hoping to use "the force" to get people up and moving.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Gathering of Sabers didn't start in a galaxy far, far away.
"It was just kind of me being that Star Wars nerd that just really likes lightsabers, and of course I never hide it so our students and friends revealed that they were Star Wars nerds too. It just kind of happened," said aid Syracuse Martial Arts Academy Head Instructor, Anthony Iglesias.
Iglesias took his love of Star Wars and turned it into a special themed class at the Syracuse Martial Arts Academy. Now they're hosting Central New York's first ever lightsaber dueling tournament.
"We have a person coming all the way from New York City just to be here. He's like, lightsaber dueling tournament, I'm there,” Iglesias said.
"I have a twin brother, we've be sparring ever since we were six years old and just to be able to go to a place where we can learn, and not like kendo or fencing where it's just, it's lightsabers,” said Gathering of the Sabers participant Devon Kelley.
They mix in tradition martial arts with dueling skills and fight choreography and it's a lot of fun, but it's also a lot of hard work too.
"The exercise part of it comes in and they don't even realize that they've been moving around for an hour,” said Iglesias. “When I start my class we are nonstop moving from the minute the class starts. That's an hour of them moving around."
Iglesias said martial arts and lightsabers go hand in hand. When Mark Hamill played Luke Skywalker, he was trained in the art of Kendo.
"Human movement will be the same in multiple things,” Iglesias said. “So whether it's martial arts or football or baseball or lightsabers, you're going to see movements in martial arts that you see in those things."
Whether you're a Jedi or a Sith, you're sure to have a lot of fun.
The hope is to have another tournament in August, but the Gathering of Sabers class meets every Saturday at the Syracuse Martial Arts Academy in Shoppingtown Mall. They said everyone is welcome and you can find out more by visiting their Facebook.
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