SPIRIT Lightsaber (DEK Medwyn’s Elements)

Hello again Everyone, thank you all for the well wishes from my earlier post, now I have to get back to work. However I have a treat for us all in the shape of the final instalment of the Distant Earth Knighthood and Master Medwyn’s Elements saber collection. I have been privileged and honoured to host these designs on my site. The five Elements Forms have been a great inspiration to me and in this final fifth Form the Elements combine!

When a warrior becomes “attuned” to the techniques he or she performs and they become second nature something special happens. The warrior no longer thinks or reacts but opens themselves to a subconscious level. They are the moves and the moves are the warrior, as one. Not having to consciously think about what they are doing gives the warrior a freedom, and that freedom produces the chain of movement. That state of body, mind and weapon become one, they become SPIRIT…

SPIRIT Hilt

SPIRIT Emitter

SPIRIT Switch

SPIRIT Body

SPIRIT FTE Pommel

SPIRIT Vertical UP

SPIRIT Vertical Down

This is SPIRIT and is more of a symbolic weapon. It represents the five Element Forms, EARTH, WATER, FIRE, WIND and SPIRIT itself. The saber has a spirit like look, being finished in all silver with a grey wrapped grip body. The top and bottom of the saber has very special symbolic meanings, firstly I will explain the significance of the FTE Pommel. Regular visitors to this site know the initials, FTE, refer to For Tyeth Emitter/Pommel, but not this time. In this case FTE represents “For The Elements”. Here the forms’ essences gather to guide the weapon. From the pommel the essences travel through the hilt and blend together to form SPIRIT before being projected from the clawed emitter.This emitter has six claws, one for each form. But wait, “there are five forms but six claws?” I hear you say and you would be correct. There is five claws one for each form and the sixth represents the Warrior that wields the saber. Finally the true essence of the warrior, Forms and saber project from the emitter as a white, pure, blade. A blade to protect the people and the planet.

Sadly that is the end of the series, but good news, it is not the end of the story of the Distant Earth Knighthood! Master Medwyn and the Knighthood have set plans in motion to produce their own website dedicated to the Elements Forms and the Knighthood’s activities and when the site is fully up and running I will post links to it here. In the meantime here is a link to their YouTube Channel: Distant Earth Knighthood YouTube Channel .

This project as I said earlier has been a great privilege to bring to you all and I would like to thank Master Medwyn and the Knighthood one more time for their inspiration and support. I need to thank you the visitors to this site too, for supporting the Knighthood and myself. I hope you have enjoyed SPIRIT and the forms. Till next time.

Distant Earth Knighthood and the DEK are ©Copyright of The Distant Earth Knighthood and Master Medwyn, used with permission.

 

 

WIND Lightsabers -DEK Master Medwyn’s Elements

Hello Everyone, today we take to the sky that sits above and around the planet we call home. The sky is full of currents of warm and cold air, forever swirling in patterns around the globe. We call these currents the wind. The DEK and Master Medwyn took this inspiration of flow and created the lightsaber form known as WIND. The form is ever moving with the centre remaining calm like the eye of the Hurricane. At the centre of the storm the warrior can observe their situation and determine his/her next move. This form is perfect for large scale, multiple opponent situations or melee. The Lightsaber “gusting” through or around enemies or obstacles like air travelling through the branches of trees.

Master Medwyn demonstrates this form in a video on the Distant Earth Knighthood YouTube channel. You can link to the channel and video by clicking Distant Earth Knighthood YouTube Channel

Now onto the sabers here are my WIND Element sabers…

WIND Hilt

WIND Emitter Blue

WIND Emitter Amber

WIND Switch

WIND Body

WIND Pommel

WIND Vertical Up

WIND Vertical Down

When you watch the video you will notice that Master Medwyn is wielding two blades, and they are different colours. This helps to show how the warm air moves and the resulting space is filled by the cold air, the first blade moves then the second follows and sometimes move in unison. When warm and cold air work together like this in nature the most powerful WIND develops. I mentioned the most powerful wind earlier in this post, the Hurricane, and I hope the Knighthood don’t mind but I have taken their concept form one tiny step further. These two sabers are special because they can do this..

Yes, the two can combine to make a Superstorm staff! The staff spins around a calm centre but produces great energy at it’s extremes just like the Hurricane. Then when the battle ends, the winds calm to a breeze and the sabers separate. The warrior can then extinguish their sabers, storing the energy of the form back in the hilts.

I wish to thank the Distant Earth Knighthood and Master Medwyn for their support and inspiration. I also want to thank you for looking in. You may have worked out there is one more saber in this collection which I hope you will join me for on Saturday for a VERY SPECIAL DOUBLE POST. I have a computer game inspired hilt and a Magic Wand also lined up in my next posts. Till next time.

Distant Earth Knighthood and the DEK are ©Copyright of the Distant Earth Knighthood and Master Medwyn, used with permission.

 

Fire Lightsaber – DEK Medwyn’s Elements

Hello Everyone, today I am excited as we get to see the next saber in the Elements series inspired by Master Medwyn and the Distant Earth Knighthood.

Fire, a more aggressive form always flicking out strikes and keeping the opponent on the defensive. This form allows the warrior to take the front foot as it were in close quarter combat, where one technique is quickly followed by the second then third just like the flames dancing in a fire. In the video you can see on the Distant Earth Knighthood YouTube Channel, Master Medwyn demonstrates the form. Here is a link to the DEK YouTube Channel: Distant Earth Knighthood YouTube Channel

In a poor attempt to deconstruct the techniques and create a list of the strikes, parries and blocks I counted at least 29 distinct techniques in approximately 30 secs of footage. And I will have made mistakes, there could have been more. The form modifies some of the traditional techniques found in other Lightsaber forms in the Star Wars Universe and blends them technically and physically into Fire.

The form needs a saber capable of directing such offensive power effectively, this is my attempt to harness FIRE…

Fire Hilt

Fire Emitter

Fire Emitter 2

Fire Switch

Fire Body

Fire Pommel

Fire Vertical Up

Fire Verdtical Down

The saber is a simple design with little in the way to distract the user. The blade is flame orange and stands out brightly against the gloss black hilt, a contrast. Just as the blade is orange and the hilt is black…Water is a defensive form and Fire is an offensive contrast in the build up of the Elements. On a technical note there is a nice choke point to help handle the saber during the Orbit (spinning) based techniques. The recessed switches as mentioned, means there are no controls to get in the way of gripping the hilt, as a form like Fire needs to be controlled. To further assist control there is a secondary grip at the pommel with the three ridges. The saber’s overall look is reminiscent of a beacon torch, to send out a message of hope and Light. That concludes the design except for the two flashes of silver on the emitter and pommel representing the ingredients needed for Fire, fuel and oxygen, with the spark of ignition coming from the Force.

Oxygen is a good link to the next sabers in the series as oxygen is of course part of the atmosphere that blankets the planet. Within that atmosphere swirls another of the Elements, WIND! So please join me again for my next post where I will present DEK Medwyn’s Elements WIND. Till next time.

The Distant Earth Knighthood is ©Copyright of The Distant Earth Knighthood and Master Medwyn, used here with permission.

Water Lightsaber (Medwyn’s Second Element)

Hello Everyone, I am pleased to announce I have been contacted by Master Medwyn and the Distant Earth Knighthood and the response was warm and greatly appreciative. Their feedback and comments were very helpful. So today I am proud to present my second tribute to the great work of the DEK. This time we concentrate on the form called Water.

Water Form, a large body with movements flowing back and forth like the tides. A balanced form in the sense that it is reactive, some techniques are large and sweeping (for area contol using “soft” strikes) while other techniques are more forceful or a “more powerful wave” for direct combat (striking the opponents weapon blade on blade, “hard” strikes). This form facilitates advance and retreat where necessary and is ever moving dependant on situation. The flourishes and orbits (spinning) may seem extravagant but help control flow of movement and build power. However they also reinforce the image of water, reminiscent of whirlpools and eddies in a flowing stream.

Again the Distant Earth Knighthood YouTube Channel can be found by clicking on their name! There you will find their amazing videos. On a technical level there is one particular technique in the form where Master Medwyn transitions from a traditional grip with the blade pointing out forwards, to a Reverse Grip with blade pointing backwards using an orbit to switch hand grip. The move ends with the blade pointing horizontally in his right hand with the emitter near his little finger and his left hand palm flat on the base of the pommel. This move is the most effective and fluid I have seen but can easily be missed (this occurs between 22 and 26 seconds into their video). I will now present the saber dedicated to the form WATER…

Water Hilt

Water Emitter

Water Emitter 2

Water Switch

Water Body

Water Pommel

Water Vertical Up

Water Vertical Down

The saber has an emitter that embodies the look of an ancient water pitcher, the watery blue blade pouring from it’s spout. The lines of the hilt are smooth and flowing. The blue leather grip represents the body of water as a whole, with gripping points along the  whole length. The switch section provides a choke point (narrow section) to assist the orbits and spins and represents how tides come in and out on the shores of Earth (on which the Water flows). Again the design tries to reflect the more advanced ebb and flow nature of this form.

I will publish the next two sabers in this collection shortly but I wish to thank the DEK again for inspiring me to create this collection. Thank you for looking in on this design and please check out the DEK YouTube channel. Till next time.

The Distant Earth Knighthood is ©Copyright of The Distant Earth Knighthood and Master Medwyn and are used here with permission.

A Tribute to the Distant Earth Knighthood (Medwyn’s Elements)

Today I have great news to share! A few weeks ago I posted saying I wanted to reach out to some members of the Lightsaber community. Well I have been honoured that one of those great folk has responded and we had a chat. This conversation has led to this next collection of designs. Who is this person and who are the Distant Earth Knighthood? To begin, the Distant Earth Knighthood are a small group of Lightsaber enthusiasts who, led by Master Medwyn created their own style of Lightaber combat forms.

This talented group produced a fantastic series of videos showcasing each of the different techniques, performed by Master Medwyn! The Knighthood base their philosophy on the elements of the planet Earth. The first video I saw was Earth, and I was stunned by how well it was produced and the technical ability Master Medwyn displayed. I felt I had to create a collection of sabers in honour of this great contribution to the community, this is my saber dedicated to the form known as Earth…

Earth Hilt

Earth Emitter

Earth Switch

Earth Body

Earth Pommel

Earth Vertical Up

Earth Vertical Down

I wanted to reflect the solid base from which the form Earth grows. The form is a solid, fundamental defensive style from which the other more dynamic attacking forms can extend. The saber is a solid dependable design that represents the foundations. No fancy claws or spikes to complicate the use of the hilt. The grip is the colour of Earth and the blade is the green shoot of growth that will branch out to the other Element Forms.

Master Medwyn and the Distant Earth Knighthood (whom I will also credit when I obtain the names of the behind the scenes members!) can be found on their YouTube channel or to make it easier just click Distant Earth Knighthood to go straight to their page!

I will finish by thanking the DEK and Master Medwyn for their efforts. I hope they and you, the viewers, liked this tribute and both will return to see the remaining sabers in this special collection.

The Distant Earth Knighthood is ©Copyright of The Distant Earth Knighthood and Master Medwyn, used here with permission.