What Martial Arts Are Used In Star Wars?

Star Wars is an iconic movie series that was first released in 1977 and continues to be equally as popular in present day. Since its inception, there have been several fight scenes in every movie which almost always depicts good vs evil (jedi vs sith) in an ongoing battle that never ends.

There are several creatures and races within the star wars universe, making martial arts somewhat difficult and unique. Add in technology such as laser guns and lightsabers and things become very difficult to describe.

However, there still is a great deal of traditional martial arts styles used within the star wars saga, as the scenes are choreographed by people with extensive experience in both fighting and Hollywood movies. The martial arts that are most used in star wars are exactly what you would expect, with kendo and kenjutsu variations being at the forefront of almost every film. This is because the lightsaber is the most common weapon of choice, which is essentially a modern day samurai sword.

What Martial Arts Are Used In Star Wars?

Kendo, Kenjutsu, Bojutsu, Fencing & Capoeira

If you have seen the original star wars triology from the late 1970s onwards, you will notice that a lot of the lightsaber duels are very linear. There is a lot of back and forth action throughout with not too many special effects like we see today. A large portion of this is due to the fact that British fencer Bob Anderson was responsible for choreographing the scenes. Although Anderson never won any medals outside of the commonwealth, he was still an international level fencer representing Britain on many occasions. Anderson does change the fighting style throughout so it is never truly a single style of swordfighting, but you can see he transitions from fencing to other styles such as kendo throughout.

Aside from using weapons, Capoeira is also used in some of the later films and was often involved with darth Maul’s fight scenes. Here, he would jump and do spinning kicks. This requires a level of athleticism and even during non-combat scenes, darth Maul would often jump around and show off his quick footwork. Overall, Capoeira is a great looking martial art that should be used more often during movie fight scenes.

In the three prequel films, the phantom menace, attack of the clones & revenge of the sith, Nick Gillard was chosen to choreograph fight scenes. If you are unsure what martial art is used in these movies, it is difficult to say since Gillard is not a martial artist and likely collaborated with other professionals. With that being said, much of the battles are pure CGI with general grievous being a 4 armed robot. Not something we generally associate with traditional martial arts.

The latest movies feature a variety of different sword fighting techniques supervised by C.C Smiff as well as 4th degree Tang Soo Do black belt Chloe Bruce. These movies feature more bojutsu than any other standout martial art.

Is Lightsaber Dueling A Martial Art?

No. Almost all lightsaber duel technique is based on pre-existing martial arts such as kendo, kenjutsu, bojutsu, fencing and any other art involving either a spear, stick or sword. There is no real difference between a lightsaber and a sword in terms of functionality and the fact that one is more technologically advanced than the other. The same can be said for the lightsaber of darth maul, which although is slightly different, is more similar to a stick used in kung fu.

Anything beyond the capabilities of humans star wars fight scenes is performed by CGI. So even if you do see a technique that you think is new and has not been performed in any of the above listed martial arts, this is likely because it is impossible for a human to pull off.

Are Jedi Knights Good At Hand-To-Hand Combat?

Reportedly jedi are well trained in martial arts, which would make sense if their job is to try and keep law and order within the galaxy. Jedi knights are rarely seen using any martial arts other than sword-based techniques since a lightsaber is much more powerful than any strike from a limb.

You can also clearly see that jedi knights are extremely athletic and able to produce explosive power much like any regular martial artist. This is seen throughout the series where jedi are able to perform forward and backward flips, as well as jump to their feet from a flat back. Jedis also train their mind and place a heavy emphasis on philosophy which is a very common theme consistent with traditional martial arts.

However, we will likely never see jedi fight in hand-to-hand combat since they are such expert swordsman. Not only this but their use of the force makes it somewhat unnecessary to strike or throw an opponent since they are able to use their minds. In the real world this would be referred to as qi – although nobody has ever been able to demonstrate its existence.