Walmart sold out of guns and ammo? Consider the light saber

OK, so commercial stocks of semi-automatic weapons and ammunition have evaporated in a wave of panic buying spurred by the specter of stringent new gun restrictions.

Doesn’t mean you have to be defenseless.

Light saber training is now available at Golden Gate Knights in San Francisco, where unabashed Star Wars geeks “have created a combat choreography class for Jedis-in-training,” according to the Associated Press.

In a recent session at the academy, instructor Alain Bloch, schooled in martial arts and stage combat, “demonstrated a slicing technique,” reports the wire service in its evocation of the scene:

“‘Always be mindful of the presence!’ he said, donning a Luke Skywalker outfit and a green light saber. With Star Wars movie music coursing through the dance studio, his disciples clutch their neon-glowing light sabers … [and] slice and parry as they follow Bloch’s lead, and get a little exercise, too.”

Don’t be too quick to judge. 

It’s tempting to laugh off Jedi combat choreography as another fitness fad destined to go the way of kung-fu and rollerblading. But the Knights may be on to something here, with a martial arts/fitness hybrid precision-tuned to the zeitgeist of the Obama years. Think about it. Beyond their promise as a legal civilian alternative to banned AR-15s, light sabers should prove attractive as low-cost, high-tech service weapons for a leaner U.S. military coping with the effects of budget sequestration. The discipline’s cut-and-thrust aerobics are just the sort of let’s-move cardio workout Michelle Obama prescribes for our soft and sedentary young. And with the first lady on board, it’s a cinch for full coverage as a wellness benefit under Obamacare.

© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.