How to Spin a Sword like a Jedi (and not look like a Dork)

Can we all agree how Jake is just too natural at almost everything 😄

I love how well Jordan has mastered the goofball sponsored segments, the perfect person to fill in for Jake

Jake just keeping his skills low key, he's the complete package

Honestly I always loved the over-the-top lightsaber choreography in the prequels. I feel like if you are using a weightless sword, have super reflexes, and can see the future a tiny bit, that is enough of an in-universe reason for it to look nothing like a real swordfight and still work for me.

8:25 Niko just saying “Yes!” like a little fanboy is just the purest of all things. I love these videos!!

Luke is probably one of my favorite guests that you've had on the channel. I love seeing him every time he's in a video.

So glad to see Luke back for another video he was my favorite guest you guys brought I’m a fan of his work he’s an incredible swordsman would love to learn some lessons from him one day

Luke is so dope. His wealth of knowledge and love of his craft come through so much. Plus he seems like just a cool dude in general to be around. I love when Craftsmen like him come on the show and share their movie experience and knowledge of their specific craft. Especially when it's something as dope as swordplay, and sword history. As a major fan of the old Samurai films, and especially the old swashbuckling adventure films of yesteryear like Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, and Douglas Fairbanks flicks, this inside knowledge is stuff I just eat up. Thank you so so much Luke, for sharing your skill and experience with all of us. I learn something new every time. Now excuse me while I go pretend to be Captain Blood or Zorro and practice my new sword spins lol

"There's no hope. You're gonna do." - The most inspiring thing I've ever heard in my life.

My real question about the spinning as an actual technique, is how the sword isn't just knocked out of your hand when make contact with something without a solid grip on it.

Nikos reaction when he mentioned spinning TWO swords. So pure! 😂

God I wish I could get just one 5 min session with this guy. He seems like he’s got a lot of expertise to share and I just want to absorb as much knowledge as I can take.

Good job guys. Very satisfying to watch. Happy to see Jordan in another video. She always dedicates 100% to what she needs to do.

1:18 I remember from a behind the scenes in the OT that someone had said that lightsabers actually weighed a decent amount and that that's why Luke slowly transitions from using 2 hands to sometimes using 1 hand as he got more and more skilled

Loved when Jordan was making light-saber sounds, and getting scolded, hilarious! More Jordan content in the future please. ❤

Gotta love how you guys always do something new and exciting

This was so much fun to follow along with my bokken sword! Luke is awesome 😎.

It's true the blades weight nothing - but they make contact, they don't pass through each other. So I would think it's less about the weight of the sabre and more about trying to force the other person back. After all if you can force the blade back against the component it's automatically going to burn them.

I just want to say you guys have been killing it recently

Such an awesome teacher. So patient and positive. It doesn't matter what this man chose to teach, he would be great at it.

The "Ani/Obi" sword spin is so cool. It's super easy, but looks so good.

This was considerably better than I was expecting.

1:20 There's an explanation for that. Mandalorian season 2 explained it quite well with the dark blade. The energy that flows into the plasma blade of a lightsaber makes it feel quite heavy for the one wielding it, especially when you consider that lightsabers are supposed to have a magnetic effect. There's a powerful field generator in the hilt of a lightsaber, it creates the force field that contains the plasma blade. The high-speed oscillations of the field have a side effect of giving the weapon a resistance to motion, an apparent mass. This resistance shifts as the orientation of the blade shifts, allowing a master of the weapon to perform some lightning-fast moves if he can work with the blade instead of against it - but this feature of the weapon can also lead an incautious wielder to harm themselves.

I spent years with and teaching these exact moves in the SF Bay Area doing lightsaber fight re-enactments, so this brought me back. I haven't done it since Covid, but I still have one lightsaber. :) One of my last performances is my biggest video (100K views!), so that was a good one to go out on.

LOL the ending was pure perfection. the retrowave & sword montage with the thumbs up at the end 😂

The last moments of this felt like a Michael Dudikoff film from the 80s - might we expect to see something of this nature from you in the future?
Excellence from all participants in this video, as usual. I have the feeling you would master anything you set your minds to.

I love when Luke is on the channel! Great video as always!!

When Nico was freaking out about Luke's loop of sword spins, he was doing what lightsaber enthusiasts affectionately call the Obi-Ani

Can we talk about how excited niko was, like I could feel the inner kid come out like "yes I get to spin a sword like a lightsaber so cool!" Like that energy lol

I’ve been following SwordTuber channels (like GunTubers but with swords) for a while now. Shadiversity has done a couple of tutorials on this topic, known as “flourishes” in certain HEMA circles. I’ve done my own practicing and am fairly adequate at it but my first day was nothing like yours. I expect to see y’all using your new skills in future projects.
Jake, I’m taking up the two-sword challenge!

Great video! I want to try it myself. Also, Jordan is awesome in the sponsored segment!

I love these real-life videos so much, they're like the opposite of the videos where the choreography is covered up by cheap AI filters.

A video of pure fun. Enjoyed the hell out of it.

Jake is that guy who lets everybody else get extra homework because he's so smart lol

I would love to see Luke and you to react to the saber duel from the Polish 🇵🇱 movie The Deluge. There were no stuntmen involved, the actors were actually fighting with Polish sabers.

One of the most fun videos. The Corridor Crew just having fun learning some sword work. Love you guys and gal!

I love Luke LaFontaine! So glad to have him back! Also, I would LOVE it if Jordan continued her story and joined the school.

I'll assume that since jordan is here y'all are making a sequel to the realistic lightsaber duel video. which is good, because it's one of my favorite videos from you guys!

I love when these people in the various industries of Hollywood or in Effects just come out and have these fun videos. Super cool to see

I love these videos
When the crew goes outside and try stuff for real

When I was studying kali the two handed deal took me a hot minute. I wasn’t learning that spin specifically because it was practical, I was also learning practical stuff, but I wanted to learn party tricks as well

Jake, when using 2 blade I find it easier to lead with one your dominate hand and follow with the other instead of trying to concintrate on both hands doing the same thing at the same time. This should help to train your weaker hand into doing the motion. Then after enought time, the muscle memory should kick into making it easier to to the move symmetriclly

Amazed they didn't already learn this by replaying every prequels fight a dozen times then practicing with a Swiffer handle for days like I did at 18. Jake has the Force tho.

Having been doing this for many years, my advice would be learn the movements slowly and practise them slowly so you don't train bad habits. Can already see that Niko is going to have some issues coming out of his plum blossom because of where and how he starts his wrist rotation. Also, pro tip: don't sheathe your katana edge down, that's not how you do that and you'll destroy your saya and probably injure yourself ;)

I would LOVE a series where you guys hit up some of your connections to teach you guys a new skill over the course of a video, like different stunts & swordplay. I'd also appreciate it being a more casual setting like this than a produced show, it's very fun.

My favorite explanation is that lightsabers are hard to use bc they’re constantly flowing energy, making the force almost necessary to expertly wield one

Love seeing Luke! Such an amazing guy

I've watch some sword training techniques and this guy knows his stuff👌

It's fun to see Niko geeking out 😄

This episode shows the worth of a valuable teacher!

I didn't know how hard this is for others, I've just been doing this sh1t for decades because that flow is super calming for me.

Love it! I do fights at renaissance faires, and I love to flourish and moulinet like nobody's business. But this looks much more practical than the flailing around I tend to do. I am inspired!

As a HEMA practitioner. AKA a huge nerd that likes fighting with swords. I do train spins on some students. Not because they're useful, but because it helps them loosen their grip and learn to work with the physics of the blade. Especially for those that like to white knuckle the grip. You only need to tense in and bear down when striking. Otherwise keep your hands relaxed and easy to move.

Luke is the kind of teacher I would’ve loved to have in high school, would’ve definitely paid attention in class and learned a lot. Also, Luke is such a badass 💯

As someone who plays with lightsabers more than he'd ever admit, I'm happy to say I did NOT learn much from this video, which is validating, but I WILL still make the noises.

Jake and I are in the same wavelength. I learned how to do both hands easily. But the way I could best explain it, is that one hand follows the other. Once you get that down it is so much easier to do other maneuvers with both hands.

I’ve literally practiced all of these techniques for fun as a kid with a variety of sticks

I'm holding out hope that this is the first training session for the eventual release of To The Death 2 (Two The Death? Eh.) I really loved that video - great idea and well executed - but whatever the story might be, future Corridor lightsaber/sword videos will always be welcomed.

I would love to see Niko produce a Prequel era OTT lightsabre sequence

Luke's a good teacher. i mean, it's kinda what he does. :D - This is coming from someone who's been in the martial arts scene for 33 years. Love just about anything with a blade/edge, same goes for blunt and flexible weapons. They improved quite a bit in just a couple hours.

That's called the "Obi-Ani" spin. Props to Jordan for using a "lightsaber" for it, too! Several great videos are on ESclips teaching this technique as well. ;)
And to second Luke, PLEASE do NOT stick the blades into the ground!! aarrgghh! LOL

Now I wanna see Jake be the dual wielding badass in a video, spinning two blades.

I just realized now that I've been able to do this pretty much my entire life. Never had any formal training. Learned all through observation and practice. Grew up watching a ton of martial arts movies and watching my cousins and older brothers do it throughout the years. I literally twirl around broomsticks at work during downtime. Now I need to practice the double blade twirling. Time to develop a new skill.

i absolutely love the retrowave ending, i would love to see you guys do a short film retrowave short film with ninjas xD

Lightsabers are not weightless they can actually be very heavy depending on the user its like Kanan said after "Sabine found the saber heavier than she taught" “Energy constantly flows through the crystal. You're not fighting with a simple blade so much as you are directing a current of power.” and that emotions of the user flows through the crystal and becomes a part of the blade and it becomes lighter as the user connects with it. We see this in the BoBF and Mandalorian as well as Paz Vizsla struggles even lifting the saber off the ground.

I love that Luke actually has a grasp on swordsmanship he doesn't just throw out a technique like sword spinning just because it's flashy he recognizes that it is a valid technique that can be used in real battles and even gives some background info on these techniques and examples of how and why they're used.

Still waiting for the Saber school sequel with Jordan as a student.

Cool video! I like how fast all of you getting the hang of it.
And nothing against Luke, but as a practitioner in chinese swordighting, there is one part in the technique that Luke teached you that made me say "what are you doing there?!"
It may be okay for beginners but:
When you are spinning on the outside, you shouldn't open your hand and spin the sword just between two fingers. You'd lose your grip on the sword and the tiniest of contacts to the blade could make you lose your weapon. I got reprimanded for doing it and so I reprimand my students.

I be down to see a "To The Death" sequel with Jordan fighting

I’m gonna be honest, spinning a lightsaber already makes you look like a dork no matter how good you spin it😂

Jake is one god damn impressive guy. A form beauty is excellence, and this dude has a lot of it. Respect.

Start the pattern very slow and methodically.
Keep your speed consistent throughout.
As you get the pattern down slowly, ensure you can do the same thing for a couple reps in a row.
Then, begin speeding up a bit while maintaining the same speed.
From there, just repeat and gradually build up speed. This is an extremely easy pattern for beginners. Even if you don't have a sword or anything, you can use whatever you want.
I typically use a 1" PVC pipe that's about 36" long. You just put a couple wraps of tape about 6-9" from one end, leaving 27-30" of "blade."
I know that a lot of people have this desire to play around with "swords" and stuff becuase they enjoy action movies. If you just take a little bit of time and resourcefulness, you can learn it. Seriously. There are tons of great resouces online to learn basic pattern. If you enjoy it, you can even get actual instruction. In middle/high school, my friends and I would have bamboo (planter stakes you use to reinforce like tomato plants lol) stick fights. We would welt the shit out of each other, bloody up our hands, and had an absolute blast doing it. I probably enjoyed it more than everyone else because I was somehow just naturally good at it. I learned a lot of the same HEMA techniques just purely from experience. I got lots of cuts on my hands, arms, and legs. I got cuts on my face. But i always enjoyed the hell out of it. I HIGHLY recommend ir to people.
You can do it with less painful items like the foam swords or something, but I much preferred the sting of a mistake/loss. I felt like it sharpened my mind, made me quicker, forced me to pay attention, and gave me motivation to not be struck again. That's probably alos why I loved playing indoor tactical paintball (kinda like a mil-sim match, but there weren't any replica or magazine fed markers at the time- at least not anything I could afford). These are the kinds of things that kids should absolutely be introduced to. They NEED that immediate, consequential feedback. They need the pain tolerance too

watching this and feeling like a master swordsman since i naturally figured out how to do it all on my own playing with toy lightsabers

What an inspiration! Really wants you to train along with this video!

This was awesome. I loved it!!

Love the video.
Just one thing, as a Kendoka, and Luke probably knows it, but the tsuru (the string) of the Shinai (the bamboo sword Luke's using) should always be pointed "up", since it signifies where the back of the sword would be.
Other than that? Keep up the amazing work!

A long time ago I embraced the Cringe, bought some stunt sabers and watch a few YT videos teaching the spins and some fight choreography training stuff, about a month later I had impressed my buds enough to let me teach them some spins and stuff and we put on an amature lightsaber duel complete with fire works as the sun got low... Everyone at the party loved it and we had a blast... Never be afraid to look nerdy for a bit to learn something you may just love.

I love how the teacher has a wood sword while all the students practice with metal swords

My favorite explanation for mastering the mentality of using two swords together is from Avatar: TLA Book 2: Episode 7, when Zuko briefly instructs young Lee: "You're holding them wrong. Keep in mind, these are dual swords. Two halves of a single weapon. Don't think of them as separate, because they're not. They're just two different parts of the same whole."
Obviously, all blades can't effectively be used in the manner Zuko does with his twin sabers. Differences in design, weight, and other factors will lead to varying results. But if one were to ever find themselves in a position of defending or attacking with multiple swords simultaneously, the mindset of viewing them as two halves of a single weapon makes sense to me.

TIP: unless you're in a movie, there's no possible way do anything with a sword (or any martial arts weapon) in your hand and not look like a dork, no matter how good at it you actually are. it's all about context, so you'll just have to OWN your dorkiness, that's all there is to it!

The reason people in star wars do power swings with lightsabers is because they usually make contact with another blade- at that point is strength vs. strength when the blades are locked.

reminds me of the times self teaching myself how to spin a blade after watching the prequels in the theaters and learned all of those moves and a few extra from other movies. Such as spinning with a reversed blade style from Forced unleashed and took it further by spinning it around the back to the up right position from watching Arnold's Conan the Barbarian and learned to combine all of those moves into one motion. Also learned staff spinning a bit from Darth Maul in Phantom Menace. Still practice them to this day here and there whenever I'm waiting for my food in the Microwave XD

I literally shouted "Nooooo!" at the screen when I saw the swords stuck in the ground, and received instant gratification from Luke pointing that out!

Lots of nostalgia for me here... reminds me of my bo staff training. THAT didn't happen in a day! 🤣 I think it'd be cool to see them learning the sequence Ryan Reynolds did in Wolverine: Origins. Of course, that took him three months of daily training... 😳

I bet Jake can learn how to spin swords faster than Jordan can do it with CGI.

with jake's skills, we will need a full on short.

I love how it seems you guys went like a hundred miles out of civilization to make sure you don't accidentally hurt anybody.

Cool video idea. Good job on the dual wielding, Jake.

Reminds me of old NODE vids! I love the nerding out over weapons; we are all dorky and none of us should care. Thanks!

By the end of all this Jordan is gonna get so many free acting skill classes. Time for horse back stuff.

Glad that Jake recovered from that stab from the ork-shoot to now become the main character himself!

Niko clearly wins to me. He really sold the coolness factor and kept it kind of grounded. 👏

that's frickin awesome. i wish i was as much of a jedi as niko

Honestly those last 10 seconds might have been my favorite. Wish it was a 30 second commercial for his training in that style.

Now we absolutely need another short like Shadow of Mordor or another Star Wars themed short

Now they can make that sequel where Jordan goes to the sword fighting academy.

Jordan needs more screen time!!

This was so awesome, and makes me want to try with my renn faire sword

This was the perfect video for you guys to make atm 👏 after binging most of the netflix One Piece show and getting wooden replicas of roronoas swords recently in the mail, I'm gon be training using this video

Can’t wait to see this pattern show up in a video!