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67
JULY 2015
theparticipants. One young girl commutes toCelles from
Luxembourg for herweekly LudoSport session.
AllanHooker, a father-of-twowho lives nearMons, only
recently tookup the sport but admits that he’s already
obsessed. “Itwasmywife, actually,” he explains. “She saw
it on theweb and knows that I’mnuts about
StarWars
so
she said, whydon’t you try this?”
Hooker has his own custom lightsaber, whichboasts a
bright redhandlewith abladedhandguard. Thatmeans it
can’t beused inofficial LudoSport competition, but it
looks very, very cool. “Your average lightsaber starts at
around€49butwith all the customisation, this one cost
around€260,” he says. He fires it up, and theblade glows
red. Sincehe seems like anice fellow, I had assumed
Hookerwouldbemore likely tohave theblue or green
saber of apeaceful Jedi. “No, itwas always going tobe red,”
he grins. “I guess I have a littlebit of Sith inme.”
Perhaps because the focus of LudoSport combat is
on fluidity, speed and skill rather than raw aggression, it
attractsmorewomen than youmight expect. Teenager
Pauline Ladoehas some impressive skills. “I am a fanof
StarWars
sowas interested to try it out, butwhat I really
enjoy is the atmosphere, the sense of the team,” she says.
It’s Fabrice Furnari’s first time andhe seems tohave got
thehang of it better than I have inone90-minute session.
“It’s slightlymore technical than I thought itwouldbe,” he
says, “but everyone is very friendly and they’vehelpedme
remember themovements. It’s very cool.”
After you’vemastered the initial series of stances and
strikes, LudoSport expands into sevendifferent distinct
styles that can apparently take adecade tomaster. The
official LudoSport lightsabers provided for each session are
designed tobe rugged, but if youaccidentally let one clatter
to the floor during training, there’s an immediatepenalty
of fivepress-ups. It’s something I learn thehardway.
Toward the endof the session, we arepairedoff for
some friendly sparring. I faceDellasois junior for the
second time. He spins his glowingblade aroundhis right
side, thenhis left. I readjustmy stance, readymy saber and
try to remembermy training. The forcemay not bewith
me, but I’mdetermined to give itmybest shot.
LudoSportBelgium, Hall SportifdeCelles-en-Hainaut,
RueParfait, 7760Celles, ludosport.be; belgium@
ludosport.net
FLYTO
BRUSSELS
FROMNEWYORK,WASHINGTONDC, 19AFRICANAND
MORETHAN60 EUROPEANDESTINATIONS.
BRUSSELSAIRLINES.COM
Ifyouaccidentally
letyour lightsaber
clatter to thefloor
during training, there’s
an immediatepenalty
offivepress-ups
