In the last decade, LED Saber has grown from nothing but a dream to an extensive network of hundreds of fighters and dozens of clubs competing across Europe.

This is amazing for the sport as a whole, but it begs the question, how do we use this momentum? Where do we go now? And most importantly to me, how can we grow?

To explore that last question in more detail, I’m going to discuss what I consider to be the Three Directions of Growth for LED Saber and the Tour as a whole, and discuss what I mean by each.

I think we need to grow Inward, strengthening what we have within the Tour already; we need to grow Outward, extending our reach with new countries, new clubs and new fighters and Upward, raising the ceiling of what the Tour can achieve within its rules, the heights its fighters can reach, and the recognition we get from the media.

Inward Growth

To me, Inward Growth is fundamental to the strength of the Tour. Essentially what I mean by Inward Growth is strengthening our network of clubs and fighters so that it becomes sustainable in the long term at every level.

This is crucial to the growth of the Tour because if the trunk of a tree rots away, or the roots fail, then no matter how healthy the branches are – they simply cannot stay up.

Inward Growth is crucial to keeping the Tour competitive for all clubs, as for me an ideal Saber Tour would be one where every club is a contender for the Podium and dominance would come down to a Fighter’s style, dedication and commitment, not just by the level of their home club. For example any fighter with noticeable talent should be able to access a level of tuition equal to those in the most established and high-level clubs.

If we can reach this point, the entire Tour will become more exciting and every club could produce a Champion. I think that knowing the Podium is within anyone’s reach and not just reserved for fighters from the oldest, most established clubs would raise motivation across the board and would spur a new growth in commitment across the Tour.

This would mean we see more diverse Knockout Rounds, more clubs in the Top 16, new fighters would rise and veterans would have new talent to test themselves against. We wouldn’t just see a bigger Tour here, we’d see one that is deeper and much more exciting.

To achieve this goal it may be worth unifying coaching standards across all clubs. This wouldn’t aim to supplant local club identity or the techniques they use but I believe that unifying how we teach is essential to raise the competitive standard of the Tour.

These standards could be exemplified through a Saber Tour Coach Certificate. I don’t think this should include a curriculum, but rather cultivate an approach to instructing, for example it wouldn’t teach how to attack a certain target, instead it would give insight into how to best pass on techniques and help fighters commit them to muscle memory.

Of course with such a program there may be concerns that it could fill the Tour with too much bureaucracy and stifle coach innovation, but I would hope it did the opposite. In my view a course like this wouldn’t dictate what clubs should teach but how they can best teach it.

Another potential route to the vision I outlined above would be a video archive of techniques and drills from across clubs, designed with the intention of letting all players access the expertise of the highest level coaches, to enable them to train to a more competitive standard.

One issue we may find with this is that clubs are unwilling to relinquish their techniques to others for fear of losing their dominance in tournaments. But if our clubs are so protective of knowledge to keep themselves at the top of the playing field, then are we really building a community that develops LED Saber as a sport for all, or are we just letting a few fighters battle it out at the highest level while hundreds more watch on from the pools?

I believe that if we can develop a Tour where knowledge and ideas are shared freely between all, our entire sport will become more exciting, varied and open than ever before.

Outward Growth

In my view, Outward Growth is the establishment of new clubs and tournaments, the recruitment of new fighters and expansion into new countries.

I think that if the Saber Tour is to become a truly international phenomenon, Outward Growth will be absolutely crucial. At the moment I see the Tour as being a largely French system with a few guests from the UK, Belgium and Italy, the reason I say this is because every fighter in the Top 30 at the moment is either French or trained in France.

I don’t say this as a criticism of the system, I believe it is fairly refereed and ranked, but I think part of the disparity is not in terms of technique or training quality but in terms of tournaments.

The Tour is a cumulative ranking system with a fighters’ best 4 tournaments contributing to their overall score. Because of this, and the fact that every season now there are 5 Open tournaments in France and only 1 in each of the UK, Belgium and Italy. This means that in order for foreign fighters to be competitive they must travel a lot further and commit more time than their French counterparts.

I think that Outward Growth of the Tour should be characterised by extending the reach of clubs, opening up to more practitioners and critically, hosting more tournaments abroad.

I understand that for a French-led system that last element can be difficult but as a fighter based in the United Kingdom I really do feel we need more tournaments over here.

One way this could work would be to have a Saber Tour UK wing, which can support tournaments independently of Sport Saber League, still under the same rulesets of course, but without needing all the high-ranked French fighters to travel out to the UK for every tournament.

But as much as I would love this to happen, without the French fighters travelling to compete – there are hardly a dozen fighters on the island willing to fight under Saber Tour rules.

So I think that Outward Growth really is essential for the future of the Tour, but the question remains – how do we gather that interest? 

One issue I think is that there are clubs with scores of fighters in the UK, look at Silver Sabres Combat Academy or Battle Sabers UK for reference, the problem is that they have their own system and don’t want to fight under Tour rules. I think that to resolve this we really need to tackle the exclusivity issue between the different LED Saber clubs.

I think LED Saber has a lot of potential as a sport and any work to develop that potential will go a very long way.

Upward Growth

If Inward Growth strengthens our foundations and Outward Growth expands our reach, then Upward Growth is about raising the ceiling — taking the Tour to new heights of professionalism, visibility, and prestige.

A key element in Upward Growth, at least from my view, is increasing the publicity that the Tour receives. We’ve seen this happening recently, for instance with the livestream of this last edition of the Open de France.

The thing is, fighting with Lightsabers has, I think, the potential to be one of the most viewed combat sports- the question is, how do we get there?

A key factor in this ambition could be pushing the standards of our combat, but also giving everyone the chance to improve and achieve respectable results. One idea I’d like to float is the concept of, in addition to the Open tournaments that all ranks can enter, is more tournaments like the Saber Tour Finals where a section of the ranked fighters are allowed to compete, based on their ranking – for instance, tournaments open only to fighters outside the top 20, or to those based in Italy.

I really like the Open tournament format, but I’d love to see more opportunities to fight – and more opportunities for fighters at every level to experience competitive Saber at its best.

Giving everyone a chance to compete in events that suit their experience would keep motivation high and ensure that newer fighters don’t feel overshadowed by the same few at the top. It would also let mid-level fighters push themselves against rivals of a similar rank and even secure tournament wins, before stepping up to face the Tour’s elite.

Concurrently, Upward Growth also needs to prioritise presenting our sport in a way that captures the imagination of the public, making it intense and exciting for those who aren’t martial artists or fencers.

This is already being achieved through the new commentated video format we’ve seen being released on the Saber Tour YouTube channel, if we can build on this momentum then I think the Tour can become something truly special.

Additionally, if we can commit to giving every major tournament a livestream in the same way as the Open de France was covered, then I think we can draw a much wider audience to take an interest in the Tour.

To conclude, the foundation we have for LED Saber as a sport and the Saber Tour as a circuit is incredibly solid and thrilling for the fighters. I’ve shared these thoughts on Inward, Outward, and Upward Growth in the hope they might spark productive conversations about our sport’s future. The Tour has achieved remarkable things in just a few years, and I’m optimistic that by working together – fighters, coaches, and organizers – we can build something even greater. I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute through Saber Talk, and I look forward to supporting the Tour’s growth in every way I can.

Thank you all very much for reading, I’ll see you again soon for more Saber Talk.

May The Force Be With You