New Zealand Lightsaber Guild
Started in 2017 with only 6 members, the New Zealand Lightsaber Guild has grown to (at the time of writing) a social media & in-person community of well over 1,300 genuine NZ members! As well as being a great online community, NZLG is home to nationwide, volunteer led, social, peer-to-peer meets that run all over the country.
Some groups also work on choreography and in 2022, there was an awesome fan film comp, which saw the shooting of a number of kiwi-made fan movies.
2021 saw the start of NZLG’s national tournament programme, with NZLG now running two tournaments per year. NZLG is very big on ‘education’ and helping steer new members in the right direction. The Facebook group is chock full of helpful advice & tips. There is also a new NZLG website for all things NZ lightsabers over at https://lightsabers.org.nz/
Find a Local Saber Group
Admit it…… you’ve dreamed of swinging a ‘real’ lightsaber ever since you were a youngling and saw your first Star Wars movie! here in NZ, there’s nothing stopping you! Head on over to the New Zealand Lightsaber Guild on Facebook for a list of the (usually weekly) volunteer-led saber meets all over the country. At the time of writing there are regular meets held in:
- Auckland
- Hamilton
- Rotorua
- Palmerston North
- Wellington
- Christchurch
- Dunedin
with more to come! Loaner sabers are usually available to help you get started. Attendance is free.
National Saber Tournaments
A long term goal of the New Zealand Lightsaber Guild, after being postponed for a year by the pandemic, 2021 saw the start of the regular NZLG national tournaments. Utilising a light armour ruleset, common across Europe, tournaments are non-profit with entry fees kept low to minimise the barrier to entry.
All skill levels are welcome but competitors must have trained and been deemed ‘safe’ in technique by the organiser of their local saber group.
Venues for the twice annual events currently alternate between the upper and lower North Island with a vision to include South Island venues once the South Island scene has developed.
Whilst a fledgling sport in New Zealand, the NZLG aims to grow the national tournament scene into an enjoyable, formidable spectator sport. If saber combat is a competitive sport you’d like to pursue, head on over to the New Zealand Lightsaber Guild and connect with your local group.
