Lightsaber Dueling Recognized as Competitive Sport by France Fencing Federation

Competitors use LED-lit rigid polycarbonate replicas during bouts.

The world of Star Wars could perhaps be on its way to invading the Olympic Games in the future. On Monday, the French Fencing Federation officially recognized lightsaber dueling as a competitive sport.

In France, the Force is strong with lightsaber dueling pic.twitter.com/ShwXb5cZ2H

— John Leicester (@johnleicester) February 18, 2019

Lightsaber dueling: Some basic rules. pic.twitter.com/GNEKH5jPJg

— John Leicester (@johnleicester) February 18, 2019

But don't worry—competitors don't use the actual lightsabers that characters in the popular movie series would use to routinely carve up adversaries.

The lightsabers are LED-lit, rigid polycarbonate replicas, according to the Associated Press. Bouts are expected to last three minutes.

The rigor of the battles are reason the French Fencing Federation was said to have considered legitimizing the sport. In fact, fencing clubs are being equipped with lightsabers and instructors are being trained to demonstrate how to compete.

Perhaps one day there will be stories about how the original Jedi were French.