If there is one thing Star Wars fans love, it is a good debate. Star Wars fan spaces are always full of fascinating discussions, and these discussions have only got more interesting with the release of Obi-Wan Kenobi. And right now, fans are discussing who wields the franchise’s signature weapon, the lightsaber, the best.
This discussion started on Reddit’s Star Wars subreddit when user GOTGMUSIC posted a thread titled “Change my mind: This is the best stance in all Star Wars movies.” This was accompanied by a picture of Obi-Wan Kenobi doing his signature, one-arm-raised lightsaber pose.
Other users quickly dived into the thread to give their opinion. Some users talked about real-world fencing poses. One user drew attention to the original movies, noting their love of “a small moment in Luke’s final duel with Vader.” They describe their love for it by saying it is: “100% a proper fencing pose. Which, as you probably know the stunt actor and choreographer for Vader was a sport fencer. They both hop up onto this raised catwalk. Probably a bit disoriented, Vader extends his arm to full length.” They continue by explaining “this establishes distance, common technique for when you’re feeling pressure from the opponent and want to hold them back, if they press forward they’ll just run into your blade,” showing how body language can be used to tell a story in combat.
Many users came in to praise the Makashi stance, often known as Form II. In lore, this stance was a favorite of Count Dooku. It was often used in duels. One user describes it by saying how it is: “Essentially just an old fencing stance for greeting an opposing duelist as far as I know. So simple yet so awesome.”
While another user simply describes it by declaring: “The Makashi Salute is the best piece of lightsaber swordsmanship.”
Of course, no discussion of famous lightsaber users can be had without discussing Darth Vader. And many users pointed to Vader’s resting stance. One user summed it up by saying: “I love Vader’s stance, he looks so scary when he holds his saber covering his chest.”
While others point out that the Vader stance doubles as a fascinating piece of character development as the prequel films progress by saying: “Anakin does that a lot in the prequels, too. It’s neat watching the transition from it feeling arrogant in ep II to legitimately terrifying in ep IV”
Many people came into the thread to argue that, while Obi-Wan’s stance is great, Count Dooku’s is better. One user notes that Dooku’s original actor, Christopher Lee, was a trained swordsman, explaining why his pose looked so good.
Some users stepped back to pay homage to Star Wars’ influences, noting that Obi-Wan’s pose is a “traditional martial arts movie stance, which is why it pops up, a lot, and not just with Obi-Wan.”
Others quickly joined the thread to drop some classic memes and pay reverence to fan-favorite character Obi-Wan. One user described the pose as the “signature stance of a connoisseur of the elevated footing.”
Obi-Wan Kenobi is now streaming on Disney Plus.