Lightsaber as part of the Costume

[Kyrel-Dak]

There is something I noticed at CIII that bugged me quite a bit. I am sure this will be controversial but I thought it best to start a thread on it.

The Jedi wear their lightsabers on their left side. This is not preference. It is not an option. It is the Jedi tradition. Sith Lords wear theirs on the right side. This tradition is so engrained in the Jedi that when Anakin becomes Vader and when Dooku became Tyrannus they still wore their sabers on the left. The true Sith Lords, Maul and Sidious sported theirs on the right side.

I am not sure why costumers seem to think this is optional?! I have not found one single photo of a Jedi wearing a saber on the right side. Except when the film is flipped which sometimes happens for publications. Even then I haven't found any.

I was amazed at how many were wearing theirs this way and to me was like seeing pouches worn upside down or belts on backwards, something to that effect. This may seem knitpicky but it is not when you see such a blatant alteration of the Jedi tradition. I am more than willing to admit my error if others can find documented sources for Jedi wearing their sabers on the right. This is an important tradition as the Sith are adament about being the opposite of Jedi and therefore wear theirs on the opposite side as the Jedi. It is also a good way to differentiate between fallen or dark Jedi and the light side of the force Jedi. It is a simple correction for most if they desire to honor the Jedi traditions as far as costuming goes.

[Mon-Jas Charan]

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I think it may be that most are right handed ... or trained to use the sabre right handed ... you almost never see SCA knights with their swords on there right hip for this reason ...

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[Kyrel-Dak]

I too am right handed and I noticed in TPM that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan cross drew their sabers several times. They took their right hand across their bodies and drew. Similiar to those cross draw pistol rigs of the Old West. I can either draw with my left and switch to right hand or cross draw, both favor the saber being on the left.

The real point though is the Jedi Tradition being upheld and as I stated earlier this is not an option or preference for a Jedi since you see no one sporting them that way in any film or photo.

[LoreenShadowchaser]

I think it has a lot to do with how Knights and Samurai need to draw their swords from their scabards. Lucas did take a lot from Japanese and Samurai ideas and traditions, when coming up with the Jedi.

I, personally, never liked having things hanging on my right side, unless it's a blaster!

[Kyrel-Dak]

That makes sense.......Samurai always wore their Katanas on the left...........

[Primrodo]

Thats exactly it.

The sabers hang on the left side because of traditional scabbard. The Japanese were quite traditional about it, moreso than any other culture.

[Shoshana Win]

I think that the reason why the Jedi wear their sabers on the left side is because all the ones we have seen are right handed, not because it is Jedi tradition. I agree that Lucas probably kept to the tradition of drawing a sword from the opposite side of the body. We just haven't seen any left-handed Jedi. Does anyone know if any of the actors are left-handed? How about Ray Park? In the Episode I visual dictionary, his Comtech clip is on the right side of his belt, but I can see two reasons for that. One, Ray Park is left-handed. Two, it is actually easier to draw a double-bladed lightsaber from your side like a blaster instead of across the body. I will have to look back at Episode I and see how he draws it. As for Sideous, do we actually know what side he WEARS his saber on? I know in the trailer it drops out of his right sleeve, but that doesn't mean that he wears it on his right side. Just that you would want to conceal it closest to the hand you fight with, so you could get to it much faster.

As to it being Jedi tradition to wear your saber on the left, and Sith on the right, I think I am going to have to challenge you on this one. Are you basing this on what you have seen in the movies, or from a published reference? Again, if its from the movies, I think we may just have not seen any left-handed Jedi, and therefore no one is seen with a saber on the right. If it's been published in something like the Visual Dictionary or some other MOVIE related book, please let me know, I would like to read more about it.

Personally, I don't care what side you wear your saber on. Either one works for me!

[Jauhzmynn Enz]

Humm, I'm in the process of making a leather holster type affair for my saber hilt. WHy? I'm VERY short. The distance between my hip and wasit is so small my hilt pommel hits my rib cage. Not very comfortable, evne worse when I sit down. ;-/ Ever try to explain that bruise.
I have it on the thigh sinmialr to jengo's blaster. it'd be a quicker draw AND no more rbuised ribs from the pommel pressing on them.

[Kyrel-Dak]

The evidence on this subject is the overwhelming photographic material along with even artist conceptions showing the sabers on the left on all Jedi. Darth Maul wears his on the right as in all the photos and movies. Darth Sidious saber drops down the right sleave from where it is concealed on his right side. The only true Sith Lords in the films are Sidious and Maul. Count Dooku and Darth Vader were turned Jedi. The only thing we have to go on IS the movies and EU material which all CLEARLY show Jedi wearing sabers on the left and the only true Sith Lords wearing theirs on the right. This is not open for interpretation but clearly presented. Simply disagreeing without any supporting evidence does not hold water. Since these are the materials we have to go by then unless or until some other material surfaces that contradicts this tradition then the Jedi tradition of wearing the saber on the left regardless of who is right or left handed still holds. As I stated in an earlier post, it is not a preference nor is it an option. Although, boots, robe styles, belts and sabers are greatly individualized this Jedi tradition has never been altered in any publication therefore it holds water and should be adhered to. When a tradition like this just gets discarded at will then why hold to any Jedi traditions? I for one prefer to follow the code and keep to the established traditions and encourage others to do the same. If anyone disagrees with my conclusions feel free to provide the source material, page number and reference to educate us that the current overwhelming material is contradicted so we can all be enlightened. If none surfaces then I hold to my convictions in following the code that is visible in all printed an film materials.

[Xana]

I never even noticed, to be honest. It just made sense to me that if you are right handed, your saber would be on your left hand side. And vice-versa if you are left handed. To require everyone in TJA to wear their sabers on the right hand side, regarless of personal comfort, would be taking it a bit far in my opinion. As long as they have a decent saber that isn't a plastic toy, it's all personal preference to me.

However wearing them upside down? Now THAT I would like to know WHY they would do such a thing...........

[Primrodo]

Well Vader wore his upside down

[Shoshana Win]

Sorry Kyrel, but I am not simply disagreeing without evidence. I asked for a written reference first, because that would be definitive proof for your statement. Stating that wearing a lightsaber on the left is Jedi tradition is YOUR interpretation of what you have seen in the movies and in photographs. As the Jedi do not exist in reality, in order to truly know if this is part of a tradition it would either have to be verbally expressed in one of the movies, or put in print by an authorized LucasFilm source in order to be considered canon. As this is not available, I agree that all we have to go on is the photographic evidence. However, I have found photographic proof for my argument, that most Jedi wear their lightsaber on the left because they are right handed and not because it is tradition. If you look at the Battle of Geonosis, when the Jedi first race across the cavern floor to meet the advancing droid army, you will see a female Jedi right behind Kit Fitso (or another member of his race) that CLEARLY has the Covertec clip for her lightsaber ON HER RIGHT SIDE. In addition, if you look at the way she holds her lightsaber, you can clearly see that she is LEFT-HANDED. Therefore, I don't think that you can say that wearing your lightsaber on the left side is a Jedi tradition.

[Shoshana Win]

Wow, you're right Primrodo, I never noticied that !

Vader's saber has a D-ring on it instead of a Covertec clip, and the D-ring is near the emitter end instead of the hilt. So his saber really does hang upside down! Maybe I should pay more attention to my Master Replicas props when I get them, huh ?

[Xana]

Primrodo said:

Well Vader wore his upside down

I knew that! Ok, I vaugly recalled it........

So does this mean that all Jedi turned Sith have to wear thiers upside down now?

On a serious, curious note, do these things have safety switches on them at all? I bet they do, don't they..........

[Kyrel-Dak]

Jedi also use covertechs for comlinks. There are photo sources for multiple covertechs on the belts as well as several Jedi on Geonosis carrying and using multiple sabers, hence more than one covertech. That is a difficult battle to judge since there were multiple Jedi using two sabers, I would asses that they don't generally wear two sabers on a day to day basis. That would not be typical Jedi dress but more like battle conditions. Although some things can be interpreted, using belt designs as an example, not all had the posts and middle belt. There were variations on belts, boots and such but I have never seen any variation on the Lightsaber left tradition that is except for the Sith. Although the Jedi don't exist in real life I believe most of us are trying to be true and pure to what material we have to go by. It seems however that there is a division in this group........some are dedicated to researching and following the best info available and others are just doing whatever floats their boats to just have fun. I am sure there is room for both and discussions are always enlightening. I will stick to the conclusions drawn and stay devoted to finding the truest path while recreating Jedi life as close to the source materials that we have. Others can play by whatever guides that suits them. Perhaps lightsabers can be straped to boots like a boot knife or worn around their necks.........meant to be humorous.......the point though is that every deviation from the norm waters down the costume impression until it is not easily recognizable and defeats the purpose of wearing it in the first place. Kind of like color variations........all shades of brown and earth tones look good on Jedi costumes but when deviations from these tones begin the line has to be drawn somewhere........or else we end up with red, blue, pink perhaps purple clothing. So, in order to stay pure we stick to shades of brown. Staying pure to what we see in the photographs helps keep the costumes authentic and eliminates the need for lengthy explanations of reasons for our deviations to justify them in some way. Not every piece of information has to be stated by Mr. Lucas or a minion. The photographs are plain for all to see and if the saber wear was more a choice then more photos would exist showing the variations. Ultimately wear whatever you like and however you like, whatever floats your boats. I always believed that whatever costume chosen it was best to strive for the premium accuracy to set a good example for others to follow. New comers always look to those who come before them for guidance and examples.