USA Lightfencing Lights up Summer Nationals With New Approach to Fencing

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Fencing has three official weapons, but Chad Eisner is trying to establish the presence of a fourth in the United States.

Eisner founded Terra Prime Light Armory in 2012, using the lightsaber as the organization’s primary weapon. The lightsaber was chosen so Eisner, who has a background in Chinese swordplay, could face his friend with a background in historical European martial arts.

“We were trying to find a way to be able to play together very easily,” Eisner says. “This was before all of the fancy sparring weapons or anything like that, so when we found the lightsabers it was ideal.”

Eisner is now the president and director of USA Lightfencing, which serves as the country’s national governing body for organizations like Terra Prime Light Armory. Eisner and a group of lightfencing fans have set up an exhibition area at Summer Nationals (near Pod B) to showcase their passion for the sport.

Lightfencing bouts take place in a circular pit, rather than the traditional fencing strip. Like fencing, lightfencers also wear a protective suit that includes a facemask, pads and lacrosse gloves.

In 2019, Eisner formed an official relationship with the French Federation of Fencing, which has already accepted the LED saber as its fourth official weapon.

Now, one of Eisner’s main goals is to increase the amount of certified referees and judges needed to officiate competitive lightfencing bouts.

“We’re doing it by judging the old fashioned way,” Eisner says. “Obviously, people are working on technology to try to figure out if we can do a scoring system, some sort of apparatus or something like that.”

While lightfencing brings a unique and competitive atmosphere to the fencing space, it also provides people with an opportunity to engage in casual and choreographed fighting.

“Most people, when they get into combat, they’ll get that competitive spirit in them,” Eisner says. “There are people that might want to do this and they don’t necessarily want to get into the sparring, fighting, the combat aspect of it, but they could still choreograph a fight.”

Lightfencing also offers its practitioners an opportunity to stay fit.

Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., the combination of fitness, competition and the LED saber makes it appealing to a wide range of people. Kevin Crouson, a lightfencer who joined as a Star Wars fan looking into fencing to stay active, is an example of that.

“For me, it was an excuse to get active because I’ve been looking for something to do for a while,” Crouson says. “Traditional sports never really appealed to me, so I got into this, I went in, I tried out a class with Chad … and I was just hooked.”