Obi-Wan Kenobi visits Paris 2024 Paralympics wheelchair fencing

Legendary fictional peacekeeper Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, of the Star Wars film series, visited the Grand Palais to see the wheelchair fencing at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.

Of the three disciplines of fencing – sabre, foil, and epée – Friday 6 September was dedicated to the Epée category of sword fencing. The epée is not really Obi-Wan’s weapon of strength. He prefers the sabre.

In fact, Obi-Wan’s expertise is the lightsabre, a rigid metal base with a luminescent laser sword or “energy blade” about 91 centimetres long. The sabre at the Olympics and Paralympics is flexible and short at 105 cm long, and the epée is rigid and 110 cm long.

Real fencing swords do not have a laser. In the Star Wars universe, there are blue and green sabres, as well as other colours. The lightsabre can cut, burn, and melt through substances, which of course the real sabre cannot do. The most distinct aspect of the lightsabre is its hum. When it hits an opponent, it makes a clashing sound.

So, Obi-Wan Kenobi greeted the crowd at the start of the epée event – with his lightsabre – then disappeared into the light.

In the Paralympics Epée event, each competitor is seated in a wheelchair, wearing the typical white fencing costume and lamé jacket. The lamé is connected to the scoring system that registers when the epée strikes the opponent.

In addition, both men and women have a metallic material skirt, or apron, wrapped around their waist which drapes over the wheelchair. It signifies that the epée sword is not permitted to touch the opponent below the skirt – i.e., below the belt, including the legs.

The metallic material of the apron is recyclable, steel-based Inox developed over 100 years ago.

MARTINA NICOLLS

MartinaNicollsWebsite I Rainy Day Healing I Martinasblogs I Publications I Facebook I Paris Website I Paris blogs I Animal Website I Flower Website I Global Gentlemanliness

SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES

Martina Nicolls is an Australian author and international human rights-based consultant in education, healing and wellbeing, peace and stabilization, and foreign aid audits and evaluations. She lives in Paris.

Comments

2016 update on Rike Park, Tbilisi: from construction to busy park

From a flat patch of uninteresting dirt, Rike Park in Tbilisi, Georgia, has transformed in four years (from 2014-2016) into a busy park full of trees, flower beds, sculptures, fountains, and events. Rike (Rikhe) Park is on the left bank of the Mt’k’vari River (the Kura River) near the Old City of Tbilisi. The Peace Bridge links the right bank to Rike Park. Rike Park is below the hillside Presidential Palace and, via cable car, it is the starting point for the ride to Sololaki Ridge (with the Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue). The glass box-shaped cable car terminus was opened on 23 June 2012, and since then the park has continually developed into a ‘people’s park’ where people can walk around, eat at the nearby restaurants, sit next to the statue of American president Ronald Reagan, climb the steps to Avlabari district, and access the sights of Meidan Square, the Peace Bridge, the Metekhi Church, the Old City, the waterfall, the sulphur baths, and t...

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog