The Acolyte‘s “Force fu” fight scenes have divided audiences, and understandably so. Watching Jedi trade punches and roundhouse kicks with Sith trainees feels like uncharted territory – even though martial arts have been embedded in Star Wars canon for a long time now.
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Sure, the franchise has primarily favored swordplay as its go-to brand of “exotic” combat. But as early as 1983’s Return of the Jedi, Star Wars creator George Lucas was toying with the idea of Force users mixing it up, Hong Kong cinema style. That ultimately didn’t happen, but it wasn’t long before martial arts officially became part of a galaxy far, far away.
So, in honor of The Acolyte’s lightsaber-lite scuffles, here’s a brief history of martial arts in the Star Wars universe!
Return of the Jedi Scraps Luke’s Martial Arts Fight Choreography
Like I said, Return of the Jedi came this close to delivering Star Wars‘ first martial arts fight scene. It would’ve happened during the sail barge battle set piece, during which Luke Skywalker would’ve temporarily lost his lightsaber. As Jabba the Hutt’s goons converged on him, Luke would’ve busted out chops and kicks to ward them off. Storyboards mapping out this choreography appear in 2014’s Star Wars Storyboards: The Original Trilogy.
However, Lucas, co-screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, and director Richard Marquand ultimately did away with Luke’s big martial arts moment. Even so, the young Jedi-in-training still sinks his boot into a couple of Jabba’s flunkies (including his infamous “Force kick”) in the finished film. Luke also punts Darth Vader down some stairs during Return of the Jedi‘s climactic duel. So, vestiges of his martial arts skills remain in the movie, even if he never fully embraces his inner Karate Kid.
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The Star Wars Expanded Universe Introduces Teräs Käsi (and Other Martial Arts)
Fortunately, anyone hoping for some full-on unarmed combat in a Star Wars story didn’t have to wait long. 1983 Marvel comic Star Wars #72 saw several characters (including Luke) dish out some weapons-free justice. That said, Star Wars‘ first “true” martial art, Teräs Käsi, wouldn’t appear until 1995 novel Shadows of the Empire. The fighting discipline’s name translated to “Steel Hand,” and made practitioners (such as the android Guri) almost the equal of a Jedi Knight.
Teräs Käsi subsequently cropped up in creaky 1997 fighting game Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi. A Soul Calibur-esque affair, Masters of Teräs Käsi pitted various franchise icons – as well as specially created Teräs Käsi master Arden Lyn – against each other in bare-knuckle and edge-weapon bouts. Despite its high profile, Teräs Käsi never really caught on, although later Star Wars lore occasionally listed heavy hitters such as Darth Maul among its proponents.
The same year that Masters of Teräs Käsi dropped, Star Wars‘ Expanded Universe also gave us Echani martial arts. An intricate fighting discipline built upon “reading” opponents, Echani debuted in the Crimson Empire comic book series. Like Teräs Käsi, it didn’t exactly take the world by storm, however, it did play a part in the popular Knights of the Old Republic sub-franchise.
Around this time, the Thrawn Trilogy sourcebook also retroactively defined the Noghri’s assassin skills as the Stava martial art. In short: mid-90s Star Wars had plenty of hand-to-hand fighting.
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Attack of the Clones Shows Off Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Turbo-Charged Dragon Kick Skills
Turn of the millennium Star Wars didn’t exactly come up short, either. While 1999’s The Phantom Menace didn’t have dedicated martial arts choreography, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul pepper their third act lightsaber duel with kicks and punches.
2002’s Attack of the Clones is where things really ramped up, though. Here, Obi-Wan unleashes multiple flying dragon kicks on Jango Fett – seemingly Lucas’ concession to The Matrix films he was all too aware had captured fans’ imagination. Obi-Wan and Jango also exchange a brief flurry of blows during their rain-soaked showdown. It’s not exactly martial arts on the level of Neo or Agent Smith, however, both combatants clearly have solid hand-to-hand combat training.
2005’s Revenge of the Sith scaled back the martial arts antics, although they’re not entirely absent. Obi-Wan gets in another, more lopsided unarmed dust-up with General Grievous, and his epic lightsaber duel with Anakin Skywalker briefly descends into fisticuffs (it’s more pro-wrestling than kung fu, however). And then then there was 2008 cartoon The Clone Wars, which also included the occasional spot of Jedi throwing down sans sabers.
Plenty of other folks got in on the martial arts action in The Clone Wars, as well (particularly the clone troopers and the Mandalorians). As Lucas’ reign as Star Wars chief creative force entered its twilight years, unarmed combat was as entrenched as ever.
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Disney Brings Back Teräs Käsi – and Brings in Force-Fu
Then Disney bought the franchise from Lucas in 2012, and overnight Star Wars lost a decent chunk of its martial arts lore. Under Disney, pretty much the entire Expanded Universe was relegated to non-canonical “Star Wars Legends” status. As such, any hand-to-hand stuff that wasn’t in a Star Wars movie or The Clone Wars suddenly didn’t count. Mercifully, this shortfall wasn’t permanent. Slowly but surely, Star Wars‘ martial arts-centric canon re-established itself.
2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story included Zama-shiwo, the fighting discipline practiced by warrior monk Chirrut Îmwe. 2017’s The Last Jedi had the Elite Praetorian Guard’s Bakuuni Hand and Nar Kanji. 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story re-canonized Teräs Käsi. Meanwhile, Star Wars novels and comics gave stormtroopers Echani training and added Alderaanian martial arts to Princess Leia’s skill set. The wider post-Disney canon tossed a new martial art, Zavat, into the mix, as well.
And now The Acolyte is full of “Force-fu” – showrunner Leslye Headland’s name for the advanced unarmed combat skills employed by the likes of Master Indara and Mae Aniseya. All told, it represents Star Wars‘s biggest emphasis yet on hand-to-hand fighting. But as we’ve already seen, The Acolyte is ultimately just the latest milestone in the saga’s long martial arts history.
The Acolyte Season 1 is currently streaming on Disney+, with new episodes dropping Tuesdays.
Published: Jun 16, 2024 11:00 am