Calling all Star Wars fans … lightsaber club now in Fredericton
Published Friday February 11th, 2011
As Yoda might say, skilled with a lightsaber, he is.

THE DAILY GLEANER/JAMES WEST PHO
Lightsaber club: Brad Doucette demonstrates his lightsaber skills during a recent sparring round.
In Brad Doucette’s world, Star Wars is huge and he wants to share his passion with others. Last October, he and like-minded friends started to meet in Queen Square, where he demonstrated his lightsaber skills. He has studied how to use one since he was a child.
When it was too cold to meet outdoors, they started to meet indoors and a club, called East Coast Sabers, was formed. Every Monday night since then, over 30 club members, who range in age from 11 to 36, meet to practice their techniques. Some come with their own lightsabers, others borrow them from Doucette, who owns many of them.
“I show them all about the lightsabers, how to use them and how they are used in the movies. It’s all about choreography.”
Some of these science fiction weapons can be picked up for $10 at discount stores, and there are high-end replicas that can cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars.
Over the past several weeks, the club members have been working on choreography so they can hold a competition and public demonstration at the end of March. Ideally, he says, those who participate in this competition would come dressed in Star Wars costumes.
Doucette says he was contacted by a teacher in Oromocto and will soon be teaching kids how to use lightsabers. He says this offers kids incentive to get up off the sofa and move rather than be sedentary.
“I have two sons and they are both really into it. If they aren’t doing this, they are watching TV or playing video games.”
Doucette is self-taught. He has seen all of the movies in the Star Wars series and he’s read everything that’s ever been written about this, too.
He practices with his lightsaber for an hour a day and has for the past six years. He watches videos to make sure his technique is good and, he says, this just feels right.
Doucette is married. His wife, he says, rolls her eyes at his passion but she also is very supportive and has even bought much of the memorabilia in his Star Wars collection.
He even has named his youngest son, Lucas, in honour of American film producer, screenwriter and director George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars.
Doucette says he’s considering the possibility of starting a class for children who are also Star Wars fans who want to learn lightsaber technique.
“It allows them to have fun. This isn’t a martial arts class. Essentially it’s a dance class. You are not learning how to hit people. You are not meant to hit people with them. People sign a waiver just in case. So far, no one has had any problems.”
For more information about East Coast Sabers, email Doucette at braddoucette42@hotmail.com or go to his Facebook page, East Coast Sabers.
Laverne Stewart is a staff writer at The Daily Gleaner. If you’ve got an interesting tidbit for Did You Hear? you can email her at stewart.laverne@dailygleaner.com.