Are you having trouble with your defense? consider if you're doing any of these things and try to correct them:

• Moving forward with your defense. Doing this makes sense if you have a crossguard. Since most of you don't, don't move forward while shielding or you're more likely to just drive your hands into the opponent's blade. You're also at risk of losing mechanical advantage, a factor that's less important in lightsaber but still matters.

• Overextending your defense. You lose power and stability over distance. A lot of people end up doing this while defending an attack that is actually out of range. Always keep your defense close to you.

• Defending too wide. Defending too wide makes you susceptible to feints, and makes it more likely your opponent's blade can slip past, or hit you with a straight cut. Keep your defense tight.

Note that these mistakes apply to ALL lightsaber simulators / LED sabers, no matter what weight they are.