The Knights of the Tide, which began as an idea among friends to have a community on campus that appreciates the art of lightsaber dueling, is now over 50 members strong. What began as sporadic meetings among fellow lightsaber wielders has turned into a Source-registered organization.
Jalen Sanders, a sophomore majoring in computer engineering, is the president of Knights of the Tide and one of three founding members, including the current vice president, Ian Burcham.
Before the Knights of the Tide was an official student organization, Sanders would often make posts on social media inviting people to duel outside of residence halls and other on-campus buildings. Now, they still follow the tradition of meeting at a moment’s notice when people are available.
The officers within the organization are referred to as the Council, after the Jedi Council from the Star Wars franchise. The president, Sanders, is known as the grand master. The vice president, Burcham, is the battle master, and the treasurer is the credit master.
Burcham said that the original idea was to use the money from the $5 membership fee to make a deal with a lightsaber company and place a bulk order so that new members could immediately get started dueling even if they did not have a saber of their own.
The Council soon realized that bulk ordering would simply be too expensive. Instead, the group planned to create the lightsaber bodies themselves so that they would only have to purchase the blades.
“You do not need to have any knowledge at all of Star Wars,” Sanders said. “If you don’t even really like Star Wars, but if you like lightsabers or any type of sword- or weapon-based martial arts, then you’re welcome here.”
For example, even Burcham was not a passionate Star Wars fan when he first began dueling.
“When I first joined, I really wasn’t an avid Star Wars fan,” he said. “I watched the movies. I enjoyed them. I didn’t have a lightsaber of my own. But watching a bunch of guys with lightsabers whacking each other up there at Denny Chimes, they talked me out of going to Gorgas to study and instead to give people lightsabers.”
Burcham was referring to a night that the Council talked him out of going to study, and instead they stayed out until past midnight dueling around campus.
“I have a lot of fun. It is a great experience, hanging out with your friends and essentially being able to goof off and have fun,” Burcham said.
Burcham said that all guys want to engage in sword combat, even if they do not say it outright, and that this innate desire is what draws people to Knights of the Tide.
Sanders said that his favorite part about the organization is being a part of a community with people who enjoy the same things that he enjoys, as well as teaching others how to duel and sometimes even learning from them.
“There’s no reason to be looking down on anyone just because they are less advanced,” Sanders said. “If you join the club, one of our goals is to bring you to be as advanced as us. If you surpass us, that’s even better.”