“One name, one sky.”
That was the mantra echoed by the 13 people who showed to practice light saber combat in a fitness room at the Cherry Hill Health and Racquet Club on May 28.
The first things to notice were the glowing light sabers and accompanying sound effects made when two contenders clashed, trying to hit each other and score points as if fencing.
The inaugural class was led by Dominic Ciarrocchi, head instructor and dean of LudoSport Cherry Hill, the only practice facility for light saber combat in the state.
“We are a very community-based organization,” Ciarrocchi explained. “It’s very common for people to say, ‘I showed up for the light sabers, but I stayed for the people.’ It is not an exaggeration to say that it has changed my life in a very positive way.”
The May class drew the most people Ciarrocchi has seen yet in the three years he’s been at LudoSport. Among them was Scott Napolitano, who drove from Trenton and plans to sign up because the experience combines activities in which he’s interested.
“The fact that they’re trying to develop a community, develop a morale code that kind of goes along with it … the fact that it’s accessible for all different ages and then you just develop at your own speed,” he noted, “there’s that martial arts component without it being a martial art.
“There’s the nerdy component of it, but it’s not like you have to come in full cosplay,” Napolitano added, referring to the activity where people dress in costumes and accessories to represent a specific character. “It’s a pretty cool hybrid structure.”
Ciarrocchi, also a fight choreographer for community theaters in the area, first found out about the sport when he participated in a live action role play in 2022. He started his first instructor course in December of that year and opened his school in 2023.
Ciarrocchi has participated in the national LudoSport competition each year since 2023, getting progressively better each time. In 2023 – out of the 43 people at the competition – he finished 29th in arena and 35th in style, while in 2025, against 48 contenders, he finished 22nd in arena and 25th in style.
During tournaments, there are two different kinds of points light saber participants score: arena and style. The first determines how well a person does in a match, while style points are based on how many different techniques are used in a duel. That way, athletes don’t use the same moves in every match.
Tournament sizes are something Ciarrocchi hopes to increase.
“We’re working to change that,” he noted. “I’d love it if we knew that we were going to have 75 people who wanted to go and we could only allow in 64. So now we have to look at how you did in your school and your academy tournament … Eventually, at the national level, it will be a situation where you’re not going to see many novices.”
Like him, a majority of Ciarrocchi’s students are huge “Star Wars” fans, which plays a large role in drawing contestants and the way the sport functions.
“We want to look like Jedi,” Ciarrocchi explained. “We want to look like we’re space wizards from a galaxy far, far away. So we want people to do those kinds of things instead of go for the most efficient strike on your opponent that you can manage.”
The sport isn’t affiliated with the Disney or “Star Wars” brand.
Despite suffering a calf tear during training for certification, Ciarrocchi is gearing up for this year’s national tournament at the end of the month in St. Louis.
“Most of the athletes that I’m fighting against at the national level have more experience than I do,” he acknowledged. “So I just go in there, do my best, and I try not to judge myself against them. I judge myself against me.”
Since the sport began in Italy 20 years ago, all of its terms are in Italian. Athletes start out at the rank of Novizio for men; or Novizia for women; followed by Iniziato or Iniziata, Accademico or Accademica, Cavaliere or Cavaliera and the top rank, Maestro di Scuola or Magistra di Scuola.
In order to advance to each rank, athletes need to meet conditions that can include passing certain exams or training someone else.
Dominic Ciarrocchi, lead instructor and dean of LudoSport Cherry Hill, with his school’s banner.
Ciarrocchi said LudoSport aims to be more accessible, but he sees marketing as an issue.
“LudoSport is not good at marketing to the general public,” he noted. “We are very good at marketing to other people in LudoSport. We are not good at marketing to the general public. And it’s something we’re working on.
“We’re doing our best.”
The sport has given Ciarrocchi more opportunities to push himself, from mastering certain forms to performing better in matches to teaching others. His efforts could mean being to the next rank, a Cavaliere.
“You’re telling me that I’m going to get an opportunity to kneel before someone and have them do the thing and call me a Cavaliere and I’m gonna be basically a Jedi knight? Ciarrocchi wondered. “You’re gonna tell me I get to do that? I’m gonna have to work my tail off to do that.
“It’s not a rubber stamp. It’s work.”
At the end of every class, combatants bring their light sabers together and shout, “One name, one sky.” That motto symbolizes togetherness.
