NMA © (Neoteric Martial Arts ©) is a comprehensive original system developed at Temple of Light as a foundation for technical and personal growth.
NMA is not limited to lightsaber fencing. Training employs different kinds of weapons and equipment: training lightsabers, bokken, staffs, blunt steel blades, and more. The system also includes its own approach to hand-to-hand combat.
What matters most in NMA is not a particular weapon, but universal principles that help practitioners understand fundamental technique, draw connections between disciplines, and continue developing independently.
Principles
The first level comprises universal principles for classifying and constructing technique. They emerged from years of analysing and comparing techniques from different schools of Martial Arts through the lens of biomechanics and anatomy.
These principles make it possible to analyse the fundamental technique of any style, understand common patterns of armed work, and independently construct possible combinations of movements. The same patterns also underpin unarmed work.
Instead of thousands of unique, culturally conditioned names for techniques, NMA offers unified approaches to classification based on geometry, mathematics, and biomechanics.
Fundamental Technique
NMA contains a body of fundamental, or classical, techniques. Their equivalents appear in one form or another across many schools of Martial Arts. We did not reinvent them; we adopted and adapted the most effective elements tested in practice. Only the methodology is unique, combining traditional and modern approaches.
Fundamental techniques are simple actions with a pronounced range of motion and a complete trajectory. This form helps practitioners feel the mechanics of movement, coordinate the body, and understand the conditions under which an action becomes an effective attack or defence. Mastering the fundamentals develops movement literacy, flexible thinking, and a practical understanding of the first-level principles.
The principal techniques and their modifications are organised in the Technical Program, available to registered club members.
Free Application
By understanding fundamental technique and the principles behind it, practitioners can adapt a movement to the situation by changing its range, trajectory, tempo, angle, target, and application of force. A full wind-up can generate power, while a shorter one can save time; the situation determines the choice.
Freedom of application develops through practical testing. First, structured partner work helps practitioners break down and feel the movement. The partner is then given more freedom to choose the moment and response. The process eventually leads to sparring. Resistance and uncertainty are introduced gradually: the ability to perform a technique is complemented by the ability to create the conditions for applying it.
Success and failure deserve equal attention. After a successful action, determine what made it work; after a failed one, identify where the error occurred.
Practitioners return to the fundamental form at every level. Experience in free application reveals aspects of familiar movements that previously went unnoticed.
At the third level, technique ceases to be a collection of memorised movements and becomes a tool for solving problems freely. This level has no endpoint: NMA provides a foundation for continuous technical development.
Learning Sequence
One of NMA’s central approaches is the sequence and timely introduction of knowledge. New elements are introduced when practitioners are technically, physically, and psychologically ready to apply them consciously and safely.
Each stage of the rank system corresponds to a particular depth of technical preparation, awareness, and involvement in club life. Progression to the next stage requires regular practice and is confirmed through assessment.