Three years ago in Edgewood, student Eric Ulrich received a gift that would transform a hobby into a passion.
“In 2009, I got my first ultra saber, which is what we use – very fancy and combat-ready. And I thought it was so cool, and I showed it to my friends, and they thought it was so cool, and I thought, ‘You know what, if someone just organized this, people would come out and join in,’” Ulrich said.
Ulrich is the White Knight and leader of the Order of the Wolf, a group of UNM students, nonstudents and alumni who meet once a week to practice their Jedi skills. The group can be found late at night by the Duck Pond, dressed in flowing robes and sparring with lightsabers.
Ulrich said the group is composed of apprentices dressed in a basic karate uniform and knights dressed in flowing robes and capes. The group’s lords wear a custom pendant of the Order of the Wolf: two wolves howling at a crescent moon with the design of Ulrich’s lightsaber at the center. Ulrich himself donned a flowing white robe, his pendant reflecting the light from his double-sided lightsaber.
The Order of the Wolf began in October 2010 with Ulrich, a good friend of his and the black-hooded “Shadow” as members.
“Within the group, nobody knows his name, nobody sees his face; they just know him as ‘Shadow,’” Ulrich said. “I know his name because he’s my brother and I live with him.”
Ulrich’s love for Star Wars began when he was a child; his parents loved the sci-fi trilogy.
“We were only allowed to watch it once a year so we never got tired of it,” Ulrich said. “From early on, it was special, it was different. We couldn’t wait until the next year to watch Star Wars again.”
Ulrich said his love for the films turned into a love for lightsabers, and he and his younger brother ‘Shadow’ often sparred in their backyard. By the age of 12, the two had devised the rules that their current group now uses. Those rules forbid stabs to the face, and if you get hit once, you’ve been “killed.” Ulrich said the group recently had to add a new rule: Don’t throw your lightsaber at others.
“I didn’t think I’d need to mention this, but someone did it, so I’ll start mentioning it: You’re not allowed to throw the weapon,” he said. “Someone threw it once, and I said, ‘Okay, I better start mentioning this.’”
Ulrich said the lightsabers the group uses are anything but cheap — they range from $70 to more than $700. Ulrich owns lightsabers that can change their LED coloring on the fly and possess motion sensors that make whirring and crashing sounds when clashing with another saber.
Ulrich said the Order of the Wolf has slowly grown since its founding. Member David Munck met Ulrich at the first Albuquerque Comic Convention and joined the group at a meeting in October.
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Dressed for the part, he came to the meeting wrapped in a black-hooded cloak, his mouth covered by a spiked gas mask. Munck’s dual red lightsabers illuminated the parts of his face that weren’t obscured as he spoke.
“Every time I go with these guys, I have a great time because I call them my great friends,” Munck said.
Alumna Sarah Rehberg said she joined the group not because of an interest in lightsabers, but for her love of costuming.
“I’ve always been a Star Wars fan. I didn’t need a lot of push to go in for costuming. I’ve loved costumes since I was a little girl playing dress up,” she said. “I’m still a little girl playing dress up.”
Ulrich and Rehberg are now engaged.
Ulrich’s biggest worry when proposing to Rehberg wasn’t finding the right ring — it was finding an available Darth Vader. Ulrich proposed to Rehberg at Star Wars Celebration VI, a biannual Star Wars convention held in Florida this year. Ulrich said he planned the proposal months in advance, contacting friends online to dress as imperial troopers, officers and the Sith emperor.
“I actually caught a Vader beforehand and was able to ask, ‘Vader, will you please go stand beside the emperor’s throne,’” Ulrich said. “The emperor knew what was going on; he stood up and had her sit, with her helmet and her weapon. An imperial officer was there, and he called orders and made me stand up. I took off my helmet and proposed.”
Even with a Star Wars engagement and more than $2,000 of lightsaber expenses under his Jedi belt, Ulrich said he still stays in touch with reality.
“It’s become a fairly big part of my life, although I hope it never becomes too important,” he said. “This isn’t what really matters. This is something on the side that I really enjoy, something that I can connect to people with, but this isn’t the real world, and if it ever becomes more than make-believe to me, I hope I put a stop to it.”
