Do Jedi hold back with their force powers?

Question

Various questions that I've seen have assumed that a Jedi could have/should used their powers at some point, be it force speed, force push etc.

Thinking back to the films, we don't see a gratuitous amount of force use (except where not doing so would be incapacitating, e.g. Yoda the Bouncing Ball of Death) as we might expect from watching people play the various games that go along with the Star Wars universe.

Clearly the jedi in films use a certain amount of restraint. But how much and is this due to specific training/doctrine they hold by, or is it that taxing? Is it different in different films/eras?

No, it's 'Do the Jedi hold back with their powers? Is this <energy use/discipline> the reason?' — AncientSwordRage, Oct 22 '12 at 20:47

score 25 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 01 '16 at 03:07

Yes they do. This theme was extensively developed in EU, strongly centered around Mara Jade.

One of her main beefs with Luke (and why she refused to train with him as a Master till The Vision of the Future) was that gratuitous use of the Force he used to practice.

Gradually, she showed him the error of his ways (basically, he learned to "let go", not in "turn off your computer" way but in "don't feel like you have to run the entire galaxy saving it"), and once he learned that, she allowed him to marry her.

Later on, in NJO, she imparted the same wisdom to Anakin Solo, training him in physical side because it's important for a Jedi to be able to jump even without Force Jump (I'm oversimplifying).

It was purely philosophical - the Sith had no such self imposed limitations.

Essentially, I believe this. Jedi precepts emphasize control over the self and selfish desires. Overuse of the Force breeds an inherent slothfulness. Perhaps this is an extension of the thinking of the so-called Form "Zero". Just as Jedi should understand when and when not to use a lightsaber, they must understand when and when not to use the Force. — Steam, Oct 23 '12 at 01:36

score 18 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 22 '12 at 21:07

I'm not aware of a canon source, but we can use some common sense to narrow it down: We milky-way humans have the ability to run. Why don't we do that all the time? Running at top speed all the time is taxing, but is this the real reason? Running to the nearest bakery could be done by most people, but normally people walk there. I assume even professional Olympic runners walk to the bakery. So it's not a matter of how difficult it is.

It's a mere point of necessity in every-day life. A Jedi wouldn't have to lift a finger* but they still do (opening doors, taking the cooking pot from the stove, etc. ...). They don't exclusively use their powers for everything in the same way we don't run everywhere, where we can walk.

To that extent, sure; They're holding back in every-day life.

*_{figuratively speaking ... telekinesis seems to involve some pointing at the moved object}

+1 for "even professional Olympic runners walk to the bakery" lol — RedCaio, Dec 17 '15 at 21:23

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 17 '15 at 21:52

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Out-of-universe:

You have to consider that to make the games fun, like most games, realism is sacrificed for the ability to do really awesome looking things over and over. Just like how a real life soldier isn't going to be performing nearly as well as a Call of Duty soldier does, neither should you expect a 'real life' Jedi to perform as an arcade Jedi does.

edited Dec 17 '15 at 21:52

RedCaio

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answered Oct 23 '12 at 13:24

MetaGuru

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 21 '13 at 14:41

In terms of speaking. The sith use their abilities as a sense of pride. Sith philosophy is all about intimidation to conquer their own fear and inflict it upon others. So to intensify their appearance of power to evoke fear, they used more ranged abilities in the movies then the jedi. Even in the video games, sure the jedi have more skills to use, but the sith have tons more in their skill tree.Jedi are reserved and "peaceful" (quotes because neither sith or jedi were good or evil if you understood both their roles in the balance ) and the sith were extravagant and power-hungry

"neither sith or jedi were good or evil if you understood both their roles in the balance" I think you're falsely assuming that "balance" means balance between Jedi and Sith. Balance means all Light side and no Dark side — RedCaio, Dec 17 '15 at 21:42

score -2 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 21 '13 at 03:56

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Yes, Luke used an over-amped force push to attempt to kill Marvid Qresh in Crucible. It failed but he was getting serious.

answered Sep 21 '13 at 03:56

Donmax

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Do Jedi hold back with their force powers?

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