Melee Practice [Hakim Vs Any Opponent]

[Jiang Winters]

[Just looking for some good-old hand-to-hand practice, I'm getting a little rusty and I want to try my hand at a fight scene again. Anyone's welcome, I'll just ask that lightsaber-wielders don't use their sabers in this. Other than that, no restrictions on weapons, aside from it being melee weapons only. Thanks!]

Hakim slowly padded into the ancient temple, tightening the protective tan bandages wrapped snugly around his palms, wrists, and the lower part of his forearms as he walked. There was a fight to be had within this hallowed hall of martial combat. The black marble floor, unmarred by dust and recently polished, amplified every soft footfall of his bare feet, the soles and ankles of which were also wrapped for protection.

The room was large, the ceiling perhaps thirty feet high and supported by grand marble pillars that had bands of gold a handspan wide twisting around them from base to top like majestic gleaming serpents. The northern wall of the room, which Hakim was facing, had three massive stained-glass windows that allowed perfect rays of sunlight to filter in and illuminate the room with a soft glow.

On the east and west walls were massive oaken racks, filled with every melee weapon imaginable, from quarterstaffs to greataxes. He moved to the west wall and selected his weapon. It was an old Staff, carved from some unknown hardwood in ages long forgotten by great artisans. It was stained and lacquered a deep red, and highly polished brass caps were placed on both ends of the meter-and-a-half long staff, giving it extra striking power.

On the far side of the hall, nearly a hundred and fifty yards away, he heard the massive double door in the center of the wall creak open; his opponent had arrived. Grasping his staff tightly, he turned and proceeded to the center of the hall, ready to face off with his opponent.

 

[Cyril Khan]

I'll join you; give me a sec though

 

[Jiang Winters]

ooc: Awesomeness. I shall wait for your post. [Not that I have any other choice. ^_^ ]

 

[Cyril Khan]

The opponent who entered the Temple halls did not arrive for any reason other than training purposes. He did not care for competition in the least, and refused to do any form of duel for such purposes. Yet, for even the most pacifistic of trained militants, he knew the importance of live combat within training. How else could anyone claim to be a true master until they truly experienced the event of instantaneous decision? While the newcomer could boast that title, he did not come with any weapon and he did not even gaze at the multifarious choices on the walls. He had only one weapon to defend himself, and the Force took that role. On this event, however, he chose to limit his usage to only what he needed for his unarmed style.

Unarmed and dressed only in dark blue robes, the grey haired opponent faced his sparring partner and stood a good distance away. The situation of fighting an armed foe did not bother him, because he had learned how to combat even lightsaber masters unarmed. Truthfully, he could only base such skills with his skills with the Force, in which his mind and body worked in unison together and together with the Force. He could not ignore the Force’s calling and words, but he could hold off the most powerful techniques, such as telekinesis and telepathy. As callous as his conversations tended to be, no one could challenge this man’s word; he never broke a promise, unless for the greater good. So, as Tían Velvar entered the training session, he would only fight with melee techniques.

The two men stood facing each other, but the combat would not begin so readily on the Jedi’s end. Even in sparring events, he never made the first strike. It did not directly give him an advantage; he just held a pacifistic ideal of combat: he would be free to engage in proper combat on the accord of self preservation.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Hakim observed the robed man who had come to spar with him. He did not look much shorter than himself, but he did not look as heavily built, which would make him weigh slightly less than himself as a result. The cathar did not delude himself into thinking that the opponent's slightly smaller build would make him easier to defeat; he had been in far too many fights to be foolhardy enough to underestimate an opponent. For all he knew, the man could be just as strong as he was, if not more so.

The man's graying hair told of him being at an age senior to Hakim's own, though again, he did not think him an easier mark. He had seen Force users of considerable age leap and bound through the air with unrivaled grace, as if the taint of age had never touched their bodies. And aside from that, there was always the possibility he had simply dyed his hair.

As the fellow came to a stop a fair distance in front of him, unarmed as far as Hakim could see, the Cathar decided that he was ready for battle. So, he gave a brief but respectful bow of his head towards his sparring partner, and spoke in a moderately cordial tone. "Let us begin."

With that, the man snapped his staff into one hand and stretched his arm out, laying the staff back along his arm and across his back at a downwards diagonal angle. He charged straight for the other combatant, arm and staff locked in place as he closed the gap at a running gait.

As he reached the final few meters separating them, he brought his arm and the staff back out in front, taking it into a firm two-handed hold near the center and holding the staff at chest level, as if his intent were to launch an attack at his foe's upper torso.

But rather than make such an assault, he dropped into a crouch and slid across the well-polished floor towards the man, lashing out with a sweeping kick aimed at his legs while keeping himself from toppling by planting the tip of the staff in the floor behind him.

[OOC: Noticed the fix you made to Tian's height, and reworded some things accordingly.]

 

[Cyril Khan]

Three words announced the beginning of the duel, and the opponent Hakim rushed across the smooth floor to make his initial attack. With a strategy like that of Master Velvar, the Jedi had faced many charges in his life. Charges meant both little and plenty to him; a charge always intended to close the distance, but often warriors used it as a form of intimidation. However, in this case, Tían recognized the secondary application of this move; a smart or trained warrior would use the momentum in the charge to his own attack. Thus, the Jedi did not even bother to move a muscle from his stance until his foe came within attack range.

The stance of the Jedi did not look terribly powerful, but it fit his combat style well. It held his weight in balance and allowed for the possibility of swift leg movements. He did not need a strong foundation, for he never used blunt strikes, like punches or kicks, and he could not function in the lightest, weakest positions. He did not intend to overpower a foe with direct strikes, powerful or swift, but instead to use flowing movements to subdue his opponent by various non-lethal means.

Preparation and stance worked together to defend the first attack of the event. It took only a moment to react when the opponent made his first move. As the man dropped into his crotch and sweeping kick, the Jedi began his pristine footwork. The typical Jedi response for an attack towards the legs was to jump away; however, Velvar did not fit the typical Jedi. Recognizing the directional momentum of the charge and the well polished floor, the incoming opponent could not totally transfer his energy into a circular strike. Tían Velvar sidestepped around the incoming kick and allowed his foe’s momentum continue past the point where the Jedi used to stand. In essence, the low level kick hit nothing but air, and Velvar faced his foe upright and ready.

Now that Hakim had broken the stillness of the Temple, Master Velvar saw reason to make actions of aggression. However, at the moment, he did not intend on making an attack. He would wait like before and let his opponent make the moves. If he fell, he would fall from the inability to defend himself. When the time became right, he would make his aggressive moves.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Hakim was mildly surprised at the brilliant simplicity of Velvar's defense, which was little more than a side-step that placed the man outside the arc of his sweeping kick, which allowed the cathar to slide on several more feet without making any sort of impact on anything but air, his slide propelled by the momentum of his charge and failed strike. He did not let that momentum go to waste, though, and used his staff to shove himself back up to his feet before he skidded to a stop.

The furred combatant kept his knees slightly bent and transferred his staff into a more traditional two-handed slightly diagonal grip held in front of him as he turned about to face his opponent, eyes narrowing as he studied the man for a split second. There was something interesting about this man, of that he was certain. He seemed content to be on the defensive for the moment, and Hakim - who always favored a strong offense anyways - was not going to pass up the chance to launch another attack before any retaliation came his way.

He lunged forward while snapping his torso left and swinging his arms downwards, bringing the raised right tip of the staff down in an hammering attack aimed directly for his foe's collar bone.

 

[Cyril Khan]

The main disadvantage of fighting unarmed against an armed assailant forces anyone who chooses this path to develop swift and precise defenses. Undoubtedly, if any attacks from the weapon hit, the unarmed combatant would fall or come close to falling. However, in the opposite, an unarmed warrior can not always end a fight with a single move. In the case of Tían Velvar, almost none of his techniques delivered enough blunt power to instantly incapacitate a foe. He had to abstain from deadly punches and kicks to completely follow his pacifist ideals.

The Jedi moved as smoothly as before when he viewed the incoming strike. Master Velvar knew of hundreds of attacks similar to the one preformed; every weapon of every combat style teaches a specific way to do that exact move. While he did not have time to analyze every detail, the defense just came natural. Without any hesitation, the Jedi stepped similar to his previous dodge; he knew that he only had to avoid contact with the wooden instrument. Stepping into a pseudo crouch, he placed his right foot just under a half meter away from its origin; his body remained totally upright and balanced, though he had not yet completed the more; the attack still raced down, just mere inches away from striking the Jedi’s shoulder cap. Fortunately, in the speed it took Velvar to enter his wide, low stance, he returned to his standard just as swiftly. Tían’s left foot slid across the floor as his weight transitioned to the right; when he returned to his common position, his body faced parallel to the strike, and his left hand acted to drive the weapon surely into the ground.

The defense may have appeared spectacular, but the Jedi only emulated a technique that many unarmed studios taught. Even though Master Velvar had averted damage, he could no longer sit back and just dodge moves all day. Even though his defensive skill surpassed his offensive, he could not succeed so proficiently until his foe wore himself out. Now forced to aggression, the Jedi did not hesitate to move into a counterattack.

The moment the wood released its loud crack upon hitting the floor, the Jedi removed his hand from guiding the staff and turned his energy towards his opponent, now that he stood inside the enormously long weapon’s guard. The left foot of Master Velvar circled from behind the Jedi, towards the inner left foot of the other; the Jedi intended to catch his foe’s ankle with the curvature of his foot and raise the opposing foot from the ground. The left hand followed the angle of the staff up towards the chest, intending not to deliver a blunt strike but a controlled blow to assist in the takedown. If both succeeded, the two in unison, along with an attempt to retrieve the staff from the ground, would create unbalance in Hakim, which would send him to his back. The controlled movement from the left hand could hardly miss due to no obstacle in its path; the technique attempted by the left foot could easily escape notice of the foe. Even if the technique failed, the Jedi remained inside the weapon’s guard and could easily transfer his energy into a secondary attack upon failure.

 

[Jiang Winters]

The moment the Jedi opponent executed a flawless and graceful deflection of the Cathar's attack, Hakim knew he was in trouble. He released the staff and let the lengthy weapon clatter harmlessly to the ground, as it was now a liability rather than an asset, and brought up a hand to attempt to deflect the blow directed at his chest.

He literally, and rather miraculously, caught the incoming strike with an open hand, but Tian's rapidly approaching foot -which had escaped Hakim's notice - landed on time and on target. The furred smuggler let out a yelp as he felt his foot raise off the polished floor as a result of the strike, setting him off-balance. In the blink of an eye, he toppled over backwards and came to a graceless landing on his back, a heavy 'thud' noise echoing through the halls.

He was stunned for a moment, but recovered fairly quickly and sprang back to his feet, at which point he backpedaled and adopted a defensive posture. Being on the offense wasn't going so well for him; it was time to try something else.

 

[Cyril Khan]

((Sorry about the delay, I’ll try to post more rapidly))

The staff of the opponent fell to the ground, and now both combatants fought unarmed. Still, while it seemed the battle had reached an even point, it had not. The counterattack that led to the disarming of the other also led to the Jedi’s advantage. Even though his foe managed to get back to his feet after a successful takedown, Tían Velvar never lost his composure in the event; after all, he intended to send the guy onto his back so that they would end the match on the ground.

Hakim did manage a lucky escape from the ground scene and did make his way back to his feet. Unfortunately for him, he could not have possible regained his balance and combat awareness before the Jedi could make his next more. When his opponent grabbed his open hand as it soared to meet the chest and his foot lifted the other’s off the ground, Master Velvar had no other option but to fall to the ground as well. However, because the Jedi intended to fall with his opponent with a successful throw, he fell controllably; his left knee fell to the ground, just barely missed the opponent’s groin, and stabilized the Jedi from falling off balance during the fall. In the swift moment Hakim stood up, Velvar drove against his left knew and brought his right foot forward. With this simple action, the Jedi regained his feet and moved gracefully towards his opponent.

Tían Velvar crossed the small distance between the two very swiftly. The events that led up to this moment only made it more difficult for Hakim to keep up with the Jedi, who had not yet called upon the Force for speed, strength, or foresight. The Jedi, who had gone through the fall without becoming stunned, approached his opponent before his sturdy stance even became a reality. Even as Hakim still backpedalled, Tían shot forward into his attack. His right arm shot past the left side of the Cathar’s face with little force to actually cause blunt injuries, while the head of the Jedi attempted to stay to the outside of the opponent’s right arm. This odd course of actions did not at first seem effective, but a trained warrior knew the danger within the scenerio. Once the Jedi’s left and right hands connected behind the Cathar’s head, the combination of the Jedi’s right arm and Hakim’s right arm on both sides of the neck would lead to a strong standing choke hold.

If the technique succeeded, it would not force the Cathar to submit right away but it would cause sever discomfort if he did not manage to find a way to free himself. If no feasible escape presented itself in his mind, Hakim would find himself in trouble; after all, all choke holds eventually lead to unconsciousness. On the event that Hakim did manage to avoid the chokehold or break free, the Jedi did not intend to give him a moments rest to reset and prepare for a following strike.