Nourish the Seed, Move the Mountain

[Miranda]

LECTURER

Sorran Ven-Olar

STUDENTS

Äeslan Tyolus

Kemp Aeschylos

Andreus Makaryk

Adonia Xylona

Brandon Asari​

_________________________________________________________________

Earth. Air. Fire. Water.

The Four Elements each united and bound together by the cosmic and universal energy of the Force.

Earth - the solid foundation, the ground upon which life itself evolved, the soil in which existence is nurtured and cultivated, a farmer's crop, the sand laiden dunes, the rocks that greet the sea, the mountains.

Air - the elusive and invisible substance, the great winds that blow the clouds, the unseen hand that moves the waves, the first and final breath, the spoken word, the sky.

Fire - the destructive and consuming agent, the heat of hearth and furnace, the conflagration of war and battle, the surging stimulation of growth, a tribeman's cooking, a light in darkness, a signal flare of infinite hope, the stars.

Water - the lifegiving and mutable source, the first tears of a newborn child, the fluvial contours of river and stream, the roaring thunder of waterfall, the rain that floods the barren steppes, the blood that courses through veins, the reflection of a pond, the icicle of winter, the ocean.

All four elements unified and coalescing, eternally within the Force.

Sorran Ven-Olar had been considering the omniscient power of these vastly different entities. At first approach one would consider them all such estranged things of each other, so unique and separate of one another in their composition and existence. And when brought directly together would naturally invoke the most wondrous of transformations.

Water could drown Fire. Fire could dry Earth. Air could fuel Fire. Earth could devour Water. And in the end, each was in a completely changed state of being. Each some mercurial thing that made up the matter of the universe and interacted upon each other and were all eternally unified within the Force.

And so his meditation for those few ephemeral and fleeting hours drew to a close. The great starship, The Will of the Force, hummed with absolute function as it drifted on the peripheries of Tython's orbit. He had now grown accustomed to the chill of space, and had become used to the clockwork routine and hourly regiment that was the vessel's life. It was the core of the New Jedi Order's combat and battle faculty, an area of specialisation in which Sorran had excelled and flourished and now strove to impart upon the newest generation of Jedi.

The Jedi Knight glanced down at his chronometer in expectancy. He was scheduled to give a lecture that would encourage and reveal various tenets of Jedi strategy and practice within the context of battle and combat. While the Jedi were a peaceful collective, striving in all things to promote peace and harmony, the galaxy was a place where enmity and hostility and hatred was ever present. There were those who would seek to destroy the Jedi, those who would choose to rage and fight and consume others in the name of peace. The Sith. The Dark Order whose central belief was that peace was a lie and that passion was truth and could only be achieved through the death of others. By destroying those who were against them, by extinguishing those they felt as weak and undeserving, that was how they sought their skewed version of peace.
Through the raising of a saber.

It was thus that the Jedi Order was on the verge of something like a war-footing. They were to be forced out of their harmonious ways and sentenced to meet their nemesis upon the battlefield. And if they were to survive what was to come, they needed to be prepared. For those who were well prepared had already won half the battle.
The Sith were unified by hatred and vengeance. Their entire philosophy built upon deceit and anger and lust for power. But, he who thrives on vengeance must dig two graves: one for his enemy, and one for himself. Sorran pondered introspectively.
Their corruption and malevolence would eventually be their undoing.

The Jedi were united, as family and kindred spirits and fellowship, forever unified like the elements within the Force. This was the Jedi's strength. For without the link and bonds of unity, without that unbreakable faith of kinship and alliance, it would be like running into conflict without a weapon.
The Jedi had many weapons. Not just the tangible form of their lightsabers, but the wisdom and knowledge and understanding of the Force, the compassion and benevolence and altruism of light, and ultimately their unyielding and dedicated faith.

Sorran stood and rounded to a table in the large training atrium. This particular chamber was unique upon the grand Jedi ship, and it was enormous with a currently unseen purpose. In today's lecture the Knight would instruct the Padawans in the first five forms of lightsaber combat, would educate them on various non-Force and martial arts techniques, and then finally test their skills in the Art of Movement disciplines. The vast atrium was fitted to transform into a complex training ground, specifically designed for battle simulations. After lecturing and instructing his Padawans he would examine them at the end for them to practice what they had learned.

Sorran would fundamentally prepare and aid his students in their development as Jedi. He would help them grow, like seeds in the earth, like fire in the stars, like water in the waves, like clouds in the wind.
As children of the elements, they would move entire mountains, entire stars, entire oceans, entire skies.

As children of the Force, they would all be united...

 

[DeathToll]

In the midst of the other students, one stood in the front. Physically shorter, he was a human with abounding emotion; though, he was learning control. He had made a promise to his master, the Battlemaster Augustus Primus Leonus; a solemn vow to face the darkness within and shine the brighter for it. Kemp Aeschylos shown bright, wide-eyed and fully lifted posture. He was more than ready to begin, anxious to prove himself against all others.

Wearing his usual black leather jacket, pants, boots, and light gray-toned blue tank top underneath; Kemp was a nineteen year old young man that could pass for fifteen easy.

His fists were clenched tight at his sides, and he listened fervently if only to somehow better hear the words spoken in this lecture. His hazel-nut brown eyes were glued to the Jedi Knight Sorran Ven-Olar, and didn't budge. At this moment, he was devoid of his competitive edge; though as soon as he heard the first gunshot to go, he'd be on -full-.

 

[Demiurge]

There was an old saying that every moment was an eternity from which to learn. And in Aeslan's case, that came almost literal. In anticipating the educational training session, the young Padawan's mind raced like the overpopulated pod racing circuts of Malastare. He was taking his right hand and tapping his fingers rythmicly against his leg while discreetely twirling his lightsaber in his left hand.

Although his face was mostly hidden from the hood enveloping his head, restless was taking over as Aeslan was doing all he could to actually concentrate on the lesson to be had. It was one of the reasons he preferred martial training; the activity of it all. Staying still too long, keeping overly focused, it just wasn't something he could easily cope to.

If it wasn't for the tranquilizing effect he could induce with the Force to calm himself down, Aeslan doubted he could have ever really even become a trained Jedi. Keeping in his seat, Aeslan brought his right hand up and placed it under the lower right side of his face, resting on it, and began tapping his fingers against his cheek. He was going to pay attention if it killed him.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

The other students seemed restless. Andreus simply waited.

His training so far had taken a decidedly non-martial bent. Sense. Precognition. Those kinds of things. So far, he had yet to use them in combat, for he had scarcely picked up a lightsaber. However, with at least one Sith Lord that he knew about hunting him, and rumors of war rumbling throughout the various Temples, it was time for Andreus to pay heed to such things as defense.

Unlike the other class he had been in so far, this class would be entirely new to him. He selected a training saber from one of the many stockpiles of them scattered throughout the mammoth vessel, and nonchalantly clipped it to his belt, expecting to take the first steps in learning how to use it. He planned to keep it of course; he doubted one class could provide him with the hundreds of hours of experience necessary to achieve proficiency with the weapon. He would have to spar with his own Master for that, likely.

But, he figured he had to start somewhere, with the basics. He paid very careful attention.

 

[Wit]

Brandon sat quietly, slightly anxious and even a little scared at the back of the class. It had been months since his previous Master had died and he was yet to be allotted to a new master. When he had left for Taris he had been a confident and slightly cocky padawan, confident in his abilities, confident that he was not particularly behind any of the other padawans in terms of his training. But ever since his return he had started to doubt in himself once more, doubting his abilities and even whether he still belonged among the Jedi.

But he was not about to let others see his discomfort and kept his doubts to himself as best as he could. He was sure he would not be fooling any of the senior Knights or Masters, but he hoped he could at least fool his fellow padawans. So he waited for the class to begin, hoping that the training ahead of him would help him regain his focus and self-confidence once more.

 

[Darius]

Adonia had been allowed by her master to visit with her good friend Matsu on Coruscant, the visit was extremely fruitful as the duo were gifted as easing each other’s thoughts a feelings. Adonia was extremely surprised to see that she had not been chosen by a master yet, but he had faith in the counsil and the knights to choose when she was ready. Adonia rested her eyes in the shuttle that was to take her back to Tython’s orbit, to train with her master on the massive ship of the Order that most people affectionately nicknamed ‘The Will’. Adonia knew she would not have much time to herself once she back in the area, but she preferred that way, as long as she was busy she would not miss her family, or worry about her brother.

Stepping off the Shuttle she thanked the pilot for a safe trip, he didn’t answer back as he looked shocked and nervous, as if she had caught him in the act of something, Adonia didn’t have to wonder why it happened, she knew the reason all too well, and had hoped it had disappeared when she received her tribal markings. Adonia hurried on through the ship, making her way to the proper training area, it was somewhat familiar to here since she had been on the ship once before for a lesson with the battle master.

Adonia arrived to see that the class had already congregated, she looked to her watch and was relived as she was not late but one of the last to arrive, which was unlike her as well. Adonia greeted each of her fellow students with polite greetings as she approached her master, “ Good morning master, I left for Coruscant as soon as I received your message.”

 

[Miranda]

Sorran Ven-Olar had only ever been a traditionalist by dictate. Many of the educators of the New Jedi Order preferred to take the behaviourist routes of transmitting information and knowledge and skills to their students. Such classes so often became a scenario where teacher-centred learning was the crux, where the teacher lectured and the students took note of everything that was uttered and commanded and instructed.

Sorran had felt, for a very long time, that such mediums of education were far too outdated and conservative for his preferences and methods. Instead, Sorran felt himself to be a source of encouragement, a mentor. And so he would not transmit and disseminate knowledge and understanding and skills to his students, but would instead aid them in cultivating their own. It would be a constructivist approach to Jedi education. And thus would be completely student-centred.
He would expect a lot from this selective group of individuals. And they would need to rise to the challenge of his demanding lessons.

"I believe that is all of us? And so we shall commence...thank you all for coming, and I welcome you to this arena. This shall be a place that you must all become very familiar with as you make your journeys down the long and arduous road to become Jedi Knights. I know that not all of you shall take the path of the Guardian, and that some of you shall prefer to take on the non-combative faculties of the Force as your areas of specialisation. However, regardless of your preferences, a Jedi must know every aspect of the Force, in all its myriad forms. Today we shall begin a difficult training. Our galaxy, as many of you must well know, is on the very precipice of darkness. The time is swiftly coming for when we Jedi will be forced to battle that darkness, meet it face to face, and sever the head of the great serpent. To be prepared for such, you will need to know how to fight."

Sorran gazed across the bright young faces of his selected students for this particular course and smiled gently.

"If you have not already done so, please take a training saber from the armory rack so that we may begin."

He paused for a moment and allowed the students to collect a weapon and return to the floor.

"And so...how many of you are familiar with the First Form of Lightsaber combat? What is its name? What is its fundamental purpose? Please introduce yourself to the class as you answer these questions. Come now, speak up, all answers are welcome."

 

[DeathToll]

Kemp's spine jolted stiff. His competitor's streak had struck like lightning up those nerves and directly into his brain's firing synapses. Simply barking out, Kemp stood without a step with his chest inflated and his chin up for the instructor.

"Kemp Aeschylos! Padawan! Basic form! One! Shii-Cho is the extension of traditional sword fighting styles!"

Dropping his chin an inch or two at the conclusion of his overly formal and strangely militaristic answer, the young Kemp had to be the first to speak.

 

[Demiurge]

Aeslan moved to stand up when a fellow student beat him to it, standing erect and partially answering the question. His eyes widened, partially at the speed at which the other student rose up, and also by his overly formalized introduction. It was like looking at a cadet in boot camp.

Aeslan took a deep breath and slowly stood up, deciding to finish the answer posed by the teacher. Somewhat timidly, Aeslan looked around at the class to introduce himself before he followed up on the instructor's answer.

"My, uh, name is Äeslan. Shii-Cho is the first of the other seven forms. It's sometimes called the Determination Form or Way of the Sarlacc. A lot of Jedi also called the foundation form... I guess since all the other forms are built upon it in some way."

Aeslan paused briefly as he got his thoughts straight and continued. "Shii-Cho, it's um, all like, basically strikes... and parries too, I guess. It's also one of two forms methodologically harmonious with the Aurum Style... I think."

 

[Miranda]

Sorran Ven-Olar, while a stalwart and disciplined warrior, was usually an amiable and temperate man with a most mild disposition. Patience and serenity were the intrinsic laws that governed his personality, spirit, and proclivity. However, when times called for it he could be a stern and rigid instructor that commanded authority and held direction with an iron-fist.

"Thank you Padawans Kemp and Äeslan, your contribution is highly appreciated."

And then he turned an austere eye upon those others in the class who had chosen to remain silent. "As for the rest of you I must say I am most disappointed. If you have not the courage to even speak amongst your fellow Jedi, then how will you muster the courage to face your adversaries in battle? Andreus, Brandon, and Adonia! You would think a Nexu had hold of your tongues!"

His voice was not at all menacing, but rather disciplinary, firm, and exacting.

"This arena that we find ourselves in today is no place for the faint-hearted I'm afraid. These lessons I strive to teach you all will be extremely uncompromising, formidable, and strenuous. In battle there is no room for hesitation! Now, gather your tenacity, step forward, speak up, and present yourselves as Jedi! This class has no space for those who are not dedicated to its cause! Do I make myself clear? If you feel you are not ready to rise to the challenges then I suggest you make yourself scarce now before I continue."

It was a harsh speech, stoic and stolid and firm, but his words were true. It was his responsibility to prepare the Padawans for the uncertain future, he had to make them ready to face their surging enemy. It was a huge weight upon his shoulders and there was little room for error. If they were not cultivated and fashioned properly in the arts with which Sorran sought to teach them, they would all perish when the darkness swept down upon them.

 

[DeathToll]

Kemp held his tin-soldier's stance, shoulders pressed and chin lifted. His eyes, while at first piercing a point on the opposing wall like a laser, soon drifted to follow the instructor Sorran in his speech. The class room seemed to have fallen silent, and Kemp resisted the urge to bark out a compliant 'yes teacher'.

Kemp licked his lips. Trying not to seem too obvious, he attempted to look around at the others in the class; though difficult while standing in the front of them all. In this moment, however, most eyes were on the instructor and his own were allowed some freedom.

To be honest, Kemp was a competitor in every respect; and though he saw this moment as an evaluation of his competition (should any of their exercises have them face each other), he didn't crop this one moment up as the entire room's potential. He'd be ready. He was ready. His fingers smoothly rolled in circular motion around the palms of his hands to his thumbs and back, nearly making those fists of his.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

Sorran Ven-Olar, while a stalwart and disciplined warrior, was usually an amiable and temperate man with a most mild disposition. Patience and serenity were the intrinsic laws that governed his personality, spirit, and proclivity. However, when times called for it he could be a stern and rigid instructor that commanded authority and held direction with an iron-fist.

"Thank you Padawans Kemp and Äeslan, your contribution is highly appreciated."

And then he turned an austere eye upon those others in the class who had chosen to remain silent. "As for the rest of you I must say I am most disappointed. If you have not the courage to even speak amongst your fellow Jedi, then how will you muster the courage to face your adversaries in battle? Andreus, Brandon, and Adonia! You would think a Nexu had hold of your tongues!"

His voice was not at all menacing, but rather disciplinary, firm, and exacting.

"This arena that we find ourselves in today is no place for the faint-hearted I'm afraid. These lessons I strive to teach you all will be extremely uncompromising, formidable, and strenuous. In battle there is no room for hesitation! Now, gather your tenacity, step forward, speak up, and present yourselves as Jedi! This class has no space for those who are not dedicated to its cause! Do I make myself clear? If you feel you are not ready to rise to the challenges then I suggest you make yourself scarce now before I continue."

It was a harsh speech, stoic and stolid and firm, but his words were true. It was his responsibility to prepare the Padawans for the uncertain future, he had to make them ready to face their surging enemy. It was a huge weight upon his shoulders and there was little room for error. If they were not cultivated and fashioned properly in the arts with which Sorran sought to teach them, they would all perish when the darkness swept down upon them.

Andreus didn't know about the others, but he had signed up for this class precisely because he had never so much as held a lightsaber, much less learned anything that could have contributed an answer to the instructor's question. Having only arrived at the Academy last week, he simply had not had the years of opportunity to learn of such things that the other padawans had as younglings. For Andreus, the problem was not so much a lack of courage, as it was a lack of knowledge required to contribute to the conversation.

He rose.

The instructor's missive required a response. Andreus certainly had enough courage to provide one--when required. Up until now, no response that he could have provided had been required, but when instructor had rushed to prejudge him--not a usual Jedi trait--Andreus stared down Sorran, allowing several seconds of silence to permeate the room before he finally broke it with his voice.

"I cannot speak for the others, but before you rush to judgment, perhaps it might be worth considering that at least one of your students has not spent his entire childhood quietly stalking the Archives, seeking the answer to your question in advance. At least one of your students signed up for this course because, having arrived last week and never having touched a lightsaber, he had literally no answer to contribute. I remained silent not out of timidity or lack of courage, but because the only response I could contribute would have been off topic at best. If I knew anything about lightsabers, such as the answer to your question, I would not be here."

Andreus didn't care that he had omitted the introduction--far as he was concerned, the instructor had done that for him.

 

[Miranda]

Sorran Ven-Olar eyed the now audacious Andreus as he had stepped forward and put his voice to the arena. The Jedi Knight very well knew that all student prior-knowledge on anything was shaped not only from immersion in a particular environment, but also from past experiences. Every Jedi, while strong as a collective, were also as important as their individual segments. His stern speech had at least rustled some leaves and struck a chord with one of the students, even enough so to apparently become engaged in the lesson.

"Thank you, Padawan Makaryk, for your enlightening remarks. I believe you may be misplacing my intentions however, for there was no swift or speedy course in my objective to assert judgments, as you seem to have perceived. You would do well to learn to listen, for I did say 'all answers are welcome' did I not? If you claim to have no prior-knowledge due to lack of training or lack of stalking the Archives as you so aptly put it, then that is still an answer, hmm? I merely wished to issue that silence was no response to my question. There are places and times for silence, but this arena is not one of them."

Sorran smiled gently then and calmly strode between the lines of the students, inspecting them all with an inquisitive air. He stopped for a moment a few metres from Andreus and noticed the rigidity of the Padawan's stance. He couldn't be sure, but the student seemed extremely defensive.

"Now that you have inadvertently responded to that which I sought, we all know your current level of expertise Padawan Makaryk. An excellent starting point if any. You have given us all something to work with. You would also do very well to keep that fiery audacity of yours reserved for your training and development, rather than focused at me, especially if your mission here is to learn."

Sorran gently grasped Andreus' shoulder and then returned to the podium before his class and washed his eyes over all of them in turn.

"Padawan Makaryk has alerted us to a fundamental lesson. That sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. But we are only as fortified and strong as our most fragile twig. We must hone our skills as individuals, so that we may serve and protect our Order, eachother, and in turn serve and protect the galaxy from injustice and harm."

After that thought provoking display, Sorran Ven-Olar continued with his intended lesson. He hoped that he had not been too hard on the newcomer, but these lessons would be strict, unyielding, and difficult. He would not have it any other way. Battle was not something that a Jedi could rush blindly into, and direct conflict was only ever a last resort. Peace, Knowledge, Serenity, the Force. These were the Jedi mantras. Upholding justice and peace, the Jedi mandate. Battle was an unorthodox concept for the Order, but the galaxy demanded it from them so often. So some lessons too had to be unorthodox while also considering everything that governed a Jedi's existence. These students needed to learn the lessons the hard way, to find balance and focus, if they were to succeed when the time arrived.

"And so, Shii-Cho...Form I, also known as The Way of the Sarlacc, and the Determination Form. It is the most fundamental and rudimentary of all the lightsaber forms, and so it is extremely valuable to you all, especially as we progress to more advanced techniques. It covers all the essential basics of attacks, parries, and body zones that were centuries ago established by swordmanship."

He paused for a moment and then dispatched several training mannequin droids that hovered over to the vicinity of the Padawans. Each droid held long blunt 'swords' for practice methods.

"Shii-Cho often requires very emotionally engaging maneuvres, it requires of us much emotion at times, and so we must be ever vigilant against allowing attacks to manifest into lethal intent. With this form, we must always practice restraint. Always remember, Jedi respect all forms of life. We must avoid lethality in any circumstance unless it is absolutely imperative. When a Jedi is forced to kill, the death of our opponent takes a part of our spirit and soul with it. Remember this always whenever you find yourselves in combat."

Sorran slowly went through one of the Form's moves, the 'Disarming Slash', he had turned to one of the training mannequins that wielded a crude metallic 'sword', he struck at the weapon slowly and repeated it as a display to the students.

"So how do we avoid lethal attacks with our lightsabers? Please follow my movements and copy them as best you can. Shii-Cho philosophy is concerned with disarming an opponent, victory is gained not through harming one's opponent, but by neutralising an assailant. This follows the tenets of sun djem, which essentially means that we seek to destroy or disarm the weapon of our opponents, and that way we can achieve victory without resorting to death."

His movements then gained speed and he swiftly slashed the mannquin's sword from its hand as a demonstration of the move in proper action.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

Andreus distinctly remembered the judgment inherent in "As for the rest of you I must say I am most disappointed. If you have not the courage to even speak amongst your fellow Jedi..." but it was time for him to call upon another of the Jedi's teachings: restraint. He had made his point that he did not feel "I have no prior knowledge" warranted a response to a question that other padawans had already answered. The instructor had disagreed, and some things just were not worth picking fights over. So Andreus let the dispute, minor as it was, go.

He'd much rather pay attention, and learn what he came here to learn. Sorran had actually done a good job explaining the relevance of the most elementary basics to those more experienced padawans who had had the benefit of taking these lessons as younglings. Andreus could respect Sorran for that, at least.

So the padawan quieted once more, allowing the Knight instructor to carry out his demonstration. Andreus respectfully watched, and when the time came for Andreus to try the Disarming Slash for himself, he picked up one of the available training swords. The padawan was a physically strong man, but still, this was the first time he had ever had to balance a fifteen-kilo sword in his hand, and he suddenly understood why Jedi used lightsabers. Nevertheless, he executed the instructor's directions to the best of his ability on the mannequin assigned to him.

The highly inexperienced padawan had inaccurate control of the clunky weapon at best, even in spite of the excellent fine motor skills he had honed as a pilot. Instead of cleanly slicing the weapon out of the mannequin's hand, his sword cut through the mannequin's forearm, only a couple inches short of the elbow. Oops. Had that been a real sentient, that sentient would have lost a lot of blood, very quickly.

 

[DeathToll]

Just as Sorran had demonstrated the action, Kemp whipped out his own trainingh saber with a circling swirl as he spun towards the nearest dummy and struck down with that hazy blue beam. Kemp had not been amongst the Jedi as a youngling either, and was quite proud of that fact; feeling he had been hardened to certain aspects of life and depravity that others here wouldn't have. His skills were just as proven, however; though not as refined to the eloquent or articulate ways of the Jedi. Still, Kemp was a natural at sword'play', and that was just how he saw it as.

"Ha!"

Instantly he had firmly tapped the mannequin's weapon down out of its hands, as it bounced to settle there at his feet. Kemp rotated his training saber around to a reversed grip in his 'off-hand', holding it there with his curled left fist - the blade at the dummy's throat. Kemp held his chin up with a certain satisfaction at his natural ability, though more enjoying the game of the exercise than exerting his own arrogance.

Kemp would swirl the blade down and around, switching hands and replacing the hilt upright and back into his right hand. Replacing his footing back underneath himself, Kemp let lower his temporary blade back down to his side ready to go again.

 

[Demiurge]

Finally, thought Aeslan. It was something active to do, and educational at the same time. But foremost, it was something he could focus on without struggling. A half-suppressed grin worked its way onto his face as his pulled out Godheart. Technically speaking, it wasn't a training lightsaber, but it had dual-phase designs, so he was able to reduce its intensity settings low enough to compare to an initiate's training lightsaber.

Turning a small knob near the hilt of the blade nearly all the way down, to a very low setting of intensity, Aeslan walked down to the practice dummies, holding his lightsaber hilt in the reverse fashion. Okay, sun djem, the ancient word for "disarming", Aeslan thought, as he briefly examined the dummy's sword, And what better place way to disarm, than hitting the most vital area of the weapon?

Forcing the weapon from the user's hand was the best tactic, and Aeslan considered himself physically strong as it was, but against Jedi, he was no different than another Padawan. And so he needed to make another advantage. Eyeing the hilt of the sword, Aeslan sharply swung his saber across the top of the sword's hilt, inbetween the guard and the handle. The slash left a heated mark across the hilt. Had his saber been powered to standard levels, it would have cut the blade of the sword off the handle, effectively rendering the entire blade forever useless.

Aeslan grinned to himself, satisfied of his decision. After all, Master Ven-Olar had said 'destroy or disarm' the opponent's weapon. And if he were in a real battle of life and death, and wanted to win without a fatality, Aeslan knew he would have wanted to make sure that the weapon couldn't be used against him again.

 

[Miranda]

Sorran watched on as the students repeated the movements involved in the 'Disarming Slash', a technique that encompassed not only the Shii-Cho philosophy, but the Jedi philosophy as a whole.
He noticed that Kemp and Aeslan had managed - in their own unique ways - to disarm their opponents' weapons. Kemp had opted for a fundamental method in which he brought his saber into direct contact with the blade and had from there knocked the weapon from the mannequin.
Aeslan had taken it upon himself to be a bit more dynamic and slice the weapon's hilt and render his opponent's sword completely useless.
Both applications of the technique were more than acceptable and they seemed to have grasped the idea very well. Of course, he assumed, that they had both had at least some essential and basic training before this class.
He continued to inspect the other students in the lecture as well as they went about copying the maneuvres that Sorran had just demonstrated. Everyone was at a different lightsaber combat skill level, as was of course expected.
As his eyes fell across Andreus he noticed that the Padawan was experiencing some difficulty in controlling the trajectory of his blade, but he possessed a certain natural reflex that was unexpected from a student whom claimed to have no previous lightsaber knowledge. Sorran knew that Andreus would, with proper training, become a formidable swordsman.

"Very good everyone, I want you to always remember this basic technique when you are both practicing and if you find yourselves in direct combat. This move can both save your life and save the life of your opponent. Once the enemy is disarmed you have the advantage and are then able to restrain and arrest them."

Sorran then moved into Andreus' direct vicinity and smiled gently.

"I think perhaps I shall have to tutor you in some calligraphy classes Padawan, so that you might learn how to hold your saber with conviction. Here...", Sorran firmly grasped the Padawan's sword wrist and brought it up perpendicular with his his shoulder, a fluid forearm line was created.

"Do not lock your elbow, allow it room to move. Everything stems from the wrist, just like holding a calligraphy brush...if you lock your elbow you will find that your wrist will be limited in its rotation. Your movements must flow through your core, through your arm and wrist and extend into the blade. Focus on your movements, feel the Force in your committment to them."

He then kicked his feet between Andreus' legs and separated his stance slightly so that he would have a solid core in his posture and then freedom with his sword arm.

"Do not rush your movements. Shift slowly at first, like water, to gain your accuracy. Only once you have mastered some accuracy can you increase the speed of your movements. It is not always brute strength that fuels your movements in lightsaber combat, Shii-Cho is about speed; you must increase the swiftness of your strikes but reduce physical movement. With blinding inertia the Force flows through us in these techniques and it is the speed with which we committ that gives potency to our strikes."

Sorran then turned and returned once again to the lecture podium.

"Next, now we know how to disarm an opponent, we must look at other forms of attack and openings that allow us to gain advantage. Shii-Cho elicits six body target zones."

He used his saber to point out all the various target zones on his training dummy as he spoke.

"The head. Right arm and side. Left arm and side. Back. Right leg. Left leg."

He cleared his throat for a moment and then continued.

"Now, we must wonder then, if Shii-Cho is concerned with disarming an opponent and not haming them, why must we know points of opening in an opponent's body? The answer is, that we do not always need to use a lightsaber to incapacitate. An elbow to the back with enough speed and force, or a sweeping kick to a target's legs is just as effective. And, if we find we must sever a limb - a hand or arm or leg - to bring our opponent down with our lightsaber, it is more often than not that the heat of our blades will cauterise the sever-point and therefore stop any chance of our opponent bleeding-out. If you find you cannot directly damage or disarm an opponent's weapon without harming them, then we must make sound judgments in severing a limb to cause impairment."

Sorran knew that this discussion may cause some uncertainty amongst the students, for to harm a living being, to dismember an opponent to gain the advantage, could be seen as highly unorthodox. But sometimes such things were necessary, and as Jedi they needed to be fully aware of every possible scenario where their philosophies and beliefs could be tested.

"So, any questions before we continue?"

 

[DeathToll]

Kemp was relaxed, as his eyes followed Sorran. Watching as the teacher walked past him, Kemp was just like the others. He sought to learn, as a Jedi. And though he felt himself capable of more than most, right now he seemed just as he was; perfectly innocent.

Turning back to his mannequin, Kemp swirled his training saber with a circle behind his back and around in front to end with a final swirl to his side. He was ready to learn. He was ready for action.

Noticing Sorran pass by again, Kemp was still listening. He had learned much in the other classes, in the library, and on his own excursions; but there was still so far to go. Impatient, but working on his better nature, Kemp wanted to be tested and tried to his physical extent. He wished to see his skills' results in action. Still, he kept quiet, more focused on the class and Sorran's words than anything else. He'd even almost forgotten about the other students here in attendance. Looking around, he refocused on the one giving the lecture. Kemp listened to Sorran.

 

[Andreus Makaryk]

Andreus' inexperience and resulting lack of control had masked another error that he had made; he had misunderstood Sorran's instruction and gone for the wrist and not for the weapon. Given he had missed both by a foot, it did not much matter, but only when Sorran continued his lecture did the padawan realize the mistake that the instructor had missed. Just as well, for the instructor had plenty to correct with what he did see, and Andreus quietly noted that he should learn from the mistake that had gone undetected.

The padawan stood emotionless as the instructor corrected his grip on the training sword--only now did he realize he probably should have gone with a training lightsaber instead. The behemoth spacecraft he was accustomed to piloting tended to use control yokes instead of joysticks, and the yokes tended to render the wrists somewhat inflexible by the way they were gripped. So the padawan had become used to using the entirety of his arms, and for that matter his entire upper body, to manipulate the controls. Though he was unaccustomed to the wrist being so central to his actions, he recognized immediately that the remedial lesson he had to endure before his more experienced classmates would have application outside of melee combat as well--it would help him acclimate to the joysticks that smaller starfighters tended to use that much faster.

His wrist was, however, unaccustomed to bearing fifteen kilos of weapon without much support from his other muscles. The padawan was physically strong, but that strength wasn't in his wrists...he would have to work on that as well. He allowed Sorran to spread out his stance without saying anything.

Unlike with his wrists, he had no difficulty maintaining the posture of his core; he merely required a bit of instruction on what that posture should be. As Sorran moved on from the special attention on him to address the class at large, Andreus slowly rotated his wrist about its full range of motion, not locking his elbows or any other muscle. The sword felt heavy in his wrists, but not quite as clunky as it had before; it felt better balanced. His wrist felt sore by now, but Andreus tolerated it for the time being; he had to develop his wrist somehow.

Having silently chastised himself for trying to neutralize the dummy's hand instead of its weapon in the first place, Andreus didn't really have much to say about Sorran's lesson to the rest of the class. The body zones made sense to him, at least theoretically, and he had already realized (or perhaps foreseen?) that he should have at least tried to go for the weapon instead of the hand, but that he would not always have that luxury in live combat. At least he could live with having gone for the hand had that been a live combat situation...had he actually held a lightsaber instead of a sword.

 

[Demiurge]

Aeslan fell in line with the other Padawans; when Sorran began exercising proper form and positioning, Aeslan watched intensly. Reflecting on his own executions, the young Padawan realized he was a bit off in his form. Either that, or he was mixing the style of Aurum with the form of Shii-Cho. Compatable as they were, Aurum was pace-based, as opposed to Shii-Cho, which was more ritual.

As Master Sorran wrapped up the current part of the lesson, he began relating to how the points of contact may indeed call upon a Jedi to invoke physical harm, a lesson that Aeslan knew of. Despite that, it still settled abnormally, as if it were something he didn't want to hear. Regardless, as the moment passed, Sorran asked aloud to the class if there were any questions. Aeslan was, frankly speaking, content with remaining silent. After all, that generally meant 'no'.

But after a split second, he recalled what happened earlier with silence, and quickly spoke a discrete, "Nope. No questions."