Padawan at last! Hopefully.

[Herabec]

Ten years to master? It must be an incredibly complicated form if that's the case. At least my suspicions were confirmed about it requiring an intelligent user to perform it correctly.

"Hopefully, my end won't be the result of rusty skills then," Jas said, making a slightly grim joke. He tightened and loosened his grip slightly around the hilt of his training saber, keeping his grip tight enough to keep hold of the weapon yet loose enough to let it move quickly.

"Did it take you ten years to master?"

 

[Galykia]

Don't be fooled, rusty skills will get you killed with any form. It's just this one takes longer to master, thus a normal amount of training is not completly adequit.

I do not know how long it took me to master, how does one determine a mastery of something? If I had to guess it took about 10 years to get every aspect down with good skill. So I would say so.

Now in that stance, do we procede to offensive or defensive?

 

[Herabec]

Jas thought on this for a moment. This was a completely neutral stance, and thus could go either way. He supposed it would depending upon his state of mind at the moment he met an opponent. Would he want to be the aggressor or the defender? Didn't the Jedi tenants say we should never be the aggressive ones?

"Wouldn't we wait to see if the opponent goes on the attack first? Don't the Jedi teach against aggression?" he asked. In battle, only being defensive was a death sentence, though Jas was truely curious on this matter. Was it allowed for a Jedi to initiate combat?

 

[Galykia]

The correct answer is, either. It is up to you what to be, aggresive or defensive. As for your question, unsanctioned and unneccesary aggresive to one is not allowed, certainly not if they are unarmed. If you have a weapon pulled on you, they certainly mean harm. And that gives you just cause to attack, if you so choose.

 

[Herabec]

Jas nodded again, absorbing this information. Often times it was best to be aggressive at the start of a fight; the longer a fight lasts, the more your opponent learns about you. He learned this not long ago in a duel against another hopeful.

"So then, from this position, I can either attack or wait and defend, but I would personally go on the attack. I'd much rather end a fight quickly as it minimizes the risk to both myself and anyone else nearby," he said, keeping his saber trained on Galykia's chest.

 

[Galykia]

Galykia moved his rightfoot up and raised his saber over his head at a 45 degree angle from where his shoulder and head are. He held the saber with both hand.

This is your attack stance. You may hold your blade with one or two hands. Two hands allows better weapon attacks, accuracy, and stability. One hand allows you to use the force better. I often switch between the two based of my opponent. Show me the stance.

 

[Herabec]

Jas nodded slightly, watching the Knight's every movement, studying the stance. Perhaps he thought to much, as was his nature, but it seemed to open oneself up to counter-attack too much. Then he copied it, raising his training saber above his head at a slightly sharper angle than the knight, his being a 50 degree angle.

He did this with both hands, knowing full well that at the moment, he couldn't use the force using anything more than pure instinct, something he hoped to rectify soon. "Like this, Master?" he asked, finding it an uncomfortable stance to hold.

 

[Galykia]

Move your right foot up a bit, and make your weapon have a smaller angle.

 

[Herabec]

Jas shuffled his right foot up a bit, which would allow him to make a larger swing when he did attack. His arms came down slightly to allow for a smaller angle of his weapon, now a mimic of his master's 45 degree angle. With the movement of his foot and the repositioning of his weapon, he still found it uncomfortable, but bearable.

He could strike out quickly like this; but that all assumed that his opponent wasn't much faster than him. He smirked slightly at that thought, of all the hopefuls, he was one of the fastest. Though, he knew that in the real world, there were some who would leave him in the dust.

"Is this more like it?"

 

[Galykia]

"Yes, much better. Now attack me from that stance."

 

[Herabec]

Attack him? Oh..er..okay.. then..

From this position, the natural strike would be a downward swing and he wasn't prepared to experiment with the nature of this form. Jas would swing downward toward his master from his 45 degree angle, and immediately following would attempt to thrust toward Galykia. He had no expectation of striking his master, but maybe he'd show some form of promise?

 

[Galykia]

Galykia swiftly lifted his weapon to block the attack. As the thrust came he sidestepped it.
"Continue." He commanded to the young boy.

 

[Herabec]

Jas wasn't at all surprised by the ease in which his master parried or dodged his blows, but now the command was simply to continue. Jas could do that. With his thrust simply dodged and with no incoming counter attacks, Jas decided to switch his form of attack up a bit.

He made a half-step to the right, using his master's instruction of bending the knees to his advantage, allowing him to move slightly faster than normal. The step however would turn into a spin as he reversed his grip on his training saber and attempted to strike at his master's right hand side with the reverse gripped weapon. His point was to hopefully deceive his master and catch him off guard.

 

[Galykia]

Galykia blocked the attacks once again. This time he was more alert, as the attacks were better, and continued to improve throughout the day. They spent several hours practicing the attack.

Excellent, I see you know your way around a saber. Tell me the best way to counter an attack.

 

[Herabec]

The hours rolled by and he would continuously work on his technique. Never one to keep using a style that was failing, he would constantly shift tactics while utilizing his natural swiftness. Despite his tricks, he knew he wouldn't land a blow on his master, and in truth he found the combat exercises thrilling, if not exhausting.

During a small break in the combat, he listened to his master's praise and question, and it caused the young padawan to stop and think. The best way to counter an attack? Jas thought for a moment on this. He was not physically powerful, his strongest traits being his mind and agility. Blocking was simply out.

"The best way to counter an attack? Blocking isn't efficient for someone like me, Dodging is more effective, but it can waste too much energy too. I'd have to go with dodging though, as it could give you an opening in which to strike back."

 

[Galykia]

But if your opponent is faster than you, they can keep their aggresiveness. So then what would you do?

 

[Herabec]

That posed an interesting question. His master, for instance was faster than him. If it wasn't for the fact that he'd been defensive this entire time, Jas would have been beaten long ago.

"Then I'd be forced to try and block the blows if that were the case. I suppose you could try to deflect the attack; that is, let it slide off your weapon since that reduces energy use, but it's highly dangerous to try if you're a novice or your opponent uses an unfamiliar form." he said, nearly rambling with his thoughts.

With a slight reddening in his face, he scratched the back of his head slightly. "Or so I've read, Master. I've never tried it."

 

[Galykia]

What does your silly book say to do if they are stronger than you and break your blocks, and are also fastrer?

 

[Herabec]

Jas growled quietly. Now Galykia was belittling him. How should he know what the best form of counter attack was, wasn't it Galykia's job to teach him? He was the master here. "I don't know, Master, you run away? You die? The best defense is a good offense? I don't know what you want me to say."

 

[Galykia]

First of all, You never die. Maybe you runaway, but what if you need to get past your opponent to save a family of 6? The answer is you improvise. One of youir best tools is your mind. Books do not teach one to become a warrior, he must learn from experience.
So in this case how would you improvise?