The Pupil first knows Honour

[Resolute\\.ZEN]

"Very good, Padawan Rorik." He was impressed with how quickly the oldest of his students was picking up the movements. It looked like he was beginning to form ideas of how these manoeuvres worked, and with more practice he would develop a flexibility to help him get even lower and come out of the positions in new ways. But before Ze'kyre could concern himself with moving Rorik forward, he would need to help Ahrim.

"We must unlearn what we have learned, and be willing to let the knowledge flow, like a fountain. These forms are meditative in and of themselves," Ashley said, truth resonating within her words. The Jedi Knight nodded to her, and noticed how she begun to struggle with the movements.

"Bring it in, Padawans." With a wave of his hand, the cooler in the corner of the room opened and three canteens flew to the students before floating in the air in front of them. Sitting himself back on the ground, legs crossed and heels set atop his knees, he interlaced his fingers, and took a moment to form his words.

"Everyone possesses within them a fascia... Under our skin, between our muscles, a layer of tissue and nerve that is strong in consciousness and remembrance. Have any of you heard the term muscle memory? Your fascia is what tells you that you can't jump over this, or flip over there, at least without the aid of the Force. It is what tells you to throw this punch because you are privy to that opening. It is what what compels us to do silly things like walk on our hands, or dance throughout the corridors.

"But a limited fascia can be the bane of skilled warriors. Knowing one form may make it a powerful entity within your arsenal, but knowing many will allow you to use that one form in all new ways. No martial art is an island."

"You are your strongest adversary, Ahrim. Conquering the self is something we must all do over and over again. Our growth is a cycle of self-realization, self-defeat, and then self-encouragement." He sent the padawan in the middle a telepathic message of his own. "I believe you've gone through most of that cycle already, Ahrim." Ze'kyre could see that the Padawan had been defeating himself after realizing how poorly he performed compared to Rorik especially, but if he did not remain disciplined, the wrong side of himself would prevail.

"It is easy to feel good about yourself through some of this cycle, and almost impossible to during most, but we must remain strong willed. Keep stretching the fascia in all new ways, do new things... cartwheel through the ship, spin until you can not stand, write with your weak hand.

"Do you understand this concept, Padawans?"

 

[Apocrypha]

Rising from the third pose, Rorik stretched his warmed muscles - the burn of duress was setting in, and he was thankful for the reprieve. Grasping the canteen in front of him, the Padawan took only a light swig, wetting his lips and mouth, which had begun to dry, before resealing the device. Unsure if their session was coming to a close or not, Rorik didn't want to fill his belly with water before another test of endurance. He seated himself quietly before the Echani teacher, back straight, legs folded, a light sheen of sweat covering his brow and hair, tied back in a knot to keep it from falling into his eyes.

"Without growth, there is decay," he reasoned, glancing towards Ahrim, "and, whether or not you are mastering the techniques demonstrated by Master Ze'kyre, you have learned something today; you have grown. Each of us have our own strengths and weaknesses, friend; there are skills and talents in which you could best me, as could she," he gestured towards Ashley, smiling. "There are even avenues unexplored by Master Ze'kyre, which you or I might have more strength in than he. It is our diversity and unique skills that aid us on a mission for the Order and give us direction.

"Though might I recommend," he went on, "studying moving meditation; with the Force, anything is possible, and in clearing your mind of external stimuli, you can lessen the pain of wounds, quiet aching muscles. As a boy on Coruscant, I focused more on my knowledge and comprehension of the Force than my combat skills, but every morning - once I had proven my understanding of the first two pillars and moved on to self-discipline, and was thus granted the usage of a training lightsaber - I would, nonetheless, be required to undergo shii-cho drills. Using moving meditation, I could fall into the Force, and my Form I velocities would tighten up, become less tiring.

"It's... something to consider, at any rate," he finished.

As Ze'kyre went on to explain the concept of muscle memory, Rorik listened raptly; it was a lesson he had been taught as a young boy on Coruscant, during the beginning of his agility training, but he was always fond of revisiting core concepts.

"Yes, Master Ze'kyre," he expressed, "I do."

 

[Intratec]

Ahrim took a drink from his canteen in response to the mental insight. Screwing its cap back on, he looked to where he placed the container appearing thoughtful despite the mistakes he'd made. "Moving Meditation is something I have experience with. It's a ah... necessity in my particular lightsaber combat form of Soresu." Motioning to the Knight he continued. "My difficulty more or less lies in how I was trained by my first Master I guess. Since I was ten, every day was filled with its practice. Morning to afternoon to dusk. The crazy old man even tried to attack me in my sleep. Just so I would be better prepared against unknown assailants when I am at my most vulnerable."

Having unscrewed the cap and taken another drink the Padawan swished the contents around. "He used different lightsaber forms against me. Blasters... practice blasters I should say. Multiple training remotes. So you know, I find it difficult to learn anything else since I've given Soresu my all. Now it's so thoroughly ingrained in me I've become my own strongest adversary as you stated, Sensei. I admit it freely. I understand where you're coming from, I do. It just doesn't change the fact I've been taught in that one way for so long it's second nature now. But... I wish to continue this training. To broaden my horizons a little, who knows something good'll come out of it for me in the long run, yeah?"

 

[AshCloud]

The Human Female breathed deeply trying to find her center. Ashley hadn't heard the term fascia before, but understood what it meant. Her Favored saber form, Ataru, relied heavily on aerial stunts. Everyday she stretched her body out to loosen her muscles, and applied new movements to her every day training regiment. She realised now that keeping her Fascia loose was a good way to adapt to other training forms. "I'm really enjoying this master." She responded to the question, "I understand, I'll start walking on the ceiling if that's what it takes!"

She smiled at the Echani Jedi and the other padawans around, "Naturally, if we see eachother struggling, we should offer assistance to our siblings in arms, right?" Se was unfamiliar with how the Echani treated such things, and assumed it was similar to what she was told when first arriving on the massive Starship they stood on: "A Jedi is never truly alone."

 

[Resolute\\.ZEN]

Ze'kyre appreciated all of their understanding, even if Ahrim felt confused by the movements the echani knew that some meditation and a few more lessons would not help him along. "Talent is nothing but the pursuit of interest, Ahrim. You will figure it out," he shrugged before adding "if you truly want to." Ze'kyre did not know that moving meditation was a technique, instead having felt of it as being a lifestyle instilled by his training as a monk, but the sentiment still stood.

"Art is not something that takes from you, Padawan. At times it leaves us drained and tunnels our vision, but only gives us more and more. It is an illusion to believe you have nothing else to give to the other forms." He nodded his head to add weight to his words. "Like I said, no art form is an island, Soresu and the first tier of echani share a lot of similarities and if you continue with it you will bridge the gaps for yourself."

Ze'kyre stood up from his seated positions but then knelt back down, extending his left foot in a stance similar to that of the negativa. He leaned over his right hand, and touched his left hand on that same side as he allowed his head to touch the ground. He stayed like this a moment, showing his respect for the art and honour of his people, paying homage to the floor upon which all art was built. Then, suddenly, he kicked up onto his hands.

He held the position for a few moments, and then began walking towards the door. It was just over a dozen easy steps before he arched at the back and placed his feet on the ground. His weight shifted to his heels and he limboed back to his straight stance. The door slid open in front of him, but he turned back to his students.

"You've all done well Padawans. Practice yusuru, condition your escapes to be like second nature. I will be spending the next little bit on Arbra if you wish to have more sessions. For now, make sure you all stretch thoroughly," a smile came to his face. "Why not see how many steps you can take on your hands?" Upper body strength was critical to the first tier of the echani art, and he was confident that these three students could soon begin to practice it effectively.

"Good job today."