“Your eating habits are your own, padawan,” Sevrin reassured with a slightly raised brow. It was always difficult to tell when the boy was serious or joking, Sevrin’s own brand of humor quite dry.
“It has to be both,” Sevrin answered the boy, “You can’t blindly wait for the Force to tell you what to do with every swing, it has to be deliberate and practiced. However, you must trust in the Force to come when you call upon it,” He explained. It would take years for Shaw to perfect saber combat, but now was the time to commit a lot of the movements to muscle memory.
Sevrin drew up a stick of his own, meeting Shaw’s horizontal slash with a vertical one in a perpendicular hold. He swiped Shaw’s stick to the side, using the Force in his left hand to gently nudge Shaw’s exposed torso back with the Force, “That could have been a Sith’s lightning,” Sevrin explained, “Never leave yourself open. If your opponent bats your blade away, make yourself a smaller target. Drop into a crouch, move with your blade, pivot on your foot, anything to avoid leaving your torso or flank open to attack. Most Sith you meet will alternate blade swings and Force attacks.”
Sevrin circled around Shaw, waiting for him to engage again. They would be at this for the whole day, “Adaptability is more important than any form, but the form I will teach you..” Sevrin paused, gazing into his padawan’s eyes, “Was crafted by a man that used to be a Sith that was later redeemed to become one of the greatest Jedi that lived. It is called Form X,” Sevrin explained, “The original intent was to be aggressive, but what I will teach you from it are the adaptability and opportunistic methods of fighting. When combined with techniques such as sun djem, you will become a formidable combatant on the field.”
He knew the terms would mean nothing to Shaw, but that was precisely why Sevrin was teaching him. The rigorous training for the foundational steps continued. Each day Shaw had to do that same hike and use the Force to keep objects elevated. Each day Shaw had to do intense training exercises for dueling.
After a month of practicing the basic steps of Form X, they were back at it again with sticks. This time, Sevrin took the band off Shaw’s fingers.
“We will run through a duel today,” Sevrin said, holding up his own stick across his torso, “Remember to weave the Force into your fighting. If you perform admirably, I will teach you disarming techniques.”
@throwitintothefire