Caitlin Windancer's Form One (Shii-Cho) Training

[Zanear the Edge]

The room is a simple square, 50 x 50. It's floor and walls are padded for extra protection. On the North wall is a rack that contains training sabers, plus a group of lockers to keep personal items in.

Standing in the center of the room is a shimmering figures in white robes, Jedi Master Augustus Starwarrior, the Half-Chiss Jedi that was now One with the Force. When she enters, he smiles and inclines his head. Greetings Cate, it's been far too long....

[Caitlin Windancer]

Cait enters the room wearing loose fitting dark blue pants, a short green tunic, a white long sleeve blouse and knee-hi soft gray leather boots. Her red-gold hair is braided around her head like a crown. She is ready for her training to begin. She walks with a graceful dancer like sway into the training room. She smiles when she sees who is waiting for her.

Hello Gus, much too long. Thank you for taking the time to do this for me. You are looking well. I wish I could give you a hug like old times.

How shall we begin? What do you want me to do first?

[Zanear the Edge]

The Jedi laughs at her comment. I'll bet you won't look as good once your dead! He winks at the end, simply teasing her like old times. Again she speaks, and he nods his head. Master Windancer! Patience! You sound like a youngling with her first lightsaber. He chuckles a bit, enjoying this chance to spend with a dear friend.

Motioning for her to sit, he 'walks' over and 'sits' next to her. First, tell me how many Forms the Jedi teach.

[Caitlin Windancer]

Cait chuckles when she sees his wink and teases him back. No better I don't age.

She chuckles again then says in mock-meek voice. Yes, Master Starwarrior.

When he motions her to sit she gracefully sinks to the floor as she sits down. Seven fighting forms, eight if you include Form Zero as a fighting form. She replies after thinking a moment.

[Zanear the Edge]

Excellent! he exclaims at her response. See? Already you remember something....Tell me, what is Form Zero, and which Jedi invented it?

[Caitlin Windancer]

Yes, Master. She says with a smile. It helps I had a good teacher. *winks* She knows he will know who she is talking about.

Form Zero? It is not actual form of combat. It is an ethical principle that states a Jedi should know when to use their lightsaber and when to find an alternative solution to the problem. A Jedi should restrain themselves from using combat when another skill would be a better solution. Drawing one's weapon should be a last resort when all other things have failed.The idea of the form was to get a solution without resorting to violence.

Which Jedi invented it? Hmmm....well Master Yoda defined the idea of the form but I don't think he invented it. It has always been a core principle of the Jedi as far as I know.

[Zanear the Edge]

He nods at her answers, satisfied. Indeed. Yet you gave the answer I sought. He waved his hand at the rack at the far end of the wall. Please go and take one that suits you. You'll be using it for training purposes.

[Caitlin Windancer]

Cait smiles. Good. Yes, Master Starwarrior. She gets fluidly to her feet and walks over to the rack. She picks up a training saber she feels drawn to, she tests its balance and turns it on. A brilliant green blade appears, she makes a few passes with it and then turns it off and walks back to Gus.This one I think.

[Zanear the Edge]

He nods to her as she returns. Alright Cate, I'm about to bombard you with knowledge. Are you ready? He says with a wink. When she responds with an affirmative, he begins.

Form I: Shii-Cho, also known as The Way of the Sarlacc, or The Determination Form, was the first of the seven forms of lightsaber combat. As the most ancient style of lightsaber combat, Shii-Cho was developed during the transition period from swords to lightsabers. As lightsabers were wielded in a manner similar to swords, many of the maneuvers, such as attacks or parries, remained unchanged, as the key principles of the old sword-fighting methods continued to be incorporated. The simplicity and persistent methods of the form led it to being dubbed the "Way of the Sarlacc" and the "Determination Form". As Shii-Cho was developed prior to either the emergence of Dark Jedi or Sith Lords, it was not developed with lightsaber-to-lightsaber combat in mind. Despite the development of a combat form tailored to lightsaber dueling, Shii-Cho was not rendered obsolete. Its simplicity and basic focuses left the form ideally suited for basic training, and it was used to provide initiates with a basic introduction to lightsaber combat. Shii-Cho remained an effective form of combat for thousands of years, its simplicity making it a good fallback option when no other form would do.


He pauses, then continues. Shii-Cho fostered an emotionally-heated mindset, which resulted in the considerable temptation to execute combat with lethal intent, requiring great restraint to exercise the form without going too far. Despite the pull to kill, the style was designed for the purpose of disarming without seriously injuring. In combat, Form I encouraged deliberate tactics, calling for continuous, step-by-step advancement while cutting off the opponent's angles. Shii-Cho was specialized towards engaging multiple opponents, the wide, sweeping motions being ideally suited towards attacking numerous adversaries. However, Form I was not as useful against single opponents, as such enemies had complete mobility and could find a weakness in Shii-Cho's comparatively clumsy bladework. In order to teach students to draw upon the Force rather than rely on their senses, early level Shii-Cho blast-deflect training was conducted with a blindfold, forcing the initiate to rely upon his instincts. Later training was conducted through the use of sequences and velocities, the continuous repetition making the moves instinctive reflexes. These training regimes were carried over to all following lightsaber combat forms, which used similar methods. The basic rules of attacks, parries and body target zones were established by Shii-Cho combat. Shii-Cho also had two methods of combat which determined how these moves were executed; Ideal Form and Live Combat Form.

He takes a moment, letting Cate absorb and reflect before continuing. Ideal Form was mainly used in sparring, and all the moves and maneuvers were executed at perfect horizontal/vertical angles, with attacks and parries being perpendicular to one another. The Live Combat Form was much more functional, the attacks being diagonal strikes at each respective body zone, the goal being to increase speed and reduce actual movement. Ideal Form is something you need to practice on your own. Once shown it's quite simple. However, Live Combat is what you'll learn with me. Going back into 'teacher' mode, the Jedi Master continues. The body target zones were numbered as follows; 1 - head, 2 - right arm and side, 3 - left arm and side, 4 - back, 5 - right leg, 6 - left leg.

Shii-Cho philosophy emphasized victory without injury and as such, the sun djem mark of contact was traditionally employed by Form I practitioners. Keeping with the use of sun djem, one of the attacks utilized by Form I practitioners was referred to as the "Disarming Slash", consisting of a strike directed at the opponent's weapon in an attempt to rip it out of their grasp. Another of the techniques utilized by Shii-Cho was dubbed the "Sarlacc Sweep", a wide sweeping attack in which the duelist struck against multiple enemies.

Also, there's a specific way to hold your saber: in Shii-Cho form, a lightsaber is held by putting one hand on the very top, and another hand on the bottom. On the top hand, pressure was applied to the 4th finger, 5th finger, and the thumb, as if one could fight without the 3rd and 2nd fingers. The bottom hand was maneuvered in a push-pull motion.

Now, please take a basic stance, and run through the body zones, striking with your weapon in the area that they would be.

[Caitlin Windancer]

Oh no, not the bombardment! She says raising her hands in mock-horror then spoils it with a chuckle. Yes, Gus I'm ready.

She then listens to the review of information on Form I. She nods as she listens. None of this is new. She dregs up it from her memory when she was a padawan so long ago when she first learned this.

She continues to listen intently as he goes through the history of the Form, it's nicknames and uses. He goes over the strength and weakness of the form, the two main combat methods, the velocities, and target zones. Then he mentions the sun djem, the Disarming slash and the techniques called the Sarlacc Sweep. She remembers practicing these against remotes.

She nods as he list the target zones..1-head, 2-right arm and side, 3-left arm and side, 4-back, 5-right leg and 6-left leg. She remembers this when she learned this as a padawan.

She nods when he talks about the proper way to hold the saber. Yes, I remember this. She thinks.

When he says:

"Now, please take a basic stance, and run through the body zones, striking with your weapon in the area that they would be."

Yes, Gus.

She walks fluid grace to the center of the floor her dancer training is evident.

She gets into the proper stance. Her feet hip-width apart with her weight balanced on the balls of her feet. Her saber in her hands the right hand on the top part of the hilt closest to the blade and the left hand on the bottom. The her fingers arched and curled around the hilt of the saber. She holds it lightly but firmly in her hands. She then turns on the saber with quick flick with her finger.

The brilliant green of the blade appears. Do you want me to go in a certain order or does it matter?
As she gets ready to strike.

[Zanear the Edge]

He grins, and nods. Follow them in order, 'walking' through each one at a time.

[Caitlin Windancer]

Yes, Gus. She says and returns his grin. As ordered.

First zone...Head.

She steps forward with her right foot swings from the shoulder left to right in a diagonal slash where the person's head would be. She uses the momentum to finish the strike with the blade tip pointing toward the floor. She the steps back into the neutral position and raises the saber to the guard position.

Zone 2 and then 3. Right arm and side, Left arm and side.

She steps forward again on her left foot this time in a swift, fluid motion that looks deceptively slow because of its smoothness. She lifts the blade to make an overhead strike. She does a downward vertical strike to the right arm and side as she steps to the right with her right foot. She then twists her wrists rolling them to the right to make a horizontal strike across the body to the left side. She lifts her left foot and steps to the left to finish this strike She continues through with the strike then twists her wrists rolling them to the left to make a diagonal slash from left to right to the left arm starting at the deltoid muscle in the upper arm and ending at the pelvis of the left hip. She ends in another horizontal slash across the body at the level of the hips. She shifts her weight to her right foot to complete the strike she then pivots on her right foot to step back with the left foot to go back into the neutral position with the blade in the guard position.

Zone 4 ...Back

She steps to the right with her right foot circling around to the back. Her blade in the guard position she draws back her hands and steps back on her left foot in preparation to make an horizontal stab between the shoulder blades lunging forward on her right foot while extending her arms forward with the blade. She then shifts her weight to her back leg and steps back with her right foot shifting her weight to that foot to recover from the strike. She raises the blade to the guard position as she steps back.

Zone 5...Right leg. And then Zone 6...Left leg.

She lunges on her left foot and makes a horizontal strike from left to right to the back of the right knee. She shifts her weight to the right leg and moves her left foot back to the neutral position. She then moves to right stepping on her right foot as she makes an upward vertical slash to the left calf. She rolls her wrists so that her top hand is closest to her body and the bottom hand is closest to the leg. The slash ends with the tip of the blade pointing up. She then steps back to the neutral position shifting her weight to left foot. She then looks at Gus to see what he wants her to do next.

How was that?

[Zanear the Edge]

He smiles as the training saber makes it's solid strikes. When Cate finishes, he says Well done!

Waving his hand, a button is depressed and a slim droid walks in from a as before unseen door. As you may or may not know, this is what's called a proxy droid. It takes the form of anyone, and has within it's core the complete fighting style of many different duelists. Since my...condition...prohibits me from actually dueling you, I'll be using this droid. He waved his hand again, and the droid shimmered for a moment before taking on the form of Gus himself! The now very much real "Gus' walks to the rack and pulls a curved handled blade, similar to the one the real Master had. Walking back to center, the droid grinned and bowed to his opponent.

Now remember, this Form is not well suited to one on one combat, but both of you will be using the Form, the ghost spoke to Cate. Remember the rules, in training, three attacks at most, no Force Powers allowed. Always defend attacks before counter attacking. Remember to describe not only how you hold your weapon, but with which hand, or both. Describe footwork, and where your attacks are aimed at (target zones, but describe the spot, don't use the number.) And always, be specific as possible and use logic. Sometimes you can't block everything! Be creative. And most importantly, and this is the ULTIMATE rule...

Never, ever, say you land a hit, or that you say what your opponent does or how he/she reacts. That's the fast way to be called a God-Mod. EVERYthing is always, you attempt to hit this, you aim for that, you try to do this.... do you understand? Now..any questions?

[Caitlin Windancer]

Thank you, Gus. Cait smiles back relieved that she did it right. It has been awhile since she fought like this.

She uneasily eyes the droid when it comes in.
She recognizes it from seeing pictures of them as a proxy droid.

Yes, I have seen pictures of them in the records.

She raises an eyebrow when shimmers and changes into Gus.

Cute Gus. There are two of you. Though I like the original the best.
You couldn't start me out on something more my speed?
Like an Ewok with a stick? She says somewhat humorously, partially joking.

She nods to the real Gus. Yes, I'll remember. 3 attacks, no Force powers. Got it.

Why do I feel like I just got in over my head? She says half to herself as returns the proxy "Gus's" bow.
I understand Gus. Who do you want to go first? Or does it matter?

She says as she goes into the neutral on guard position. Her saber held in front of her in a relaxed on guard position. Her right hand closest to the blade and left hand near the end of the hilt. Both hands are in a relaxed but firm grip and her fingers are curved and arched up over the hilt. Her weight is on the balls of her feet, her legs are hip width apart.

[Zanear the Edge]

The Ghost smiles, and the Proxy mimics it. Confidence Cate! You can do it. He laughs and moves to sit on the other side of the bench. I want you to attack first. He will defend, then I want you to attack in a combo strike, ok?