Takeda's Form One (Shii-Cho) Training

[Takeda]

Takeda inhales, and as he begins to exhale he shifts his weight stepping forward quickly with the left foot leading. Unlike earlier, he steps farther offline to the left. His blade does not follow the same arc as earlier, but remains in its position to him for most of his movement, guarding him from a sudden thrust or fast cut.

With full speed, he brings the blade down "soft" in a strike towards the proxy's right forearm, its momentum and force in a manner sufficient enough to sever the arm above the wrist, but reserved in projected energy.

Takeda is anticipating for a sudden block and reversal, hence the lack of full force behind the blow.

The words of one of his early instructors go through his mind.
"Leave room for an aggressive opponent, they will project their power. if one strikes first, with similar force one can break under the load. Give them room, their power must have an outlet, you must assist them in the decision of that power's path... to your advantage.

[Zanear the Edge]

Due to the size of the larger foe, the proxy Gus, holds his saber in both hands, the right hand gripping the top and the left holding the bottom of the handle, although the hilt style makes it look awkward. Turning it to the side, he meets the blow horizontally halfway on the down strike, his waist turning slightly so that the blades connect at the center. Sliding his left foot back directly behind him he bends at the knees slightly, absorbing the power of the blow, then pushing back up to disengage and takes a short step back.

The ghost at the back of the room claps and says, Good, a good start! Now try a three attack combo, following those same rules of the Form.

[Takeda]

Takeda centers himself against the proxy opponent once again, and reminds himself to relax. He closes his eyes for a moment, and centers himself within the force.

Unable to determine anything significant through the feeling of the force her examines his opponents positioning and body language. A course of action determined he proceeds.

Stepping forward with the right as a lead, His blade holds angled away from him, but centered ready to catch a fast strike to either his exposed legs, a thrust, or a fast cut to his head or right wrist. As his step lands the blade drops to a horizontal the tip to the left his right palm face up, and is "punched" forward akin to an uppercut. The shot would connect to the face of the proxy had he not been centered, but he must engage the blade of his opponent to execute proper control of his opponent's choices of actions.

As the blades strike and pop, he projects enough force into the blow to both try and force his opponent into applying resistance to make it an effective block, and to help propel his blade form the deflected "bounce" into the next attack.

Takeda continues the combo by stepping forward with his left foot and rotating his left shoulder around and to the side of his opponent, his right hand now rebounding rotates as the blade climbs to a more vertical position, enough to clears his own head as her rotates it around and his wrist turns over in a highly efficent manuver. His right wrist near his own face, palm now facing down arcs out carrying the blade on a flat trajectory towards the right rear and side of his opponet'e head, his steps having closed the distance so much that the proxy's right shoulder is now directly in front of his chest.

His right foot reverses course and steps behind him slightly and he pivots on his hip as his blade recoils from it;s second strike, then with a roll of his wrist again to keep up the momentum of his blade, it descends in a simple downward strike that should "cut" with the 6 inches of blade at the tip, in a line that would start at the edge of the neck and continue down along and across the spine at a very slight diagonal. The technique of the final cut being designed to instantly incapacitate an opponent by severing his spinal cord, but not immediately fatal.

[Zanear the Edge]

The proxy moved with fluid, efficient grace, he moves forward a step 'into' the first strike, parring the blade away and to his left side. The follow up to that is aimed high and so he bends his knees and ducks under, letting the blade 'swoosh' over his head. Slipping his left leg backwards, he twists his body bringing his already somewhat high guard towards the middle, deflecting the downward slash away from his body and letting the blades hiss and spark as Takeda's weapon 'rides' down the length of the Proxy's own, pushing out at the end near the hilt.

The proxy steps back and returns to center, as Gus speaks again. Well done, good sequence. Now try again, and this time be ready for the droid will counter attack.

(remember to defend all his attacks first then counter attack)

[Takeda]

For the next exchange, Takeda readies himself to center as before. When the Proxy indicates it is ready to proceed, feints a cut to the right wrist, disengages with a roll of his wrist and extends his arm into a thrust to the right shoulder/upper chest of the Proxy.

[Zanear the Edge]

Grinning, the Proxy droid moves his blade back and horizontal, angling it slightly to 'catch' the feint at his wrist, when it didn't come, and instead the blade was thrust at his right shoulder, he drops quickly, crouching on his knees and snapping his legs wide to balance himself.

When the weapon sails overhead, and Takeda is extended, the Gus-thing snaps his own blade to the left while rising, seeking the Sun Djem on Takeda's right hand! Turning his body to the right, spinning on his right foot and adding momentum, he makes a wide sweep at the Kwa's neck, going a full 360 degrees from start to finish.

[Takeda]

A bit surprised by the sudden crouch of the Proxy, he immediately started a step back with his right foot to recover form his lunge. As Proxy-Gus's blade slices over for a Sun Djem, Takeda speeds the recovery of his arm by rolling his shoulder back, making a parry with his blade just forward of the emitter.

As Gus whirls in a 360, Takeda steps to shorten the time and distance so Gus's blade will strike sooner than expected. Takeda places his blade in the path of Gus's wrist, to see if he will effectively Sun Djem himself. Then ensuring enough of a pause to counter if Gus shorts his blade, or if he tries to reach it around to get a traded blow on Takeda, Takeda steps out of close proximity with a downward cut to Gus-Proxy's head.

[Zanear the Edge]

The timing was excellent, and as Takeda moves to counter his own attack, the Proxy pulls his arm back straight, keeping the elbow bent and tight to the body. As he finishes the spin, He angles the blade up 30 degrees and extends his arm, effectively blocking the blow aimed at his head.

While both the weapons are high, he shoots out a quick kick aimed at Takeda's right knee cap, then slides his own blade down and to the right, disengaging with T's only to slash directly at his left lower thigh.


Well done! Nice counter, the Ghost Jedi said. That's one of the rare time's a defense can be used like an attack! Not many moves qualify, and that's why it's so specific to do it right.

[Takeda]

Not expecting the kick, Takeda takes the only measure he is able and lifts his leg to catch it on the calf instead of the knee, an annoying prospect but not damaging. However this means he is not able to shift his weight fast enough to withdraw his left leg as Proxy-Gus's saber slashes at his leg. With a roll of his arm and raising his shoulder Takeda thrusts almost at his own leg, his blade darting in and downward just in time to block. Had Takeda been of more normal human strength, he would not have been able to hold his saber rigid enough to prevent being cut by his own blade being driven into him from the impact. Noting the speed and agility of the Proxy, Takeda continues his shoulder and forearm forward in an effort to forearm strike the proxy in an effort to either make him withdraw, or physically move him out of the way.

Takeda readies himself for the normal verbal thrashing from an instructor, for while it is common for an instructor will deviate from the established guidelines in an effort to "school" a student, the student is still expected to follow the original guidelines.

[Zanear the Edge]

The size of the Kwa makes the defense work, where normally he would have paid for that with the sting of the training blade. Instead he is able to counter, and even throws out a elbow of his own, the quick snap almost catching the Proxy off guard. He leaned back and as the elbow grazed his chin, he flipped backwards several meters and landed soundly on his feet.

The Force Ghost stood and applauded. Well done! Improvising is good, but try to stay true to Form. He laughs, then continues. Although your opponent won't be so generous! Now tell me, what have you learned so far about Shii-Cho?

[Takeda]

Takeda snaps off his blade, bows to the proxy and then turns to listen to and respond to Gus.

"Shii-Cho is basic bladework of both attack and defense, while it teaches one fundamentals, it is quite lacking when employed against a practiced opponent, unless other means are added."

Takeda walks over to the lockers and retrieves a towel as he sets down the training saber. Instinctively he starts to offer a towel to Gus then smiles apologetically.

"Sorry, your errr condition is a new experience for me."

[Zanear the Edge]

The Proxy returns the bow, and shuts off it's own saber, snapping it to his belt. With a lop-sided grin, he walks back towards the hole in the wall he came from, at the last moment shimmering back into droid form. It enters, then shuts down, the wall closing back up.

Gus laughs as the towel is offered, a hearty one full of mirth. No worries my friend, it's the thought that counts! He pauses, letting Takeda get comfortable. Your assessment is correct. But you can see why even today it is still taught? The fundamentals will always be important, and it's wide sweeps and slashes are useful against multiple opponents. It's the adding of other elements that make it dangerous and unpredictable.....all of which leads to the evolution of the other Forms. I am qualified to teach Forms 3, 4, and 5. The others I have either incomplete training in or never had the chance to study. He grins and stands once again. I'd be honored to train you in any of those Forms that I know if you wish to learn. Oh...and By the way...you've passed Shii-Cho, congratulations!