A Fencer Emerges

[Suhr]

Makashi. That was what it was called. While Suhr and Josiah had been traveling through the Galaxy, Suhr had taken it upon herself to use Josiah's datapad to look up some information from the Databanks of the Templar Order. And that is when she had found it. The form that Master Kytra had used against her time and time again. She had found it! Suhr was filled with glee - The elegance of watching her former master train with this form of combat had taken her breath away and shown her that while Shii-Cho was clunky, simplistic, and designed to disarm, Makashi was smooth, efficient, and designed to keep a lightsaber in the users grip at all times. It was everything Suhr could wish for in a lightsaber form, developed specifically for dealing with other lightsaber combatants.

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"Swift, elegant, powerful and accurate techniques, while using as little energy as possible...
When mastered, the user can execute extremely precise offensive and defensive moves with minimal effort whilst the opponent wears them self down...
Now this I like!"​

It sounded perfect. She pictured her former master in her minds eye, his curved saber making efficient moves, almost of it's own accord. Suhr smiled to herself. This is what she would study. She would master it's principles in her mind, and then once she understood it, she would put it into practice.

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"Master the mind long before the body, Suhr. This is where true understanding, and true mastery comes from." ​

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The teachings of Master Kytra echoed through her mind. He was right, and she knew it. She would sit and learn from the databanks. So that is what Suhr did. More and more frequently, she was seen with a holocron in her hand, or a datapad. It was always something, anything that related to Makashi. In her spare time she became quietly obsessed with the form. She discovered that the techniques of Makashi required smaller cuts than Shii-Cho, and that her parries would have to become flowing ripostes interspaced with unpredictable and devastating lunges. Suhr spent a great deal of time committing to memory the basic, yet precise steps involved in these attacks, and as she read further into her new found love she found herself walking around whichever space she happened to be in, tracing out the steps she was reading about subconsciously.

Alongside the physical information she had to take on and assimilate, Suhr also began to understand that Makashi required a certain mental attitude when it came to it's application. She had to be completely focused not just on the lightsaber combat, but also her surroundings. Indeed, if she was not aware of her surroundings it would be too easy for a foe to flank her and thus ruin the precise footwork that she needed... She had to be constantly looking for a flaw in her foes defenses, testing them with light bladework and then exploiting the weakness with one of Makashi's various techniques. Yet along side this, she would have to be aware of her own weaknesses at all times.

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"This isn't going to be easy..."​

 

[Suhr]

Suhr picked up the Datapad again. She had paused only to rehydrate her body so that she wouldn't fail to recall any of the information she'd been pushing herself to learn. Suhr began to run over the facts and knowledge within it relating to how a Makashi practitioner has to think about their movements. She focused. Focus was needed here, not just for the information, but for the steps that she would take. She allowed herself to take in information about the area around her - A simple training room, a little small. The central mat that she stood upon was raised, not by much. Just enough to signal the boundaries that she would have to adhere to.

She pictured an opponent on the other side of the square platform, and began to judge how far away her imagined foe was. A large part of Makashi was keeping the proper distance between yourself and your foe, to avoid a potentially disarming surprise attack. However, in order to keep the proper distance, Suhr first had to learn the correct footwork. She stepped, sliding her left foot around in a semi circle to a position behind her body. Sideways. Sideways was good. Sideways presented a smaller target, and a smaller target meant for easier defense. Her imaginary foe stepped forwards, and thus Suhr stepped back. Her timing was good - Not flawless or perfect by any means, but good. The change from Shii-Cho to Makashi was a difficult one. She needed to be more deliberate with her movements. Smoother, too. Her foe dipped to her right hand side, and as a result, Suhr moved her body about to the left to maintain the correct distance. Better. But still not smooth enough.

Fluidity with movement would take some time to perfect. If she was more fluid, Suhr would become more efficient. If she was more efficient then she would be able to be more accurate, and faster. And if she was more accurate, faster, more efficient, and more fluid then she would most certainly adhere to the ideas of conserving energy in combat.

She sighed. There was a great deal to take in, but she would be patient. This would take her a lifetime to perfect.

 

[Suhr]

Again. I must run it again.
Suhr stepped back to the far side of the maintenance corridor she had been using to teach herself the basic linear steps of a Makashi fencer. It was roughly one meter wide, by ten meters long. Plenty big enough. Each footstep echoed across the cold metal, until she reached her destination, and turned on her feet. She had set up a series of holo-targets along the floor of the hall, set to specific distances. Each target represented a step, a lunge, or the footwork needed for a linear riposte. Last time she had hit nine out of ten targets. This time she would hit all of them. Once she could master the steps, then she might begin to teach herself the basics of using a lightsaber with Makashi. She exhaled through her nose, allowing herself to focus on the task at hand. Makashi required extreme focus.

And then she stepped. Her body was graceful, and fluid. More efficient than the last time she tried this exercise, and more controlled than the absent minded pacing she had been doing whilst learning. Her foot landed in the center of the holotarget. One. She shifted her right foot up once more, into a lunge - a technique known as an advance-lunge, where the practitioner takes a step forwards, and then lunges in order to strike closer to their target. Suhr had to be quick - Staying in a lunge was never good, it exposed the back leg too much. So that is what she did. As she moved her body into a more vertical position, she also swept her back foot around, so that she was stood in a more southpaw style position. Her foot passed through the third and fourth holotargets. She was doing well. Suhr stepped forwards once more, and then brought her right foot forwards from behind her. Five. Six. A quick shuffle forwards, into a stomping motion made seven and eight. She twisted from the shoulders this time, bringing her round in a less areal version of a Jung. Nine. Finally, she stepped forwards, landing heavily on her right foot so that she would have been able to strike overhead if her lightsaber was in her hand.

Better.​

Suhr stepped back to the far side of the maintenance corridor she had been using to teach herself the basic linear steps of a Makashi fencer. It was roughly one meter wide, by ten meters long. Plenty big enough. Each footstep echoed across the cold metal, until she reached her destination, and turned on her feet. She had set up a series of holo-targets along the floor of the hall, set to specific distances. Each target represented a step, a lunge, or the footwork needed for a linear riposte. Last time she had hit ten out of ten targets. This time she would hit all of them again. Once she could master the steps, then she might begin to teach herself the basics of using a lightsaber with Makashi. She exhaled through her nose, allowing herself to focus on the task at hand. Makashi required extreme focus.

 

[Suhr]

It was time. She had learned the steps, and she was beginning to become much more fluid in her movements. Efficiency was the goal here, but in order to be completely efficient she needed to factor something else in. Her lightsaber. It hung loosely in her right hand, the ruby in it's pommel glinting in the light. She would not ignite it yet - such a thing was better saved for later training, and besides, she would more than likely injure herself with a badly timed flick of the wrist. Suhr stood side on with her right foot pointing forwards. She shifted her left foot to a ninety degree angle from her right, roughly a shoulders width apart. She lowered her body slightly by bending her knees a little - This lowered the Twi'lek's center of gravity so that she could be more stable in her movements. Stability was key. By not losing her center it would prove much more difficult for an opponent to disarm her in the heat of combat.

And then she stepped. Her body was more graceful and fluid than the last time she ran her stepping exercise. Suhr oozed efficiency and control. As she advanced forwards, her right hand moved up. A basic backhanded strike to the left hand side of a foe, which she soon followed up by bringing both her arms back towards her body. Once properly coiled she moved into the advance-lunge. Suhr's lightsaber hilt darted out, a strike that aimed to pierce the guard. She was swift like a Manka-cat coming out of her lunge, so that she could bring her body around to face a more "southpaw" position. From here she swept upwards with her right hand, and then curved it around in a feint to enact a Sai-Cha style technique. She scooped her arm backwards, so that she could control the hilt a little better. A parry. A thrust. And then a flowing riposte. Her left hand, often used as a counterbalance during these strikes rested firmly on her hip during the riposte, a technique designed to confuse an opponent, press them onto their back foot, and then end the duel swiftly. Yet this could not be the end of her movements - Predicting that a well versed foe would be able to defend from this, she brought herself back up to the opening stance she had started in. It felt good. Natural, almost. She was well on her way to being able to use this form to surprise Josiah, but to what effect, she did not know...

 

[Suhr]

Suhr stepped back to the far side of the maintenance corridor that she had visited earlier in her training. Again, she had set up holotargets, although now there were two sets - one for the steps that she needed to perfect, and another for the lightsaber that fit perfectly into her hand. Her footsteps set off a myriad of echoes around the confined metal space, and for a moment she allowed herself to picture one of the many spars she had enjoyed with her former master. In her minds eye she saw him stood opposite her.
His form was immaculate - his feet were a shoulders width apart, his knees bent lightly to lower his center of gravity. His lightsaber was in his right hand, and he drew it from a vertical position across his body to let her know he was ready. The Makashi Salute. Suhr found herself mimicking the move - if her former master used it before combat, then so would she. Her form was better than before. Far more relaxed than her rigid stepping and over thought moves of prior training exercises.

Her thumb twitched.

Her lightsaber burst into ignition.