A Lesson on the Water

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Selka Ventus"]

Taeli heard everything the woman in front of her was saying, and began to quickly process it. While she could see that it might have been some time since Selka actually wielded her lightsaber, she was still rather good for being out of practice. Switching her style in accordance to what she said, she started going for more full blade strikes and found it suited her, even if she had to adapt and change things a bit.

The attacks themselves were fine, but she didn't have as a full grip on her saber as she would like and once Selka went on the offensive, if she did, she would be hard pressed to stop the woman from pushing her back as she heard the curved hilt allowed a user to have slightly different angles to their attacks than standard ones.

"So Makashi requires exhausting and frustrating your opponent's strikes while waiting for either an opening to launch a counter-attack?" she asked, throwing another feint before sweeping her blade towards the left side of Selka. It would most likely be blocked, but she continued speaking by asking as well, "I'm guessing its a combination of fencing and actual sword fighting? And who says I just have a one-handed style?"

She added the last part with a sly grin as she continued to test Selka's defenses and watch how she used parries and redirections as her defense.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

"The majority of Makashi is one-handed; most of the stances are made for one hand. There are moments when you can get away with shifting to a two-handed grip for better power or leverage, at the cost of speed, but it's important that you recognize that you need to learn to do that in the Makashi mode. Rule number one of learning a new art from a new teacher: until you get fully competent, your existing style is irrelevant. Unlearn what you have learned. All right -- let's start tuning this move by move."

She circled to the left, right foot moving first in a carefully balanced crossover. Her aim was to put Arcanix between herself and the closest point on the enclosure's wall. As her stance normalized, she quickstepped forward, intending to drive Arcanix back a little closer to the wall. Her sabre whipped up and to the right, a bladetip rake for Arcanix' face, and one she expected to run into a parry. At the last instant she rolled her elbow and wrist, and the sabre flicked over and down, at the place where Arcanix' neck connected to her left shoulder.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Selka Ventus"]

Taeli parried the attack at her face, but she wasn't fast enough to completely stop the flick of Selka's wrist towards her shoulder. A stinging pain erupted in her shoulder as she suffered a small burn as she pivoted away and backed up. She felt the wall against her back and she couldn't afford to be pinned against it or Selka would destroy her before she had a chance.

She pushed off the wall, circling around as she launched several attacks, using her wrists to make the attacks rotate slightly, aiming for small nicks like she had suffered to her shoulder. Two flicks towards the eyes, before she brought a sweeping slash towards the outside of Selka's thigh, hoping it would do something, but expecting a redirection.