Je'daii Training - The First Temple: Stav Kesh

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

Zavzen stood in his usual outfit of an open back silk tunic and baggy black silk trousers. While to most they didn't look like much they were very durable. The silk was Shell Spider and, as such, Blaster Resistant, also, Phrik plates were sewn in at key areas. His feet were bare, the Force protecting them from harm. Over the top of his tunic Zavzen usually wore a regular, brown, wool robe but this time it was off to the side, hung over a tree branch. He was also absent his sash that he tied around his waist, the sword sheaths (with swords still sheathed), that were usually tied to the sash, joined it and his holster (still containing the blaster) underneath the cloak.

Zavzen was at that moment standing in a clearing, surrounded by thick forest, on Tortuga. Rocks, boulders really, stuck out of the ground at weird angles, breaking through the tall grass like small mountains. Opposite Zavzen was a path that lead back to the rowdy town he had recently landed at. It was that path that Zavzen was staring at, obscured by vines as it was.

The Zabrak was waiting for [member="Venris"] Helios to arrive. Reecently Zavzen had helped Venris find his path in the Force, and while it wasn't with the Light like he suspected the human had wanted, it was close. Venris had chosen the Grey Path to follow, the same as Zavzen and as such the Je'daii Ranger had offered to make Venris a Je'daii Journeyer, a student of the Je'daii ways. So, here he was, waiting for the newest Je'daii to appear and begin his training.

They were going to start with the teaching of Stav Kesh. Stav Kesh was an ancient temple on Tython that would have been found up in the mountains of the Ice Giant Range, located on the continent Kato Zakar. It dealt with teaching hand-to-hand in all forms, so that was what Zavzen was going to teach.

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Zavzen Sae'ryx"]

Venris strolled up the path away from the harbour town that the crew had taken to frequenting since their first day on Tortuga. Each step he took was silent as an owl's wing beat, and he seemed to blend in with the background from time to time as he made his way through the forest.

He had left behind all but his lightsaber and vibro sword for this, making him almost as light as a feather compared to how he usually was-which was still light enough for him to execute no small amount of acrobatics mixed in with his fighting. He had felt that for this particular lesson he would only need the bare minimum in terms of equipment.

Soon Venris stood before his new teacher of the Je'daii way, standing not ten feet from Zavzen With his hands folded behind his back and his hood masking any expression he made. He waited for Zavzen to begin his first lesson as a Je'daii.

 

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

[member="Venris Helion"]

"Right your first 'Temple' of training will be Stav Kesh, Martial Arts. I will not be teaching you any style, nor will I be teaching you how to react. Instead I will be teaching you ways to block and ways to punch, ways to kick and ways to grapple, I will teach you how to use your full body as a weapon, how to fight while holding a sword or lightsaber and how to fall and roll and fight on the ground. The reason for this is because I feel that if you learn a style you will become restricted in your options, I will instead be giving you the tools to make your own choices when fighting, to fight however you instincts tell you to." Zavzen stopped pacing, having started sometime while he was speaking. "Any questions before we begin?"

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Zavzen Sae'ryx"]

Venris shook his head. "None from me, you've been perfectly clear and I'm ready to begin when you are." He shed his coat and gloves, setting them inon a flat rock nearby before resuming his previous position in front of Zavzen, waiting for his teacher to begin.

 

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

"Very well. First lesson will be on blocking. A vital skill needed when you fight someone up close. Now, I tend to teach by showing my student something, having them try it, then I explain it, then they try it again. If you have any qualms with this, say so. If not punch at my face on my nod." Zavzen then settled into a ready stance. His feet were just less than shoulder width apart, with his right foot forwards. His body was angled away slightly to prevent his being front on. His arms were held loosely in front of him, right in front of left. Zavzen nodded.

[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Zavzen Sae'ryx"]

Venris moved forward immediately and thrust one fist up towards Zavzen's face, making sure not to telegraph his move too much like some rank amateur would.

 

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

[member="Venris Helion"]

As the punch came closer, Zavzen stayed still. It was only at the last second he acted. His right arm came around, guiding Venris's hand so that it carried just past his face, close enough he could feel it pass. Zavzen stepped forwards, rotating his body to the left slightly, and fired a punch at Venris's now open chest. He stopped just short of impact. He stepped back and began to explain the simple looking manoeuvre

"Blocking can be a difficult thing to always do right. In my opinion there are two forms of blocking: physical and non physical. Physical blocking is what I just did, I requires you to make physical contact with the attacking arm, leg, tentacle, whatever and apply your own strength against the attacks. The best way to physically block is not to stop the attack bur redirect it in a way that leaves them open to attack. Before you physically block the attack think about, if you can, if trying to block would be bad for you. Do they have a weapon they could use against my blocking arm? Are they too much heavier and stronger than me? If either of these answers are yes, then try not to physical block as you could be harmed."

Zavzen shook his head and stopped his pacing, which he had started during his speech. "Now, non physical blocking. This is what most people call dodging but I think its the best block possible. The attack will miss, you might be able to get the opponent to over extend and unbalance themselves and you don't have to make contact with them nor risk the possibility of not being able to block the attack. However, regardless on which one you use there is a key rule I use: Just Miss. If you have to block, don't make it complicated and an energy waste, just do the job and the best way to save energy is to have a short block, only making the attack just miss. Much like I did here, redirect the attack as close to the body as you dare. In these circumstances consider how close is safe, taking in things like: flexibility and if they are armed.

"Now, are you okay with this lesson and should we move on to the next?"

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Zavzen Sae'ryx"]

Venris nodded as he took several steps back, considering everything Zavzen said. "Either physically block by redirecting the attack to conserve energy or just dodge....simple and easy, that's actually how I usually fight without a weapon." He said. "We can go to the next one."

 

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

Zavzen nodded in understanding before speaking up. "Next is the most important thing in fighting. How to fall. Now, what can you tell me first of all? Then we will go from there."

[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Zavzen Sae'ryx"]

"Well...when I stumble like when somebody hits me in the leg to trip me up I either bend my knees so they hit the floor first and soften the landing for me, or I use it to roll into a tumble and use my momentum to shoot back up onto my feet." Venris replied, recalling all the times he had to use acrobatics or rolls to recover and make up for an opening an opponent had taken advantage of over the years.

 

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

[member="Venris Helion"]

Zavzen paused as he mentally ran the scenarios Venris had mentioned through his head. "Its good that you already do this, but you only mention getting back to your feet." Zavzen paused as he thought through what he planned to say and reorganised it to remove talking about how to get back to standing.

"When you fall, your opponent will think that they have the advantage. If you have the skills you can use that confidence to your own advantage. By being on the floor you have access to your opponents legs and can easily attack them, something that is harder to guard against that a strike at the torso. Also, when you are on the floor, you are harder to hit. It all depends on how well you can fight low. Remind me to teach you Gǒuquán at some point.

"Anyway, fighting from the ground requires you to know how to fall properly. You touched on this just then. You mention that when you fall you use the momentum and apply it into rolling forwards. When you fall safely you must do the same thing, but if you want to stay on the ground, you use the momentum to "fall" away from a follow up attack or into a low fighting stance."

Zavzen stopped in is lecture, unsure on what else to say, "Do you understand?"

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Zavzen Sae'ryx"]

"I think so," Venris admitted, "Rather than just using that tactic to get onto my feet I should use it to attack from a lower vantage point, like hitting their legs or swinging up under their guard." He honestly hadn't thought of doing that before, as his style of fighting required him to be on his feet for the duration of any fight. Not to say he hadn't tripped an enemy up from time to time or struck low, but Venris mainly fought at regular level like most fighters.

 

[Zavzen Sae'ryx]

[member="Venris Helion"]

Zavzen nodded at what Venris had just said. "I'm not surprised that you've never thought of it, it seems few do. You see, the brain seems to only register on one 'level', rarely focussing on what is above or bellow. But that's why this tactic can be used as a distraction or to devastating effects. The advantage is compounded in combat, the brain tends to get tunnel vision when you fight unless you train against it, focussing on the opponent and disregards 'unimportant' information, what's above and bellow is often included as 'unimportant'."

Zavzen then turned to pick up his sash, cloak and weapons from a near by tree before walking deeper into the trees, gesturing Venris to follow. A few minuets later he exited into a new clearing. It contained two tents and an assault/training course as well as a sand pit. Walking over to one tent he deposited his stuff before turning to face Venris. "I am planning to increase your physical as much as possible, help train you into focussing on all around you in a fight and train you in a fighting style made for fighting from the ground. If your willing to start, I would recommend going to collect some spare clothes. If not, just say so and you're free to go."

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Zavzen Sae'ryx"]

"I'm fine with what I'm wearing." Venris replied, setting his coat down near the tent. "Whenever you're ready to begin." He nodded to Zavzen as he rolled his shoulders and began to relax his muscles.