First Reply So You Want To Learn K'thri

[Isten Moshar]

Meneso expression changed to a smile for a moment, as it was rare to meet someone who wanted to learn a style for the discipline itself, rather than a quick shortcut to gain power over others. In his eyes power without restraint was nothing more than useless energy that would eventually get you killed against someone who actually knew how to control their body.

He had trained many Sith before who had failed to learn that lesson, and he could count on one hand the number that was still alive to tell the tale. He turned back to face his student his arms slipping back out of his long sleeves has he stepped onto the center of the mat.

"Words mean little here" He explained with a small gesture of his hand before continuing. "if you are determined to succeed then follow along." he lowered his weight into a shallower stance, bringing his lead foot forward and angling his body sideways to present a smaller target to his student.

"K'thri requires you to stay light on your feet. You do not root yourself to the ground like other forms," Meneso explained, his red eyes locked on Jalen Kai'el feet. "Your legs need to move you into their blind spots before they realize you have changed direction."

To demonstrate, Meneso took a short step inward, pivoting on the ball of his lead foot to slip past an imaginary attack. He brought his back foot around in a swift motion, using the momentum to drive a quick palm strike toward the air, immediately following it with a low elbow to complete the first sequence of the art.

"The first set uses two quick steps to get off their centerline, followed by a double strike to break their guard," Meneso said, gesturing for the Jedi to take the position on the mat. "Get into the stance and try the movement. Let your hips do the work, not your arms."
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[Jalen Kai'el]

Anzat
Tags: Meneso Ryevu

Delta-7, Lothal Jedi Temple​

To demonstrate, Meneso took a short step inward, pivoting on the ball of his lead foot to slip past an imaginary attack. He brought his back foot around in a swift motion, using the momentum to drive a quick palm strike toward the air, immediately following it with a low elbow to complete the first sequence of the art.

"The first set uses two quick steps to get off their centerline, followed by a double strike to break their guard," Meneso said, gesturing for the Jedi to take the position on the mat. "Get into the stance and try the movement. Let your hips do the work, not your arms."

Jalen nodded, his mind having been studying the motions that he felt. For the first few attempts, Jalen did so with his arms folded behind his back. It was common in martial arts to use the momentum of an arm to carry the rest of your body, but here the emphasis was on the hips. He wanted to make sure he could get the movement down before he properly went for the strike.

Pivot on the ball of the foot... bring the foot back around...

After that he began to incorporate his arms properly. Pivot, foot turned to perform a palm strike, low elbow to complete the first sequence.

"Can I ask for some of the history of the martial art?" he asked while he repeated the motions a few times.

A martial art was a culmination of history, after all. To understand how and why a form worked was to understand how and why it came to be. These things were one in the same.

 

[Isten Moshar]

Meneso kept his red eyes locked on Jalen's feet, tracking the micro-adjustments as the young Jedi isolated his hips before bringing his arms into the movement. He didn't speak right away, simply watching the pivot, the turn of the heel, and the final strike.

"The written history of this martial art is hard to determine given that we have lost so much knowledge over the centuries. Meneso said softly, stepping onto the mat alongside him, somewhat disappointed in himself for not being able to tell the student the whole truth.

"What I can tell you is that it is commonly used by athletes today to impress the crowd" He watched Jalen execute the palm strike into the low elbow, noting the brief pause between the footwork and the hit.

"Fighters used flashy flurries to look impressive, but the core of it is balance and speed. Hitting the same weak spot over and over until it gives." As Jalen Kai'el reset to try the sequence again, Meneso reached out, pressing two fingers firmly against the Jedi's lead shoulder right as he pivoted. The slight pressure caught Jalen mid-turn, testing if his weight was firmly balanced.
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[Jalen Kai'el]

Anzat
Tags: Meneso Ryevu

Delta-7, Lothal Jedi Temple​

"Fighters used flashy flurries to look impressive, but the core of it is balance and speed. Hitting the same weak spot over and over until it gives." As Jalen reset to try the sequence again, Meneso reached out, pressing two fingers firmly against the Jedi's lead shoulder right as he pivoted. The slight pressure caught Jalen mid-turn, testing if his weight was firmly balanced.

While Jalen wavered a little, more being surprised by the touch, it seemed he was balancing himself properly in his core. While he was getting used to the motions of this martial art, he was disciplined. Jalen shook his head a little, recognizing that he had gotten very focused on the repetition that he got slightly startled. Something that a lack of sight sometimes brought, even with his enhanced senses.

"Reminds me of Shii Cho," he noted, recalling the original lightsaber form. "It's based entirely around the disarming strike... the idea is that you flow each attach into the next to hit a singular point. Easy to learn... difficult to master."

Especially if one didn't regularly carry a blade. Jalen knew, though, that lightsaber forms weren't just ways to slash with a blade. They were philosophies.

And those could be carried into other disciplines.

 

[Isten Moshar]

Meneso stayed close, his red eyes dropping to Jalen's shoulder, then down to his hips, catching every slight shift in the Jedi's alignment as he reset his stance. When Jalen mentioned Shii-Cho, the Anzati didn't answer right away. He reached out, tapping the inside of Jalen's lead elbow to nudge it a fraction of an inch lower, closing a gap in his guard.

"A lightsaber cuts through whatever it touches," Meneso said, his voice low and even as he circled slightly to check Jalen's rear footwork. "It requires little effort to sever a limb or end a life when fueled by anger. But a blade lacks discretion."

He stopped just off to Jalen's side, watching how the young man adjusted his posture through touch and spatial awareness rather than visual cues. "Do not confuse the two," Meneso continued, stepping in close enough to lightly press a hand against the small of Jalen's back, correcting the angle of his spine.

"A martial artist possesses a refinement a lightsaber cannot give you. Anger makes a man swing wildly until someone dies. True discipline allows you to know the exact weight needed to shatter a joint, disable a nerve, or cripple an opponent... while choosing to leave them alive." Meneso withdrew his hand, tucking his arms back into his long sleeves as he stepped back to give the young Jedi room to move.
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