The jedi in the dueling arena lately want to talk about how they are changing their lightsaber forms around in an effort to use any lack of knowledge in this area of Star Wars lore as an advantage to try and defeat us. I'm starting this thread with the permission of the council to negate this. Since I don't actually expect that I can count on anyone not to post here as I compile this information, I'll start by listing the seven styles and a link to very detailed information on each one in Wookiepedia.
Dec 11, 2007 1:24 PM | Report Abuse reply
Form I: Shii-Cho "Way of the Sarlacc" or "Determination Form"
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Form_I:_Shii-Cho
Form II: Makashi "Way of the Ysalamir" or "Contention Form"
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Form_II:_Makashi
Form III: Soresu "Way of the Mynock" or "Resilience Form"
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Form_III:_Soresu
Form IV: Ataru "Way of the Hawk-Bat" or "Aggression Form"
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Form_IV:_Ataru
Form V: Shien / Djem So "Way of the Krayt Dragon" or "Perseverance Form"
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Form_V:_Shien_/_Djem_So
Form VI: Niman "Way of the Rancor" or "Moderation Form"
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Form_VI:_Niman
Form VII: Juyo / Vaapad "Way of the Vornskr" or "Ferocity Form"
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Form_VII:_Juyo_/_Vaapad
Dec 11, 2007 1:24 PM | Report Abuse reply
Form I: Shii-Cho "Way of the Sarlacc" or "Determination Form"
As the weapons technology of the lightsaber was developed, the need for a form of combat arose. Thus Form I, also called Way of the Sarlacc, was born. Shii-Cho was the most ancient style of lightsaber combat, developed by early Jedi Masters to incorporate key principles of ancient sword-fighting traditions. Existing as the simplest form even four thousand years before the Battle of Yavin, Shii-Cho was among the many forms known to the Jedi, including Kreia and the Jedi Exile. Due to its simplicity, it was often the first form taught, so almost all lightsaber duelists included some aspect of Shii-Cho in their swordplay.
Aspects of the style were adapted for the Medium style as well as the Strong style of the New Jedi Order.
Dec 11, 2007 1:55 PM | Report Abuse reply
One of the marks of contact, sun djem, was a goal of early Form I duelists, as disarming or destroying the opponents' weapons could ensure victory without causing injury, which was always a Jedi objective. However, with the rise of Form II, sun djem became nearly impossible as Makashi duelists were well trained to prevent their own weapons being taken or destroyed.
Form I, like its succeeding forms, included the following basic techniques and concepts:
attack, a set of attacks aimed at different body zones
parry, a set of blocks to thwart any attack in the specified body zones
body target zones (1 - head, 2 - right arm and side, 3 - left arm and side, 4 - back, 5 - right leg, 6 - left leg)
training drills called velocities
Dec 11, 2007 1:56 PM | Report Abuse reply
During the Old Jedi Order, Younglings started out by learning Form I before beginning a Padawan apprenticeship with a Jedi Master. It was done so, because as Kreia commented, Form I was one of the easiest forms to learn, yet still powerful. Their training included learning to deflect plasma bolts from training remotes while being blindfolded or covered up by a practice helmet. Lightsaber instructors such as Yoda and Cin Drallig taught Form I to thousands of students during their Jedi careers.
Dec 11, 2007 1:56 PM | Report Abuse reply
Kit Fisto was a notable practitioner of Form I, but he could not defeat Darth Sidious with it. Form I was better served against multiple enemies, and one opponent as powerful as Sidious was able to find flaw in it. Obi-Wan Kenobi commented Form I as wild, raw, and deadly, requiring much emotional heat and Kit Fisto noted how hard it was to control the pull of Form I, disabling opponents rather then killing them; however, Kenobi sometimes did infuse elements of Shii-Cho into his swordplay, including the rematch with Count Dooku onboard the Invisible Hand. Dooku himself commented Shii-Cho swordplay as deliberate as a lumberdroid, moving step by step, cutting off the angles, clumsy but relentlessly dogged. Shii-Cho form was most effective in situations with multiple opponents and did not offer many techniques for blocking blaster bolts or dueling one lightsaber wielding opponent. Nonetheless, Shii-Cho was an effective form to fall back on when no other form would do to suit the current combat situation.
Shii-Cho was also one of the forms which Count Dooku taught the fearsome Jedi hunter General Grievous, who in turn taught his IG-100 MagnaGuards.
Dec 11, 2007 1:57 PM | Report Abuse reply
Form II: Makashi "Way of the Ysalamir" or "Contention Form"
After Form I's proliferation as a lightsaber combat technique, Form II, or Way of the Ysalamiri, came about as a means of lightsaber-to-lightsaber combat. It was described as being very elegant, powerful, and requiring extreme precision, allowing the user to attack and defend with minimal effort, while his opponent tires himself out, often wielding the blade one-handed for greater range of movement and fluidity. The form relied on parries, thrusts, and small, precise cuts?as opposed to the blocking and slashing of the other forms. Form II countered sun djem, the goal of early Form I masters, by being well trained in prevention of disarming and weapon destruction.
Dec 11, 2007 1:59 PM | Report Abuse reply
The opening stance for Makashi was a single-handed low guard, with the blade angled downward at the practitioner's side[1]. The formal salute that Dooku offered Yoda on Geonosis was a "Makashi salute", while a Makashi flourish consisted of drawing a rapid X in the air with the blade[2].
Form II emphasized fluid motion and anticipation of a weapon being swung at its target, and so required very fluid movements of both the blade and the body.
Dec 11, 2007 2:00 PM | Report Abuse reply
Feints would also be commonly used to confuse or set-up their opponents for a trap, a tactic that Count Dooku commonly used in his duels during the Clone Wars. Precise footwork and movements were required for maintaining proper distance from the opponent during defense and/or when moving in for an attack. The blade manipulation required for this form was very refined and required intense focus. Timing, accuracy, and skill, rather than strength, were relied on to defeat one's opponent, and with a skilled practitioner, the results were extremely potent.
Dec 11, 2007 2:01 PM | Report Abuse reply
The footwork of Makashi practitioners followed a single line, front and back, shifting the feet to keep in perfect balance as the practitioner attacked and retreated. Makashi was a style based on balance, on back-and-forth charges, thrusts, and sudden retreats. Elegance, gallantry, enchantment, finesse, artfulness, and economy were the core of Makashi. Makashi duelists trained themselves to avoid enslavement to form, as such enslavement opened the practitioner to be defeated by predictability and the unforeseen.
Makashi users were elegant, precise, calm, confident to the point of arrogance (as befit Dooku's personality). Form II users were supremely confident in their chances for victory, and often looked so relaxed when they were fighting they even appeared to be dancing.
Dec 11, 2007 2:01 PM | Report Abuse reply
Faults
Despite its effectiveness, Makashi was not without its weaknesses. Among the first of these was the fact that it was somewhat harder to block against blaster fire with this style. Makashi was developed before blasters had become common place in the galaxy, and Form II training taught its practitioners to defend solely against blades. Skilled users could overcome this obstacle with minimal effort, however.
Another drawback was that Makashi was most potent when used against a single opponent, and therefore was reduced in strength when fighting groups of adversaries. Exceptionally skilled users could still fare very well against multiple foes, however. Dooku, for example, could fight up to four adversaries at once with little difficulty.
But the greatest flaw with this system of combat was that it could not withstand strikes from later styles which emphasized more powerful strokes over Makashi's elegance and precision. As shown during Dooku's fatal duel with Anakin that Makashi simply did not generate the necessary kinetic energy to meet Djem So (Skywalker's preferred style) on an even footing. The sheer raw power of Form V wore down Dooku's defenses, physically exhausting him and draining his reserves of Force power.
Dec 11, 2007 2:03 PM | Report Abuse reply
The opening stance was a single handed low guard. The saber would be held in the strong hand of the user, and held at his side, the blade pointed down, and the feet would be shoulder width apart. Some faced their opponent side on, so the blade was pointed in their direction. Dooku often used this stance when he prepared to fight. The lightsaber hilt would be held with the thumb pointing down the length of the blade to allow for smaller, tighter, more accurate movements of the saber. The rest of the fingers wrap around the hilt holding it tightly, but not so tight as too limit the fluidity of the movements.
Dec 11, 2007 2:04 PM | Report Abuse reply
The Makashi salute was not an attack or maneuver but a challenge to an opponent. The saber was held in one hand, brought up vertical directly in front of the practitioner's face, then swung down and made a rapid X in the air. One of the best examples of this ancient tradition was when Count Dooku was fighting his former master Yoda at the Battle of Geonosis.
Dec 11, 2007 2:04 PM | Report Abuse reply
Due to Form II's emphasis on blade manipulation, and its many fluid one-handed moves, Makashi practitioners sometimes wielded lightsabers with curved hilts. They also occasionally included blade-guards, as shown with Dooku's lightsaber.
Dec 11, 2007 2:05 PM | Report Abuse reply
Form III: Soresu "Way of the Mynock" or "Resilience Form"
Originally, Form III was developed as a counter to blaster weapons used by multiple opponents. Due to the rise in distribution of blaster weapons, more and more Jedi were forced to adapt a fighting style which allowed them to combat enemies firing from several directions, mostly basing their "attack" on redirected blaster fire. Previous styles had allowed wide, sweeping strokes which left the Jedi open to blaster fire. Form III, however, required maintaining a constant shield of deflectionary strokes by making short, quick sweeps, close to the body, leaving the Jedi less exposed to ranged fire. Form III was the most defensive of the seven forms.
Dec 11, 2007 2:06 PM | Report Abuse reply
The philosophy of Soresu is described as "being within the eye of the storm." The practitioner maintained a centered frame of concentration, undisrupted by the conflict around them. They did this to maintain the calm center where the outer storm of combat could not harm them. Thus, Soresu commanded powerful defensive techniques that seemed to adapt to almost any circumstance, at the cost of never reaching past the figurative eye of the storm. The Soresu technique used little to none of the attack power needed by those who concentrate on the storm itself. Those who studied this style used the primarily defensive technique to wear down aggressive opponents by defending long onslaughts with minimal counter-attacking. They waited until their adversary spent most of their energy, then employed an alternate, more aggressive attack. They waited for eventual lapses in their opponent's own defense.
The key to truly mastering Soresu may have come from a mastery of the concept and philosophy of Soresu. Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, despite his preference for Soresu, applied Shii-Cho elements and Ataru acrobatics into his swordplay, as evidenced by his recollection of his intense duel with the Sith Lord Count Dooku onboard the Invisible Hand. This, however, he did to confuse Dooku, as he later switched back to his true form, Soresu. In his duel against General Grievous, Kenobi used pure Form III swordplay.
Dec 11, 2007 2:07 PM | Report Abuse reply
Application
The third form of lightsaber combat utilized motions that occurred very close to the body, in an attempt to achieve near-total protection and expend as little energy as possible while executing moves. Form III stressed quick reflexes and fast positional transition, in order to overcome the rapidity with which a blaster could be fired. This technique minimized the body's exposure, making a well-trained practitioner nearly invincible. Followers of Soresu preferred to remain on the defensive until their opponent left an opening that a Soresu practitioner could exploit. Observers generally described Soresu as a passive form of combat. Jedi with extreme patience and reserved personality often employed the form - in fact, during the Clone Wars, Soresu was the most commonly used lightsaber form in the Jedi Order.
Dec 11, 2007 2:07 PM | Report Abuse reply
Combat
Form III involved preparation for prolonged battles where the user observed and learned as much as possible about their opponent's or opponents' technique while engaged in combat. Also, by being more capable in lengthy battles, a Soresu user had the ability to gain control of a combat situation, creating multiple options for the Jedi employing the form. A Form III user could choose to kill, disarm, or even reason with their opponent.
Many Soresu practitioners survived the lengthy Battle of Geonosis, owing to the endurance gained from the form and its specialization in fending off and deflecting blaster fire. Soresu's greatest power lay in the endurance and control a practitioner eventually developed.
Jedi Master Mace Windu noted that, unlike any of the other combat styles, Soresu was not an answer to a particular type of weakness. Vaapad was an answer to Windu's inner darkness; Ataru was Yoda's answer to his limited reach and advanced age; and Djem So helped Anakin release his own powerful emotions. Toward the end of the Clone Wars, Master Windu acknowledged Obi-Wan Kenobi as "The master of Soresu." It was because of this fact that Kenobi was chosen by the Jedi High Council as the Jedi best suited to defeat General Grievous. During their duel, the Jedi Master was capable of parrying all four of Grievous's lightsabers, gradually disarming the droid general. Earlier, during his duel with Count Dooku aboard the Invisible Hand, Kenobi's expertise in Soresu allowed him to parry the Count's elegant Makashi strikes.
Soresu was considered the consummate Jedi combat form in that it embraced a passive way of life and a literal expression of the Jedi tenet to defend rather than attack. Obi-Wan himself considered Soresu very simple, so restrained and defense-oriented that Form III was nearly passive. As a master, Obi-Wan could defend himself against any attack less than twenty strikes per second. Darth Vader used elements of Form III in his variant of Form V.
Dec 11, 2007 2:08 PM | Report Abuse reply
Help us improve The World of Star Wars.