[CLASS] The Phantasm Spreads

[Symbiot Spider]

Bakura, 9:00am Local Time: Training Hangar (Link)

His mind reached deep into the force, his attention creeping around the fringes of his old master and the way he taught. Dartel could feel a smirk cross his lips at his master’s rather relaxed teaching methods. He opened his eyes as the sensation of company prodded the back of his skull. He gazed at the droids in turn before looking down the training hall to the newcomers. Some he had met before in other classes, and some that he would be meeting for the first time.

Dartel rose slowly to his feet before shifting out a foot and lowering into the initial pose of the Phantom Fist form. He began to move through the forms of the technique; speeding up quickly and slowing down in others depending on the technique and form. Dartel glided across the floor and around the stationary droids, using them occasionally to keep in mind where an opponent’s body would be.

The elegant performance came to an end with a fairly dramatic spinning flip that one wouldn’t be able to clearly identify as a throw or a jump kick, but in reality it was actually a disarm that would sever the opponents arm at the shoulder if applied properly. Dartel landed and absorbed the shock in a low stance before returning to his original stance and taking a deep breath.

“Hello class. Today you will be learning the basics of the Phantom Fist, the combat style of my old master. It is far more than just a physical practice of combat, but that can wait for another time.”

He knelt down and waited for each of them to join him. He poured his force presence throughout the room and surrounding his students within it, knowing it will relax them and attune them together.

“Please, tell me what you know about hand-to-hand combat?”

 

[Jakalar]

Amynn was the first of the students to arrive in the hangar. Somewhat unsure of how these training sessions functioned, she moved to the space just left of the door and sat down beside the wall, though she did not lean against it. She watched as Dartel danced about the room, flowing through what she imagined were iterations of Phantom Fist. She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about this. She hadn't trained like this since... well... since before... Her right hand rose and her fingers pulled at her hair. It didn't feel right to feel this at-ease. Not anymore. She felt naked without her Occular Enhancer, though she much preferred the plain white cloth around her eyes now, and the robes she now wore were nowhere near restrictive enough for her comfort. She would need to practice in her familiar equipment later to actually work through today's hopefully-newly-learned skills. Khelsea was the next to arrive. Amynn turned her head and gave her half a smile as she entered, before returning her attention to Dartel's movements. Suddenly, he leaped up maneuvering with such precision through the air that she couldn't actually tell what he was doing. A grin crossed her face as he landed lightly, yet solidly, on the ground - now she was excited. Dartel rose and turned to them - the third student had arrived now too. “Hello class. Today you will be learning the basics of the Phantom Fist, the combat style of my old master." Amynn moved to stand as he began to speak, wincing as she shifted her weight to her left leg. Almost better. She thought to herself as she stepped forward. Her heart leaped in her chest as Dartel seemed to grow and fill the room - she could still see where he was, physically, but he was everywhere. She took a step back, somewhat on edge, before regaining her composure and calming herself. "Tell me what you know about hand-to-hand combat." There was a pause before Amynn opened her mouth. "I've been hit in the face a few times, if that counts for anything." Her lips twisted upwards at the corners for just a moment before her attentions returned to the training at hand. "But in all seriousness, next to nothing. I rely far too much on this." She removed her lightsaber from her belt and placed it against the hangar wall. She did the same with Dætheus' blade before returning to stand beside the others.

 

[Arcangel]

Calcus arrived last to the training hangar, joining Khelsea and another padawan whom he had never met before. Leaning casually against the wall near the door he watched as his new teacher danced around the room, flowing through moves of the shadow fist like water over rocks. Calcus watched the masterful performance of martial arts in awe, fascinates as Dartell finished with a precise flip, landing gracefully before returning to a ready stance, then kneeling on the floor motioning for his students to join him.

As Calcus and the other students moved to join Dartell, Calcus felt the Zabraki's presence fill the room relaxing him with its calm focus. “Please, tell me what you know about hand-to-hand combat”. After a short pause, the unnamed padawan answered first. Another pause, then Calcus decided to speak up. "My father taught me defensive techniques growing up, to always counter attack as soon as possible and to attack vulnerable points, to elimate the threat and end combat quickly" Calcus quoted as if from a combat manual, speaking from training and drills, not experience.

 

[Veloster Turbo]

Khelsea entered the training room just moments after Amynn did. Not wanting to intrude on Dartel's drills, Khelsea stood silently near Amynn, acknowledging the other padawan with a nod. Calcus had arrived just when the Knight finished up his routine, and Khelsea acknowledged his presence as well. She was glad to see her fellow padawan was doing well after their initial meeting on Naboo. She wanted to talk to the Corellian boy and catch up to see how he was doing, but there would be time to chat after class. It was rare to find higher ranking Jedi who had time to teach classes, and this rare opportunity would not be wasted.

The room gradually felt calmer and more peaceful, much different that the fast paced training that Dartel was performing just moments ago. The influence of the Jedi Knight was strong, and Khelsea was glad to be attending another of his classes. After listening to the other students respond to their instructor's question, it was Khelsea's turn to answer.

"Well... aside from self-defense classes that my parents put me through so I don't get mugged when I go out, I don't know much." Thinking about how lame her answer was, Khelsea quickly added to it. "I'm not the type to get into fights to be honest. But I feel like it would be a great skill to learn, especially after seeing your performance." It was true that she didn't get into fights, and the warm-up or whatever Dartel was doing before the class was very impressive.

 

[Symbiot Spider]

It wasn’t much to go off of, but Dartel smiled and nodded while thinking. He hadn’t expected that basic of an answer and was slowly tuning his lesson in his head. He hoped that the students would be able to pick up the lessons quickly like he had, but he wasn’t too sure.

“Seeing as we all share a limited version of hand-to-hand combat skills, we will all grow together.”

It was a randomly vague expression that Dartel said before motioning to the center of the training hangar and the droids amongst the room; one for each student. Dartel stopped and motioned the students to sit before turning to the center droid and pointing generally at its torso.

“We will be using these to learn some basics of the Phantom Fist. It is a form meant to get in close and use the negative space created by an opponent to disarm, throw or attack the opponent.”

He tried to gauge the response of the class and see if this made any sense to them or if they were completely lost. To his surprise it didn’t appear as if they were too lost, so he continued.

“By learning how to move into the negative space created by the opponent you simultaneously evade their attack by robbing the power behind it as well as get yourself into proper position to ensure that your attack is practically impossible to evade.

Authorize: Strike position one.”

With this the center droid suddenly snapped to life with red glowing eyes and struck out, seemingly through a thick veil of invisible tar. When the droid’s arm finally fully extended its arm in a slightly overly dramatic punch, Dartel slipped inside the pocket of space between the fist and shoulder; almost as if to get a hug from the droid. Instead, as he moved, Dartel gripped the wrist of the droid and slammed his hips under the droids and easily picking the droid up off its feet and holding it in positioned on his back.

“As you can see, it makes an easy throw of something heavier than yourself. If you are unable to hold the weight like this, carry through and toss the droid or reach into your reservoirs of the force and ask it to assist you.”

Dartel placed the droid back into position before stepping away from it.

“Authorize: Voice commands extended to students: Strike position one and Reset.

Now using these commands, the droids will reset themselves to this standing position. On the command of pose one, the droids will attack at half speed so you can see how to move between for this throw. Do this five times each and we will continue.”

Dartel made sure not to use the activation code when explaining it to the students. He hoped that they understood how to give the command and that he made is simple enough to remember. He stepped behind the droids and watched his students take their place and wondered how each would do at this first step.

 

[Jakalar]

Well, it seems easy enough, thought Amynn as she positioned herself before the droid furthest to the left. Then again, Dartel's demonstration at the start of class had made even sparring look quite simple, so she wasn't sure what to think. "Authorize: Strike Position One." She spoke confidently before glancing to the other students, who - though positioned before their respective droids - had not yet issued commands. Returning her attentions to the droid before her, she was quickly reminded that authorizing a strike meant she had to be prepared for it. The steel fist - though moving at half speed - forced her two small steps backwards. Rubbing her cheek where it had made contact, she glanced embarrassedly to Dartel and the other students. She couldn't even avoid getting hit in an exercize. A small puff of air escaped her nostrils as she shook it off with a sort of chuckle. Focus, she thought to herself, critically, as she took a long breath. "Reset." "Strike position one." the droid moved for its second strike, but this time she was prepared. She took a step forward, successfully entering the space it opened up while attacking, slipping beneath its arm as Dartel had done. But, she had already grabbed the wrist and so, while her body was correctly positioned and she maintained her grip on the droid's wrist, she did not have he leverage to exert any further control. As she thrust her hips backwards, the her grip broke and she fell to the floor. The droid snapped back into a passive stance. She got up and repeated the exercise, this time taking into consideration the mistake she had made. She did not make it again and, for the next three strikes, successfully replicated Dartel's earlier demonstration. With the leverage she held over the droid, she had no need delve into any sort of 'Force reservoir' to effectively lift it off the ground. After completing the fifth strike, Amynn watched the droid in front of her shift into a standing pose. She did the same, tilting her head to Dartel and the other students as they completed their sets.

 

[Arcangel]

After watching Dartell's demonstration, Calcus realized that it wasnt too disimilar from what his father had taught him, a wrist grab instead of a block, a throw instead of a strike. With a feeling of confidence he stated, "Authorize: strike position one", and as the droids fist moved towards him at half speed he began to move without thinking as muscle memory took over, dodging to the right as he brought his left hand up into a block before throwing a body shot into the droids abdomen where a humanoid's sensitive organs would be. Unfortunately, this was a droid and his fist landed with a loud clank and Calcus cursed as pain shot through his hand. "Reset" he muttered, clenching his teeth in agony as he shook out his injured hand.

Setting himself again, still in pain but determined to do get the move right he again said "strike position one". As the droid struck at half speed he took a step forward, avoiding the droids fist as he entered the negative space, grabbing the droids mettalic wrist and slamming his hips against the droid he lifted it off the ground. He tried to maintain the hold but searing pain shot through his arm, making it impossible to hold on or concentrate on the force to bolster his flagging strength, so with a heave he completed the throw. With a loud thud the droid slammed into the practice mat, and Calcus looked around at the other students, emberassed at his inability to hold the droid.

Calcus then completed his three more repetitions, each time throwing the droid instead of holding the throw, finding himself unable to overcome the pain of his injury. After he completed his sets he imitated the droids pose and looked to see if the other students were finished.

 

[Veloster Turbo]

Hand to hand combat was something that she was never interested in, but it definitely was a necessary skill to have. Khelsea listened as Dartel spoke. She watched as he demonstrated. It was interesting that he was able to speak casually while tossing a droid over his shoulder, and not even strain at all. It showed that not only did the knight know the skill in theory, he was also very experienced and proficient in using the Phantom Fist style.

It was her turn now, and seeing Amynn step towards the droid on the left Khelsea approached the droid closest to her. She was just about to activate her droid when she saw Amynn take a hit to the face. This woke any part of her body which was asleep, and she knew she had to be prepared or she would end up with a similar result. Shaking her head and taking a deep breath to calm herself, Khelsea began activating her droid. "Authorize: Strike Position One." The droid struck out towards her at a slower than normal speed, and Khelsea sidestepped the attack as she had seen Dartel do just moments ago. Grabbing its arm, Khelsea stuck her hip outward and attempted to pull it over her back, only to find that she wasn't strong enough. Khelsea sheepishly looked around while she still had the droid draped on her back like a cape. "Right, use the Force."

Seconds later, Khelsea decided to try again and spun around, looked at the droid and said "reset" out loud clearly. Performing the same maneuver she had copied from Dartel, Khelsea connected her hip to the droid once again and crouched low like she was doing squats, and as she rose she used the Force to strengthen her muscles and rising up she tossed the droid over her back with much more effort that Dartel had used. However, she was glad to see she was able to do it. It was progress, and she would repeat the drill four more times until she finished the five sets Dartel had instructed his students to do.

 

[Symbiot Spider]

Dartel was careful to watch his students on their first attempt. He watched Amynn block the first jab with her face and glanced over to the others to make hiding his smirk easier; it was almost like his first attempt at this technique. He glanced back to Amynn the second time she attempted the technique and watched her fall. He walked over calmly as to not draw attention.

“Don’t grab for that grip too soon, Padawan. Try to push the wrist passed you first, slip in then get your grip. If you lower you center of balance before getting underneath your opponent’s it is easier to knock them off balance or manipulate their weight overall.”

He walked back over after helping reset the droid. He turned his attention to the faint clang of metal. He could see Calcus shake his fist and knew from this what had happened. He watched as the second time he attempted the technique and how he was more successful.

“That was a better attempt than the first. Remember though, fluidity is key with the Phantom Fist.”

The first comment was directed to Calcus, but the second was loud enough to be heard from all of his students. He glanced to the last student as she donned her droid-cape. With a smirk he walked over and helped it off her back. He watched once more as he regained his position in the center of the room. The students finished their last attempt and were standing once more waiting for instructions.

“Good, you all did great. A key thing to remember is that you should get your center of balance under your opponents before attempting to lift, so when you step in, maybe step with a slight crouch if you need to. You may not need to depending on the height of both you and your opponent.

Droid, Authorize: Strike position one.”

On his command, the droid in the center spun to face Dartel before performing the same, half-paced jab. When it was his time to move, Dartel pushed the wrist passed him while stepping in at an emphasized crouch so his hips were lower than the droids. He shot a quick glance at Amynn when he touched the droids wrist finally.

“Once here, you could even sweep the leg of the droid if you need to. You can use it to lift the momentum up and make it easier for yourself as well.”

Dartel did just this, sweeping the leg that trailed back and up against the shin of the droids weight baring leg and using it to roll the droid over his back and down onto the ground in a controlled manor so it didn’t hurtle into his student.

“Reset.

This technique alone can also be used against a person wielding a lightsaber; instead of grabbing their wrist, you should make sure that you grab their hand so they are unable to roll their saber in against you.”

Dartel stood up straight again as the droid stood back up and took on its normal posture and still faced Dartel. He motioned the concept of performing this technique against a saber-wielding opponent with only his own hands, one adopting the position if holding a hilt and the other clasping overtop properly for the technique.

“Now I want you to take these simple tricks and apply them to the droids four more times, but actually throw them if you can now. There are some different applications of this throw you should be aware of.

Authorize: Strike pose one.”

The droid again clanked to life and threw the lazy punch, Dartel stepped in, took the wrist and lifted the droid using his leg as mentioned before. At the point where the combined balance began to throw the droid, Dartel flipped using a little burst of Force Jump. This was all that was needed to slam the droid underneath him and make a loud thump as Dartel rolled over the droid and back onto his feet.

“I personally like this one more, but you can toss the opponent outwards as well if you need to regain your composure in combat; both are acceptable for this practice.

Reset. Authorize: Regular Speed.

Now you will practice at regular punching speed for a person of your skill level.”

 

[Arcangel]

As he watched Dartell demonstrate the different variations of the move, Calcus took a moment to focus on the force, dulling the pain in his hand so that he might better concentrate on the lesson. Impressed with how Dartell flipped and slammed the droid on its back before rolling back to his feet, Calcus decided that would be the move he attempted. Once Dartell authorized the droids to strike at regular speed, Calcus turned to face his droid.

“Strike position one,” Calcus said, bursting into action as the droid threw its first punch. At regular speed the punch came a lot faster than Calcus had expected and he barely had time to dodge out of the way. Dodging and stepping in as the droids fist passed inches away from his face. As he lowered his center of balance and grabbed the droids wrist, sweeping the droids legs he attempted to toss the droid. The close call of nearly taking a hit had ruined his concentration however and he was unable to flip using the force, instead he tossed the droid and then landed heavily on it. Embarrassed, Calcus got up and brushed off his pants, looking around to see how the other students were doing as the droid regained its feet.

His next attempts were much more successful, being able to properly anticipate the droids punch and dodge in time, stepping in while he lowered his center of balance, grabbing the droids wrist and sweeping its leg, Calcus flipped as he tossed the droid, slamming it underneath him before rolling over it. He repeated this four times, then turned to Dartell to receive further instructions.

 

[Veloster Turbo]

Khelsea watched the Zabrak and listened as he gave advice. "Fluidity is the key. Lower center of balance. Crouch if necessary." Khelsea repeated all the key things in her head to herself. She mimicked the knight's actions as he expertly took down the droid.

Finally, it was her turn again. However, this time the droids would be at normal speed. Activating the droid, Khelsea moved swiftly away from it's jab and into the body. "Fluidity is the key." She spun so her back was facing the droid's chest, and pushed her back into the droid. "Lower center of balance. Crouch if necessary." Khelsea bent her knees, and sprung from a crouching position. Even without the aid of the Force, it was much easier to flip the droid and send it into the ground.

"Reset."

Another attempt; practice makes perfect. This time, Khelsea tried to sweep the droid's leg just as Dartel had done. She managed to get it onto its back, but the attempt felt clumsy. Before resetting the droid, Khelsea visualized what Dartel did. A few attempts later, Khelsea was moving fluidly.

Finally, Khelsea attempted the slam the droid into the ground by using Force Jump while flipping the droid. Her timing was off the first time, and she sent the droid high into the air at an eighty degree angle, almost hitting the ceiling with the droid before it came back down and hit the ground. She knew that if it was another Force user, they'd be able to reorient themselves and launch an attack if she did something like that. Unsatisfied, she tried again and again, and after the third time Khelsea's timing was much better. She continued to practice, and every minute or so the 'thud' of Khelsea's droid hitting the ground could be heard echoing across the training room.

 

[Symbiot Spider]

“Great work.”

Dartel watched as the students slowly became adept with the technique. It was time to show them something more. He knew that his old master wouldn’t be happy by him showing these techniques so early without touching on any of the theory behind the form, but Dartel needed to pass along some knowledge and allow the padawans to decide for themselves if it was a belief system they wanted to follow for themselves. He had learned it many years ago, and a lot had changed so Dartel needed to also adapt himself and some of his teachings.

“Next is essentially the same throw, but to a more aggressive result. This is a powerful technique, but without the knowledge of a situation this technique could be useless.

Authorize: Strike Switch. Strike Pose One.”

This time when the droid struck out it punched with the other hand. Dartel performed the same setup technique, but instead of rolling to the inside, rolled to the outside. Grabbing the wrist of the droid as soon as it was available, Dartel then extended himself outwards so his left arm was stretched out along the droids right arm and they stood back to back. Dartel quickly reached up and behind his head with his free hand and grasped just under the droids neck and chin. Doing the same leg sweeping technique and hip bumping alignment, Dartel rolled the droid over his back by pulling the droids head as the main contact point. While the droid was in mid-toss, Dartel let go and allowed it to roll in the air. It spun to face Dartel and appeared nearly to land, but on a clearly unbalanced position when Dartel struck out with his foot. A harsh crunch of metal came from the droid as Dartel’s foot bounced off its chest, kicking it nearly fifteen feet backwards; clearly utilizing the force.

“This is not something I would advise for every encounter, but when given the proper opportunity, it can set the tone of a battle or even a small room. The Phantom Fist is meant to quickly subdue opponents. It is safe to say that if this was done to… say a personal guard, I have ensured that he isn’t getting up and now I have an unsettled contact. Potentially even a now unsure second guard who will be unwilling to get near me after seeing that. You need to think about which technique is viable for the situation and how it will affect the outcome of certain situations. For now, we will practice this throw.”

Dartel stood in place while the droid slowly stood back up and walked back into place. Dartel pulled back all of his presence and knew that the slightly colder room would allow the subject to sink into the students and making sure they understand the importance of this form.

 

[Veloster Turbo]

The next thing Dartel did was demonstrate an advanced version of the throw. The way it started was almost the same as the previous throw, but they rolled towards the outside. What was clearly much more deadly was using the neck and chin area as the contact point, and since the neck was a tender area it would probably cause injury to enemies. The final strike was icing on the cake, and can create a dramatic finish to a fight as Dartel had demonstrated.

What Dartel said made sense, and it was great that he even explained how to use the skills he was teaching in real life situations. Khelsea wasn't sure if she'd be able to squeeze another person's neck like the way the Zabrak had demonstrated, but at the very least she could practice the technique and expand her knowledge while she was in class. She had her doubts about hurting another being in that manner, but everything goes when it comes to self defense in a life and death situation.

As the room got colder, Dartel walked back to where he was watching the training session from, and Khelsea activated the droid again. The first time she attempted it, she naturally rolled to the inside because she had just been practicing that. Reminding herself that she was going to the outside, she reset the droid and tried again. Khelsea had a bit of trouble getting a good grip on the neck and chin, and her hands were probably significantly smaller than Dartel's. However, she managed to get it the second time and just like the previous drill, the more she did it the more it became natural. She continued for a period of time and waited for the knight to give them a break, or perhaps end the lesson. Khelsea wasn't sure how much time had gone by but she was definitely getting a good workout.

 

[Jakalar]

After her initial struggles with the first throw that Dartel demonstrated, Amynn had no difficultly keeping pace. The next several throws Dartel instructed her to perform went without any major hitches, though she would certainly need to practice these moves many times outside of lessons before they began to sink in. After demonstrating a second throw, Dartel turned again to the three of them, again facing their respective droids. Before actually activating her droid's attack, Amynn mimed the positioning, emphasising the key differences between this and the first throw. She spoke the command and her droid sprung forward again. It was easy enough for her to simply reverse the grip she had been performing earlier, so she positioned the droid behind her back rather quickly. But, reaching back to grab for its neck or chin the first time, Amynn slowed momentarily. This was intentional, in that she wanted to feel where it would be positioned to best perform the hold the second run through. But before she actually moved to grasp under the droid's chin, the momentum from its initial punch carried it outside of her grip. Amynn cursed under her breath - more for the sake of cursing than directed at anything in particular. "Reset." This time, she didn't break step or falter and within moments the droid was sprawled on the ground before her. She bounced a little as it stood up, to keep her blood flowing. She did this several more times, only once misaligning her feet before he throw. Instead of tossing the droid over her shoulder, she had released her hold on its wrist to place a second one on the neck as she simultaneously crossed her inside leg behind the other. From here, she forcefully threw the droid in the direction she had been facing, catching it behind its knees with her outside leg as she did so. It skidded across the floor a few feet before getting back to its feet. Despite this hiccup, she performed the throw well every other attempt. After Dartel called for a halt, but before he moved to speak, Amynn motioned for his attention. "Master, pardon my asking, but will this be entirely a lesson of throws? Not that throws are not useful or anything, but I was under the impression this was a more versatile hand-to-hand combat style. Will we be covering more general Phantom Fist combat techniques and principles in this lesson?"

 

[Symbiot Spider]

Dartel watched as each of the students attempted the technique. It was a harder technique, but they were all getting it slowly. Some students had made some mistakes, but they were quickly improving. Dartel stopped them and gathered the droids once more. He stepped up to address the class again; he moved to speak and opened his mouth, but it wasn’t his voice he heard.

"Master, pardon my asking, but will this be entirely a lesson of throws? Not that throws are not useful or anything, but I was under the impression this was a more versatile hand-to-hand combat style. Will we be covering more general Phantom Fist combat techniques and principles in this lesson?"

A devilish smirk crept through his lips before he could hide his amusement. He could sense that she was eager to learn; she showed potential to learn the entirety of the form. His smirk faded into its normal warm smile before he stepped forward and continued his class.

“Throws are the easiest part of the form. This is backwards to most forms of martial arts; lightsaber forms fall into this as well, think of your training. The part that is hardest to learn is the striking, not the technique itself, but learning to apply it properly.”

He walked to the edge of their invisible formation before turning around and continuing his pacing. The air seemed to thicken with his presence poured forth to swallow the entire training hall. It wasn’t anything that the students would probably register outside of just his normal presence attempting to inspire them, but what they wouldn’t notice is that it came with a second suggestion.

“The problem with learning this form is not a matter of its difficulty, but rather is usefulness. If the practitioner is unable to see the perfect timing needed, then it becomes more of a hazard. I can show you the forms and the technique, but you will also need to learn the theory and adopt as much of it as possible in order to utilize this form to its fullest. I show these throws and attacks because they are the easiest to use in everyday situations… of combat.”

Dartel smirked at the ending and the irony of saying ‘everyday situations’ and referring to combat. He watched to see if the message was sinking in to the students as well to search their presence and see if it may be ready to take the next step into the form.

“The long and the short of this form is that if you can use the footwork then it can be either a throw, a strike, disarm or even evasion. The form is completely interchangeable and dependant on the footwork.

Authorize: Strike Pose One.”

The droid rolled into its stance and quickly threw its punch and froze in place. Once there, Dartel stepped in as demonstrated but instead of grabbing the wrist, he punched it with the back of his hand similarly to a block. His rear hand fired into the shoulder with the precision of lightning. Spinning slightly on his lead foot, Dartel rounded his first hand into the droids ribs. When stepping back out, Dartel landed a quick push jab to the center of the droids chest which knocked it back a bit. Continuing his momentum, Dartel leapt into the air and finished his spin and kicked the droid in the same place he had just punched, knocking the droid off its feet and back almost three entire body lengths before sliding to a halt. Dartel landed and exhaled slowly before inhaling just as easily through his nose.

“It is the same footwork for everything, but this technique knows how to quickly shut down a body as well as the person. If your opponent is bigger than you, you may want to take him down quicker. If there is a line of them, maybe take your time and stall is the better option. The Phantom Fist is about knowing your position and what is the best way to progress, not just in combat or the combative strategy, but in life and your way through the force. When you are always conscious of it then you will truly master this form. I will be honest with you padawans, I am far from mastering this, but I have mastered the combative side…”

Dartel could feel a little sadness creep at the back of his skull as he remembered his master, but he quickly pushed that aside to see the padawans and if the message was clear.

“For now, the throws or the basic attack pattern I just showed you through the arm, stopping at the punch to the chest. If you think you can manage the spin kick, add it, but do not force it. Allow it to come naturally.”

 

[Jakalar]

The grin on Dartel's face didn't escape her notice, but anyone watching would have thought as much. She was unable to contain a smirk of her own, however, when he demonstrated what seemed to be only a slight expansion on what they had already been doing. The form was proving to much more complex and much more versatile than she had anticipated. And much more useful. This is going to be fun, Amynn thought to herself. She nodded in acknowledgement before moving again to the droid before her. At this point it was just drilling until the movements became muscle memory. The process of stitching it all together came later. She slowed down her movements now, though she paid extra attention to the movements of her combatant too, so as to avoid another incident. They were more deliberate now; more focused on the footwork and the placement than on actually incapacitating the droid. She struck with a little less force, but in this round of drills she never missed a beat. Once Amynn felt comfortable - or as comfortable as she could be in such close proximity to her adversary this early into learning the form - she turned things up a notch. She jumped into full gear and, for the first time, threw in the kick at the end. As the droid crashed to the floor, she relaxed. This was coming to her much more easily than she'd expected.

 

[Arcangel]

Watching as Dartel demonstrated the advanced throw Calcus felt a little overwhelmed with its complexity. While no stranger to hand to hand combat techniques, this move would definately be the more advanced than anything he had previously done. Still, Dartel had a very good point about the effectiveness of the move, not only on the target, but on whatever secondary targets who might witness such an impressive demonstration of skill.

Turning to his sparring droid Calcus readied himself and spoke, "Strike position one." As the droid struck Calcus moved into action, rolling to the inside and repeating the same throw he had last done. Scolding himself for his mistake he looked around and was glad to see he wasnt the only one. Calcus then reset the droid and tried again, this time succeeding in the move but throwing the droid awkwardly. On the third attempt Calcus finally succeeded, gripping the droids wrist and rolling to the outside, back to back with the droid he reached up and grabbed its neck, gripping tight as he flipped the droid and giving it a solid kick before it landed. Excited that he had finally gotten the move down he continued to practice until the next moveset.

Once Dartel gathered the students again Amynn asked the question that had been on Calcus' mind as well, and listening to Dartel's answer he felt he made a fairly good point. He also understood the usefulness of a style that was so versatile, using the same footwork for a variety of moves gave a nearly unparalleled level of adaptability. He then watched as Dartel demonstrated and couldnt help but to feel impressed, the fluidity of the strikes coming off of the same movement as the throw were extremely efficient.

As the padawans moved to practice Calcus felt confident, it wasnt too dissimilar to the move he had accidentally used at the beginning of the class, just more complex. Giving the droid the command to strike Calcus burst into action, batting the droids fist to the side as he stepped inside, firing a powerful cross to the shoulder. He finished the move without adding the kick, feeling a little clumsy he repeated it until it felt a little more natural before adding the spinning kick. Once he practiced that enough and felt he had the kick down he began to variate between striking and throwing, becoming more familiar and comfortable with the footwork and the variety of moves that could be launched with it.

 

[Veloster Turbo]

What Dartel said made sense once again. Similar to lightsaber combat, the hardest part of Phantom Fist was knowing when to strike and how to strike hard at a moment's notice. She wasn't sure if Dartel was trying to be funny by combining "everyday situations" with "combat", but that wasn't too far of a stretch as they were Jedi and Jedi needed to always be on their toes. Khelsea noticed in Dartel's demonstration that he wasa very light on his feet, and executed his attacking movements very precisely.

As the drills began, Khelsea worked on her footwork by visualizing what Dartel had done and copying his movements before activating the droid. From her experience, a step-by-step process of learning was better than doing everything at once, because there was a much higher chance of messing something up when there's so much more to do. By focusing and building from the basics, the next steps she added would arguably be 'easier'.

She practiced for a minute or two until she felt she had the basic footwork down. Finally feeling somewhat ready, Khelsea activated the droid and began going through the basic motions. She blocked, jabbed, and struck the droid as Dartel had done. For whatever reason, through continual practice, there never seemed to be a good time to incorporate a spinning kick into her attack. She tried to force it anyways, and ended up landing ungracefully off balance. However, through several more attempts, Khelsea began to see when she would need to start her jump, and eventually she was able to time her jump to execute a spin kick. It wasn't as powerful or as well timed as Dartel, but Khelsea believed that it would come with practice.

 

[Symbiot Spider]

Dartel watched in silence as each student carried through the technique, slowly and imperfectly at first, but soon after, Dartel could see that they were making progress and slowly understanding the technique and how it works together. With a smile he approached the group as they finished. He held up a hand to get everybody’s attention and commanded the droids to stand down.

“Very well done, Padawans. Now, we will move forward with our test. Each of you will stand up against all three droids. They will attack you as a regular droid and it will be your job to disable each droid as they come to strike you. You will have to perform three throws to each droid and perform a strike combination twice on each droid. Yes, you will be fighting all three droids at the same time. So remember your training and be aware of the negative spaces and how to slip inside them.”

He began to walk behind the padawans, knowing they would watch as he did. He slowly and calmly made his way to the lobby and turned to face the students now.

“You will take this test alone, if you are not participating you should be back here with me. You have thirty minutes to decide who amongst you will go first.”

 

[Jakalar]

"Yes, you will be fighting all three droids at the same time." Amynn felt a twinge of uneasiness. She had managed to get the hang of handling one of these things, but three...? She wasn't as confident as she liked to be going into situations like this. She moved to where Dartel stood and sat silently beside the door for somewhere between fifteen and twenty minutes, reflecting on the movements,techniques, and mindset that Phantom Fist demanded. But nobody moved to take the test first. For nearly half an hour, the room was still and silent. With a sigh and a pounding heart, she rose to her feet. Might as well get this over with, she thought to herself. She felt another pang in her leg and pushed the pain aside, forcing herself not so limp. This training had already drained her some. She moved before the three droids, paused a moment, and initiated her test. The droid just before her lunged while he others held back. That was nice of them. She deftly stepped in and quickly tossed it over her shoulder. As it skidded across the floor, the other droid's charged in as well; she sidestepped the first one and slipped just beside the second, catching it's arm and pulling it into an awkward spin. She twisted her leg, clipping the space behind its knee and swinging her fist into the side of its head as it went sprawling like the first droid. She turned to see he first back on its feet and right in front of her. She barely had time to raise her hand and deflect the blow, but she turned it into another strike combination. She struck out at the back of its shoulder, pushing it further into its swing and leapt up landing a kick into the small of its back. The next fifteen minutes progressed similarly and before long, two droid's were deactivated and she had just one more throw to perform. Suddenly, the pain in her leg spiked again and, with a small welp, she fell to her knee. The droid saw this and leapt at her. She bit her lip and tasted blood as she pushed upwards and spun to her left. She hooked her hand around its wrist and pulled herself to mirror it, back to back. She snapped her arm up and caught it under the chin and with the last of her strength threw it over her head. It flew several feet before crashing to the floor. She fell the ground and felt the room swim. She slowly rose to her feet a few moments later and sunk to the floor against the wall where the other padawans still waited.