Of Form and Grace

[Ral]

Indupar
Mid Rim
0900 Hours Local Time
​

The training room of the Indupar outpost that Jedi Master Kai Sera was going to be using today was empty and it opened to the outside so that the rising sun illuminated the training area with its bright warm rays. It would do just fine, Kai thought upon entering the small space. He had reserved the room for a private lesson between himself and his Padawan Saerina Avrikana. The young girl wished to do some training in the lightsaber form of Makashi, or Form II. Unfortunately, she was finding it difficult to have someone with the requisite experience teach her the style. Luckily, Kai had a little more free time to teach and while he himself didn't know the form, it was one he was willing to learn. So, he did what any good teacher would do, he reserved the room and broke out the Holocron he had received many years ago to instruct them. It was the best that he could do for Saerina, but if it was learning from a Holocron or not learning at all, Kai would pick the Holocron, and he hoped Saerina would just be satisfied with that. Really, there wasn't anything wrong with learning from a Holocron, of course it did lack the same qualities of having a real flesh and blood teacher, but the gatekeepers typically were quite interactive and helpful, so it wouldn't be like watching some video or documentary.

As he entered the room, the Jedi Master looked around making sure everything needed was there. Satisfied that everything was in its proper place, Kai prepped a few of the training dummies and a pair of remotes. Hopefully, they would have an interesting challenge today with learning a new form; it was most definitely something Kai was looking forward to. He was a little curious, and a little worried how Saerina would manage Makashi with her double bladed lightsaber, but if there was one thing he had learned from the young girl it was that she knew how to adapt and overcome; she could push herself until she achieved great things. Taking a seat, Kai began to meditate as was his custom, waiting for the young teenage girl to arrive so that they might begin their training.

@AuroraRogersSkywalker

 

[AuroraRogersSkywalker]

Saerina had gotten a little discouraged after a while. Learning and eventually mastering Form II had been a goal of hers for a long time, and even though she had asked everyone she knew if they knew the form or someone who could teach it, pretty much no one did. But since the only other advanced form she was learning was Soresu, she knew she needed a more offensive, blade-focused form to learn. She had a tiny build, so Form V would do her no good. Form IV seemed like it would wear her out too fast, and she wasn't strong enough in Force abilities for Form VI to suit her well. Form VII just seemed too intimidating. Form II would be hard, she knew, with its precise, classical style, but that actually made her excited about it. So she was quite grateful when her master, Kai, had offered to get out his Holocron and learn it with her.

She couldn't help liking the training room, with its large windows that allowed the magical early-morning sunlight to stream in. Kai had clearly made sure they had all the supplies like training remotes that they needed. This would be a good place to practice Makashi, and Saerina was eager to get started. She walked into the room and bowed politely. "Good morning, Master Kai. Thanks again for helping me get started on Form II."

Saerina knew she was lucky to have him as her Master. Even though he was quite busy and had several students, he always made sure each one had all the resources they needed, and he had a way of making each one feel special.

@Ral Aran

 

[Ral]

Kai could sense his Padawan approaching before she had even entered the training room, so when she entered the Master had his eyes open and he was waiting patiently for her. As she bowed to him he bowed his head and gave her a warm smile, ushering her in with a wave of his hand. "There's no need to thank me, Saerina dear, the truth is I've been wanting to learn the basics of Makashi for a while as well to help compliment my own lightsaber combat. But, I could just let you go on and not learn it when I had a teacher who could teach us both!" The young man laughed lightly as he stood up and dusted his robes off of the invisible dirt he imagined had settled there while he had been meditating. "Alright, if you're ready, we'll get started right away, no point in dilly-dallying when we've got things to learn, don't you think?"

Reaching into the sleeve of his robes, Kai withdrew a jade crystal and gold tetrahedral. Looking at it for a moment, Kai closed his eyes and a warm green light issued from the center and illuminated his hand. Opening his eyes, he beckoned Saerina to get closer with his free hand. After a few more seconds the gatekeeper sprung to life. The gatekeeper was a middle aged human with a beard and dark hair, his robes were of the same style as the Jedi of the Old Republic. Smiling he looked at Kai then at Saerina, "Ah, Master Sera, I presume you would like to expand your knowledge of the Force, as well as the knowledge of this lovely young Padawan?"

"Almost, Master Windstrider, I'd like you to instruct us in the basics of Makashi to myself and Padawan Avrikana," He replied looking to Saerina for a moment with a energetic glint in his eye.

"Hmm," the gatekeeper hummed as he frowned thoughtfully. "Very well, prepare for a bit of a history lesson." And then the gatekeeper started instructing the pair on the basics and foundations of Makashi, how and why it was formed, its strengths and weaknesses. The gatekeeper explained that having an in depth and comprehensive understanding of a Form allowed the practitioner to better apply its techniques if they realized why they were made and how they were intended to be used. This droned on for some time, however, after it was all finished, the gatekeeper had the pair prepare themselves for some actual drills. "Alright, first lesson is going to be on your basic footwork and blade maneuvers, any questions before we begin?"

@AuroraRogersSkywalker

 

[AuroraRogersSkywalker]

"Yes, that would be unfair of you, to start learning it without me," Saerina joked, smiling at her Master. "And I've already meditated, so I'm ready to begin whenever you are." This was a case where she was actually excited to get started and not worrying about making mistakes. She used to be afraid of other peoples' judgment whenever she did something new, but now she had realized that everyone made mistakes at first, and even if she started off slow she would get it later. Besides, although Kai had high expectations he was certainly not harsh or critical.

The Padawan came up to get a closer look at the Holocron, examining it curiously. She had heard of these, but never had one of her own, and never used someone else's before. Once the gatekeeper began his lecture, Saerina couldn't help feeling slightly amused by his countenance. He seemed to take himself quite seriously- that made sense because he was a Jedi Master when he lived- but, seeing as how right now he was an image projected from a Holocron, it was amusing. She tried not to smirk as she listened to the lecture. Some of the information she already knew, but some of it was new. "No, I don't think so," she replied when he asked if they had any questions.
@Ral Aran

 

[Ral]

"Excellent," Kai smiled warmly at the young girl and her teasing comment, giving her a patronizing pat on the head, "I knew I could count on you to arrive prepared and ready to go. Let's get started in learning something!" Kai was ready and excited just as much as Saerina was, so when he brought out the Holocron and activated it, he was just as attentive as his Padawan was, listening to the Holocron's gatekeeper and taking in all the knowledge he had to offer the both of them, which was really quite a lot.

Once the lessons were finished, Kai smiled at Saerina, she was always a quick learner, something he was proud about. The first thing the two had to do was work on their basic drills of the form. This was solo work, as partner training could only happen once the basics of the form were understood enough to alloy more advanced training. Taking a basic stance next to his Padawan, Kai activated his lightsaber while Master Windstrider gave both of them tips on how to assume the right stance with the most advantageous foot placement for Makashi. Once both had learned the basics the Holocron went on to explain how one should react to certain situations, how Makashi dictated that they move. Using the the holoprojectors built into the Holocron, the gatekeeper projected two illusory training doubles before them. These moved with the Jedi and forced the learners to apply the correct footwork in response. Once that had been grasped they added in the use of their lightsabers, which included the basic strikes to each of the zones of contact. Looking to the short girl Kai asked, "How are you feeling about all of this?"

 

[AuroraRogersSkywalker]

Saerina activated only one of her two blades, figuring it would be best to start out this way and learn to accommodate the second blade later. She knew from history lessons that it was possible for Makashi users to incorporate two blades, but it wasn't common. And it had been a good choice, she quickly discovered, because Makashi was quite difficult. It took lots of concentration for her to follow Master Windstrider's instructions about maintaining proper balance and keeping the footwork precise. Her movements were choppy at first, and she had to think hard to remember the new stances. But that was all right- she would practice these movements until they were second nature to her. She wondered what Kai thought of all this.

Combining the lightsaber strokes with the footwork made it all even harder- the practice doubles kept correcting her- but Saerina knew right away that this would be a great form for her. The strokes were small and precise, not like the wide, sweeping, energy-draining strokes of other forms. As the lesson went on, Saerina found she was quite enjoying herself. She smiled when Kai asked her what she thought. "It's hard," she admitted. "But I like it that way. How do you like it?" She almost felt like she was learning a dance, which appealed quite a bit to her artistic side. Maybe today they would get started on some disarmament techniques.

 

[Ral]

"I think it's..." Kai paused for a few moments as he thought up the right word to use for the situation, "Different. Though I definitely like it. It should compliment the fluidity and simplicity of Soresu well. Don't you agree?" He answered as he continued through the drills taking only a moment to look at the shorter girl and wink at her. Saerina seemed to be progressing well in the form, and it made Kai more than a little proud to watch her get better before his very eyes. After a few more minutes of training the holocron would speak up again as the projections faded away from where they had been just a moment before.

"Very good, do either of you have any questions about Makashi before moving on to some more advanced techniques?" The Gatekeeper asked the pair, looking at each of them and waiting several seconds for either to formulate and word a question they wanted to ask. Kai didn't have any questions, so he shook his head and looked at Saerina to see if there was something she wanted to clarify or have expanded upon once they had gotten a chance to be a bit more hands on. After they made it through the questions the Gatekeeper continued on to the more advanced techniques of Makashi, including disarms and special parries and ripostes. Once again, they were to face some holographic projections. While the holograms didn't provide actual resistance, the holocron was advanced enough for them to know when made an error and correct them, and when they got the move right the illusory opponents would react appropriately.

 

[AuroraRogersSkywalker]

(OOC: I'm not dead! Not yet, anyway.)

Saerina nodded in agreement. "Yes, definitely. It also complements Soresu because it's a blade-focused form, and Soresu is blast-focused. Both styles will come in handy these days."

When asked if they had any questions, she shook her head. The holographic opponents had helped her understand the correct moves, and she understood the overall concept of the form pretty well. Then they started to get into the more advanced moves, and Saerina found herself concentrating on the form so much that there was no time to think about anything else. Her first tries at the more difficult moves usually were awkward at first (causing her to glance back at her master with a sheepish, slightly amused grin). And it took her several tries to get the moves right. But that was okay- Saerina knew that even though it took her a long time to get things right sometimes, she would not forget how to do it later.

After they had gotten a pretty good feel for some of the more advanced maneuvers and had stopped to take a break, Saerina asked the Holocron guide, "So I have a double-bladed saber here. Do you think eventually I can incorporate that into the form, even though it's not very common?"