Stealing Knave to Blazing Blade (Kalen Navarr's training)

[Wit]

Kalen woke up and unwittingly rolled over and fell onto the floor. Ow! Not again. Even after having spent most of the last year amongst the Jedi he was still to get used to the comforts of sleeping in a bed. He had spent most of his life sleeping on the floor somewhere and his body still remembered reflexes developed during that time. Remembering that he was supposed to meet his master today he quickly went and took a shower and got ready. As he walked towards the chamber where he was supposed to meet his master he could not help but wonder how much his life had changed. Only last year he had been a thief living off the streets and now here he was, a Jedi Padawan. He had spent much of the last year training in the academy along with much younger students. Having joined the order so late he needed to learn many things that most Jedi his age already knew. But he had finally reached the level where he could be appointed to a master and finally start his true training as a Jedi. As he walked towards the room he passed a group of people heading the other way. Passing them by he was tempted to nick their pockets, but was able to bring that urge under control. Another habit from his old life that he had to get rid of if he wanted to be a Jedi. Finally reaching the appointed chamber he poked his head in speaking "Master?" Seeing that the room was empty he stepped in and sat down on the floor and tried to calm himself.

 

[Mr. Crunchy]

Kalza was beginning to become something of a busy woman - with another padawan under her tutoring and her continued training in the new lightsaber technique Trakata; she was somewhat tired. However, that didn't stop her being exhilarated at the thought of another student.

Nevertheless, she had allowed herself to be slightly late, which displeased her immensely. Walking into the training hall briskly, she saw her padawan sitting on the floor. "Good day. I am Jedi Kalza Duras. Are you to be my new padawan?" She enquired serenely, attempting to collect herself.

 

[Wit]

Kalen looked up to see the source of the question, a beautiful female twi'lek. He quickly gathered his wits about himself and got to his feet. Making a slight bow he faced her, "Yes I am" he mumbled. "Nice to make your acquaintance Master, I am Kalen Navarr."

 

[Mr. Crunchy]

"Likewise," Kalza said simply, and paused. "So, Kalen - tell me a little bit about yourself so we can become better acquainted. We shall become friends in our time training, I do hope, The Rutian Twi'lek said sincerely.

 

[Wit]

"Um..about myself? Well I was born here on Coruscant, in one of the decrepit sectors on the other side of the planet. I became an orphan at a young age and made a living for myself as a thief on the streets." At this point he paused for a second and hesitated before continuing. "Finally I tried to con the wrong guy or maybe he was the right guy after all. He turned out to be a Jedi and I ended up here thanks to him. Thats more or less my life story in a nut shell." He looked up at his master to see her reaction to his revelation of him having been a thief and a con-artist. Most people tended to get prejudiced against him on hearing about his past and he wanted to try and find out if his master would treat him in the same manner.

 

[Mr. Crunchy]

Kalza stopped for a moment, and turned to look at her padawan. "Your story sounds much like mine, except I never did anything dishonest," She said with a grin. "Do you have a lightsaber yet? If not, I can easily arrange a training one,"

 

[Wit]

The fact that his master did not change her mannerism after hearing his story but rather still smiled at him put Kalen at ease. "No, I don't Master." he replied. "I always borrowed one of the training sabers kept in the training rooms to practice with."

 

[Mr. Crunchy]

"No matter," Kalza said simply, and using telekenisis levitated a lightsaber over to her padawan. "You shall use this until you can construct your own. Now - do you have any form or shape of sword of lightsaber training?"

 

[Wit]

Kalen caught the training saber and activated it. After swinging its blue blade around a few times he deactivated it and answered his master's question. "I have trained in the basics of Shii-Cho during my time in the academy. But I was always more intrigued by the usage of two blades like in Niman or the Jar'Kai tactic. But I have no knowledge of it other than what I have managed to read up in the archives. I am not the strongest of fighters and might need to improve in that front but I am quick and I think I could be good with two blades."

 

[Mr. Crunchy]

"I am a master of the single-bladed variant of Niman. Not the dual bladed variant, however. Be warned - such a form may be both difficult to learn and dangerous," Kalza said warily, remembering her times studying the lightsaber forms back on Ossus.

 

[Wit]

Kalen contemplated for a while on what his master had said and warned. Finally he looked up and replied "Then please teach me the ways of Niman with a single blade. Learning something from you which you are a master at will be of greater benefit to me. But maybe I could also sometimes train with two blades so that one day I might attempt to master Jar'Kai?"

 

[Mr. Crunchy]

"Very well," Kalza said, nodding. "Niman - it attempts to balance all elements of lightsaber combat, combining the techniques from Forms that came before into a less intensely demanding combat style. In practice, Form VI is a combination of older forms (Shii-Cho, Soresu, Ataru and Shien), and all of them in moderation. In the blending, much of the individuality is lost, but the strengths are spread evenly, and there is little weakness in it. Due to its "jack-of-all-trades" nature, the success of this form is largely dependent on the practitioner's intuition, improvisation, and creativity in combat rather than the rote responses derived from other forms. This broad generalization makes Form VI well suited for diplomats, as they can spend their time training in the areas of politics and negotiation instead of combat training," She explained at length, thinking back to her years studying the form.

 

[Wit]

Kalen heard attentively as his master described the pros of Niman to him. Its jack of all trades nature appealed to him as did the fact that its strengths were dependent on the users intuition and creativity. The ability to work on his feet and adapting to any situation was something he had learned a long time ago on the streets. It was something he was quite proud of about himself. He knew he was creative in coming up with cons and maybe he could extend that into lightsaber combat. He nodded and said "Understood."

 

[Mr. Crunchy]

Kalza nodded, going on to explain the advantages of Jar'Kai to her padawan. Dual-blade fighters, whether classical Niman duelists or individuals applying the Jar'Kai tactic, are able to maintain a strong offense, as the speed of attack that two blades allows can overwhelm most opponents. A typical manoeuvre is to continually attack with one blade while relying on the other for defensive coverage, ensuring that the duellist can keep up his guard even as he attacked. However, it it common that both blades be used for offensive purposes, keeping up a continuous wave-front assault. Another advantage of Jar'Kai is that the two blades made it easier to hold off multiple opponents, as one simply has more blades to parry with," She said slowly, remembering her less than extensive Jar'kai studying. She had read up on the form - but had never practised it herself.

 

[Wit]

Kalen soaked in everything Kalza said. "But to be able to hold off multiple opponents one must have sufficient speed to be able react to all their attacks right? And I guess I wouldn't be able to put as much force behind an attack as someone wielding a single blade either. That might be a problem for me as I don't think I have the physical strength to actually block power attacks with only one arm. So I guess I'll have to build up my strength to actually master Jar'Kai."

[[OOC: Let me know if his insight into Jar'kai seems too much. He's supposed to be smart and he has read about it in the archives so I thought he could infer this much.]]

 

[Mr. Crunchy]

Kalza listened, raising her non-existent eyebrow. How interesting, a padawan who took initiative and researched. "That is true - and Jar'kai users often focus too much on ther blade work and not enough on the force itself,"

 

[Wit]

Taking heed of Kalza's warning Kalen made a mental note to never focus so much on just his lightsaber skills so that his other skills might have to suffer. Ready to begin his training he nodded and waited for his maser to continue.

 

[Mr. Crunchy]

Kalza drew her lightsaber, twirling it around into the Niman opening position. Her blade was pointed towards the ground slightly, and it was held out in front of her. "Niman has a heavy emphasis on quick reactions nad innovation within the lightsaber combat. Try to be creative yet practical," She explained, slashing through the air as if to block an invisible blaster bolt, then spinning round and blasting with a hand towards an invisible opponent. "Do as I do,"

 

[Wit]

Kalen observed Kalza's actions and then activated the lightsaber and began following her lead. His first attempt at the swing and subsequent blast like action was nowhere near as graceful as his master's. But he tried it out a few times and as his body started to loosen up he got more used to it and his movements improved. "Hows that?" he asked after a few tries.

 

[Mr. Crunchy]

"Good," Said Kalza with a tilt of her head. "But try and incorporate more grace... more flow into your movements. The lightsaber is an extension of your arm,"