Makashi (HK-36)

[Darth Ferus]

Krest once more found himself outside of a very familiar building. A temple where he was taught Shii-Cho, the first of the Lightsaber forms. He was here today to learn another however. Makashi. The Zabrak grinned wide as he thought back to his first encounter with [member="HK-36"] . The droid was more then skilled, and oddly friendly for a machine. Hopefully this would prove no different.

He walked up the steps to the front door, slamming his fist against the wood, knocking loudly. "Here I am HK."

 

[HK-36]

[member="Krest"]

The door would open with a creek and grey fog would roll out as thunderous voice called out.
"Enter!"
And after a few seconds HK too would peek out, he was wearing a fake long white beard and a grey conical hat with a wide brim.
"Hello, come on in, we are having Overdramatic Force User Day at the Academy."

In the background, inside the Academy, students could be seen roaming around in Jedi or Sith robes, completed with fake scars, beards, conical hats, staves, or wands.
"You shall not pass! Go back into the Shadow from whence you came!"
"Good, give in into your anger!"
"The Sith are evil!"
"Not from my perspective!"
"What is this a debate team?"

HK just stared at Krest at all the shouts and calls in the background.
"You will fit right in."
He quipped to the Zabrak, opening the door wider.

 

[Darth Ferus]

(Weird, didn't get the tag)

Krest blinked slowly at the students, tilting his head. Over dramatic force user day..? That.. Was funny. The Zabrak snickered quietly, trying to stifle his laugh. He shook his head at [member="HK-36"] as he entered, speaking through a smaller laugh. "You look.. Stupid my friend. Though the beard suits you." He'd wink to the droid as he stepped in, slowly stretching out.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Krest"]
"Force users often do rather silly things. Too much power in some hands."
HK quipped back as he motioned for Krest to follow, leading him now through the more familiar halls of the old mansion.
"Not you, though, you will be fine."
He quipped back.

Krest would recognize the route they would take, most likely towards the same training area they have used before, HK would confirm that with words,
"I have scheduled the same area as before. Have you prepared for today's lesson? Read up on those essays I have sent you?"
The droid slightly looked back to Krest. Oh yes, there was homework to do on this one.

 

[Darth Ferus]

Krest shrugged his shoulders to the droid, following him to the room. He glanced them over, yeah, but he never was one for homework. Learning is a hands on subject, nothing more, nothing less.

"Well. Sure, if it means we can start the training now. Never was a fan of just reading."

[member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Krest"]
The droid nodded and took his lightsaber off of his belt,
"Good, well then I do not have to explain the teachings of Sokan? It has been used effectively against even the strongest of swordsmen in the past."
The droid was of course referring to techniques and strategies concerning the use of environment against your enemy, such as the battle over the stairs between Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Dooku, or the High Ground Obi Wan has used against Anakin, something that finished his physical transformation, by chopping off his limbs.
"Alright, Makashi, the Second Form, the Contention Form, the Way of the Ysalamiri, it is the form I use most often, while Shii-Cho focuses on disarmament and large sweeping movements, Makashi uses small, efficient, precise movements with focus on not losing your fricking saber."

He began as he took the opening Makashi stance

 

[Darth Ferus]

Krest pulled his blade free of it's sheath, holding the blade in front of his face. Then he swung it down, holding Deus lightly to the side. Makashi salute. He grinned a bit at [member="HK-36"] , slowly shaking his head. "Precise is nothing new. Small, that is. I'm rather use to powerful strikes."

 

[HK-36]

[member="Krest"]

HK nodded and imitated the salute,
"You know the opening sequence, good, Makashi has two opening stances, the traditional opening stance, blade held straight in your hand and to the side,"
He would take the stance, the cliche Makashi stance that became most popular among the form's users,
"And overhead stance."
He would lift his saber over his head, holding it with both of his arms, his arms slightly bent and elbows to the side,
"In this stance you can open with sweeps to either side, parries, or over head strikes, although in the traditional stance you can bring your sword into a parry position faster, it is a question of offense versus defense."

The droid lowered his arm, going back into the traditional stance,
"Now, Makashi is a style based on the original sword-fighting techniques, it is the most suited for combat against another lightsaber-wielding opponent, with its rival being Djem-So and Juyo, however the weakness of the form is facing multiple enemies and blaster-wielding enemies. Makashi does not offer as much training in parrying bolts aside as other forms, that is why it was eventually replaced by Soresu, the number of lightsaber-wielding decreased at the time and the ranks of those who were armed in blasters increased."
HK nodded, giving Krest a quick history lesson,
"Makashi is a style for the cunning, you need to focus when practicing this form, be aware of your environment, of your movements, and those of your enemies. Pay attention to their tactics, try to entrap them, exploit their weakness in quick but final strikes."
He would show some of the Makashi's attacks, quick small slashes, jabs, stabs, and lunges, precise, efficient, and minimal.

 

[Darth Ferus]

Krest did what he could to copy them. If the concept was not to strike with power, he was failing. Never the less he continued with [member="HK-36"] 's example, focused more on learning how to strike without overwhelming power then accurately, which showed.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Darth Ferus"]
HK nodded as he kept on talking,
"There are three key techniques when it comes to Makashi, feinting, contentious opportunity, and riposte, they all go very much so hand-in-hand. Now the first one, feinting, is a technique to trap your opponents, it is rather simply in theory but requires practice to perform correctly."
He would move his saber as if about to strike, suddenly changing its path to strike from a different position,
"Move your saber in trajectory of attack, make them believe you are about to perform an attack, they will shift then, to dodge or block an attack, creating an opening. Use that moment to change the trajectory of your saber suddenly, trap them in their own defenses and use the opening to strike."
The droid would lower his saber then,
"Second technique, contentious opportunity is more of a strategy than a move, you have to be patient in a fight, watch your enemy movements, stay at a comfortable distance from them, keeping right distance is very important in Makashi, you need to pick up a pattern in their movements, know what to expect, and use that against them."
He would raise his saber once more, as if parrying, he would slightly alter the angle of his blade as if pushing it back against his opponent,
"Now, the ripostes, it is a counter-attack technique used in parried, once the enemy attack you, parry it with the strong part of your blade, the lower third, use it to push it aside, slightly altering the angle of their blade, and follow through with your blade, pushing their saber aside in the riposte and driving your sword into them."
HK nodded, looking to Krest if he was getting all of that,
"Alright, ready to try it all out in practice?"

 

[Darth Ferus]

[member="HK-36"]

The Zabrak went over the motions for a moment, focused on the skills themselves. Redirecting the blade proved easy, but creating the illusion of a fake cut seemed to be his one issue. There was much power behind how he cut, but it didn't seem to be going anywhere for him.

Then he changed it, starting to think of his blade as only sharp around the tip. This proved useful as he started to show a basic understanding of feinting.

"As ready as I'll ever be I suppose."

 

[HK-36]

[member="Darth Ferus"]
He nodded, HK reaching back to fold his left arm behind his back, taking sneakily one of his anti-force user grenades, a simple smoke grenade for the purpose of this exercise,
"Remember to keep focus at all times, focus is everything in Makashi."
The droid instructed as he closed the ground in few steps, his large metal claws extending from his foot,
"Begin,"
He ordered as he started off by kicking up a cloud of dust from the ground with his steel claw grip, aiming a throw of sand and bits of debris as Zabrak's eyes, a bit of a dirty tactic but he did just told him to keep focus!

HK linked it with a simple but good diagonal sweep strike aimed at Zabrak's left shoulder, it was a swift flick-sweep, an Outer Ring attack, one of the more powerful strikes in Makashi, but also the slower, longer one when compared to other offensive maneuvers in Makashi.

 

[Darth Ferus]

The droids foot would not go unnoticed. The last time [member="HK-36"] had trained the Zabrak, he had proven that any part of a body is useful in a fight. And that was something Krest wouldn't forget. His form slipped to the side as he pulled himself to the right with his foot. He shifted all of his weight on the one, rotating his body and turning his head to allow the debris to hit harmlessly on the back of his head. Still rotating, he turned flipped his blade around in his grasp, thrusting his arm upwards to catch the droids saber along the edge of his own.

He kept it there, using the Force to strengthen his press to counter the droids mechanical chop before slipping back, all of his weight shifting to his other foot. He wouldn't spin, but simply slide underneath the cut, releasing his defense. He'd turn his blade downwards, cutting down the length of the saber to the Droid's exposed fingers, still working past him, light as ever on his feet.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Darth Ferus"]
HK would shift his weight, adjusting his stance in response to Zabrak's movements, his slide underneath the cut, the droid armed the grenade silently behind his back.
There were two grand rules when it came to Makashi, pay attention, and don't lose your saber.

There came a slash down the blade towards droid's hand, an attack on the Inner Ring, parry was in order. HK's blade angled swiftly, Krest's blade would feel the opposing force as his blade was glanced aside with the parry, the strong part of HK's saber keeping it locked away from his digits. He tried to maintain his control, keeping the strong section of the saber's blade on Krest's invading lightsaber, as he extended his arm out towards Zabrak, aiming for his chest, to thrust the training saber into him in a Makashi riposte, a precise graceful counter-attack HK has conducted many times over.

His other hand HK pulled up between them quickly, in a flicking throw of the smoke grenade he was holding, just as well aimed at Krest's torso. The grenade was the Anti-Forceuser model produced by the Protectorate, it was sensitive to changes in momentum, such as swatting it aside, throwing it back, or Force pushing away, such changes in pressure on the grenade would be enough to detonate it. The smoke inside was black like tar and hanged around the air once released for prolonged periods of time.

It would be a test to how focused Krest can stay during battle.

 

[Darth Ferus]

[member="HK-36"]
With Deus now pointed at the ground the Zabrak would have to shift to the side, bringing his blade up in the same moment to forcibly push the riposte away from the red chest. This slide of his blade would, however, put the metallic burning blade on the side of Krest's body opposite of the HK droid, meaning his free hand was closer. The Force would build up in his hand as he brought the palm up, leveling it with the droid's chest before unleashing the blast.

While the blast would push most back, he had the unfortunate luck of sending the blast out when the grenade was thrown at him. The push would slam against the small sphere and set it off, filling the room with the black smoke. This was far from the first time the Zabrak had lost his site in a battle though. He had trained blindfolded as a child, so the thick smoke was far from something that upset him.

Visually. His breathing became labored as he coughed, the smoke itself seeming to choke him. Constant waves of the Force would leach off of Krest, trying to push the tar like substance away to no avail, and he would retreat backwards, sliding until he would either escape the smoke or hit a wall. Hitting a wall wouldn't be as bad at least, that way he wouldn't have to watch his back, but the smoke was still heavy, chocking him.