The Resilience Form…

[Corvus Raaf]

It didn’t mater how many times she’d been asked, Corvus always found time to teach someone the third Form. Perhaps it was it was her preferred Form? Maybe it was because of her fondness for Master Kenobi? Or most likely because it was the ultimate expression of non-aggressive Jedi philosophy.

So she checked her box of props for the lesson ahead – training sabers, stun blasters, remotes and even a blindfold – and awaited her student. She knew him, they’d travelled to Rhen Var together – but she’d never actually trained him, and so she was keen to learn what his Master had been teaching him as much as the instruction itself.

[member="Jake Cabur Tor"]

 

[Jake Cabur Tor]

Jake walked up to the doorway a decent 15 minutes early, as he always liked to do. It was always a good thing to be early, and showed how much you appreciate the other person's time. He walked into the training room, bowing to [member="Corvus Raaf"] he said "Hello master, I just wanted to thank you for spending the time to instruct me in Soresu." He hoped he hadn't sounded too formal. It seemed like he could never find the balance between informal and formal wording that suited him, unless he was in a tight situation, where his instinct kicked in. He walked to the training floor and started doing some warmup stretches, talking to Corvus about their recent trip to Rhen Var. "That last trip was a great excercise, he said hoping to get a conversation going.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus smiled as the Jake entered the room and gave a small bow. “Welcome Padawan. Knight Shatterstar suggested you would both benefit from and also enjoy learning the third Form – so by definition, you’re here. And yes, the trip to Rhen Var was interesting – it always is. Cold but enlightening, and I trust you were able to return with a suitable crystal.”

She removed her robe and neatly folded it, placing it on a nearby bench before her gaze returned to her student.

“Now, Soresu is my preferred form for a variety of reasons – but before I bore you with endless details, it would be good to hear what you already know about it. That way you can be spared me repeating what you already understand – and trust me, I can go on for hours.” She smiled again to put the Padawan at ease.

[member="Jake Cabur Tor"]

 

[Jake Cabur Tor]

He smiled, mainly because his old master had taught him well. "The three rings of defense are the basis of this form, allowing the user to create a strong defense. While defense is covered, the form restricts offense, leaving the user with a limited amount of weaker attacks than other forms." Jake stated hoping he didn't say anything wrong here. He ignited one end of his saber and demonstrated some basic guard positions, hoping to impress Corvus with his knowledge, though he still had much to learn about this form. He understood why his master had sent him here, and hoped that he would learn more about the intricate, yet delicate movements of this form. He also hoped to find out if he had any bad habits that he had picked up in his solo practice, to fix them, and become better because of it. He glanced at [member="Corvus Raaf"] to see what she thought so far.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus nodded. She was enjoying the fact that it was someone else doing most of the thinking and talking for once. She imagined this is what it was like when she was a Padawan receiving training.

“Excellent. Knowledge is all well and good. Knowing about a Form is useful but without application pointless. Wisdom is the application of that knowledge and you have demonstrated this.”

“There is more theory to learn and I can add this as we progress. In terms of what you have said so far, I am pleased you have not over or understated any of its strengths or weaknesses. To begin with, I am happy you know the traditional opening stance. It is not always necessary and there are those that avoid them, for fear of communicating their chosen Form. Of course there are pros and cons to this thought process.”

“But I have talked too much. By way of a quick demonstration, I ask you to attack me, using whatever Form comes naturally to you. I shall demonstrate how Soresu is typically used and then we can work on the actual training. If you wish we can progress to Center of Being and even a couple of particular moves synonymous with the Form.”

“Please grab a training saber and attack me.” And she stood, hands on hips, a training saber clipped to her own belt, smiling at him.

[member="Jake Cabur Tor"]

 

[Jake Cabur Tor]

"[member="Corvus Raaf"], do you mind if I use my own saber's training function?" Jake asked toning down his sabers powerlevel as he asked. He knew that the master most likely wouldn't mind and even if she did she would know that there would be benefit to using one's own weapon in training. When you use different weighted weapons, you tend to have to make adjustments, not that it was a bad thing, but when he learned something new about a certain form, he preferred to use his own equipment, learn the technique and then focus on learning to adapt his knowledge to different sabers. He didn't voice this, because he knew that she would probably guess his reasons sooner or later in the training when he decided to change sabers. He smiled and ignited a bright silver beam and thought about what form he should use. thinking for about a second, he decided he would fall back on Shii cho, thinking that this would provide a good foundation for Soresu to be built on. His attacks were well thought out, strategically making an almost unpredictable pattern. He didn't know what to expect from Master Raaf, but he knew he should give this session his best and focused on allowing his endurance from all of his physical training sustain his attacks for this form, but he simply couldn't get through her defense. He knew this was the point, but he couldn't allow himself to be satisfied with himself, without impressing her. he was just using one of the ends on his saberstaff, which might come in handy later for a suprise attack, but he could only use that trick once. Same went for separating his sabers seperating into two to dual wield them, but he saved those tricks for now.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus took the question in her stride, "Of course not, whatever works for you. But every now and then, there's value in using a different saber - you never know when circumstances might dictate you use a different one and it would be a bad time to have to adjust to a new feeling with a Sith Lord facing you."

"But today, please use your own. When you're ready, you can start."

As his saber ignited with a snap-hiss, he adopted what appeared to be the first Form. Once his blade came close, Corvus' training sabre snapped into her palm with a slap and the blade activated to bathe her face in violet light. Her blocking efforts lacked any panache or elaborate style, they were simple, effortless and invariably parries rather than blocks. What would soon become apparent was how little she was doing compared to him.

"The first benefit of Soresu is economy of motion. Let your opponent tire herself and then she's more likely to make mistakes." She was calm and controlled, her voice was no different to when she'd started the lesson, "Please continue to attack."

[member="Jake Cabur Tor"]

 

[Jake Cabur Tor]

He saw her arms were holding her saber close to the torso, and merely using her wrists and very little arm movement; using speed, instead of raw power to intercept his blows, weaving a defensive layer he wasn't sure he could penetrate with shii cho. "Yes, I am aware that adaptation to a different saber is a skill I must have, and later on in the lesson I do intend to change sabers, I would prefer to learn a skill, or technique with what I am comfortable with, and then using that skill, adapt." He said trying to back up his reasoning, feeling like he had to explain himself better. "That was how Master Rein taught me before she died, and I guess it just stuck." He was forcing himself to throw less emphasis on his words when he was attacking and more emphasis between his attacks to make his voice sound more even and avoid throwing hints as to when he was attacking at the master. He also tried to adopt [member="Corvus Raaf"]'s style, keeping his saber in front of him, and tried using his wrists to control his attacks. This technique made him able to strike faster blows, that while not as heavy as his sweeping blows, still packed some force. He hoped his efforts would show some incentive and impress her.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus nodded her approval, “You might consider Makashi one day, you have the wrist flexibility for it – but that’s for the future.”

She stepped back and deactived the saber with a hiss-snap. Nodding again, she said, “You show promise – especially as you seem keen to listen as opposed to try to impose your will. Soresu in it’s purest sense combines the Form with Center of Being. If you practice sufficiently you will be able to defend almost subconsciously – but it requires one thing that many Jedi, let alone Padawans, find hard to do. To trust in the Force. And I mean to trust it implicitly and to allow it to guide your actions and override your conscious will. That takes time and not all have the patience to learn fully.”

“But again, I’m talking too much. I was aware you were observing closely, so it’s your turn.” She walked over to her box of goodies and pulled out a remote. The droid was used for many purposes and it’s ability to move in random directions and fire stun blasts made it a useful tool for saber training.

She punched a few buttons and left it hovering in the air. “The moment you activate your saber it will act. In your own time…”

[member="Jake Cabur Tor"]

 

[Jake Cabur Tor]

Jake nodded at her, and reactivating his saber, turned to face the sphere. He had no idea what level of difficulty it had been set on, so he treated it as if the highest level he had faced had been activated. The first shot came as a shock, but the next few came at him he easily deflected. 3 out of the 5 shots came back to hit the droid, the other two were sent harmlessly away from Jake and [member="Corvus Raaf"]. He had trained with this difficulty quite often, and had been pushing his limits with the 4th or fifth level hiher than this one. He remembered how master Raaf had defended herself with minimal movement and that he hadn't focused on learning the form, just blocking the bolts. Shifting to something like what he master's stance had been, he tried to bloxk the bolts wih as little movement as possible. The next volley, he managed to deflext all of the bolts, but the last one was sent in Corvus' direction. Deactivating his saber he turned to face her. "Sorry master, I guess I need to focus more on where I am deflecting the bolts." He apologised and looked at her hopin it wouldn't upset her.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus threw up a quick Force Barrier to absorb the blaster bolt, but acted as if nothing had happened. Corvus nodded. He was already good and with practice he could be a Jedi to be relied upon in the ongoing campaign to keep the peace in the Republic.

But practice is the one thing he hadn't been granted as yet, so some pointers were appropriate. Corvus didn't turn the remote off - instead she talked as he continued to defend himself.

"Trust in the Force. Relax and allow it to flow through you. Trust it to direct you to where the bolts will come from. Only this way will the Form become natural, only this way will you be able to defend with grace and the minimum of effort. Trust. Do not try to fight the remote by yourself. Nor should you look to use the Force as some sort of tool to be used and bent to your will. Let the Force know what you want to achieve and then relax. It will direct you - not the other way around. And don't worry about where the bolts are going. There is another Form better suited for punching bolts back at their firer - today it is all about defense. Let's up the difficulty and see how you progress."

[member="Jake Cabur Tor"]

 

[Jake Cabur Tor]

Jake was glad she understood what he was trying to accomplish. "Alright master Raaf, I will do my best." after the difficulty had been set up, he had a little more difficulty deflecting the bolts, but stayed with the form's stance, allowing minimal movement, and fairly quickly, after allowing his hands to move where the force guided him, he got much better, and was even getting to the point to where he could, while using the soresu technique, deflect the bolts with much more control. he rarely let a bolt stray from a 60 degree cone in front of him. Training himself to achieve this would be important when working with another, or even with a group of soldiers.he hoped he would be able to do both at one point in time or another. He noticed how much less energy he had spent, and how much longer he was able to train, just with this simple technique and wondered why he hadn't thought to employ this form before.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus noted his improvement. “Good, good.” She walked around as he continued. “It’s not known as the Eye of the Storm for nothing. As around you there is mayhem, you should be tranquil, your movements sure but minimal – you’re picking it up well.”

“Remember this is the beginning. I have practiced what…two hours a day for some dozen years to get where I am – that cannot be achieved overnight by definition. But a natural aptitude is always a good start. But now…” she flourished a silk from her pocket at this point, “We raise the stakes.”

“I’ll reset it for a lower difficulty and now I want you to protect yourself without using your eyes. This is what Center of Being is all about. Trusting the Force to guide you to protect you from even the most random of attacks. Now we’ll see how much you are willing to place your life in the Force’s hands.”

[member="Jake Cabur Tor"]

 

[Jake Cabur Tor]

Jake had used the deflection droids many times without sight aiding him, so he wasn't too worried about deflecting the shots. he knew that the force would guide him, so he reached into the utility pouch he had with him and pulled out a strip of cloth that was about 6 inches wide. folding it in half, he tied it over his eyes and waited for master [member="Corvus Raaf"]'s signal to start the drill. Using what little time he had to center himself. he would allow the force to guide his every move, he would become an instrument of the force, and the force would protect him.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus saw that Jake was ready and set not one but two droids away. On relatively low difficulty settings but two would - by definition - make it doubly hard.

Time to see how much he trusted the Force. Many never managed it, others - like Corvus herself - developed it over time. It was simple really - but sometimes that was hard to pull off. Trust and practice, both within the Jedi's gift yet seemingly hard to commit to.

[member="Jake Cabur Tor"]

 

[Jake Cabur Tor]

Jake heard the droid start huming, indicating that it was floating, but something felt off. he heard a slight waving to the sound. It was a waving that occured when two sustained sounds are produced that are slightly out of tune. She activated another droid! Jake thought, now he knew what he was up against, reaching out with the force, he felt for both of the orbs energy sources, which would allow him to know the locations of the orbs. He let go with his mind, and what happened next was a blur. Three minutes later, or so he thought, all that he remembered was activating his lightsaber. He knew that he had somehow not been hit with any of the stun bursts, because he could feel all of his limbs, and didn't seem to have any pain anywhere. he was still in this training session though, but his full merge with the force was slowly weakening. He didn't know what he had just done. He felt the urge to move his saber down, and did so, deflecting a bolt. then turned to face the other droid, and deflect its bolt, only to be hit in the back by the first. He wasn't a stranger to pain, though, so he continued the drill for a few more seconds, knowing that if the bolt had been real, he would now be dead. Deactivating his saber, he ended the simulation. "Sorry I didn't do very well master Raaf." Jake apologised not knowing how long he had truly been training, or even how well he had done. He hoped he had pleased [member="Corvus Raaf"] sufficiently with this practice. "I did know that there were two of the droids from the beginning." He stated, wanting her to know how sharp his senses were. Taking his blindfold off, he decided he had learned enough of the form using his own sabers, and chose now to pick up a training saber. He grabbed just one for now, setting his saber down in front of the rack, he turned to face Corvus to listen to what she had to say.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus nodded at the Padawan’s progress.

“My first observation is that you’re comfortable working alongside the Force rather than allowing it to guide you. That will come with time – but I sensed you were aware of the second remote through your natural senses rather than by the Force informing you. But…having said that, I was aware that as you progressed you allowed the Force to take the lead. This is impressive and bodes well for the future.”

“But then you were aware of all of this, as you have said. Which is also good. What I observed?” She paused for a second, “Is a period where you gave yourself to the Force totally and it guided your actions. This lasted for a few minutes. And then your conscious brain took over and that’s when you were hit.”

“So, overall very impressive progress. The next stage is to allow the Force to control your actions but remain in control of your senses. To be able to trust in the Force to guide you to protect against attacks but still be able to hold a conversation or use the Force consciously. But as I say, it will come with time and a lot of practice.”

“OK, let’s step it up a gear. People will tell you the form is only good for blasters. Not true.” Corvus picked up a remote from out of the box she had with her and a cupboard door opened. Out came a droid armed with a training saber. "Hmmm…let’s make this a challenge. Makashi.” Corvus tapped a few buttons. “This doesn’t have difficulty settings, it learns from you. So it is always pushing you – making you work that little bit harder.”

“Once more, as soon as you activate your saber it will react.”

[member="Jake Cabur Tor"]

 

[Jake Cabur Tor]

Jake thought about the saber's weight. It was distributed more to the emitter, making the natural tendancy of the weapon to strike more heavily. That atribute would be a help with the attacks of soresu, but also a hinderance to the form's defence. he hefted it a couple times and then after getting a feel for the saber, ignited it, holding it in a defensive stance. Makashi was an excellelent form for attacking a lightsaber weilder, and Soresu was the naturaly best defensive form. He deflected strick after strike, allowing the droid to do quite a bit of attacking. He wanted to use the knowledge he gained from defending to apply to his offensive strategy. He remained on defense for almost 3 full minutes,learning about a slight catch in the arm of the saber before changing direction. There was also a jab that left said droid open on the forward thrusting side. he was sure that a master of makashi would most likely have no such flaws, these two being very obvious. he saw the same jab come at him once more, and in one quick motion, he twisted his saber to the left, then using his hands as a quick pivot point flicked his saber over the top of the droid coming into contact with the droid's neck joint. Up until now the droid had been gauging his defensive abilities and had not had an offensive reference to go off of. that all changed now. Not even looking at Master [member="Corvus Raaf"], he felt her approval and continued to spar the robot.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus did not interrupt. She could see the patience that Soresu required - time to study an opponent and spot weaknesses or simply combinations an opponent always used.

So she let him continue to spar - his attack would automatically increase the droid's difficulty level.

[member="Jake Cabur Tor"]

 

[Jake Cabur Tor]

Jake noticed the droid's attacks start to speed up. Especially after delivering a few weaker, but crippling blows to the droid. He was starting to understand the reason Soresu was such a valuable asset. If he had Sparred against one of these droids using any other style, he would already have begun to succumb to fatigue. Granted, if he had used a form with better offense, he might have dealt much more damage to his opponent in the time he had been sparring, but for now moderately tired was a good trade off for the excellent defense. and he was starting to see the merit. He struck the droid again in the neck, and heard a zap that was louder than his last few strikes had caused. The energy from the training saber had partially been absorbed into the droid somehow, and the droid's movement's seemed to be steadily increasing. It seemed as though he had broken the droid. He felt the force fill his body and he remembered what master [member="Corvus Raaf"] had said about controling the force, instead of allowing it to control you completely. Allowing the force to flow through him and guide his every move, he was actually able to retain the ability to continue to think about what was going on. The droid's blows were coming much faster, and with much more strength. He could barely keep up with the pace the droid was setting, and it was only getting faster. allowing the droid to push him back he didn't have any time to think of his surroundings before he felt the urge to jump. the droid's saber came sweeping under his feet and he landed on a bench. Not wanting to fight balance at the moment, he stepped backward off of the bench, landing on his feet, he shuffled back until he used up the remaining floorspace he had left and was about to be pinned against a wall. He started leading the droid around to his left and hopefully back into the training ring. He thought about deactivating the saber in his hands, but something told him to keep blocking the blows, something told him the droid might not stop. Even if he did try to end the excercise, he wouldn't have the ability to test his theory and defend himself from the droid's next blow. He hoped Master Raaf had seen what was going on. Suddenly the droid's saber struck his left arm leaving a sizable burn in his forearm, and leaving the arm temporarily useless. He didn't know what to do at this point.