Enyalus
MALE DOMINANCE!!!
Originally posted by Gideon
Okay, let's say I said a superior command of the Force leads to superior Force speed. How does that passage disproves my theory?
Originally posted by Gideon
Skilled and fine swordsmen they may be, but the Emperor was their far superior in Force command, hence why he was able to move at speeds that they were incapable of.
Anakin shows tremendous blade speed. From the ROTS novelization:
'He retreated up them, using the higher ground for leverage, but Skywalker just kept on coming, tirelessly ferocious.
That blue blade was everywhere, flashing and whirling faster and faster until Dooku saw the room through an electric haze and now Kenobi was back in the picture:'
And that is while Anakin is holding himself back. Dooku is clearly overwhelmed by not only Anakin's immense power, but speed. Later on, when he isn't holding back:
'In that pristine clarity, there is only one thing he must do.
Decide.
So he does.
He decides to win.
He decides that Dooku should lose the same hand he took. Decision is reality, here: his blade moves simultaneously with his will and blue fire vaporizes black Corellian nanosilk and disintegrates flesh and shears bone, and away falls a Sith Lord's lightsaber hand, trailing smoke that tastes of charred meat and burned hair.'
Just like that. He's fast enough that when he's not holding himself back, a single move ended the duel. Faster than Dooku could do anything to counter. He easily outclasses Dooku in not only power but in speed. Does Anakin have superior command of the Force over Dooku? No. Does Anakin have superior knowledge of the Force over Dooku? No. Tis power...
Now, from Path of Destruction:
'When the Zabrak's desperation turned to hopelessness, every impulse in Bane screamed with the desire to take the initiative and end the fight. Instead he let the tantalizing closeness of Sirak's defeat feed his appetite for vengeance. The hunger grew with each passing second until it became a physical pain tearing away at his insides: the dark side filled him and he felt it on the verge of ripping him apart, splitting his skin and gushing out like a fountain of blood....
He waited until the last possible second before unleashing the energy bottled up inside of him in a tremendous rush of power. He channeled it through his muscles and limbs, moving so fast it seemed as if time had stopped for the rest of the world. In the blink of an eye he knocked the saber from Sirak's hand, sliced down to shatter his forearm, then spun through and brought his saber crashing into his opponent's lower leg. It splintered under the impact and Sirak screamed as a shard of gleaming white bone sliced through muscle, sinew and finally skin...
For an instant none of the spectators was even aware of what had happened; it took their minds a moment to catch up and register the blur of action that had occurred so much quicker than their eyes could see.'
Sirak was the top apprentice at the Academy. He's very fast, and has at least a working knowledge of every Form, seeing as how during their first duel Bane is able to see him transitioning seemlessly from one form into another. Compare that to Bane who is relatively new at the academy (less than a year in), he doesn't have any holocrons to study and his command of the Force is so suspect that a few months earlier he couldn't use his Force powers at all. Yet he does this. How? He's able to channel the power of the Dark Side. He can handle it. He's powerful. Not because his knowledge of the Force is amazing.
From The Swarm War:
'the two Jedi were on one another, their lightsabers flashing toward each other's heads with all the speed and might they could summon.
That was the trouble with powerful men-especially younger ones. Awed by their own strength, they so often believed strength was the answer to every problem. Luke was older and wiser. While Raynar swung, he pivoted.
As Raynar's gold blade sliced the air where Luke's head had been, Luke's boot was kicking him behind the ankles, knocking his legs out from under him and stretching him out flat.'
Luke's raw power allows him to move at tremendous speeds. In The Unifying Force (which I don't have to quote) he's seen as wielding twenty blades at once. How is this possible? Power!
A pre-ROTJ Luke, for instance, uses Force speed:
"I was dazed, and felt I'd lost contact with the Force. Then I heard Ben Kenobi's voice calling as if from a great distance, echoing across time and space. He said, The Force. Let it work for you, Luke.
I had to trust the Force completely. Guri's hand was coming down like a blade at me. A death strike, I watched her hand descend, saw it moving to smash me, but it seemed so incredibly slow that I was able to roll aside and stand before the blow could land. I felt as if I were moving at normal speed, though there was a crackling feeling to my motions, and a sound like strong wind whistling about my ears. To me, Guri seemed to be suddenly mired in thickened time. It wasn't any effort at all to knock her to the floor. As she fell, time seemed to speed up and return to normal.
The burst of speed I experienced was not a fluke, but unlike other Force powers, I cannot say I felt in complete control of it. All of you should bear in mind that while it often seems we use the Force achieve our goals, it is ultimately the will of the Force that guides our actions."
In all of the above cases, the indicated users of Force speed are not known for their overwhelming knowledge or command of the Force. And as Luke himself states in 40 ABY (circa Legacy of the Force), he was not in total control of such power - and thus, Force mastery would be a far less pre-requisite for a Force-enhanced burst of speed than the Force potential of its user.