Interesting Fighting Styles
This is a thread where I analyze and break down interesting fighting styles utilized by lightsaber duelists in Star Wars.
Feel free in suggesting anyone you would like me to make a post for, however I will not do posts for people who focus only on one form or are masters of all seven, as those are far less interesting to break down.
One character with an interesting and effective fighting style is Obi-wan Kenobi.
In ROTS, Obi-wan is a master of Soresu, and an expert in Ataru. His mastery of Soresu gives him a near impenetrable defensive technique, capable of holding off Grievous' immense fighting speed as well as Vader's superhuman strength, both of these fighters demonstrating great ferocity in combat. His skills in Ataru on the other hand work as a great supplement to his mastery of Soresu, as it provides him with something most Soresu masters lack, a viable offense. As this was Obi-wan's primary style prior to Qui-gon's death, and he used it against Maul, even managing to damage the Sith Lord's weapon at one point, I'd say his offensive capabilities granted by Ataru are not to be underestimated. Ataru also grants him skill in mobility and acrobatics, which is important for a fight, and when paired with the "immovable rock" defense of Ataru, it truly grants him control over his mobility. This is further enhanced by his skill in Sokan, which is a Jedi combat principle about using one's environment to gain a tactical advantage. Finally, Obi-wan also possessed a fair deal of skill in Tae-Jitsu, a hand to hand martial art, which granted Kenobi a fair amount of skill in hand to hand combat. Kenobi was also versed in Jar'kai, which was no doubt a result of Form IV's dual blade training regimens, which provides him with greater versatility in combat. What I view as the pinnacle example of Obi-wan's combative technique was his duel against Darth Maul and Savage Opress on Florrum. Obi-wan used Jar'kai to better allow him to clash blades with two opponents at once, he used Soresu to defend against these two very skilled offensive duelists and stand his ground, he used his skills in Ataru to keep them off edge with a fast paced aggressive offense as well as providing him with the mobility to dodge their blades, he used his skills in Tae-Jitsu to keep them off edge and uncoordinated with physical strikes, and he used his understanding of Sokan to take advantage of the tight space to keep them from coordinating their attacks together as well as bouncing off the wall and using it for reinforcement in a bladelock. This clever and desperate culmination of all of Kenobi's abilities allowed him to hold off two duelists when one of them alone would've been a tough fight for him.
As such I judge ROTS Obi-wan's fighting style to be unique, resourceful, and effective.
Something that often comes into question is ANH Kenobi's level of skill and abilities. Although his dueling capabilities have atrophied to an extent, he still remains a very capable duelist. His application of Soresu remains rather unchanged, as despite his atrophy in skill he remains "the master of Soresu." His defense is still strong enough to hold off Vader for a little while, which is a great feat. What I think would change the most in his dueling skillset would be his offense. In his physical prime Obi-wan's offense consisted of Ataru, and the martial art of Tae-Jitsu. As per Ataru, Obi-wan appears to lack the physical capability for Ataru's elaborate acrobatics to be practical in combat. Thus he appears to utilize a more grounded version of Ataru that doesn't incorporate the styles trademark acrobatics, but still holds true to Ataru's fast paced attack sequences. As per Tae-Jitsu, it's core principles may provide Kenobi with certain things such as balance and physical control, any of its moves are pretty much rendered obsolete due to Kenobi's physical condition. I do notice some possible incorporation of Form V in Kenobi's technique as well, given his quick and immediate counter attacks against Vader as well as his deft footwork. This is something that plays off of Kenobi's Soresu mastery quite nicely considering that Soresu's main function is to defend and wait for an opening, and such reactive bladework associated with Form V would help one exploit such openings. This is a point supported by TFU: USE when you fight Kenobi. If you try and best him through bladework he will capably block your attacks, and if you slip up for a moment, he will unleash a flurry of attacks on you. So basically, I think Obi-wan applies the defensive applications of Form III, the counter-responses and footwork of Form V, the fast paced attack sequences of Form IV, and the physical disciplines of Tae-Jitsu.
I feel like ANH Kenobi's style does a good job covering up his physical weaknesses while taking what he does have and making it count as well as supplementing his forms and techniques with eachother. For these reasons, despite his atrophy in skill, I still judge ANH Kenobi's fighting style to be unique, resourceful, and effective.
Well now... time to do one for Darth Vader. Darth Vader's primary form, even before gaining the suit, was Djem So, which he had taken to the level of mastery. After sustaining the injuries on mustafar and donning his trademark suit his fighting style changed dramatically. He initially began to fight with a brutish method, employing a clumsy application of Djem So that incorporated elements of Ataru and Soresu, but was really no more than a brutish onslaught.
Eventually Vader learned to fight with his armor, completely retooling his fighting style to fit his strengths and weaknesses, and incorporating elements from the other six forms around the core of his fighting style, Djem So. Djem So works perfectly as the core of Vader's fighting technique. Its strength oriented offense allows him to use his cybernetically augmented strength as well as the weight of his armor for devastating power blows, it's grounded nature suits Vader's relative lack of mobility in combat, the emphasis on footwork is supported by Vader's bulky weight providing him with a stable center of balance, and it's emphasis on parrying and immediate counter response suiting Vader's need to both defend the weaknesses of his armor and press all of his advantages to bear against his enemies.
Djem So's dueling centric focus also serves as a good basis to incorporate elements of other forms into. The first forms Vader borrowed elements from were Soresu and Ataru. Vader's usage of Soresu was known to involve keeping his elbows to his chest and using his wrists for the precision necessary to ward off blows targeting his face and chest, the most vulnerable parts of his suit, ensuring that if a blow did hit, it could likely be tanked by the rest of his armor. His application of Ataru into his fighting style was likely at first a feeble attempt to regain some of his old agility, and after learning to fight with his armor he actually somewhat succeeds in this goal. He doesn't regain an extraordinary level of agility, but he does gain enough agility to be competent in this regard. Like Qui-gon and ANH Obi-wan, he appears to utilize a more grounded version of Ataru that focuses more around elaborate movement rather than elaborate acrobatics.
The next styles Vader was known to incorporate into his fighting technique were Makashi and Juyo. Makashi's place in Vader's technique led to more control over his technique, which in turn was instrumental in the transformation from a clumsy brutish method to a more advanced and precise method. The elegance and precision granted to him by Makashi was a nice compliment to his brute force. This allowed him to strike with great strength, but at the same time, precisely hit his target, which ranges anywhere from off-balancing or disarming someone with a single stroke to cleaving them in half. Juyo was also a significant boon in overcoming his weaknesses. The passion that Juyo draws from would allow Vader to draw from the dark side to overcome some of his physical limitations. Juyo also provided the, at first slow and clumsy Vader, with a fast paced unpredictable offensive.
With Djem So as the core of Vader's technique and Makashi, Soresu, Ataru, and Juyo being supplementary fighting techniques, Shii Cho and Niman are what holds it all together. Shi Cho was instrumental in the retooling of Vader's style as he basically had to work from the ground up. The simplicity of Shii Cho allowed Vader to use it as a basis for more advanced techniques later on, effectively building off of it to incorporate other styles into his technique. Niman on the other hand was what allowed Vader to hold the elements of all of these styles together as well as allowing him to easily transition between the forms in his fighting style.
What makes Vader different from other wielders of all Seven forms is that rather than mastering them all individually, he primarily focused on one style and supplemented his skill in that style with elements from other styles, effectively building around the form he has mastered, with elements from the other forms, and the way he does this works perfectly to cover up his weaknesses and take full advantage of his strengths. For these reasons, I judge Darth Vader's fighting style to be unique, resourceful, and effective.
Given that he is my favorite Sith Lord, here is my Darth Bane one...
Darth Bane is known primarily as a master of Djem So, however he also has Soresu and Juyo underneath his belt as well as an understanding of the other four forms to the point where he knows how to capably defend against and counter them.
With Djem So, Bane takes full advantage of his extraordinary physical attributes. Standing at a towering two meter height with strength enough to rip through durasteel, Djem So takes full advantage of the power he can work up from his strength and leverage. Djem So's focus on blocking and immediate counter-response also ensured that Bane was able to bring his full offensive capabilities to bear against his opponents. He was known to use his brute force to not only directly wear his opponents down, but he was also known to redirect his opponents blades at an angle that exposed them to a fatal strike or physical attack. Bane also doesn't fall victim to one of the more common weaknesses of Djem So practitioners, which would be a lack of mobility. Bane has shown himself to be a quick and agile fighter despite his hulking size, which has saved his ass on numerous occasions.
Another Form that factored into Bane's fighting style was Juyo. Bane used Juyo's unpredictability as an excellent compliment to his overwhelming application of Djem So, attacking from unpredictable and creative angles to make his already physically dominating offense even harder to deal with. Bane was known to reap the full benefits of his dark emotions when applying Juyo while at the same time attaining mastery and control over his emotions, not allowing his emotions to lead to an error in tactical judgement. In fact Bane's application of Juyo also involved probing his enemies defenses as much as attacking them with a controlled fury.
Soresu didn't figure into his offense, however his usage of Soresu in conjunction with his Djem So was quite interesting. Despite Bane's focus on offense, his mastery of Soresu ensured that he wasn't helpless fighting on the defensive and in fact allowed him to turn the tide of the fight back into his favor so he could resume his offensive. His defense was strong and nearly impenetrable, and his knowledge of how to defend against the other forms certainly came into handy here. Whenever placed on the defensive Bane would repel his enemy's strikes while waiting for an opening to assert himself into, effectively rebuilding his offense, and given the relentless nature of his fighting style this reassertion isn't something he'd be likely to lose.
Though Bane wasn't confirmed as being familiar with any hand to hand martial arts, he was quite skilled at chaining physical attacks into his offense, taking full advantage of the openings he creates with his Djem So technique.
Another thing that plays into Bane's lightsaber mastery quite nicely is his lightsaber itself. The nature of his curved hilt provided him with even more unfamiliar angles to attack from, bolstering his application of Juyo, while the way it fits into his hand provided him more power with some of his blows, fitting into his application of Djem So. The nature of its unfamiliar angles almost took off the arm of an implied Makashi master, a style that prizes itself on precision, in a single blow.
Bane was also known to use the force to not only increase his physical capabilities and senses through conventional methods, but he also took advantage of a power called inertia, which allowed him to alter his inertia and momentum, which has numerous applications that bolster his style. This allows him to increase the force behind his blows increasing his effectiveness with Djem So, as well as allowing him to change the direction of his motions and attacks more freely, adding to the unpredictable nature of Juyo, and increasing the effectiveness with which he can chain in his physical attacks.
One final element in Bane's fighting style is his tactical ingenuity. Not only does he favor unpredictability in his moves and maneuvers, but also in his overall tactics. He was known to probe for openings in defensive fighters, as well as taking advantage of his environment to seize a tactical edge, and was known to change his tactics every time his opponents get used to his current tactical approach, disturbing the rhythm of their engagement and effectively seizing control of the fight itself. He was also known to be highly adaptable to such tactic changes himself, quickly adapting and continuing to press his advantage.
So ultimately, Bane is a very physically overwhelming fighter on the offensive, taking full advantage of the benefits provided to him by Djem So, his raw physical capabilities, and his emotions. He's also a very unpredictable fighter, utilizing an unorthodox weapon, ever changing unpredictable tactics, the chaotic unpredictable nature of Juyo, and his ability to shift his inertia for physical attacks, or sudden shifts in angle and direction of attack. Within this offense however he also maintained a high level of control. All of this works really well on the offensive as it is increasingly difficult to defend against such powerful blows while dealing with such levels of unpredictability at the same time. This is further compounded by the psychological impact of defending against such a style would be frightening, especially since Bane knows how to use psychological ploys in fights. Such an assault is also much more deadly when you consider the amount of control Bane has over it. With his offense as good as this, his defensive capabilities are optimally engineered to restore his offense in a way that plays of the counter-responsive nature of Djem So as well as the nature of his control of inertia.
So to recap the summary that ran a little long, Bane's fighting style plays perfectly off of his physical attributes, armament, and bodily control, as well as being completely dominating and unpredictable with a defense that serves to re-orchestrate said offense. For these reasons I judge Darth Bane's fighting style to be unique, resourceful, and effective.
Darth Maul is also a quite interesting fighter as he focuses primarily on lightsaber technique over force abilities and dun moch...
The primary component of Darth Maul's lightsaber technique is Juyo, which is what provides Maul with his offensive technique as a duelist. Juyo is known for its unpredictability, which plays off of the unfamiliar nature of Maul's double bladed lightsaber quite nicely. Juyo is also known for it's fast paced and aggressive offensive, which also plays well off of Maul's double bladed lightsaber given that he can strike with two blades more frequently than he could with one. Maul however was not dependent on his double bladed lightsaber and could still function with a single blade. When applying Juyo with a single bladed lightsaber Maul compensated for his double bladed lightsaber's greater striking speed and his opponents' unfamiliarity with it, with the greater maneuverability provided by a single bladed lightsaber.
Maul supplements his offensive dueling capabilities with the aggressive martial art known as Teras Kasi. Teras Kasi is perhaps the most effective martial art for a Sith to compliment their dueling skills with considering that it was developed and geared for fighting Jedi, exactly the kind of opponent a Sith Lord like Maul would face in a lightsaber duel. Maul's mastery of Teras Kasi is to the extent that his master considers his body as lethal as his lightsaber blade, and it is very prevalent in his fighting style. Given how busy Maul's hands are in combat he more frequently utilizes kicks in combat to the extent where he's thrown at least 6-7 kicks in half of his on-screen fights, once to the extent where it was actually lethal to a Jedi, and another time actually managing to land a blow on Sidious. Maul's intense and brutal physical training at the hands of Sidious was instrumental in specializing his body for such attacks, though after losing his legs, the new cybernetic legs he receives makes his frequent habit of throwing kicks in a lightsaber duel all the more effective.
With Maul's mastery of Juyo and Teras Kasi he is a very offensive fighter, and as such he'd be considerably less comfortable on the defensive. Nevertheless Maul does maintain a capable defense in his dueling repertoire. It is likely that much of Maul's defensive technique is derived from his skill in Niman. Niman's balanced jack-of-all-trades nature provides Maul with no weaknesses for his opponents to exploit against him. Niman as a jack-of-all-trades style also provided Maul with some insight into the other forms, allowing him to more capably respond to them in combat. His defensive technique was also well served by his double bladed lightsaber, given the defensive coverage provided by two blades. Unlike his offensive technique, I do not believe he ever truly compensated for the loss of his double bladed weapon in this regard. Given how undeveloped his defensive technique was in comparison to his offensive technique, Maul would also utilize aggressive moves and maneuvers derived from Juyo and Teras Kasi in his defensive technique to keep his opponents at a safe distance while also keeping his opponents from closing in by creating distance with the acrobatics of Teras Kasi. As such Maul's defensive technique is mainly comprised of not presenting a weakness, while maintaining a reasonable distance with aggressive techniques and acrobatics.
Then we get to Maul's mastery of Jar'kai which impacts his fighting style in a few different ways, pretty much all of which are related to armament. First of all, he likely got to Jar'kai through the stepping stone of Niman, which he then used to attain mastery of the double bladed lightsaber. The second and more obvious impact is his skill in dual wielding. When wielding two lightsabers, he further increases his effectiveness with Juyo, as it provides him with the striking speed of two blades without the movement hindrance of the double bladed lightsaber, also increasing his options in combat, and thus his unpredictability as well.
Darth Maul was essentially Sidious's weapon and his skillset reflects that. He is specialized for offense, maintaining combat expertise in several weapons through Jar'kai, a fast paced offensive through Juyo, knowledge of other forms through Niman, skill in hand to hand combat through Teras Kasi, and a defense that utilized minimization of weakness and aggressive techniques to keep his opponents at a distance to compensate for his relative lack of defensive techniques. Maul was brutal and aggressive, but as a result of his vast array of techniques he was also versatile and thus unpredictable, a two edged sword if you will (full pun intended). For these reasons I judge Darth Maul's fighting style to be unique, resourceful, and effective.
interesting.....you have my attention....especially with Kenobi......
I read that Kenobi have studied Sokan....It was considered to blend well with Ataru....
Kenobi was debated to whether he employed Sokan or not with his offensive Ataru
and defensive Soresu against Vader.....
imo,I think he did employ Sokan....occupying the High ground,dueling over dangerous
uneven terrains.....
I did the same thing once....you did a great job on this thread....
try Makashi /Count Dooku.......
I wrote a few things on Makashi...once...it's strengths and weaknesses......
Makashi... has its points......Juyo /Vaapad is my thing....they are almost unknown....
a mystery.....info on them is limited....but challenging....debatable.....
Many Debate the complete Juyo style died with Palpatine or Juyo's creator....
Same for Mace and Vaapad.....
imo Juyo /Vaapad will be the last unsolved mystery.....in the EU and SWU.....
Good Job!!!! Good Thread!!!!! Keep posting.....
Thank you for your support...
The thing about Dooku is that he specializes almost exclusively in one form of lightsaber combat. These are combatants I would like to refrain from making post for as the benefits provided by one form or all forms at the same time are fairly obvious.
I wouldn't say Juyo was incomplete as a fighting style overall, just incomplete as a Jedi fighting style. Meaning the Jedi never really discovered how to use it and work it into their Jedi philosophy without being drawn towards the dark side. To a dark side wielder, I don't think it's an incomplete style.
Agreed though Form VII is my personal favorite as well and would be my first choice if I were in Star Wars.
Well now... time to do one on a Dark Lord who is perhaps one of the most grossly underrated duelists in the mythos... Darth Zannah.
As it is what most of her fighting style is derived from, let's take a look at her chosen weapon first. Zannah wielded a saberstaff, with blades that were slightly shorter than the standard bladelength of a lightsaber and the elongated hilt common to most saberstaffs. The shorter blades allowed for greater speed and maneuverability, while the elongated hilt allowed for an easier two handed grip. The benefits of a saberstaff itself ensured a wider area of effect, whether being used for offensive or defensive purposes.
As it is the largest and most effective aspect of her fighting style, let's look at her defense next. Darth Zannah was a master of Soresu, and her application of it played greatly off of her saberstaff. Zannah's technique was to spin her saberstaff in a defensive shield, keeping the blades spinning for momentum and granting her a maximized defensive coverage. Zannah's defense is highly effective against strength, speed, unpredictability, and precision. The maneuverability and shorter length of her blades also allows her to capably defend herself in close quarters combat.
Against duelists, Zannah's technique of spinning her blades to maintain their momentum, serves to bat away and redirect powerblows. She also maneuvers her blades in a way to which she doesn't meet the force of her opponents blows head on, but rather redirects their blows at an angle which prevents them from striking her. Wrist strength is a necessity for Zannah's fighting style, so with that built up wrist strength in mind it is even more unlikely that Zannah would be disarmed or overwhelmed by power blows, especially when you consider the two-handed grip required by the specifications of her chosen weapon.
Against opponents who are fast and unpredictable, the maximized defensive coverage formed by the constant spinning of her blades serves her well, as it allows her to defend from multiple places at once. This effectively allows her to meet fast and/or unpredictable strikes by keeping the majority of her body behind a shield at all times.
Against opponents who are very precise, Zannah is no stranger to precision herself. She is able to recognize great precision in the scar Set Harth dealt to a bartender, uses precision to deflect her opponent's blade at an angle, and relies mainly on precision for her offensive moves (which I will delve into later on). In addition, Zannah's maximized defensive coverage allows her to drastically reduce the number of openings she provides to precision duelists, and the control she exerts through her wrists allows for greater precision on her part.
Next we get to what is perhaps the most overlooked and underrated part of Zannah's technique, her offense. A common misconception about Zannah is that she is not capable of any effective offensive moves or maneuvers. The truth is that Zannah is not comfortable pressing an offensive, but she is still more than capable of utilizing offensive strikes and maneuvers whenever her opponent leaves an opening for her to exploit, as demonstrated against Set Harth when she casually stomped him, recognizing a dozen openings she could've easily exploited. Given that Zannah noted his precision to be remarkable and considered Harth to be a "very good" duelist, and that a member of the Jedi Council of First Knowledge considered him to be the most dangerous man in the Galaxy in the "absence" of the Sith, this speaks very well for the precision and effectiveness of Zannah's offensive maneuvers.
Her physical capabilities and applications within her fighting style are also quite remarkable. Zannah is a capable unarmed combatant, landing a few good blows on Harth, and even attempting a few physical strikes against Bane in the stone prison. She was also very agile and acrobatic, being capable of avoiding Bane's grappling in the stone prison, managing to get back onto her feat after tripping while under Bane's offensive pressure, and capably performing a triple back handspring after taking a severe beating from Bane. The maneuverability of her shorter blades also serves to bolster her here.
And last and finally, we have Zannah's tactical ingenuity. Zannah takes a lot of crap in this area from a lot of people for her tactical errors against Bane, and they forget about how tactically ingenious she can be. On Tython, Zannah was capable of playing her opponents against eachother, and was actually smart enough to not kill one of her opponents because of how he interfered with his partner's fighting style. She was also clever and cunning enough to utilize stealth when sneaking up on Lsu on Tython, and Bane in the Stone Prison. She has also, believe it or not, been fully capable of recognizing ways in which her opponents were attempting to use the environment to their advantage against her. Though she made some pretty bad tactical errors against Bane when she tried to best him through martial prowess on Doan then got tricked into stumbling over uneven ground by Bane, it is important to remember that Bane is an extremely unpredictable opponent with a talent for subterfuge that is implicitly second only to Sidious's, so the fact that Bane was able to deceive her into making a few tactical errors does not mean that she is tactically retarded.
So to sum it up, Zannah's defenses are highly effective against almost every measure of attack, her weapon perfectly bolsters her fighting style, she is capable of expertly exploiting openings with great precision, she is capable of utilizing her body to an extent in combat, and she is capable of applying tactical resourcefulness in combat. For these reasons I judge Darth Zannah's fighting style to be unique, resourceful, and effective.