Form II: Makashi

[Marrek Exquisitus Korr]

Aug 16, 2008 2:01:44 GMT -5 Garyn Fett™ said:

No, I was disappointed that I couldn't do the fencing.

Ooooohhhh....well, you would have enjoyed yourself, trust me, lol.

[chase]

I wish that people would study the forms and be able to describe them like you have with Form II. Most people just have a basic idea of what a form is and explain it with about six words. People don't bother to do research or even bother with reading anything to gain knowledge. It's sad...

[masterdani]

Nice!

it really helped me with my training to become a true master of makashi ;D
much to learn, i still have, but this helped me.

[Marrek Exquisitus Korr]

I have returned with a few more tips on this fine form. I like to apply the things I learn in my fencing classes to Makashi, so from now on whenever I learn something new I'll be updating this thread with some more tips. Now, because a Force-Fx lightsaber is heavier than a rapier, some if not most of the things I learn will be changed a little bit to accomadate the form. For now, I'll post some info on some evasive maneuvers, and parries and ripostes. (Please note, everything I am telling you can be applied to both a "real life duel" and a Role Play duel.)

For now, I'll be going over the most effective way to counter a lunge/stab. Contrary to what I was told by Valrum (sorry to single you out, by the way), knocking an incoming stab upwards or downwards is not the most effective way to counter a lunge. That kind of maneuver is called a garrage door parry. The reason it is ineffective is because your blade is either facing upwards or downwards, both of which will leave you open to an attack, that is if your parry even succeeds in the first place. The worst thing that could happen in either a real fight, but probably not in an RP fight, is that your opponent performs a disengage in mid-lunge. A disengage is when the attacker moves his blade in a small circular motion, a very subtle one at that. The disengage is used to get around an opponent's defenses and...well, you can guess the rest. It is possible to counter this, but you have to be very quick. But anyways, the most effective parry you could ever use to counter a lunge is a circle six, or in terms of Makashi, a semi-circle six.

To perform this semi-circular parry, you start off from the Makashi opening stance. When your opponent attempts to stab you, you make a quick counter-clockwise semi-circle going upwards. That knocks the opponent's blade to the side, leaving them with a HUGE opening. Only a fool wouldn't take advantage of that moment. From there, you should take a large step forward, holding your lightsaber behind you so the tip of the blade is aimed at your opponent. That maneuver is just enough to impale them, and end the fight quickly. That technique is called in-fighting. Once you make that maneuver, it's a pretty safe bet that your opponent is done for. There are other ways to utilize in-fighting, but it would be hard to perform for anyone who doesn't know the parries in foil fencing, and I'm no teacher. You'd need a visual aid, which I could provide, but it wouldn't do you any good. I fight with my left hand, and in-fighting with a lefty vs. righty is a lot more complicated as opposed to right vs. right, or left vs. left. Plus, I don't know how to perform any of the parries with my right hand, so oh well lol.

That's all for now. Enjoy and give me feedback please.

[rougejedi]

dooku is Japanese

[Marrek Exquisitus Korr]

Nov 23, 2008 5:59:16 GMT -5 rougejedi said:

dooku is Japanese

If you are referring to his name, you would be correct. However, that is completely irrelevant to the form of Makashi, not to mention that it's completely irrelevant to this topic. For example, Dooku's Sith name, Tyranus, is clearly Latin. But does that mean that Makashi is "Latin" in anyway? No, it doesn't. If you don't believe me, I'd suggest you look up Makashi on wookieepedia, and then look up fencing on either wikipedia or just plain google it.

On a final note: A character's name is completely irrelevant to their fighting style.