Form VI: Shien (Powerstaark)

Shien, also known as "the way of the Acklay" or "the reverse form" was a unique style of lightsaber combat where the users would hold their lightsabers in reverse grip.

Shien was possibly the most rarely used style of lightsaber combat and few gained true mastery of it. It wasn't an easy style to use and was better for offense than defence. While using the style it was more difficult to block attacks from a swift opponent or from several opponents because it could sometimes take the lightsaber too long to get in position to block the attacks. Some Shien practitioners trained themselves to be fast and agile to overcome this weakness. Shien relied largely on the movement of the users wrist.

Stance and maneuvers
The Shien opening stance was to hold the lightsaber horizontally behind the back with the free arm held out in front with the elbow bent a bit so it wasn't stretched out too far. Shien relied largely on wide, sweeping slashes and users would often slash out then twist their wrist and reverse the movement.

A notable Shien maneuver was the "Barrier of Blades" where the user would spin their lightsaber in front of them creating a defensive shield which could also be used to drive the enemy back. Another technique was called "Shien Deflection" where the user would leap at the opponent and deflect a blaster bolt at the same time before reaching the enemy.

Practitioners
Ahsoka Tano was very skilled at Shien and had the potential to become a true master of the style. She had even trained herself to use a Shien variant of Ataru by using the reverse grip and Ataru acrobatics at the same time. Her friend Tom Norton also used Shien but he wasn't as skilled as she was.

Jedi Council member Adi Gallia was a master of Shien and so was Kiffar Jedi Master Quinlan Vos. Plo Koon also had some skill in Shien which he taught to Ahsoka and Tom though he more often used Djem So.