Form VIII: Kendosu

Description
Form VIII: Kendosu or the Way of the Varactyl was a new swordplay style developed during the Rise of the Empire era by Jedi Knight Scott Borek. While Form II excelled at blade-to-blade combat, and more importantly relied on precision it did not have the necessary strength to sustain itself in a duel and it was practically useless against blaster bolts, and suffered accordingly when blasters came into prominence. Djem So did not have the necessary manueverability or speed and Ataru lacked the precision and strength needed while requiring massive amounts of stamina to master. To defeat these deficiencies and to give the advantage in combat Form VIII: Kendosu was created. Because blasters were extremely prevelant, the Form borrowed its' defensive style from Form III: Soresu because the designer knew that utilizing a strong defense against blaster-wielding opponents was imperative, though that focused on the defensive side, it was the offensive side of the Form that caused it to be considered a new form of swordplay. The defensive side of the style proved to be effective against blasters and aggressive duelists, much like its ancient predecessor. Though it had problems against power based duelists and, depending on the user, against quick opponents.

Kendosu, relied mainly on speed for attack, it used its superior speed to confuse and overwhelm the opponents mind or defenses. This extra speed generated immense power not seen with Makashi or Ataru. This allowed the user to focus on his strikes to enhance his precision and on his movement, two things that were weaknesses with Djem So. It also had more fire power than Soresu. The Form was also unique for purposely relying on the user's talent in dueling and swordplay, rather than augmenting the user's ability with the Force, this also gave the duelist the advantage of using the Force for other things during the duel, such as hurling objects and other things. A slight problem can occur if the user does not have strong stamina, as it requires a lot of energy to use because of the speed foundation it was built upon, though it is not as much of a problem as Ataru. The style uses a lot of Feints and sets up the opponent for an advantageous strike.

Kendosu bladework is described as chaotic, unwieldy or confusing, everywhere and nowhere, extremely fast h, never moving the blade a millimeter more than necessary. It also worked on trying to frustrate the opponent into lashing out, so the enemy would tire faster.

While Kendosu was tiring and inefficient, many said that duels lasted only a short time due to its tactics and fundamentals.

Philosophy
The philosophy of Kendosu is described as being the "Perfect storm" The practitioner combined strength and immense speed while remaining peaceful and focused in their mindset, creating a force to be reckoned with.

Practioners

 * Scott Borek

Strength/ Weakness Ratings
Form VIII, was offensive based, obviously, relying on speed and strength to overwhelm the opponent as well as counter-attack. The defense and precision varied on the strength of the user. However, it more than compensated with a strong defense, making the user almost unbeatable. {| class="wikitable" width="95%" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="centre" ! width=10%| Action ! width=20%| Standard ! width=20%| Speed ! width=20%| Power ! width=20%| Precision }
 * Attack|| Moderate|| Excellent|| Excellent|| Variable
 * Defense|| Excellent|| Variable|| Weak || Excellent
 * Defense|| Excellent|| Variable|| Weak || Excellent
 * Defense|| Excellent|| Variable|| Weak || Excellent