| Jar'Kai | |
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Perhaps you would like to learn something before you die. The use of two blades, one to support the other, can be traced back thousands of years and was common to both of our species. The invention of lightsabers has done nothing to lessen the effectiveness of this strategy;as you are about to learn.
—Boc Aseca to Kyle Katarn
Darth Krayt utilizing Jar'Kai, having had plenty of time to practice.
Jar'Kai was a combat form developed to utilize a specific type of paired blades in sword combat. This duel-wielding technique weathered the ages as an effective combat form, to eventually become a form of lightsaber combat.
History[]
A pair of Jar'Kai Dueling Swords
Ancient style, ancient weapons. No less effective.
—Ancient Sith Blademaster
Jar'Kai was developed by the Yovshin Swordsmen of Atrisia, and the style was named after the city of the same name. It was in this city that forgesmiths origially crafted the Jar'Kai dueling sabers, before 22,000 BBY. The weapons proved to be highly effective for their intended purpose in combat, which was to defend against multiple strikes, and to misdirect opponents to better pierce their defences. From the Yovshin Swordsmen, Jar'Kai spread throughout the galaxy, becoming a relatively popular and effective style of combat for those who were willing to devote time and effort to learning the techniques. As technology progressed, the effectiveness of Jar'Kai also improved, with many of the later saber pairs being vibroblades for additional cutting power to circumvent the loss of power that a single-handed weapon entailed. Jar'Kai was used extensively in some Force sects, particularly the Shards of the Force, who were all required to become at least proficient in the technique. Additionally, it became quite popular in dueling rings, as the nature of coordinating two blades at once could be tweaked to become rather flashy and spectacular, and any Jar'Kai user tended to draw in the betting crowds.
Jar'Kai experienced a change after the advent of lightsabers, and for a time it fell into almost total disuse by those who utilized lightsabers, and those who expected to combat lightsaber users. The reasons for this were varied, but for those who utilized lightsabers, the power cables became a significant issue when using just one, and once a second lightsaber was added to the equation the tangle of power cables essentially ruled out Jar'Kai for lightsaber users. Conversely, the effectiveness of lightsabers at cutting through any material rendered the idea of a defensive offhand pointless, and so Jar'Kai lost the majority of its followers during this period. Some, such as the Shards of the Force, utilized Force Weapon in order to make their blades somewhat effective against lightsabers, but this only slowed the slide of Jar'Kai into obscurity. Then, around 9000 BBY, cortosis was discovered, and suddenly it was possible to defend against lightsabers once more. This helped to further slow the loss of Jar'Kai, until finally it found a stable niche around 7000 BBY, when lightsabers finally developed enough for internal power cells.
Since then, Jar'Kai has had a significantly loyal following amongst both Jedi and Sith, despite being a small following. During the Sith Wars around 3956 BBY there were several Jar'Kai masters, such as Revan and the Jedi Exile, and over the next several thousand years there were a very few highly skilled Jar'Kai practitioners. There were many Jedi and Sith who attempted to learn dual-wielding, but never specifically the Jar'Kai style of combat. However, it became popular with the opponents of the Jedi during the Clone Wars, such as General Grievous and, in particular, Assaj Ventress, who utilized twin curved lightsabers. The most recent truly notable practitioner of Jar'Kai was Darth Krayt, who had plenty of time to learn it over his long lifetime. However, the unparalleled master of Jar'Kai was Amara, who started practicing it when it first developed on Atrisia, and continued to practice it, utilizing both Jar'Kai dueling blades and Jar'Kai lightsabers, right up until Amara was removed from the galaxy at large by Darth Sideous.
Description[]
Asajj Ventress utilizing Jar'Kai with dual curved sabers.
Jar'Kai was originally developed to be utilized with Jar'Kai dueling sabers, which were specifically designed for dual blade combat. The longer blade was held in the prime hand, and was designed for stabbing, slashing and balanced attacking. In the off-hand was held the shorter, stubbier blade, which was primarily utilized as a supporting blade, operating to defend the user and launch only opportune attacks. By utilizing the off-blade to parry and defend, Jar'Kai left the user with the primary blade free to attack the open gaps in an opponent's guard that formed through their own attacks. Commonly, off-hand parries were combined with simultaneous stabs to vital areas with the primary blade, in a quick strike that would often prove lethal. However, skilled Jar'kai practitioners would extend the form, by utilizing misdirection and confusion to launch attacks from unexpected angles, either by utilizing the off-blade to engage in a proactive offensive, or to defend with the primary blade, or even to perform feints that involved utilizing one blade for a false attack, and pulling it away quickly to be followed up by the second blade. Jar'Kai in this form lent itself far more to stabbing and precise cuts than slashes and sweeps, as the force generated by punching the arm out for a stab was far more explosive and concentrated than the one-handed slashes that would otherwise be relied upon.
In terms of lightsaber combat, Jar'Kai changed slightly, due to the almost-weightless nature of lightsabers and the standardization that tended to be seen amongst lightsaber designs. Though in the strictest sense a curved-hilt lightsaber would serve as the prime and a shoto as the off-hand weapon, it was far more common for Force users who merely wanted to practice Jar'Kai, rather than master it, to simply use a pair of standard lightsabers, necessitating alterations to the combat style. Lightsaber Jar'Kai still tends to utilize the off-hand defensive tactic, but because of the equal length of the blades, and the fact that the lack of weight allowed off-hand lightsabers to be utilized quite effectively, it was not uncommon to see lightsaber Jar'Kai utilizing the off-hand as an attacking blade far more often than the original form of Jar'Kai.
Jar'Kai was not a showy type of combat, focusing far more on finesse and dexterity than the powerful attacks of Form V: Shien / Djem So or the acrobatics of Form IV: Ataru. In this way, it was much more like Form I: Shii-Cho or Form II: Makashi. Once properly trained, any Jar'Kai practitioner could adeptly misdirect and disorient foes to pierce masterfully through their defences, similarly to the style of Form VII: Juyo / Vapaad. To this end, Jar'Kai proved to be significantly effective against those who utilized Form III: Soresu, as the single blade was not often able to stop simultaneous assaults from the prime and off-hand weapons. With standard lightsabers, Jar'Kai tended to focus more on slashes and sweeps of the blades at the opponent, whilst the usage of a curved-hilt saber and a shoto tended to lead to much tighter defences, due to the smaller and more maneuverable nature of a shoto, as well as both the shoto and curved sabers lending themselves more to stabbing than slashing, in a manner very similar to Makashi. Whatever sort of lightsaber was being used, the lightsaber variant was simultaneously far more adaptable and far more deadly than the original form, due to the fact that every edge of a lightsaber was able to cut with ease, as opposed to the single-bladed dueling sabers.
Weaknesses[]
Though a highly capable and deadly form of combat, Jar'Kai was not without its deficiencies. Whether utilzing solid blades or lightsabers, Jar'Kai required intense trainingto be utilized effectively, and also required reasonable concentration during combat, as the user had to be aware of the positions of both hands at all times, and often would have to operate them independantly of each other, which could become significantly difficult if concentration was lax. Additionally, the fact that each blade was held in a single hand, although allowing for faster and more flexible attacks, denied Jar'Kai great power in its attacks, especially with the original blades. Also, the one-handed nature of the defensive blade meant that if an opponent was powerful enough, it would be possible to simply batter through the parries and blocks to injure the Jar'Kai user. Finally, those who were trained strictly in Jar'Kai would often find themselves at a severe disadvantage in combat if either one of their blades were unavailable for use, or rendered inoperable in combat.
Mutability and Broadened Connotations[]
Jar'Kai was a strong combat discipline all of its own, but many Sith and Jedi tended to blend it with another lightsaber form, practising both, so that if one lightsaber were to be rendered unusable, the owner would not be in mortal peril. Given the precise nature of Jar'Kai, the curved lightsabers used for it, and the era that it was most heavily relied upon, the preferred forms to blend with Jar'Kai were Makashi and Shii-Cho, with Soresu also being a solid choice. Of course, there were other blends, such as Jar'Kata, which was a highly deadly hybrid of both Jar'Kai and Trakata.
However, because of the initial significant use of Jar'Kai in melee combat, the term itself has come to take on a different connotation within the wider community, which is that Jar'Kai is simply a term that refers to utilizing two lightsabers at once. This misinterpretation has lead to beliefs that Force users such as Boc Aseca and Anakin Skywalker have utilized Jar'Kai, when in the strict sense of the combat style they have done no such thing. This rampant misuse of the terminology has even seen its way through to being used to describe wielders of double-bladed lightsabers, which is wholly incorrect. There are several other styles of combat that utilize twin lightsaber blades, and to term them all Jar'Kai is quite wrong. The most predominant of these is dual-bladed Form VI: Niman, which is simply Niman utilizing some of the more basic features of Jar'Kai combat.
Known Practitioners[]
- Alora
- Amara
- Sora Bulq
- The Dark Underlord
- Grievous
- Jedi Exile
- Aaron Kel
- Darth Krayt
- Exar Kun
- Maorann
- Renust Nju
- Revan
- Assaj Ventress
- Darth Raivon
- Maxx Liss
- Darth Malice the Destroyer
- Jedi Master Baron Naris
- Kale Zin
- Kera Liss Zin
- Platt Nanostarter
- Noah Microboiler
- Arthur Pendragon