Description of Form 2 Lightsaber Combat: Makashi

The second of the seven classic forms of lightsaber combat was Makashi, also known as the Way of the Ysalamiri, or The Contention Form.

The Ysalamiri were lizard like creatures, known for their ability to repel the Force by creating a Force-neutral bubble, measured up to 10 meters in diameter. During Thrawn’s Confederacy, the Grand Admiral used these Ysalamiri as a type of force-protection by having his soldiers attach them to their back harnesses. By incorporating these creatures into the Spaarti cloning process, Thrawn was also able to produce clones at a staggering rate, reducing the already-fast 1 year maturation rate to that of less than 30 days.

Developed due to the limited practicality of Form 1, Makashi was the most dueling-centric of the seven lightsaber forms. Form 2 placed a heavy emphasis on avoiding disarmament, and went against the Sun Djem philosophy of Form 1. Makashi, in the hands of a Jedi or Sith master, was elegant and focused, based on precise body balance and footwork to outmaneuver opponents. Because of this, a wielder of Makashi relied on fluidity and efficiency and economy of motion rather than brute strength, and had blade-work focused on light cuts and jabs rather than heavy attacks.

Makashi made its first appearance during the Hundred-Year-Darkness, which began in approximately 7000 BBY after the Dark Jedi split from the Order in an event known as the Second Great Schism. Led by the eventual Sith Lord Ajunta Pall, a small sect of Jedi knights began practicing extended uses of the force. Through their experimentations, these Knights learned that the Force, utilized by one powerful enough, could bend even life itself. With their new-found powers, Ajunta Pall and his followers sought to convince the other Jedi to join their quest for eternal life and galactic domination. The conflict between the followers of Ajunta Pall and the Jedi Order would escalate, until the rogue Jedi would be exiled, along with their discoveries of the dark side.

Ajunta Pall and his followers, now called the Dark Jedi, waged war on the Jedi Order of Tython for nearly a hundred years. However, after decades of fighting, the Dark Jedi lost the war, and were forced out of the Deep Core.

Exiled, and without a home, the Dark Jedi eventually reached an then uncharted world called Korriban, where, Ajunta Pall, the strongest of the Dark Jedi, would become the first Dark Lord of the Sith.

Over the course of the next 6000 years, the Great Hyperspace War and the Old Sith Wars began and ended in fits and starts, which caused the appearance of the Dark Jedi and Sith to take on a sporadic pattern.

Blade-to-blade combat slowly fell into obscurity, as blaster technology become more readily available to the galaxy. Ineffective as a means for combatting enemies with projectile weapons, Makashi lost much of its practical applicability, its practitioners forced to either rely on unpredictable tactics to gain an edge over their opponents, or or master an additional form of lightsaber combat, most commonly being Soresu, or form 3.

Balance was the key to Form 2. Much like in fencing, users of Makashi often followed a single line, front and back, shifting their feet in perfect synchronization with their blade. This allowed practitioners of form 2 to avoid disarmament, both attacking and defending with minimal energy expenditure. Users of Makashi were also uncommonly adept at defending themselves from Force-based attacks.

Masters of the form, notably Count Dooku, seemed so relaxed and in control during combat, that they appeared almost to be dancing. Efficient and elegant, Makashi was the ultimate form of single lightsaber combat. However, Makashi was not without its weaknesses. It provided poor blast-deflection ability, and although its focus on precision and control gave the user innumerable advantages, it left them vulnerable against strength-oriented sword-play, used particularly by practitioners of Form 5, such as Darth Bane, Anakin Skywalker, or Kyle Katarn. Makashi also had reduced effectiveness when used to fight more than a single opponent. While true masters of the form could isolate opponents, combatting them 1 by 1 as to create an advantageous situation for themselves, this could only be accomplished through a lifetime of training.

Count Dooku was one of the finest practitioners of Makashi, mastering the form to unforeseen levels. He demonstrated precision and elegance, with pin-point accurate blade-work, and an unpredictable offense, all the whilst having the ability to create a near effortless defense. As Qui-Gon Jinn once commented on Dooku, “He is a fencer. Leverage, position, advantage – they are as natural to him as breathing.”

In his day, Dooku’s lightsaber skills were only surpassed by Yoda, and only Mace Windu was credited as being Dooku’s equal, even though Dooku had been nearly 30 years older than Mace. On Geonosis, Dooku was able to defeat both Anakin and Obi-Wan, drawing the two lesser-experienced Jedi into unpredictable feints, seemingly toying with them. However, despite Dooku’s absolute mastery of form 2, he was still prone to the style’s lack of kinetic power. During his fateful battle on the Invisible Hand, Dooku was simply unable to match Skywalker’s rage-filled Form 5 sequences, and was overtaken by Anakin’s sheer, bruteforce tactic. This, combined with Dooku’s age and Skywalker’s endlessly large skill and power, resulted in Dooku’s defeat, and soon after, death.

Elegant, efficient, and precise, all the whilst being uncommonly adept at defending against force attacks. Combined, these elements created a single, capably deadly combatant, and that is the way of Form 2.