Description of Form 4 Lightsaber Combat: Ataru

Ataru, also known as the way of the Hawk-Bat, or the Aggression form, was the fourth of the seven classical forms of lightsaber combat. Ataru boasted a heavily offensive skill-set: fast-paced, demanding of energy, and effective most against single opponents. Furthermore, Ataru was most heavily characterized by its force-assisted acrobatics, its practitioners often using leaping strikes and somersaults during combat to gain an edge over the enemy.

Despite its common-place in the modern Star Wars era, Ataru dates back even to the Mandalorian Wars, the starting point of Revan’s famed journey as Dark Lord of the Sith, and later as a redeemed Jedi Knight.

However, despite its advantages, Ataru had limited capability when its practitioners found themselves in confined areas, or facing multiple opponents. As Yoda says, “Against multiple enemies, only a true Ataru master will prevail.” Because the form required great amounts of energy, and even the Force could not sustain Ataru’s sequences for long, practitioners were advised to withdraw, or even stall if they were unable to overwhelm their opponent after an initial burst of attacks. Thus, a mastery over one’s own discipline was imperative to become a master of Ataru, as the prem ature use of one’s energy could inadvertently, lead to one’s death.

During his duel with Maul on Naboo, Qui-Gon Jinn showcased perhaps the primary weakness of Ataru: it’s lack of defense. Having been created as a counter-measure to the criticisms of Soresu being a purely defensive form, Ataru relied on one’s Force sustainability, and simply put, acrobatic movement, to provide defense for it’s users. However, when the advantage of open space was denied from Qui-Gon during his fight with Maul, Jinn was deprived of a key element of his defense, and thus could only hope to block Maul’s form 7 barrage lightsaber-to-lightsaber. Ultimately, this led to his demise, and influenced Kenobi to change his preferred form to Soresu, which he would master its highest level.

In retrospective, Yoda is perhaps the only being, Jedi or Sith, in Star Wars history to have mastered Form 4 to its highest level: even surpassing, in my opinion, the level to which Obi-Wan Kenobi mastered Form 3, and the level to which Count Dooku had mastered Form 2. His small stature provided him with the agility and dexterity necessary to pull of some of Ataru’s more physically demanding moves. In his battle against Count Dooku, his former apprentice, on Geonosis, Yoda was able to sustain a Form 4 barrage for an extended period of time, despite his advanced age. He was able to transition from sequence to sequence seamlessly, defeating Count Dooku, despite the fact that Makashi was the quintessential counter to Ataru. Yoda’s mastery of Ataru also played a large role in his survival of Order 66, as he was, despite Form 4’s weaknesses to blaster fire and multiple enemies, able to easily dispatch the clones that had been sent to kill him.

As a practitioner of Form 3, Yoda also subscribed to the tenet of using one’s body as a weapon. As Luke Skywalker is quoted saying, “The Ataru form of combat is aggressive, but focused. You must never solely rely on skill with a weapon, but rather embrace the idea that your whole body is the weapon.” Yoda, when utilizing his entire skillset, was described to be a blur during combat, so devastating fast and unstoppable, that he could eve n rival the likes of Darth Sidious, whom I believe to be one of the fastest and deadliest lightsaber duelists of the Clone Wars Era.

Though Yoda is the quintessential master of Ataru, in every aspect possible, the only other being whom I believe came close to rivaling Yoda’s skill in Form 4 would be Kas’im, the Sith Blademaster during the era of Lord Kaan’s Brotherhood of Darkness, and Bane’s rise to prominence.

Kas’im showcased his ability during the Battle of Lehon, where he fought, and eventually lost against his former apprentice, Darth Bane. In 1000 BBY, Bane left the Sith Academy on Korriban, deciding not to follow Lord Qordis and the rest of the apprentices to join Lord Kaan on Russan: what he believed to be a fool’s errand. The Twi’lek Blademaster Kas’im followed Bane to Lehon, where he presented him with the choice of either rejoining the Brotherhood of Darkness, or facing certain death. Bane chose the latter, and the two engaged in a fierce lightsaber duel. Kas’im, overpowered by Bane’s considerably stronger ability in the Force, seemed to be on the defensive. However, when Bane’s lightsaber cut through and bisected the Twi’lek’s double bladed lightsaber, Kas’im showcased an incredible display of double-bladed Form 4. Bane was forced onto the defensive, and was almost killed by the Blademaster. Bane was only able to survive by using the Force to bring down the Lehon temple upon his former master, killing him.

Although Kas’im lost the battle, it was not due to his lack of skill in Ataru, or lightsaber combat in general. Bane was, disputably, one of the strongest lightsaber combatants of his era, being more skilled than virtually any other Sith in the Brotherhood of Darkness, excluding of course, Kas’im. The fact that such a being had to resort to Force powers the Blademaster speaks volumes of Kas’im’s skill in lightsaber combat, and although I do not believe him to be the level of Yoda, he deserves respect in his own right.

Characterized by fast-paced, aggressive, and powerful strikes from multiple angles, Form 4 was the ultimate offensive style of lightsaber

combat, its practitioners an extension of the blade: a weapon in their own right. And that is the way of form 4.