Form II - Makashi

Form II, also known as Makashi, The Way of the Ysalamiri, or The Contention Form, is the second of the seven classic forms of lightsaber combat. Developed for the purpose of lightsaber-to-lightsaber combat, to address the failings of Form I, Makashi is the most duelling-centric of the seven classical forms. Relying on precision and efficiency over Shii-Cho's wild, sweeping motions, Form II allows an initiate to defend themselves against an opponent with minimal effort, while placing a heavy focus on avoiding disarmament.
Makashi is described as elegant and focused, and is based on balance and footwork to outmanoeuvre opponents. Fluidity, precision, and economy of motion are relied on, rather than strength, with Form II blade work heavily utilising jabs and light cuts rather than hack and slash movements. Overall, the form is at its fore when engaged in combat against a single enemy duellist.
After the Hundred-Year Darkness saw the destruction of most of the galaxy's Dark Jedi, the chances of a Jedi encountering a lightsaber-wielding opponent began to decrease drastically. In the intervening years, the Great Hyperspace War and the Old Sith Wars began and ended in fits and starts, which caused the appearance of Dark Jedi and Sith to take on a sporadic pattern. This, combined with the increasing availability of blaster technology, resulted in Jedi encountering an ever-increasing numbers of blaster wielding opponents, and only rarely encounter enemy duellists. As Makashi is designed strictly for blade-to-blade combat, it lacks an effective means of combating enemies with projectile weapons. Due to this oversight, Makashi lost a great deal of its practical applicability, and over time it has faded into relative obsolescence. It was eventually supplanted by Form III, which is both the most defensive of the seven forms and designed specifically for blast-deflection.


Description
Of the seven forms, Makashi is the most akin to bladed weapon duelling, developed during an era where engagements with Darksiders and rogue Jedi became an almost routine activity. Form II's primary purpose was to serve as a counter to the first form, Shii-Cho, by relying on precision swordplay to counter Form I's sweeping movements, and placed a heavy focus on preventing disarmament - the primary goal of Form I. The early levels of Makashi are devised to provide a defence against an opponent's blade, allowing an initiate in the style to defend with minimal effort, but needs to be paired with a more offensive style to score a winning blow.
The higher levels of the form prove considerably more effective. Form II blade work encourages precision and efficiency over power, using jabs, parries and light cuts rather than slashes, blocks, and chops. The blade manipulation required for this form is very calculated, requiring intense focus and expert timing. It is described as elegant, powerful, and precise - relying on feints to confuse and trap opponents. These refinements allow a user of the form to attack and defend with minimal energy expenditure. Makashi also places a great deal of emphasis on footwork in both attack and defence. The footwork of Form II practitioners commonly follow a single line, front and back, shifting the feet to keep in perfect balance as the practitioner advances and retreats. Makashi is a style based on balance, on back-and-forth charges, thrusts, and sudden retreats. Makashi practitioners are also uncommonly adept at defending themselves from Force-based attacks. These elements combine to create a form that is extraordinarily effective for lightsaber combat against a single opponent.
Form II emphasises fluid movement and anticipation of a weapon being swung at its target, and so requires very smooth motion of both the blade and the body, and practitioners often wield the blade one-handed for a greater range of movement. With a skilled practitioner, the results are deadly. In fact, masters of the form often seem so relaxed when employing it that they appear to be dancing. Makashi duellists also train themselves to avoid enslavement to form, as such devotion opens the practitioner to be defeated by unpredictable tactics.
For all its effectiveness, however, Form II is not without its weaknesses. As it was designed to combat enemy duellists rather than enemy gunmen, it provides poor blast-deflection training. While this is ultimately the reason for the style's decline and eventual obsolescence, it can be overcome through skill and practice. Also, Makashi is most potent when used against a single opponent, and is reduced in effectiveness when fighting groups of adversaries. However, a skilled practitioner can still fare very well against multiple foes, relying on footwork to outmanoeuvre and take out opponents one at a time. Alternatively, this weakness it can be compensated by wielding dual-blades.
The greatest flaw of the Makashi system of combat is its inability to generate kinetic energy in its application; the focus on precision and blade control hampers an adherent's ability to generate momentum in both offensive and defensive manoeuvres. This means that a duellist who possesses a sufficient level of physical strength can potentially overwhelm a Makashi practitioner, shunting aside strikes from the form's precision offense, and simply bash through its evasive, footwork-oriented defence. This lack of physical force leaves Makashi practitioners vulnerable to duellists utilising more contemporary forms which emphasise power and brute strength. This weakness is especially pronounced against practitioners of the Djem So variant of Form V, as the style is based almost entirely around fast, strength-oriented swordplay. However, this weakness can, to varying degrees, be compensated for with rigorous strength training or cybernetic augmentation.

Known moves and manoeuvres
Being a style geared towards efficiency, Makashi adherents rely on balance and economy of movement, preferring to refrain from the leaps and acrobatics common to Form IV. The Form II opening stance is a single handed low guard. The saber is held in the strong hand of the user held at the side, the blade pointed down, and the feet shoulder width apart. Some face their opponent side on, so the blade is pointed in their direction. The lightsaber hilt is held with the thumb pointing down the length of the blade to allow for smaller, tighter, more accurate movements of the saber. The rest of the fingers wrap around the hilt holding it tightly, but not so tight as to limit the fluidity of the movements. The typical Makashi flourish consists of rapidly moving the tip of the blade in an "X" shaped pattern through the air, often following the Makashi salute. The salute is not an attack or manoeuvre, but a challenge to an opponent; the saber is held in one hand, brought up vertical directly in front of the practitioner's face, then swung down in a Makashi flourish.
Makashi duellists are typically skilled in the application of two Marks of Contact; the Sun djem, and the Shiak. In a marked difference from the Shii-Cho "disarming slash" manoeuvre, which was a power attack designed to rip an opponents weapon from their grasp, the typical Form II applications of the sun djem are precise attacks directed at the weapon itself, often destroying it or even burning through an opponents fingers to disarm them. Applications of the shiak are a natural result of Form II footwork and swordplay, all of which follow a single back and forth line, and is seen as an indication of skill and control. Two Makashi manoeuvres are the "contentious opportunity" and the "Makashi riposte". The "contentious opportunity" is based around recognising and exploiting an opening in the opponent's defence before swiftly moving to strike the exposed enemy. The "Makashi riposte" is similarly designed to slightly alter the angle of an opponent's attack before quickly retaliating with a counter strike.

Makashi Weapon Specifications
Due to Form II's emphasis on blade manipulation, and its many fluid one-handed moves, Makashi practitioners often wield lightsabers which are specialised for such use. The most prominent weapon for this purpose is the curved-hilt lightsaber. These weapons are used because the curved hilt fits better into the palm, granting better blade control and allows for greater precision and strength. In addition to this, wielders often create highly decorated weapons, and occasionally include blade-guards.
The other, considerably rarer, weapon type is the Lightfoil, a specialised type of lightsaber used by the Mecrosa Order. Original lightfoils are built with small handles for exclusively one-handed usage, and are much better balanced than typical lightsabers, allowing for greater precision. However, curved lightsabers and lightfoils are not the only weapons that Makashi can be effectively utilised with; lightsabers with standard hilts are perfectly adequate for the form, and the style can even be used with a saberstaff in the hands of a skilled practitioner.