A Guide to Shii-Cho

[Lord Iezkon]

The first of the saber forms that we learn - and, in general, the only one permitted for acolytes to learn - is Form I: Shii-Cho. This form was created not with lightsaber combat in mind, but with metal swords. As such, this form maintains the basic movements, attacks, and rebuttals of the days before lightsabers. It is, however, a form that still thrives to this day, being well placed for combat against multiple opponents; its wide, sweeping movements indicate the roots of this form quite well.

Shii-Cho relies on wide movements, and the practitioner tends to utilise the momentum of their movements and upper body to add force and power behind them. It is especially useful in combat against a group of opponents, these wide slashes allowing the user to cause severe damage when required, to multiple opponents at one time. It is, however, countered quite easily by Makashi users - this form having been designed for lightsaber combat, and as a direct counter form to Shii-Cho, it feeds on Shii-Cho’s weaknesses.

Opening Stance:

There are few distinct opening stances for Shii-Cho, but they are well known. The opening stance begins with one foot in front of the other, a shoulder’s width apart, with one’s blade held at a 45 degree angle from the centre of the body. This can naturally be adapted into a ‘typical’ defensive or offensive stance - as well as other stances that I will not touch upon in this document but can be found in Sith Mitina’s Guide to Shii-Cho.

The defensive stance takes the dominant foot in front of the other. This is defensive by nature, for the practitioner can use this dominant foot to launch themselves back and away from an incoming attack, and allows a closer control of one's movements when anticipating an attack. Alternatively, the more offensive version of this stance is where one’s dominant foot is back, which has the opposite effect to the defensive stance - allowing the practitioner to launch themselves forward to continue their assault, using the force behind their dominant leg.

In Combat

There are a few signature moves that are utilised widely in the use of Form I. To understand these, we must recall the “Zones”, which are numbered as:

1. Head
   
2. Right arm and right side
   
3. Left arm and left side
   
4. Back
   
5. Right leg
   
6. Left leg
   

Our basic opening stance is useful for defending the first four of these; initial attacks to these areas can be blocked or parried in a very standard way from here. While it is not difficult to also defend Zones 5 and 6, they are not initially defended by either of the opening stances stated above.

There are two other defensive stances I intend to touch upon briefly here. The first, The Hasso Ward: this is achieved by the user holding their blade vertically upwards. This allows the user to defend Zones 1 to 4, by allowing horizontal movements to defend against any attacks to the upper body, which will then land upon a diagonally held saber. The other is the Reverse Hasso Guard, in which the user wields their saber vertically downwards, covering Zones 4 to 6, in much the same way as the former - side-to-side movements allow the user to block attacks against any of the lower body. These are not typically utilised in only Shii-Cho, and are not necessary to practice Shii-Cho to a high level, but are still useful to be aware of.

Finally, there are two useful ‘types’ of Shii-Cho to know about. The first is the ideal form, wherein every movement is either horizontal or vertical, and so each time the blades meet, they are perpendicular to one another. Typically, blocks and parries will catch the opponent's blade at a 90 degree angle. This is how Shii-Cho is typically taught, and is ideal for training exercises, but is unrealistic when it comes to live combat, or even heavy spars.

Therefore, the second type of Shii-Cho is that of Live Combat. This utilises diagonal strikes and movements to each of the Zones listed in order to make the form usable in true combat, increasing the speed of attacks and reducing full-body movements by doing so.

Another thing to note about this form is that it serves the practitioner to maintain their distance from the opponent - moving in side steps to circle around one’s opponent often helps serve this purpose. This is not necessary, per se, but is a useful manoeuvre.

Notable Moves

I will not list every possible move, but a handful of the most notable of those utilised with this form. A more comprehensive list can be found in Sith Mitina’s guide to Shii-Cho.

One traditional move, known as the Sun Djem, or the Disarming Slash, is an attack directly at the opponent's weapon. This is intended to disarm the opponent without necessarily causing them direct injury in doing so, by ripping the blade from the opponent’s hand. Another traditional Shii-Cho move is the Sarlacc Sweep - a wide attack, sweeping from one side to the other, which is incredibly useful against multiple opponents, allowing the user to cut down multiple enemies with the speed and momentum of a single attack.

These are not the only useful attacks to utilise with this form, but they are two of the most typical of the form - for a more comprehensive list, see Sith Mitina’s guide.

(*Post by Eddi Arkiti.*)