A Combat Assessment By An Arkanian Acolyte (?,A;V,Z)

[Sarias]

***A task assigned by Apprentice Tashha entailing an analysis and assessment of a brief exchange of blades between Apprentice Aljo and Acolyte Zena concerning the Fourth Form: Ataru***

Assignment Registry #0281: Assessment of Combat Scenario #143AZ: Subjects of Interest: ?, Aljo; Vici, Zena; Downloading from Nova, Sovernus <Personal Archive>
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I was tasked by Apprentice Tashha to conduct an assessment of a duel simulation between Apprentice Aljo and Acolyte Zena Vici regarding the latter’s progression into her training in Form IV: Ataru.

The first error of Acolyte Zena reveals itself in her lack of combat barrier which after the consequence thereof is done- she later projected to compensate her previous failure.

Her first two actions were curious, a force push, which she did not direct in any specific areas compounded by the distance and the fact that her adversary projected something she did not; a combat barrier which left the attack virtually ineffective.

The second action in which she backflips to gather distance was rather physically taxing, yet she squandered the opportunity by attacking immediately after gathering distance. Moreso she closed that distance and did the aforementioned attack using a cartwheel, another physically consumptive movement. This could be an opening attack using the momentum of the cartwheel, but it was easily negated by a force pull to slam her on the ground, due to her lack of a combat barrier. In terms of stamina consumption, Zena wasted a considerable amount without achieving a single objective.

She continues her sequence by jumping and attempting a beheading movement followed by a vertical slash and a low sweep. While in theory utilizing different multiple angled strikes is commendable, she hardly recovered from the previous failures, the two stamina consuming movements and the slam on the floor allowing her moves to be more sluggish and open to attack. The gap of superiority is solidified as Apprentice Aljo merely dodges minimally to escape the range of her strikes.

Another mistake from Zena’s side is her attempt to utilize force augmentation, owing to my understanding and observance of her capabilities, she was not proficient enough to utilize It on a practical level. Perhaps she realized too late she could not land a hit due to lack of speed, but resorting to an untampered ability halfheartedly without channeling or preparing to compensate for one’s incapability was a futile attempt in the end. She utilized a spin which was rather disadvantageous after exerting too much stamina, since in a rotation her sight would shift away from her opponent in that brief moment, which would have been better when done with more stamina and endurance at her disposal. Apprentice Aljo continues her tendency to dodge by mere inches and sidestepping inwards to her combat range, which she could have easily attacked midway of Zena’s sluggish spin when she’s facing the other way.

Her willingness to continue at this point is rather…commendable. Though her determination was not. After failing to land the previous hit she flourished a non-confident strike at her chest, presumably from the sequences of drastically physically demanding motions. If you are half heartedly committing an attack, it was best not to do so at all. You waste energy and the desperation will not net you any gain, instead it may have opened many possibilities for the opponent to kill you in a decisive swift movement.

The final mistake was difficult to avoid at this point, having drained of all stamina and wasted movements Apprentice Aljo finished Zena off with tripping her over, moving her legs in a sweeping motion. Though another mistake was apparent when Zena attempted to jump over the sweeping leg, a rather wasted movement whereas there are other motions that requires less energy to minimalize or mitigate the damage.

Overall, the combat barrier should always be projected first to prevent sudden shifts of balance, displacement of location, loss of weapon and direct injuries. Gathering distance is primarily used as a stamina recovery chance or preparation for a channel, instead as I mentioned she squandered it to go into the offensive. There is little reason and plausibility in ‘moving back’ so that you can ‘move forward’ in this scenario. It consumes unnecessary stamina by doing a backflip and cartwheel with next to no gain.

Force augmentation at her level should be channeled and prepared when she had gathered distance, to allow some measure of reflex and reaction to Apprentice Aljo’s possible attacks at a distance. Instead Zena squandered it by attempting it in mere seconds before deployment as an attack in close proximity. This was the squandered opportunity when she backflipped to gather a distance.

With lower stamina, she attempted a large frame attack of jumping in front of her. This would no doubt cause alarms in the visual spectrum, and would be least likely to land a secured hit without added power behind the strike for it to be overwhelming and fast. However, she had ample opportunity to utilize this as a feint, which would have made this failure into an increased success chance of the next attack.

Ataru is physically taxing, and at this point it was a prolonged fight of attrition. The effectivity of the form becomes decreasingly viable. More so her force augmentation was misplaced, it should have been utilized to secure a decisive strike or as a coordinated combination of flurries, both multiple angled strikes and feints. While nearly out of breath do not waste it on a single halfhearted strike which she did non-confidently, instead use the last reserve of your breath to sustain your stamina and recover. Or if cunningly enough, used your weakened state to lure the opponent in before landing a secured strike with that last breath. Though it would not have been viable to complete the objective to land a hit using Ataru.

In this exercise it was prudent to be aggressive immediately while not forgetting to use one’s combat barrier, utilize the acrobatic momentum in different angles in fast flurries. It was important to enter Apprentice Aljo’s combat range, since the arena was open without any obstacles. If there had been it would have detrimentally hindered the Ataru stance by limiting movement space.

Force the opponent to gather the distance, by applying combinational rotations of Jung-Su Ma, Ton Su-Ma and En-Su Ma. Apply mixtures of feint while securing the minor objective of entering and blocking her stepping spaces, anticipate her sidesteps derived from her tendencies and behaviorism she displayed earlier. If this is not possible at least attempt to align them against a wall to prevent spaces to move for them. Ataru specializes in fast paced movement and momentum, if you missed an attack, do not change rotational angle unless it is a guaranteed hit or serves an objective. Continue with the momentum to transform one’s failure into the next hit’s success, Ataru is a steadily increasing offensive which rises proportionately to one’s stamina consumption. But the success hinges on exploiting its momentum and maintaining kinetic form.

Remain true to one of its core tenants, an Ataru user will fundamentally become ineffective in prolonged fights.

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