For those who aren’t familiar, or just want a refresher, there are seven forms of proper lightsaber combat. Besides the points of contact and techniques, the forms also define stance and to an extent, state of mind. If you don’t know them, I suggest reading into them on Wookieepedia. I’ll just put a short description of each here.
Form I: Shii-Cho, The Way of the Sarlacc, The Determination Form. This form is the most simple, designed when the Jedi were first transitioning from metal swords to lightsabers. It has wide, sweeping slashes, and can be wild and unpredictable, using randomness and creativity as it’s greatest strengths. It suffers in lightsaber-to-lightsaber combat due to this, however. Kit Fisto was a master of Form I.
Form II: Makashi, The Way of the Ysalamiri, The Contention Form. This form was designed for lightsaber-to-lightsaber combat in response to Form I’s weakness in that area. It focuses on economy of motion, efficiency, precision, and finesse. It’s the duelist’s form, designed to counter melee combatants, and counters most other forms, though due to its specialization on combating Jedi or Sith has limited effectiveness against other opponents. Count Dooku was a master of Form II.
Form III: Soresu, The Way of the Mynock, The Resilience Form. This form was designed to counter the widespread usage of blaster weapons, based on Form I’s defensive principles, Form III is a dedicated defensive form, rapidly spinning the blade to create barriers, and focusing on waiting for your opponent to make a mistake before striking, countering and counter-attacking. Some found it too slow in lightsaber-to-lightsaber combat due to its lack of offensive techniques, but in the hands of a master it was indomitable, even capable of holding its own against a Makashi master. Obi-Wan Kenobi was a master of Form III.
Form IV: Ataru, The Way of the Hawk-Bat, The Aggression Form. This form was made in response to Soresu’s defensive nature, focusing on strictly offense. This form rarely utilized blocking, emphasizing movement and striking. It was incredibly acrobatic, using force-powered jumps, flips, and spins that exceeded the user’s physical limitations to quickly avoid, disorient, and disable an opponent. Its acrobatic nature made it best suited against single opponents in large spaces, and its offensive nature made the user far more vulnerable to blaster fire, but a master could usually suffice. Yoda and Qui-Gon Jinn were masters of Form IV.
Form V: Shien (or the more aggressive Djem So), The Way of the Krayt Dragon, The Perseverance Form. This form was created in response to Form III alongside Form IV, but instead of focusing purely on offense, Shien is simply a more aggressive Form III. Shien relies on power attacks, followed immediately by blocking and counter-attacking. The form was designed to outlast opponents while still providing the user a way to create openings for attacks. A slow, steady advance was key, continually keeping the pressure up with hard attacks that your opponent can’t counter, and was the most physically extensive of all the lightsaber forms. The Djem So variant of Form V emphasized lightsaber dueling above all else, taking techniques from Form II, while the Shien variant specialized in general defense. Shien suffered against single opponents, whereas Djem So suffered in a lack of mobility. Anakin Skywalker was a master of Shien, and specialized in Djem So upon his transformation to Darth Vader.
Form VI: Niman, The Way of the Rancor, The Moderation Form. This fighting style was the standard form for Jedi across the galaxy, being the easiest to master and most balanced. It was known as “the Diplomat’s Form” due to its ease of use and learning, allowing the user to focus on other things like diplomacy, history, and the force. This form had effectively no drawbacks, but no specific strengths either. It had a fairly relaxed focus on bladework, designed to be easy to learn and master. Due to its lack of specialization, it was encouraged to use force powers alongside this form to maximize its effectiveness. The success of this form in practical combat was based purely on the practitioner’s intuition and creativity in combat. Many consulars and historians preferred this form, including Jedi Historian Jocasta Nu.
Form VII: Juyo, The Way of the Vornskr, The Ferocity Form. Form VII is the most vicious form of lightsaber combat, often taught only to experienced Jedi due to its potential to lure a user to the dark side (though it was a favorite among Sith). It required intense internal focus, and used the thrill of battle and fury to guide its strikes. A Jedi variant called Vaapad was created by Masters Mace Windu and Sora Bulq. It used ones inner darkness, and channeled it into a weapon of the light, accepting and understanding your opponent’s fury. Mace Windu was a master of the Vaapad variant, while Darth Maul was a master of the traditional Juyo style.
Well, now that you’re refreshed/educated about the different forms of classical lightsaber combat, and have examples to look at for what each style looks like, what would you guys all pick?