What Lightsaber Form Would You Use?

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?

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I used to be a significantly bigger Star Wars nerd. When I was, I actually “practiced” the different forms with my friends. I like to use a combination of Form IV and Form V.

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I’ve actually “practiced” a few forms myself. As someone who is very interested in high guard longsword fighting, I always found myself gravitating toward Form V’s Djem So discipline. I miss being a kid, were it was acceptable to run around with sticks and pretend you were a Jedi.

My Jedi Consular Roleplaying character was excelling at Sixth Form - but my Sith character used his custom technique…so I would go personally with Niman, as it is one of the more defensive and well-balanced forms.

I actually did too…are we the same person? That would be weird. /joke

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We have a surprising amount in common, even if we don’t necessarily use the same lightsaber fighting style. Honestly, I’ve never liked Form VI, it feels weird. I dunno, I guess I don’t like the lack of specialization. Then again, Exar Kun was a master of Niman, so I can’t say it’s a weak form (despite it’s complete failure in the Clone Wars).

It did better in the times of Old Republic tho - as the Jedi were majorly peace-keepers and had to deal with little to no large-scale threat.

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Vaapad and Soresu.

Two polar opposites, interesting. Many Jedi utilized multiple techniques, Luke Skywalker himself practiced both Shii-Cho and Ataru (though obviously as an eventual Jedi Battlemaster, he learned every form in time).

I would use form VII. As a middle schooler, it’s still somewhat acceptable for me and my friends to fight with sticks, and I’ve always preferred to be more offensive then defensive.

I’ve always liked Ataru. Including the name. It just sounds like something you’d be proud of.

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Definitely Ataru for me.

I was always a fan of a combination of form II and V Hybrid…

@pizzacheetah Actually Luke Skywalker in the EU made hundreds of new lightsaber combat forms. And mastered every single one of them along with the traditional 7

Edited for Double Post - Waj

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I actually practice swordplay with my cousin so I might get a little too deep into the question…

From what I can tell Shien (Form V) looks to be most similar to my fighting style. I generally use feints, some quick jabs and a bit of footwork to keep my opponent at a distance until I can force them into a poor position/stance or tire him out. Then I take a few swings at anything unguarded (jab to shoulder or swing to thigh/calf) until I lose the upper-hand. This is greatly aided by me being able to discretely switch hands (right-over-left to left-over right) in the middle of a duel.

ambidextrousness ftw /s

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Either Makashi or Soresu.

One pierces any defense, the other can be an unbreakable defense. Both are still surprisingly minimalist in movements, and require patient strategy to master.

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Well, the Djem So discipline of Form V is all about taking Soresu and allowing you to add offense. You strike hard and repeatedly, but don’t create any openings for your opponents. It’s basically Form III with influence from Form II, whereas Shien is more like Form III with influence from Form I.

@louimath I was just referring to the forms he uses in the movies, which is why I added the line about what he did later. He had to reinvent the Jedi Order with very little help, after all (though obviously Kyle Katarn was a pretty important part of that).

@TheRed1s Honestly, that sounds slightly more like Form II to me, since it’s mostly about jabs, quick strikes, and finesse, whereas Form V is very brutish and direct, designed to back opponents into a corner, as it were.

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I am probably a form 2 fighter tbh.

Probably the first one.

The Shien fits me best, I believe.

Soresu or Niman for me.
Although Shien being known as the “way of the Krayt Dragon” is cool as heck.

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Well, Krayt Dragons are slow, but strike hard and are difficult to kill. It’s a fitting name. I think Soresu got the short end of the stick there. Mynocks are hard to kill, yes, but there are better things to pick to represent that form. I do like how Shii-Cho is called The Way of the Sarlacc, since it’s about flailing motions.