Jar'Kai

History

The Yovshin Swordsmen's Jar'Kai style took its name from a city located on Atrisia. This city, Jar'Kai, was also where the original Jar'Kai dueling sabers were made. The Yovshin used these weapons specifically for dual-wielding.

The Kashi Mer's Royale Macheteros' dual-blade style, Niman, was named after the dual triumvirate of Kashi deities. The Dark Siders known as the Legions of Lettow, who were responsible for the Jedi Order's First Great Schism, adopted this style. After the Jedi defeated the Legion, the Jedi Order adopted Niman, refining it into the sixth form of lightsaber combat, retaining the original name. Before the Order adopted Niman, some Jedi, such as Awdrysta Pina, who used a pair of Jedi katanas, engaged in dual-blade combat. Many Jedi Knights and Sith Lords trained in Form VI to gain basic dual-bladed combat knowledge, but very few achieved true mastery of Niman.

Jedi Master Kavar, who used a shoto as his secondary weapon, and Exar Kun, a Jedi trainee turned Sith Lord who occasionally used a second weapon, were among the dual-blade practitioners of Niman. However, few dual-blade duelists practiced classic Niman, although the Jar'Kai tactic was widely used. Many Jedi and Sith were known to use a secondary blade in combat, but few did so regularly.

Description

Dual-blade fighters, whether they were classical Niman duelists or those using the Jar'Kai tactic, could maintain a strong offense because the speed of attack afforded by two blades overwhelmed most opponents. A common tactic was to attack continuously with one blade while using the other for defense, allowing the duelist to maintain their guard while attacking. However, both blades were often used offensively, creating a continuous assault.

Jar'Kai also had the advantage of making it easier to defend against multiple opponents, as there were more blades available for parrying. Asajj Ventress, a dual-blade practitioner, demonstrated this during her mission on Ruul, where she fought up to three Jedi at once. Dual blades could also be used defensively or to compensate when fighting another opponent using multiple blades, as shown when Kit Fisto stole one of the blades from the cyborg General Grievous, who could wield up to four lightsabers due to his mechanical anatomy.

The "Rising Whirlwind," where a duelist swung their blades around their body to create a "whirlwind" of attacks, and the "Twin Strike," where both blades were swung in an arc towards the opponent in a powerful attack, are examples of known Jar'Kai techniques and maneuvers.

Jar'Kai, although a complete fighting system in itself, was easily adaptable to other styles. After beginning her training under Darth Tyranus, Asajj Ventress quickly incorporated Makashi techniques into her Jar'Kai practice. Because Makashi was Tyranus's preferred form, Jedi Master Luminara Unduli recognized his training techniques in Asajj's fighting abilities. Mace Windu also integrated Jar'Kai tactics into his Vaapad style during a mission on Haruun Kal, and his former apprentice, Depa Billaba, did the same.

Weaknesses

Despite its advantages, Jar'Kai had drawbacks. Because both hands held individual lightsabers, two-handed blows were impossible, and duelists could not put their full weight behind blocks, weakening their defense. An enemy with a single hilt could simply use brute force to attack a Jar'Kai practitioner's defense, breaking through their guard, as shown during Anakin Skywalker's duel with Asajj Ventress on Yavin 4. However, this weakness was not absolute, as some duelists had the physical strength to block power attacks with one arm. Grievous, whose strength was mechanically augmented, could effectively defend against and deliver heavy power blows. Asajj Ventress eventually developed the physical strength to compensate for this weakness, allowing her to hold up simultaneous bladelocks with both Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, both of whom practiced Form V. She had even withstood two separate bladelocks with General Grievous, who used all four of his lightsabers.

Dual blades were also more difficult to control than a single blade due to the gyroscopic effect inherent in lightsabers. This required special training to practice Jar'Kai, and without it, a secondary blade was more of a hindrance than an advantage. Fortunately, dual-blade training was common among most Force-using organizations, although advanced training was rarer.

Jar'Kai practitioners often relied too much on their weapons and bladework, leaving other abilities undeveloped. Jedi Battlemaster Raskta Lsu was an exceptional duelist, but her devotion to lightsaber combat meant she never developed her Force abilities, forcing her to rely on her blade skills and the support of more Force-adept allies. Some duelists, like Asajj Ventress, became overly reliant on having two blades to support each other and were at a disadvantage if deprived of one. However, this weakness could be overcome with time.

Darth Maul considered Jar'Kai "predictable" when facing the Dark Jedi Komari Vosa on Cog Hive Seven. This is understandable, given that his mentor, Darth Sidious, could wield two sabers at any time.

Weapon Specifications

Because Niman and Jar'Kai were developed before lightsabers, they were designed for metal blades. Jar'Kai even had a specialized sword, the Jar'Kai dueling saber, created for the dual-blade style. However, the styles were easily adapted due to the sword-like nature of lightsabers.

Traditional Niman dual-blade regiments used a short lightsaber, the Shoto, as the off-hand weapon because it was easier to control. This was a common practice among Jar'Kai duelists in the Jedi Order, including Sora Bulq, Aayla Secura, and others. The Zabrak Maris Brood took this further by wielding dual guard shotos in combat.

However, specialized weapons were not required to use Jar'Kai, so many dual-blade combatants simply wielded two standard blades. Other weapons, such as electrostaffs (used by Shaak Ti and Obi-Wan Kenobi), swords made of lightsaber-resistant material (possibly used by Revan or Meetra Surik), or even simple knives (used by Mara Jade Skywalker), have been used as secondaries. Obi-Wan Kenobi even used a lightwhip once. The number of lightsabers wielded was not limited to two, depending on the duelist's anatomy. The Priapulin Master Skwelli was known for wielding six lightsabers. General Grievous often wielded four, splitting his mechanical arms to create an extra set of appendages. He could wield six sabers using Repulsorlifts in his legs to grasp them with his feet, but this has never been recorded. The Besalisk Jedi Pong Krell also used his extra arms to dual-wield double-bladed lightsabers.

Applications

During his duel with Count Dooku on Geonosis, Anakin Skywalker used Jar'Kai in conjunction with Ataru. While his initial flurry of attacks surprised Dooku, Skywalker's lack of advanced training in Jar'Kai or Ataru allowed Dooku to break through his defenses, forcing Skywalker to defend and eventually destroying one of his lightsabers. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Skywalker's master, also showed skill in dual-blade combat, using the lightsaber of the deceased Jedi Ky Narec alongside his own during his duel with Narec's fallen student, Asajj Ventress, on Rattatak. Skywalker used Jar'Kai several more times during the Clone Wars, including during a battle with the fallen Jedi Barriss Offee after the bombing of the Jedi Temple.

Ventress, a Jar'Kai practitioner, adopted the style after Narec's death, using his lightsaber with her own. However, without Narec's guidance, she fell to the dark side, which was reflected in her furiously aggressive bladework. She demonstrated her skills to Count Dooku during his visit to Rattatak, viciously killing the competitors in The Cauldron with her bladework and raw Force power. During her subsequent duel with the Count, she attacked him in a blind rage but was defeated. However, she impressed the Count and his Sith Master, Darth Sidious, with her skills. The Count gave her a high-ranking position in the CIS military and the twin curved lightsabers of his former student, Komari Vosa. Ventress developed her skills under Dooku's tutelage, applying her dual-blade combat skills to Makashi. Eventually, she could hold her own against up to three adversaries, as she demonstrated during her mission to Ruul.

Her skills even allowed her to battle and defeat or hold her own against Jedi Council masters, a feat few of her contemporaries could achieve. However, she had weaknesses. In her early years, she lacked the physical strength to compensate for Jar'Kai's inherent weaknesses. Her blows lacked power, as shown by Dooku's casual defenses during their fight on Rattatak, and she was vulnerable to power attacks, as shown by her retreat from Anakin Skywalker's offensive frenzy during their duel on Yavin IV. She eventually developed the physical strength to compensate for this weakness, demonstrating the ability to hold up simultaneous bladelocks with Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, both of whom practiced Form V.

Darth Maul trained in Jar'Kai and mastered it to the point that Darth Plagueis acknowledged his skill in dual-blade combat. However, Maul rarely used Jar'Kai, preferring a saberstaff, as shown during his duels with Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn on Tatooine and Naboo. During much of the Clone Wars, he favored a single-blade approach, as seen in his duels with Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, he defended against and defeated Komari Vosa, despite her two-to-one saber advantage. In his final duel with Darth Sidious on Mandalore, Maul used both his own saber and the Darksaber. Despite rarely using it, his Jar'Kai skill had improved, allowing him to fight almost evenly with his former master, who also used dual blades, although he was ultimately overpowered. When the reborn Maul dueled Darth Vader on Kalakar Six, he used Jar'Kai after his saberstaff was sliced in half, allowing him to attack freely and bring Vader to his knees.

Luke Skywalker initially used dual blades to combat Lumiya's lightwhip, as the weapon's multiple extensions overcame standard defenses. In their rematch, Skywalker used his newly made shoto to support his full-length lightsaber, entangling the whip's energy beams with one blade while cutting the physical strands. Skywalker disarmed Lumiya by shorting out her whip's energy beam with a power attack, losing his lightsaber in the process, before attacking her with the shoto. Dual-blade combat became one of Skywalker's preferred methods for dealing with lightwhips, and he used it in several rematches with Lumiya, although he fought her with a single weapon in their last engagement. He also encouraged his wife, Mara Jade Skywalker, to build a shoto for the same reason. Skywalker also demonstrated his dual-blade skills while training his students.

Practitioners

While many duelists have used Jar'Kai at some point, fewer did so regularly. Among the ancient Jedi who did so are Awdrysta Pina, who practiced with Jedi katanas, Kavar, Bastila Shan, Vandar Tokare and Fortris Gall.

During the Jedi Civil War, many Dark Jedi who pledged allegiance to Darths Revan and Malak's Sith Empire used Jar'Kai against their former Jedi brethren. Many Sith following Darth Traya's Sith Triumvirate used Jar'Kai in combat.

During the New Sith Wars, the Sith Lord known as the Dark Underlord practiced Jar'Kai, wielding two Sith swords. During this time, the style also had Jedi practitioners, including the Echani Jedi Master Raskta Lsu and the Twi'lek Jedi Newar Forrth. Over a millennium later, the Twi'lek Dark Jedi Boc Aseca attempted to imitate Forrth, resulting in a clumsy but effective fighting method.

During the Clone Wars, General Grievous included elements of Jar'Kai in his combat style. He commonly used two lightsabers but could wield four by splitting his mechanical arms and hands, creating four arms. Grievous' contemporaries, Asajj Ventress, Sora Bulq, and Saato, also used Jar'Kai in combat. Bulq, a master of all known forms of lightsaber combat, often wielded a shoto as his secondary weapon, applying his Jar'Kai skills to his practice of Vaapad, the Form VII variant he helped Mace Windu develop before defecting to the CIS. Other Jar'Kai practitioners during the Clone Wars included Jedi Keelyvine Reus and Pong Krell. Darth Sidious was also skilled in Niman/Jar'Kai, using both his primary and backup lightsabers to fight his former Sith apprentice Darth Maul and Savage Opress. Although he rarely used it, his skill allowed him to prevail against their combined abilities and overpower Maul shortly after his brother's death.

Ahsoka Tano was also skilled in Jar'Kai and wielded a lightsaber and a shoto. She used a complex Ataru-Shien reverse grip style in her Jar'Kai tactic, demonstrating mastery. She held her own against Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mortis and challenged Grievous, who was a Jar'Kai master using four lightsabers. Tano lasted longer against Grievous than in their previous duel on Skytop Station, which occurred before she used two lightsabers. Tano later lost her shoto and became vulnerable to relying on it too much, a trait she shared with Asajj Ventress. When using a single lightsaber, she could not defeat the treacherous Barriss Offee in combat.

Count Dooku, a famed Makashi practitioner, considered dual-blade combat styles inferior, believing duelists should use a single blade or none at all. He even criticized double-bladed lightsabers for this.

During the Dark Times, the Zabrak Jedi Padawan Maris Brood, who used two guard shotos in combat against Darth Vader's secret apprentice, Galen Marek, was a notable Jar'Kai practitioner. Many of Marek's unstable clones, including the more successful clones, Starkiller and the Dark Apprentice, adopted the form during their training under Vader, using it during their emergence. Starkiller studied Ataru and Niman to utilize their dual-blade training regimes and facilitate his Jar'Kai mastery, often chaining Force-based attacks from Niman into his bladework. Two of Darth Sidious's Dark Jedi, Jeng Droga and Sa Cuis, favored dual blades.

Fourteen years after the destruction of the second Death Star, many New Reborn were trained in Jar'Kai, most notably Axmis' apprentice, Alora. Many Jedi also used Jar'Kai to combat Axmis' Reborn.

Clone Wars-era Jedi Knight A'Sharad Hett was a dual-blade fighter, using his late father's weapon alongside his own. After falling to the dark side and becoming the Sith Lord Darth Krayt, he continued to practice Jar'Kai with his knowledge of Form VI lightsaber combat. Various members of Krayt's Sith Order also practiced Jar'Kai, including the third Darth Wyyrlok and Darth Reave.

Other Jar'Kai practitioners included the Jedi Micah Giiett, Joclad Danva, and Serra Keto.

Alternative Uses

Some duelists maintain their dual-blade combat skills and use them often, but not regularly.

In the final year of the New Sith Wars, before the Seventh Battle of Ruusan, the Sith Lord and Sith Blademaster Kas'im demonstrated his dual-blade combat skills against Darth Bane, using the Ataru subform. Kas'im, who had mastered all seven classic forms and normally used a double-bladed lightsaber, always discouraged his students at the Korriban Sith Academy from using Jar'Kai, claiming it was flawed. However, Kas'im's expertise with Jar'Kai allowed him to confuse Bane and nearly defeat him.

Jedi who sometimes employed Jar'Kai include Aayla Secura. During the chaotic Clone Wars battles, she often fought with a shoto alongside her primary lightsaber, although she could easily use a standard blade as her off-hand weapon.

Luke Skywalker, the Grand Master of the New Jedi Order, demonstrated his proficiency in this dual-blade technique during the Yuuzhan Vong War, frequently combining a shoto with his usual lightsaber. Approximately five years after the [Swarm War](/article/swarm_war]'s conclusion, Skywalker engaged in actual Jar'Kai combat against the Dark Lady Lumiya on Roqoo Depot and at Gilatter VIII during the Second Galactic Civil War. At Luke's request, his wife Mara Jade constructed a shoto when Lumiya reappeared. She accompanied Luke on Roqoo Depot during his fight with Lumiya, simultaneously dueling the Dark Jedi Alema Rar. Mara Jade also utilized a Jar'Kai variation when she dueled her nephew and Lumiya's Sith apprentice, Jacen Solo, on Kavan, employing both her shoto and vibroblade.

The Sith Master Lomi Plo employed Jar'Kai in two of his three duels against Skywalker, using a standard lightsaber and a shoto.

Situational Applications

During the Battle of Korriban in the Great Galactic War, Jedi Master Kao Cen Darach fought Vindican and his apprentice, Malgus, using his own single-bladed lightsaber and his apprentice's double-bladed one. While Darach managed to wound Vindican, Malgus mirrored the Jedi's strategy, seizing his own master's lightsaber and using the additional blade to overwhelm Darach's defenses and defeat him.

Kit Fisto picked up his former Padawan, Nahdar Vebb's, lightsaber during his duel against General Grievous to even the playing field against the General's array of weapons. By wielding the second lightsaber, he unleashed his skill with Jar'Kai, combining it with his mastery of Form I lightsaber combat, forcing Grievous back and holding his own against three of the General's IG-100 MagnaGuards.

Beyond his fight against Dooku on Geonosis, Anakin Skywalker also employed Jar'Kai against Duros bounty hunter Cad Bane, using his own lightsaber and that of his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, in the Devaron system. He also used Luminara Unduli's lightsaber in the Progate Temple on Geonosis before rescuing her from Queen Karina the Great and returning it. Furthermore, he fought former Knight Barriss Offee using Jar'Kai.

During the Summertime War on Haruun Kal, both Mace Windu and his former student, Depa Billaba, occasionally demonstrated their mastery of Form VII lightsaber combat with dual blades. Shaak Ti also seemed to have some training in the style, skillfully wielding an electrostaff alongside her lightsaber during the Battle of Coruscant. After the Jedi Purge, sources mention her wielding dual lightsabers.

Former Jedi Barriss Offee also displayed significant skill in Jar'Kai after stealing Asajj Ventress' lightsabers. Her skill was sufficient to overwhelm Ahsoka Tano and put up a strong fight against Anakin Skywalker.

Many, if not all, duelists are known to have used Jar'Kai at some point, even without specialized training, often when the situation required or allowed it. Examples include Exar Kun, Aurra Sing, Lycan, Quinlan Vos, Corran Horn, Anakin Solo, Saba Sebatyne, Vestara Khai, and Kol Skywalker.

Behind the scenes

George Lucas initially conceived lightsabers as heavy and unwieldy, making dual-blade combat seem impossible. However, he later lightened them to improve the choreography in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, which opened the door for dual-blade fencing. Dual-blade combat first appeared in Star Wars (1977) 96, where Luke Skywalker used a short lightsaber as an off-hand weapon against Lumiya's lightwhip.

William C. Dietz and Dave Dorman's novella Dark Forces: Jedi Knight suggests that dual-blade combat predates the invention of lightsabers. Similarly, the Star Wars computer game Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance features "Jar'Kai dueling sabers" that are simply metal swords. This further implies that Jar'Kai existed before lightsabers, even though X-Wing Alliance was released before the "invention" of lightsaber forms in behind-the-scenes lore. A Wizard of the Coast supplement confirmed this, revealing that the Jar'Kai style and swords originated with the Yovshin Swordsmen of Atrisia.

Dooku was originally intended to demonstrate skill with two blades against Jedi Master Yoda in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, potentially making him a Jar'Kai practitioner. However, this idea was scrapped, and the novel Labyrinth of Evil stated that Dooku disliked using multiple blades, effectively ruling him out as a Jar'Kai practitioner. Promotional pictures featuring Christopher Lee wielding two lightsabers with visual effects were released, including one in the Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary. A scene depicting Dooku wielding two lightsabers also appeared in the comic adaptation of Attack of the Clones.

In the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, a character's proficiency in Jar'Kai was determined by a set of three feats called Two-Weapon Fighting. Acquiring these feats improved the character's ability in dual sword or lightsaber combat, while also increasing their proficiency in wielding double-bladed lightsabers and swords, and even dual blasters. However, in the game's sequel, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, the Enhancement D-Package implant allowed a character to effectively use two weapons without needing the Two-Weapon Fighting feats. Furthermore, Sith Marauders and Jedi Weapon Masters could learn "Superior Two-Weapon Fighting" feats, granting unparalleled mastery of two-weapon combat.

Similarly, in the Star Wars Roleplaying Game: Saga Edition, characters can acquire Dual Weapon Mastery feats with the same function. Strangely, none of these feats are required to take the Jar'Kai talent of the Jedi Knight prestige class, although Niman is a prerequisite.