Lightsaber Combat - Form One - Shii Cho

This video covers the attack to the forehead, top of head, and diagonal shoulder cuts.  The forehead attack is great for quick and powerful attacks a close range.  the top of the head is less powerful, but offers more reach.  The diagonal attacks can be very useful in combat and can reach for the hilt, hands, arms, and shoulder.

To train, get a workout, and lock in these movements to your muscle memory, complete each attack in 3 sets of 10 (total of 30).  Be sure to use proper footwork and stance - lead foot pointing to your opponent, back foot off your center line and at around 45 degrees, and knees slightly bent.  And always return to your middle stance between each rep. 

This video covers horizontal attacks to the side of the head and shoulder.  The horizontal cuts to the side of the head can be great for combination attacks as well as a riposte or return attack after a successful defense.  The horizontal to the shoulder can offer great reach and can also be combined with various other attacks for effective combinations.

To train, get a workout, and lock in these movements to your muscle memory, complete each attack in 3 sets of 10 (total of 30).  Be sure to use proper footwork and stance - lead foot pointing to your opponent, back foot off your center line and at around 45 degrees, and knees slightly bent.  And always return to your middle stance between each rep. 

This video covers rising cuts, low thrust and mid thrust.  The rising cuts can catch someone if they are off guard and can also be used to switch from a low stance to a high stance with a follow through cut. The low thrust can also be a surprising attack and tricky to defend against in close range.  the mid thrust must be done with lots of blade control and care for your opponent seeing as how our sabers are actually quite dangerous to thrust with, so please use with the utmost caution with a partner and wear proper safety gear for the torso and neck.  The mid thrust would commonly be combined with a lunge footwork.

To train, get a workout, and lock in these movements to your muscle memory, complete each attack in 3 sets of 10 (total of 30).  Be sure to use proper footwork and stance - lead foot pointing to your opponent, back foot off your center line and at around 45 degrees, and knees slightly bent.  And always return to your middle stance between each rep. 

This video shows the various cutting styles for Form One Shii Cho.  There is the stop cut, which is great when training with partners for safety and blade control.  The recall cut is similar to the stop cut, but quickly retreats the blade.  This is good for combination attacks, retreating a failed attack, and demonstrating blade control for safety.  The push cut aims for the target, and then continues to "push" the attack to gain reach or extend around your opponent's defense.  The pull cut aims for the target, and then continues to "pull" the attack inwards, which can be good to return to a more defensive stance or even in some instances, pull inside your opponent's defense thus creating an opening.  Finally the follow through cut is a powerful sweeping attack that cuts all the way through the target.  This is great to train if you miss the target and return to another stance.  Be wary not to use this to "swing for the fences" and hit too hard.  However, this style of attack could also potentially overpower someones defense and cause their own blade to hit them.

You should try all five cutting styles with all attacks.  Play around with them and see which cutting styles feel best with different attacks.  Repeat the previous videos (3 sets of 10) but with different cutting styles to train it more. You can also start to see how these various cutting styles start to open up other combinations of attacks and defensive techniques, string them together. 

Finally, after learning and understanding the footwork, start training the attacks with the various cutting styles and various footwork for a large number of variations to make this form fit your own personal style.

This video covers the high defense, the advance high defense, and diagonal defense blocks.  Be sure to train these defensive techniques where you don't block with your hands or hilt.  Pull your hands in or to the side to make sure it is the blade of your saber doing the defensive work.   Be sure to hold the saber above and in front of your head for the high blocks.

To train, get a workout, and lock in these movements to your muscle memory, complete each defense in 3 sets of 10 (total of 30).  Be sure to use proper footwork and stance - lead foot pointing to your opponent, back foot off your center line and at around 45 degrees, and knees slightly bent.  And always return to your middle stance between each rep. 

This video covers the defense for the side of your head and horizontal shoulder attacks.  Keep your blade perpendicular with a strong grip.

To train, get a workout, and lock in these movements to your muscle memory, complete each defense in 3 sets of 10 (total of 30).  Be sure to use proper footwork and stance - lead foot pointing to your opponent, back foot off your center line and at around 45 degrees, and knees slightly bent.  And always return to your middle stance between each rep. 

This video covers low defense and defense against thrusts.  For the low defense be sure to draw in your hands to keep them safe and to keep the point of your saber on your opponent's center line (creating a V shape when doing both in sequence).  When defending against thrusts, create a short sweeping motion, but keep it controlled, and ready to react.  Of course combining with footwork will make these defensive techniques even more effective.

To train, get a workout, and lock in these movements to your muscle memory, complete each defense in 3 sets of 10 (total of 30).  Be sure to use proper footwork and stance - lead foot pointing to your opponent, back foot off your center line and at around 45 degrees, and knees slightly bent.  And always return to your middle stance between each rep. 

Footwork is vital!  Half steps are keeping the lead foot forward.  Passing or full steps are stepping the back foot all the way to the lead.  You can do forward and backward half and full steps with both feet.  Lateral steps step off your opponent's center line.  Train all these footwork drills with all attacks and defense to get a comprehensive feel for the many variations you can use to find your personal preference in saber combat.

This video breaks down the order for the forward moving attacks in the Hawaii Saber Academy Form One Sequence.

This video breaks down the order for the retreating moving defense in the Hawaii Saber Academy Form One Sequence

This video shows the full Form One Shii Cho Sequence.  This can be personalized with the various cutting styles, and if you feel like being creative you can even change up the footwork in the sequence based on the footwork video.  Learn this basic fundamental sequence and find an area where you can complete it with more vigorous passing steps and bladework.