File:Echanipractice.jpgEchaniEchani. The word itself brings the red armor of the Imperial Guard to mind, their ruthless efficiency a testament to their training at the academies of the Empire. But the Empire can hardly lay claim as the originators of this deadly art of war.
The Echani people, rivals of the Mandalorians, were a people who held that combat was not merely a system of self-defense, but more frequently, a method of communication. The Echani held that a person could learn more about a person in a few minutes of fighting than they could in hours of vocal discussion.
The Empire seized upon the effective art, and began to modify it to their more domineering purposes, teaching it to their elite warriors, the crimson-armoured and cloaked Imperial Guard. For the duration of the Empire, this art was tought to the elites in training areas known as 'squalls', where the competition was fierce and the turnover exceedingly high, with the grave claiming more students than would graduate.
In the times since the empire, a higher value was placed on the students who were capable of learning the physically demanding Echani, masters taking on only one student at a time, which also helped the already rare masters from incarceration, as Echani is illegal in many systems.
Details
Stance
The Echani stylist will, as many other arts, turn sideways to present a smaller target profile to their opponent. Lowering their center of gravity and broadening their stance so that their feet are just a touch wider than their shoulders, the stylist works to ensure that they are more than difficult to kock down.
Striking
Echani strikes from the hip, the warrior turning his body into the strikes, pivoting to lend momentum to each blow. Counter pivoting is done from the hip, flowing from one strike to another in a very fluid form. Strikes are done with precise targeting, the stylist developing a strong repetoir of nerve strikes and pressure points for maximum efficiency in fighting.
Defense
The defense of Echani relies largely on counter-strikes. That is to say that the Echani stylist will intercept an opponent's attack by striking the opponent's limb that carries said attack. Done successfully, this offensive defense can cripple a lesser opponent before they get the chance to even land a blow. Because of the style's defensive teachings, this makes for quite a show if two Echani stylists of equal skill combat each other.
Training
Since the collapse of the Empire, learning Echani has become far more difficult. The few surviving members of the Imperial Guard who did not retire or enlist with the various splinter groups very infrequently feel the need to teach others their art. When such a rarity occurs, the master will take only a single student, teaching them up through the ranks one-on-one, a stark contrast to the days of the Empire, when entire classes were tought, and pitted against each other, the gladiatorial methods inspiring fierce competition in the students. Also contributing to the rarity of this art is the fact that most systems declared Echani illegal, the product of anti-imperial sentiment after the Galactic Civil War.
The echani art had three tiers, each relying on foundations, and featuring higher forms than the previous one. Echani children began by learning the foundations, progressing over time from one tier to the next as the instructor saw fit.
Weapons
The Echani people were well known for their craftsmen, and their art reflects that. Echani is tought in three steps: unarmed, knife, and double-bladed staff. The knives are small, ergonomic, and easily concealable, their function primarily to lend a lethal touch to already incapacitating nerve cluster strikes. The double-bladed staves used by Echani are collapsable, extending from a meter long staff by interior mechanisms, the primary function of this being to allow a less damaging defense, making live captures easier, while maintaining the capacity to kill, if need be.
Summary
Style: Hard
Weapons: Unarmed, Knife, and Double-Bladed Staff
- • Five-Strike, Intercept Attack, Aggressive Evasion
- •• Damage Nerve, Six-Strike, Render Unconscious
- ••• Blood-Spiller, Bone-Split Form, Seven-Strike
- •••• Irrigate Flesh, Immobilize Foe, Nerve-Wrack Strike, Eight-Strike
- ••••• Macabre Dance, Sphere of Pain, Fangs of the Krayt, Nine-Strike
Brotherhood Practitioners