Hi there from Australia
Ataru Summary: A Place to Begin.Flow on your feet! I want to share my body of work on this subject and provide a platform for technique to develop and share.
There is already so much here that is excellent...“Using the principles of the circle from Soresu, in our style at least, you follow through and enlarge your arc to intersect with the target. The spin is just a way to let your body commit and be able to recover and counterattack with one fluid motion. The draw back to Ataru is that its techniques leave you exposed and over committed, so you best attack and get out quick or keep the pressure on so they do not have time to recover. Either method require you to flow uninterrupted into your next technique, be it evasion or attack.” – Master Nonymous
“You're really getting that one important concept down - continuity. I like how the attacks flow into one another.” – Master Nero
“a more full body version of shii cho, where rather than the standard strikes, you modify them by changing footwork, speed, power and the momentum of your body to provide variable attack planes, still making use of the wide sweeping strikes.” – Knight Commander Veldryne
I am not going to walk over old ground - TPLA does an excellent job with their video's. Rather I will share the Techniques that I have found are the most effective and draw from many different disciplines. I hope you enjoy
Food For ThoughtThank you Knight Commander Veldryne for an excellent summary:"The Ataru form of combat is agressive, but focused. You must never rely solely on the weapon, bur rather embrace the idea that your whole body is the weapon. use the force to spin, jump, to overpower your foe" - Luke Skywalker
Seven Forms of Lightsaber Combat: A Discourse
-Developed for times when violence was necessary, sometime after the development of Form III Soresu
-helped combat new threats like the rising prevalence of the Mandalorians
-second most kinetically active form
-focus is on speed, acrobatics and power
-wide, fast attacks from all angles
-flowing combinations
-offensive form of Soresu, nonlinear mindset, tactical acumen
-complete and total use of the body in attack
-barrage of energy
-single target form, well suited to open spaces
-effectively able to attack from any angle
-fast and adaptable reactions
-weak vs. blasters
-hampered in close quarters
-easily fatigued
-end conflict by striking a mark of contact early, before an enemy can accurately respond
-effectively a hard form of martial arts
-practitioners are likened to dancing tornados
Wookipedia entry on Form IV Ataru
-leaping strikes for attack and defence
-quick spinning strikes, saber, whole body, or both
JediHolo.net
-greater sequences to open up an enemies’ defences
-based on the notion that few duellists have perfect defences, so one side will always be open
-the practitioner should always be in motion
-adapt, flow with the motions of battle
-controlled, precise footwork
-not directly confrontational
-covers weakness of physical ability by means of agility and body usage
-increases range of attacks through body mechanics
-multi-layered strategies to confuse and mislead opponents
-avoid or redirect attacks
-not designed to counter head on attacks of greater intensity
-frustrate and irritate opponents, opening up psychological weaknesses
-quick to dismiss ineffective strategies and methods in a fight, and alter their plans on the fly
Saberforum.com Form IV Ataru Thread:
-constant movement and continual attacks
-kicks, foot stomps, leg sweeps
-too much focus on cartwheels, jumps and flips (no force powers makes this diffucult to truly capture form wise, should be left out to make the form easier to teach to new practitioners)***
-solid footing and balance more important than jumping attacks***
-footwork used for defence instead of blade work, conservation of energy
-evasion is the goal defensively
-redirection of body momentum to rebound into the next strike
-push into the ground, focus the force of the blow into the opponent by using mass and inertia
-course changing, footfall, controlling the stride, all should be a focus
-power speed and agility at the cost of defensive recovery, hence evasion being a focus
Kind Regards
Bluesky