Jaden Korr is a highly skilled duelist and I will prove it!
First of, I feel we must examine his use of the rare 'Cleanse' ability. Jaden used this ability to rid the lightsaber of Kam Solusar, he called on the force to choose the color of blade that best described his place in the force and in the order, after a few moments, Jaden's saber was no longer crimson, it was now Yellow, the color often chosen by the Jedi Sentinels - something Jaden himself noted. This gives us a look into what kind of Jedi Jaden is, as the sentinel, are described by various sources as, Very well rounded, trained in both the use of lightsaber and force powers, but never neglecting other skills like marksmanship and the other abilities that most Jedi tend to ignore. they were very versatile and skilled. something I think applies quite well to Jaden.
The Medium Style
Now lets examine Jaden's most used forms I will use both pictures, gifs and videos. from what I've gathered Jaden knows a surprisingly good amount of lightsaber forms
Jaden seems to enter The Medium Style of the NJO's defensive stance, which is a hybrid form consisting of - Shii-Cho, Soresu and Niman. This is one of his most commonly used forms and the first one he learned. His skill with it is impressive as he defeated countless amounts of Reborn and Cultists as well as the Dark Jedi apprentice Alora on hoth. which shows his natural talent with the lightsaber and the Medium Style of the New Order.
Here Jaden uses the Medium Style against the Jedi Master Relin.
"Parrying the low stab as he sidestepped, the intruder spun into a reverse strike at Jaden's head. Jaden interposed his blade, met the man's hard eyes through the transparisteel of his helmet, and put a Force-augmented kick into his abdomen.
The impact slammed the intruder into the wall, elicited a wince and a grunt of pain. He doubled over for a moment, favoring his side. Taking advantage of the opening, Jaden unleashed an overhand slash, but the man spun aside and Jaden's blade cut a black groove in the bulkhead.
Jaden backflipped high into the air to avoid the intruder's reverse backslash and landed on the other side of the corridor, three meters away, trapping the intruder between Jaden on the one side and Khedryn on the other."
- Star Wars: Crosscurrent
Here, Jaden teaches his new apprentice, Marr Idi Shel, the basics of Lightsaber combat.
“Now I’ll teach you some basics of lightsaber combat. As before, feel the Force throughout. Very little about this is physical. Your strength and speed is not in muscle and tendon, but in your relationship to the Force. Let it flow through you, inform your movements. What you’re capable of will surprise you, if you let it.”
Marr inhaled deeply, then took a few more practice cuts and spins, all more graceful than before. Jaden could feel him settling into the Force.
“Excellent, Marr. As we engage, I want you to think about your movements mathematically. Consider the angles at which we hold our blades, the arc of my approach, the line of your blade intersecting mine, your feet moving degrees within a circle. Do you understand?”
Marr nodded without hesitation. “I do.”
“Good. Defend yourself,” Jaden said, and lunged at him.
For the next several hours, Jaden walked Marr through the basics of lightsaber technique. The Cerean was a quick study, his movements controlled and precise. Jaden knew it was unusual, even dangerous, to train a new apprentice with live blades, but he also knew that he, Marr, and Khedryn would be in serious danger if they found the clones. He wanted Marr as prepared as possible."
- Star Wars: Riptide
The Fast Style
Jaden enters a variation of the Soresu/The Fast Style Stance. similar to Luminara & Bariss, though with a few differences. it should be noted that Jaden managed to hold off, the clone of Jedi Master Kam Solusar, Alpha, while gravely injured, which shows a expert level knowledge of Soresu as he managed to parry all of the Clone's strikes whilst injured.
"but his broken ribs ground against one another and he hissed with pain.By now the clone had recovered enough to charge. He attacked high, low,overhand, cross-cuts, Jaden parried them all while backing off. The clone did not relent, pressing Jaden further, faster. Jaden answered where he could but the clone's blade seemed everywhere. Jaden parried left, right, again, again,"
-- Star Wars: Crosscurrent
Here Jaden utilizes Ataru against the imposing and savage Kam Solusar clone - Alpha, who jaden notes as being physically stronger and bigger than Kam Solusar.
"The clone ran one way around the pit and Jaden ran the opposite. They met after fifteen strides, still on Mother's edge, both lightsabers humming. Jaden ducked low under the clone's decapitating cross-stroke and stabbed at his abdomen.
The clone reverse-backflipped, balancing on the pit's edge, then immediately charged Jaden again. He feinted low and unleashed a vicious overhand blow, then another, and another. Jaden parried each one, but the blows began to numb his arms. He let the Force soothe his muscles and augment his strength, and answered with a flurry of blows of his own.
The clone gave no ground, and Jaden could not penetrate his defenses. They crossed blades at the chest, weapons sizzling, the sparks from the clone's blade searing scorch marks into Jaden's suit. The clone grunted, shoved Jaden two meters backward, and lunged after him. Jaden leapt over his head, flipping, his blade slashing down as he flew over the clone, but the clone parried. Jaden landed on his feet on the edge of the pit and the clone was upon him, forcing his lightsaber high and landing a Force-augmented kick in his chest."
-Star Wars:Crosscurent
Jaden used the Shien reversed grip during his confrontation with Tavion, I believe this can be attributed to his Training under Kyle Katarn who was a master of the Djem So Variant of Shien. This is later further supported by the Abyss, Crosscurrent and Riptide Novels.
Han pointed his blaster pistol at the Ramoan's back, and Jaden and Avinoam flipped their lightsabers around so they could use the hilts like clubs.
-- Page 226. Abyss
Here Jaden demonstrates his talent with Shien several times.
"Jaden's lightsaber was a humming blur of green, deflecting shot after shot. He angled the deflected shots to hit the ceiling and it soon looked like the cratered surface of a moon. He feared it might collapse before everyone cleared the room."
- Star Wars: Crosscurrent
"Khedryn and Marr hit the floor behind the table while Jaden used his lightsaber to cut an exit in The Hole's corrugated plasteel wall. The moment cost him, and a blaster shot clipped his shoulder. Pain ran the length of his arm, birthed anger. He spun, blade once more positioned to deflect the Weequay's rapid fire, and tried to regain his calm.
"Out," he said through gritted teeth.
"Cheat!" Reegas shouted after them. "You are a blasted cheat, Khedryn Faal!"
"I don't cheat, you heap of bantha dung!" Khedryn spat back.
"Yes you do," Jaden said, deflecting another pair of shots. A piece of metal came loose from the ceiling and fell to the floor with a crash. "Well, I did. I'll explain. Just go."
"What?" Khedryn said, his good eye fixed on Jaden, his lazy eye staring through the hole Jaden had cut in the wall. "Blast it all. I have a reputation here-" Blasterfire sizzled into the wall and cut short his words. Jaden, holding his lightsaber in one hand, deflected a trio of bolts harmlessly to the ceiling."
- Star Wars: Crosscurrent
before we continue with the next scene from Star Wars: Riptide I'd like to point out the prowess of the Scout Flyer Ship. It has the potential to completely vaporize a escape pod and nearly damage a YT Class freighter.
"Before the words had cleared his mouth, the scout ship’s wing-mounted weapons lit up. Lines of red plasma stretched across the black gulf. The freighter, its deflector array inactive, took the blast in its port side. Flames exploded outward into space, the silence of it making it surreal. Explosive decompression ejected bits of metal and mundane debris into space. The ship listed, spitting flames and smoke.
“Marr!” Khedryn and Jaden shouted.
They could hear the Cerean’s stressed breathing over the comlink. His voice, however, was calm. “We’re all right. Ar-Six, seal off the compromised compartments. Deflectors are live. Engines are functional.”
Jaden eyed the scout, which was now wheeling toward Khedryn’s pod. A single shot against the pod would vaporize it. Jaden needed to buy a few moments."
- Star Wars: Riptide
With that in mind, let us move on to Jaden's next show of prowess with Shien.
"In the Force, he sensed the trajectory of the blasts, the line of their approach. His lightsaber spun through space, the Force-augmented motion stressing the hardsuit. The shots slammed into the yellow line of his blade, and he deflected them back at the ship’s cockpit. They split the space between them and knifed into the cockpit, which exploded into flame. The scout ship, bleeding smoke, streaked toward the pod."
- Star Wars: Riptide
He also teaches his apprentice the basics of Shien blaster deflection.
“Then use that understanding to deflect this blaster shot back at me.”
Jaden activated Alpha’s lightsaber in his off hand, an awkward gesture given his wounded fingers, and fired his depowered blaster at Marr.
Marr attempted a block too late, and the shot hit him in the chest. He grunted, his breath catching, and staggered back two steps. To his credit, he did not open his eyes or mention the pain. Jaden felt Marr’s determination grow.
“I felt … something,” Marr said.
Khedryn chuckled, but Marr seemed not to hear him. Jaden held up a hand for Khedryn’s silence.
“Fall into the Force,” Jaden said, and fired again.
Again Marr missed the block, and again he grunted with pain, staggered backward.
“Again, Master,” the Cerean said, his tone even.
Five times Jaden put blaster shots into Marr, and four times Marr failed to block them. On the fifth, he interposed the purple line of his blade and sent the blaster bolt careering into the near bulkhead.
Jaden expected him to erupt in happiness, but Marr did nothing of the kind. His eyes still closed, he said, “I think I have it now. Again, Master.”
Jaden fired, more rapidly, and Marr blocked each shot in turn, sending the shots everywhere but back at Jaden.
“The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of deflection,” Jaden said. “You control the angle of incidence.”
He fired again, again, and by the third shot Marr sent the bolts right back at Jaden. Jaden deflected them into the floor with the lightsaber he held in his off hand. He fired more rapidly, moved as he fired, and Marr kept blocking, kept returning the shots at Jaden.
“Enough,” Jaden said, and deactivated his lightsaber. “Excellent, Marr. Well done.”
Marr opened his eyes, nodded, and deactivated his saber. “Thank you, Master.”
-Star Wars: Riptide
Please pardon me for using a long Video but I couldn't find a lone clip of this. Skip to 2:10 and watch until 2:30. Here Jaden displays a very impressive show of defensive capabilities. those that are usually attributed to Shien's Djem So variant as well as acrobatics that are highly attributed to Ataru. I believe that Jaden knowing Djem So this is not that much of a stretch as most would suggest, as I said above Jaden was Kyle Katarn's student, it seems only natural Jaden's form take after his master's form, we need only look at Obi-Wan during TPM, as he was a practitioner of Ataru much like Qui-Gon Jinn. Jaden also displayed a preference for acrobatics.
Something that kind of caught my attention as I searched through various cutscenes and source material, Was Jaden's preference for a one handed battle ready stance. though I feel this is because, the NJO Jedi have no real lightsaber form structure and as such it allowed for more hybridized and personal forms for each individual Jedi.
Jar'Kai
This source material along with the fact that Jaden still carried around his purple blade in the Riptide and Crosscurrent novels, though nothing has been confirmed, a friend of mine and I, believe that Jaden having knowledge of Jar'Kai is not that much of a stretch. If we were to examine his forms, we would see that Jaden uses the Medium Style - which is a hybridized form that takes bits and pieces from Shii-Cho, Soresu and Niman, as well as the Fast Style of lightsaber combat - which is also a hybridized defensive and acrobatic form that takes bit and pieces from, Soresu, Shien/Djem So and Ataru. if you notice, Jaden knows two of the forms most commonly associated with Jar'Kai duel bade fencing - Ataru and Niman. So, as such we'd be right to assume that Jaden has knowledge of Jar'Kai.
Overall Jaden seems to be very versatile and flexible, with the Medium Style as his base, Jaden was capable of defeating Tavion's apprentice Alora on Hoth and defeated countless of cultist before that, it allowed him to quickly overwhelm the Jedi master Relin's defenses and allowed him to completely disarm Rosh Penin and kill the Kathos twins - two of Tavion's top men. With the Fast Style as his main form, Jaden was a highly defensive and acrobatic fighter - as evident with his fight Alora on Taspir, his skill with The Fast Style/Shien allowed him to redirect cannon fire back to a ship. His mastery of the form allowed him to completely disarm and injure Tavion, with his knowledge of the forms he was able to best the Sith Lord, Marka Ragnos. Versatile, quick, agile and defensive.
Jaden is a balanced duelist, a powerful offense bolstered by a even greater defense. While he may not on Par with great duelist like Count Dooku, Darth Vader or Darth Maul, he is a skilled and powerful duelist. and arguably one of the best Jedi of NJO.
Credit for Crosscurrent goes to Sasukedc and Darthant66 of KMC and ComicVine respectively.
a big thank you to my good friend Emperordmb for helping me analyse Jaden's forms. helping me with the Jar'Kai section and for putting up with me and my ramblings, he's one hell of debater and an even better friend.
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