Akaanati'kar'oya
- War of Life and Death
"Boys, come outside with me." Arminius said to his two youngest sons. It was the late morning, and Sucellos and Athena could take care of the farm. He had another important lesson for his sons.
"Yah buir?" Darius asked as they walked on outside back to the big rock where the three of them went the other day.
"It's time I teach you the history of our people. Sit down here." Arminius said as they reached the rock and sat down. Arminius remained standing, to better instruct them.
"The heart of our culture revolves around this." Arminius said, unsheathing his sword, holding it out, as it gleamed in the late morning sun.
"Swords?" Little Doug'ika asked, perplexed.
"Battle. And we'll get to that. But before we do, I need to teach you why. I'll tell you about our religion." Arminius began. Originally, he said he would tell them about their history. However, the Mandalorian religion played a very large part in their history. It was best to describe the 'why,' then the 'how.'
"Our culture is not based on race, or weapons, or armour. It's based on an ever facing tide of foreign changes within our society. But even with those changes, our core tenets remain the same. What are those?"
"…protect family, kids, clan…" Darius began, getting roughly three out of six.
"Serimir. Doug?"
"Uhm, Mando'a, armour, and, uhm…Mandalore?"
"Close enough. Those don't change, those are our principles. We see change as a good thing. If we remain the same, we fade away into history. So to make sure we don't stagnate, we battle. Ok?" Arminius began. The boys nodded.
"Good. Our religion reflects that. We have two gods. Arasuum, the sloth god, and Kad Ha'rangir, the destroyer god. They fought against each other in the creation epic, called the Akaanati'kar'oya, the War of Life and Death. Ok?"
"Why do they fight?" Doug asked, confused.
"So they won't stay the same." Darius replied.
"Why does Kad Ha'rangir fight Arasuum?" Arminius asked them.
"So there'll be change?" Doug answered via timid question.
"Why does Kad Ha'rangir want change?" Arminius asked
"So they won't die." Darius said.
"How does he do it?"
"…Destruction?" Doug responded.
"That's right. Destruction, battle, war, in the eternal struggle against Arasuum in the War of Life and Death."
"…I think I get it." Doug said. Arminius smiled. They got the gist of it, that, simply, "change is good." There was a lot more to it than that, like the afterlife, the Mandalorians as nomads, the "Manda," and the "Dar'Manda," but this was a bare bones lesson in why their people did what they did. The rest would come in time in future lessons.
"Good. Now, two hundred thousand years ago, the Taungs, the original Mandalorian species, were battling humans on Coruscant. The Taung were defeated, and fled to Roon…"
"And that's why Mandalore launched his Crusade. He was looking for worthy, honourable foes to test his warriours against, to see how strong his adversaries were. He allied with Ulic after being bested by him in personal combat, therefore proving his worth. We were defeated, and the new Mandalore is seeking to change our methods in battle provided we face the Jedi or the Sith again." Arminius said, mostly ending the lesson. His son's mouths gaped, awe struck by the tantalizing amount of information he had just given to them. He didn't necessarily ever see himself as a "bard" or "griot," but with all the oral traditions he had been passing down, he certainly could be called one.
"What are they like?" Darius asked.
"Who?"
"The Jedi and Sith." Darius said. Arminius had to think about that for a moment, but had solid views on both of them.
"The Jedi are weak, noble, compassionate people. They don't do much. If the new Mandalore ever faces them, they won't be hard to deal with. They rely too much on 'the force' to aid them, instead of grasping reality. The Sith are formidable fighters. They do what's necessary for victory, regardless of the costs. I didn't like having them as allies, but they were better than the Jedi. But enough of that. Now that you two know why we fight, it's time I teach you to fight. Go on inside and put your armour on." Arminius said. They returned in a few minutes, and checking to make sure it was on correctly, along with their helmets, he pulled from his pack two wooden swords.
"Take one, and watch me." Arminius said, pulling out his own sword and engaging a training dummy he had set up. The boys were more interested in the sword than his footwork and stance, and when he noticed this he remedied that.'
For the rest of the day, Doug and Darius practiced against the dummy, then against each other. As beginners, they tended to whack each other more than they clashed swords, but Arminius stepped in to stop this. He taught them the forms of swordplay, namely Mandalorian and related styles. He refused to teach them the Echani style – that was for lightweights and young cocky di'kuts. Other Mandalorians may have learned and taught that to their brethren, but it wasn't Arminius' ways. Nonetheless, after a while, he managed to direct the boys fighting styles better. Instead of whacking each other, they went for sword fighting. Part of the problem was that the main Mandalorian fighting style was meant as a purely defensive form, letting one's opponent tire themselves out, eventually leaving an opening. It was in this that the flaw occurred, for then the fighter using the Mandalorian style would not take the initiative to go on the offense. This is where the Iridonian style came in. Its attacks were meant to cripple, aiming for organs, vital spots, and in general open areas where an attacker left himself open. The defensive Mandalorian style, coupled with the Iridonian counter-attacks, made for an effective form. This mesh of the two forms was called the Ani style.
The day wound down, and eventually they stopped. Tomorrow was another day.