Brin takes position at the far side of the ring.

Callida takes position at the opposing side, and salutes politely.

Then: it's tempting to hang back and see what she can do, but Callida somehow thinks that the something Brin can do might be 'kick her ass,' if she's not careful. She won all of those dueling championships, and of the two of them, Brin's the dueling expert. So seniority or no, no hesitation or handholding. They're using training sabers, and they're Sith, it's fine.

Her staff moves like it's made of liquid in her hand, spinning up and down and left and right, smoothly guiding Callida's strikes away as she sidesteps around to gain room to maneuver.

Ah-huh. Yep. That sure looks like a future ass-kicking if she gets cocky. What is that style, some personal combination of Soresu and Shien? Yeaaaah okay, show off. Isn't she glad she didn't underestimate her sparring partner. Maybe she could win in a straight duel without overt use of the Force, but that'd be giving her opponent the advantage. Brin has had lots of time to practice with just blades.

How does she handle her opponent using the Force to throw off her aim?

She stumbles a bit when her attack goes wide, turns the momentum into a diving roll.

So a good recovery, but Brin is definitely open to that angle of attack. Good to know.

She'll just capitalize on that relentlessly, then. Gosh, it sure is weird that Brin keeps having her strikes thrown off in such an unpredictable manner. And so strange that her footwork keeps getting sabotaged.

She gives up a couple touches, but nothing fatal despite the interference. After the third, she stops trying to attack and forgoes fancy movement, instead focusing on defining a zone of defense around herself.

It's good to see that Brin keeps her head and doesn't lose her cool when outmatched. She'll compliment her once they've concluded the match. This is definitely highlighting what areas she needs to study - she's an excellent duelist, but clearly she needs to work on her defense against the Force, and integrating her own attacks with it. With a bit more practice, she wouldn't be so easily boxed in.

Still. The box she's in is a tough one to crack. She's relying more on muscle memory than Force instinct now, which makes it harder to throw her off with the Force. Not impossible, but certainly trickier. She tests Brin's defenses, presses the attack. When she sees her chance, she reaches out with the Force and pushes, stronger this time, throwing the weight of her emotions behind it.

She falls, her staff knocked away.

Callida wastes no time, and gently tags her with the training saber, fatal blow to the heart.

Then offers Brin a hand to help her back up.

She hesitates a moment before taking it.

Callida helps pull her to her feet. No tricks.

"Excellent job," she says, sincerely. "You're very talented."

"Thank you."

"I think you'd most benefit from integrating more Force techniques into your dueling. Some of the Ataru form would be excellent to integrate into your style, I think. I don't think you should give up the style you have now in total favor, but you gave up a lot when you lost mobility in favor of defense. Ataru would compensate for that and keep you mobile. And as you saw, you need to work on your defenses against outside Force interference. But you recovered from the surprise rather well."

Nod.

...Glance at Occlus.

"Lord Callida has a good analysis. You have strong instincts, but little practice in resisting someone who is actively manipulating them. Form IV is acrobatic and not often seen in civilian circles. It might suit you, though it would need modification for use with a staff weapon."

"Where could I find material on that?"

"In the archives, certainly."

"Could you teach me?"

"I could."

"Will you?"

Occlus smiles very slightly. "Yes." She beckons, and a blade floats off the wall towards her hand. She catches it while looking at Callida. "Your part today is over, I believe. Unless you wish to observe, you are dismissed."

Callida nods and departs. There's not much she could do for Brin's martial combat improvement if she stayed. Figuring out logical directions for improvement, yes, definitely. Actually having the coordination and kinesthetic talents to teach someone how to get there... well, maybe. But Occlus's style is honestly a closer match than Callida's. It's more aggressive than Brin, but also more about feeling the Force and flowing, like being like an embodied force of nature. Callida's is all careful poise, perfect precision, and calculated strategy. Of the two, Brin needs one more than the other.

She expects Occlus to call upon her later for helping Brin with Force techniques and meditation. That she could certainly help with.

Several days later, Occlus does in fact do exactly that.

"She is having trouble opening herself, and likely needs more extended attention than I can spare her."

"I'll be happy to help. Are there times when she finds it easier or more difficult to open herself to the Force?"