Hundredfold Palm

The Ivuori of the Iromakuanhe, in their isolationist ways, have had a long time in order to train and hone skills and the art of the Hundredfold Palm, a martial art that was spread from enclave to enclave and passed down amongst practitioners.

Employing open hand techniques and using the teachings of ancient Makuori ancestors brought down through generations and generations, through the AR, the Hundredfold Palm martial art is one that is practiced by the Ivuori of several enclaves. It focuses on learning forms created by ancient teachers, sparring, and comprehension of techniques available to the practitioner, such as blocks, strikes, deep breathing, and evasion.

The practitioner of Hundredfold Palm will generally wear a robe named a meil that is made up of several different pieces. The lower half is called a shul, covers each leg individually, is secured with a string belt, and dips low to cover from the hips to the ankles. The jacket or kasah is form-fitting, covers the arms, and is secured with a belt of larger width than the one that secures the shull.

The Hundredfold Palm technique is one rich in history, but not as well known as the Desert Wind technique and is generally guarded by the Ivuori that practice it.

Before the Saalii people entered the Iruotl system, the Makuori had been thriving in what the Salii named the Nuocr Expanse on Maekardan, a planet they had also named after being flung from a tear in space/ time. The Makuori had been living with their great bio weapons and martial arts long before they arrived.

It was a Makuori named Abalesh D'Leva Scimen known as “The Golden Jarin Wyrm” that developed the fighting style now known as the Hundredfold Palm. It was relatively unknown and only a small group of practitioners knew of it, in comparison to the much more widespread Desert Wind style still practiced. Abalesh D'Leva Scimen brought this knowledge to those of the Saalii that were in need of a better understanding of the martial arts, predominantly those science and medical crew from the Saalii expeditionary fleet. The knowledge was passed down, especially so during the genetic rebirth implanted in all of the Saalli by the Makuori.

It laid dormant in the Ivuori culture for many years, being practiced by a very small handful of practitioners at a time.

Only after the First Outer Systems Conflict did the Ivuori see again a need for the martial arts. It was brought out of quasi non-existence by L'fettu Nith Hekout or “The Rising Claw” who had been practicing the forms, techniques, and sparring since a young age. He wandered the Ivuori enclaves for several AR, reportedly living to 150 while doing so.

The enclaves that were touched by his teachings continued to seek out the knowledge of their Makuori ancestors.

Pre-arranged meta-movements practiced in single sets, forms are choreographed structured steps that include the techniques and stances of the Hundredfold Palm wherein the practitioner is pitted against multiple imagined opponents and must both fend off and fight.

The five forms are below:

• Alef: A form primarily focused on opening up the body and readying it for both offensive and defensive maneuvers in the form of strikes and evasive blocking techniques.
• Bet: This form is a test of the practitioner's endurance as it relies heavily on footwork, centralizing on the amount of movement associated with the Hundredfold Palm technique. In between evasive maneuvers and low kicks, it teaches some of the techniques too dangerous to be practiced in sparring matches.
• Gimel: The third form of Hundredfold Palm is heavily reliant on the breathing techniques. The practitioner will move forward and either strike out or bring the hand back to the waist. Striking out with an open palm, the practitioner will breathe out deeply and when bringing the hand back to the waist, will inhale. Upon ten steps, they will turn and repeat this pattern until a sub-form of exceptional speed, including several strikes and block per “move”, is executed.
• Daleth: A form that builds on the ones before it, combining preparation, endurance, and breathing techniques while including an intensive call to action at the end of the form. This call to action is the prelude to the form after it, Heh.
• Heh: Considered the form that goes both up and down and where the others cannot, this form involves high-flying kicks and low lunges and stances more than the others account for. It begins with a series of squats and progresses to jump kicks and then back to lunges before again moving to high kicks and even employs

There are multiple techniques to the Hundredfold palm and they are varied, though practiced ad naseam by their practitioners.

Evasion

• Side steps: to elude an on-rushing strike, one may move with the both feet in the same direction to avoid the attack.
• Pivot: By stepping with only one foot while turning on the other, an attacker avoids the oncoming attack to their person.

Blocks:

• By raising or lowering the hands, the attack coming on to the Hundredfold practitioner is avoided.
• By raising a leg to thwart an incoming low kick or low strike, one may avoid the repercussions of an attack.

Strikes:

• Back hand strike: Oftentimes used as a warning unless applied to sensitive areas, a back hand strike incapacitates the opponent if force is applied properly to the right place.
• Pinched Strike: This strike involves all of the tips of the fingers being bunched together to reinforce one another and is a strike used to target vital points. The hand can also be opened when being withdrawn to grab at clothing or some such.
• Double hand strike: This strike uses both hands to target an opponent at the same time.
• Typical strike: A practitioner will push forward their open hand, fingers held together taut, from their waist, aiming for the body of their opponent.

Traditionally no protective gear is worn during sparring matches in which practitioners fight one another, sometimes in the dark or dim lighting, with one Iromakuanhe being attacked by multiple assailants, or any number of variables that create differing degrees of difficulty. Typically, vital points and face hits are prohibited, but at certain skill levels, these rules are thrown out in consideration for the abilities of those sparring to either block the attacks or endure through them.