Shadeclaw Combat Manual, Entry Two
Hard Techniques – Rawlith Khaj
Rawlith Khaj is a martial art that has been through many, many iterations. The variant practiced among Po’ Tun today is drastically different from the Tsumekata of the Shadeclaws of old, and also diverges starkly from the forms practiced by the modern Khajiit.
A brief history of Rawlith Khaj
The combat style originally consisted of six ten-step kata utilising only the claws, developed by a Master Roritsu as a training regimen for kits. As such, it was known as the ‘Roritsu-ryu Tsumekata’ in those early years. It was believed to have been conceived before our ill-fated invasion of Tamriel.
After urotsuki-nin from Tsukikage assisted the formation of Elsweyr in the early Second Era, our culture interacted quite actively with the Khajiit. Some of their young were sent here to train as kits, and many Shadeclaws stayed in Elsweyr to assist the Mane, helping the Khajiit become a stronger and more cohesive people. One such Po’ Tun was a student of Master Roritsu, who found that the Khajiit, though similar to us in terms of physique, had trouble understanding the principles of the Two Claw Arts of Goutfang and Whispering Fang. The simplicity of the six Tsumekata was far more effective in teaching the Khajiit basic close-contact techniques, and soon at least half of the population of Elsweyr was sufficiently trained in self-defence. They dubbed the system ‘Rawlith Khaj’, or ‘Rain of Sand’ in their language.
Forty years later, all Po’ Tun were exiled from Elsweyr, for reasons that our historians still struggle to understand. The Shadeclaws and their legacy were slowly forgotten (but not fully, as some Khajiit historical texts still make mention of ‘the Black Sages’). With the turmoil of the late Second Age, the Po’ Tun did not venture out much, instead electing to stay in Tsukikage and advance their learnings. Many of our greatest works of art, literature, as well as advances in magical and alchemical techniques, were produced in this period.
Then the Shadeclaws renewed Tsukikage’s oath to the Empire as Tiber Septim set out to reunite the fractured continent. In doing so, we were brought into contact with the Khajiit once more. In a famous account, a Shadeclaw named Tsura went undercover in Elsweyr, where he was challenged and soundly defeated in hand-to-hand combat by an anonymous Khajiit monk. Tsura was himself a master of Whispering Fang, which the monk seemed to acknowledge. The monk then told him that the techniques he was using belonged to the Sand Style of Rawlith Khaj, which came as a great surprise to Tsura.
In the five centuries of the Shadeclaws’ absence, Rawlith Khaj had evolved from a simple collection of basic kata meant to help Khajiit fend for themselves into a wide and varied school of martial arts with more than ten different styles. The Sand Style in particular was powerful and brutal, allowing a practitioner to cause extreme amounts of external and internal damage. His interest piqued, Tsura completed his mission, then requested – and received – permission to study under the monk.
Tsura returned to Tsukikage after twenty years, bringing with him a comprehensive knowledge of the Sand, Sun and Storm Styles. Over the course of the Third Era, these Styles slowly melded together to form the Rawlith Khaj practiced by modern Po’ Tun. Today it is considered part of the Three Claw Arts of Tsukikage, making up the Hard Techniques in contrast to Whispering Fang’s Soft Techniques, and Goutfang standing in the middle ground as the Orthodox Techniques.
Stance
Keep your feet apart at roughly the same spread as your shoulders. Keep light and mobile by balancing on the balls of your feet. Curl your fists loosely and raise them to eye level, parted to either side of your temples. Face your opponents with your body set against them at a thirty-degree angle, with your main side further away to provide more force to your blows. Use your ambidexterity training to switch main sides and throw off your opponent.
Striking
Rawlith Khaj places much less emphasis on claws than Goutfang or Whispering Fang, and the techniques that do involve claws are very similar to that of Goutfang. Consult your instructor for more details on claws in Rawlith Khaj, as this section will cover Hard Techniques – strikes with blunt force.
With blunt techniques, emphasis is placed on how you deliver a blow, with where you deliver it taking secondary importance. Keep in mind that the ability to land hits in target areas is still essential to success. Due to the extensive interaction of the Khajiit with other cultures, Rawlith Khaj implements many traits from other martial arts of Tamriel, such as the straights, hooks and uppercuts of Breton boxing, the explosive kicks of the Redguards, even a dash of some Orcish wrestling. Strikes can be made with almost every hard surface of the body – the fists, the elbows, the knees, the shins, the heels of the feet, even the forehead.
Punches
From the starting stance, curl your fists tighter. Twist your waist when punching to utilise the full weight and reach of your body. Do not fully extend your elbow, this can lead to injury even after consuming the White Flask. Completely clench your fist at the instant you connect. Make contact with the major knuckles of your hand and not the flat of your fist – the reduced surface area allows for much sharper distribution of force.
Elbows
Brace your forearm against your arm. There are generally two types of elbow strikes. The first is executed in a manner similar to punching. Twist your waist and connect with the end of your ulna – the distal bone of your forearm. The second is done along with the bracing motion. Twist your waist backwards and angle your olecranon – the tip of your elbow – against your target. Fold your arm and thrust it sideways or backwards, depending on your positioning at the time.
Knees
Strikes with the knee make use of your thigh muscles. As with the previous two striking methods, twist your waist in the direction of the attack. Fold your knee as you bring it upwards or sideways. Make contact with the top of your kneecap. To maximise damage, grab your target by the shoulders or the head to pull yourself into the strike. This prevents your opponent’s natural backwards motion from reducing the power of your attack.
Kicks
Make contact with either your shins or the heels of your feet. For the former, go through the same motions as the knee, but connect with the lower portion of your tibia. Aim to end the blow through the target, not on the target. For the latter, attack with either an outwards pushing motion or a reverse spin on one leg. Remember to never spin while stationary, as it will give your opponent too much time to react. Move around to the sides or the back while spinning to attack from the flank.
Headbutts
Use the frontal bones of your forehead to execute this attack. Aim for the weaker parts of your opponent’s own head, such as the nose or mouth. Alternatively, you can use the strong bones at the back of your head to attack an opponent behind you – though typically a shinobi should not allow himself or herself to be caught in such a position.
Grappling
Grip your opponent by the joints – the wrist, the crook of the elbow, the neck, under the arm, and, if you can reach them, the ankle and the back of the knee. Use both your weight and your opponent’s weight. Hold one section of their body in place and use leverage to control their movement, either moving yourself into an advantageous position or, if possible, toppling your opponent.
Rawlith Khaj Claw Thrusts
Although most of the claw attacks in Rawlith Khaj bear similarity to Goutfang and are closer to Orthodox Techniques, there is one example of a Hard Technique claw strike – thrusting. Sand Style monks are the undisputed master of this technique.
Claw thrusts are extremely damaging if performed correctly. The practitioner holds his fingers and claws rigid, then stabs forward in a motion similar to a punch. Unlike the far less forceful jab, a Rawlith Khaj thrust has the full weight of the practitioner’s body behind it, and the effect on an opponent’s body can be likened to that of a multi-pronged spear, causing massive haemorrhaging and organ damage.
Do not, under any circumstance, attempt to practice a thrust before taking the first three Flasks of Rendanshu. There is a stark difference between the bodies of Po’ Tun kits beginning their training at three and Sand Style monks beginning theirs at sixteen. Even then, the monks can only begin using such attacks in live combat after at least twenty more years of training – training that involves repeatedly performing thrusts into a large pot of dense, burning sand until the fur is seared clean off their fingers. The monks’ hands can remain disabled for up to a month as they recuperate, and they return to the exercise immediately after they recover use of their fingers. As shinobi, you cannot remain out of action for such extended periods of time.
Even after consuming the White and Pale Flasks, be very careful when attempting a thrust. Incorrect positioning risks severe damage to your claws.
Takarro had to stop himself from reminiscing as Ambarro charged at him, fists flying. He’s the spitting image of me when I was younger. Well. Maybe slightly more hot-headed.
Hook, elbow, reverse elbow, uppercut, knee. Takarro stopped the first with his arm, dodged the second, pushed the third away to throw off his balance, and the last two strikes went nowhere. The Grandmaster repositioned himself, then performed the exact same hook Ambarro just attempted.
He held back four-fifths of his strength as he connected, and the black-furred kit grunted as he slid off to the side of the training room.
‘Ow,’ Ambarro winced. ‘I think you popped some of my teeth loose, Grandpa.’
‘Oh, did I?’ Takarro ran over to him, brow furrowed in concern. Stupid, stupid. That was too much for a young kit like-
He leant over and flinched as Ambarro butted him in the nose. Oh.
‘Not really!’ The little tyke actually had the nerve to grin as he flipped back onto his feet. Takarro groaned. Hard-headed scamp and his tricks. I should have known. When has he ever complained about getting hurt?
The two exchanged several more blows, during which Takarro could appreciate how much the boy had grown. His blows had more weight behind them now, and he was at least twice as fast as he was before. His balance had improved, and he had even begun varying his tactics. Harrow’s influence, no doubt. He’d never admit it, though.
Takarro ended the bout by grabbing Ambarro’s arm as he punched, then kicking his legs out from under him. Ambarro fell over on his chest with an oof.
‘Not half bad at all,’ Takarro nodded. ‘Mokko was right, you did improve a great deal.’
‘Really? Master Mokko actually said that?’
‘Well, not directly. You know how he is.’
Ambarro’s face lit up as he laughed and did a little jig, then grew cloudy after his brief celebration. ‘But I still can’t beat him.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Takarro said, confused. ‘Mokko tells me that most of the time, you and Harrow manage to fight to a standstill.’
‘That’s not the same as beating him fair and square! I thought Rawlith Khaj was a natural counter to Whispering Fang or something, and I threw all I had into learning it, but after five years nothing has changed!’
Five years ago Harrow was defeating you with regular ease, Takarro thought, but he kept that to himself. A good rivalry often helped both kits grow.
‘All right,’ he said, sitting down and motioning for Ambarro to do the same. ‘Let me give you some general pointers for taking on a Whispering Fang user.’
Ambarro’s mood swung around again as his eyes went wide, and he sat down eagerly.
‘Whispering Fang is a Soft Style, while Rawlith Khaj is more of a Hard Style. Do you know what that means?’
‘Eh… that my attacks hit harder? That doesn’t always seem the case, though.’
‘Hmm,’ Takarro rubbed his white whiskers. ‘Yes and no. Hard and Soft Techniques are present in almost all martial arts, but different combat styles place different emphasis on their use. Hard Techniques are more concerned with the projection of force, while Soft Techniques focus on the direction of force.’
‘You lost me there, Grandpa.’
‘Look at it this way. Ideally, your attacks are always the most powerful blows you can squeeze out of your body, thus a higher emphasis on Hard Techniques. Harrow’s attacks are always the least powerful blows that he needs to use – that doesn’t mean that his attacks are less potent than yours, however. Whispering Fang focuses on rapid attacks on weak points, sacrificing the winding up of strength for quick strikes in critical areas. Thus, a lesser emphasis on Hard Techniques. Following so far?’
Ambarro nodded.
‘Typically, a Soft Style user will try to use your own momentum against you. Remember what I just did to knock you down? That was a Soft Technique. I used the momentum of your punch and redirected it away from me, while also using it to make you fall. They will also use offence as a defence, keeping you from attacking by occupying you with their own attacks first. When both approaches fail, they will dodge rather than block.’
‘Then Whispering Fang is the natural counter to Rawlith Khaj and not the other way around,’ Ambarro complained.
‘That’s not really true. Think of them as two opposing sides, each having the right tactics to defeat the other if applied correctly. Hard Styles emphasise keeping your centre, meeting the opponent’s blows at just the right angle to defend yourself, and the controlled ebb and flow of aggression. Block when he attacks and don’t get thrown off balance. Bait him closer and use your grappling techniques to neutralise his movement, rendering him unable to divert your attacks. When he does manage to get you off balance, disrupt his strategy by applying more force in the appropriate direction.’
‘Didn’t really understand that last bit.’
‘Think back to how I made you fall earlier. If you used the momentum I added to your strike earlier to your own advantage, you could have thrown yourself forward and either rolled away or struck me in the stomach, which was exposed because I was grabbing your wrist. Instead, you stayed still and tried to fight your own flow of force, allowing me to sweep you down.’
‘So… I’m going to move when he makes me move, but not in the way he wants me to move?’
‘That’s certainly one way to put it.’
‘Is beating him really going to be that simple?’
‘Of course not,’ Takarro chuckled and ruffled his grandson’s mane. ‘He can learn new techniques as well, you know? How to slip past your block and still attack your vitals. How to take advantage of feints – I hear Harrow’s particularly gifted at that. Later on, he could even learn how to target your acupoints. These are specific clusters of nerves or blood vessels and focal points of either your Magicka or your ki. Strikes there can disable entire limbs or, if the right acupoints are attacked, knock you out entirely.’
He expected Ambarro to sulk, or at least grumble. To his surprise, the kit simply stood up and entered the Rawlith Khaj combat stance again.
‘I didn’t really understand all that, but what you really meant is that I should keep practicing, right? I was going to do that anyway!’ Ambarro said, bright determination burning in his eyes. ‘Another lesson, Grandpa?’
The Grandmaster smiled, then stood with fists raised, mirroring his stance.
‘Ready when you are.’
This entry is part of Roaring Thunder, Hissing Lightning - Assorted Lore.
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AND THERE'S NOTHING SWEET ABOUT THE DUNCE!