Teräs Käsi

The Pike sisters: Zan and Zu, masters of Teräs Käsi

"The art of Teräs Käsi is about control and mastery of one's self."

Teräs Käsi, or "steel hand" in Basic, was an unarmed combat discipline. It was created sometime prior to 3678 BBY^[1] on the planet Bunduki by the Followers of Palawa, refugees of the planet Palawa, which was devastated earlier in a war somehow involving the Jedi Council. The Followers of Palawa created Teräs Käsi solely to fight with Jedi, and presumably, ensure that another world would never be destroyed by the actions of the Council. The Followers of Palawa studied the Force and midi-chlorians, even though they themselves were not necessarily Force-sensitive.

Teräs Käsi enabled a user to develop extreme speed and an aptitude for anticipating strikes, most notably shown by clone assassins. In addition, Teräs Käsi taught non-Force-sensitives how to close their minds to Jedi and Sith, thus protecting themselves from mental attacks. Teräs Käsi also had a developed set of fighting skills, and Nine Edicts.^[1] Some lightsaber duelists used Teräs Käsi techniques in combat, most notably Darth Maul. Jedi Master Anoon Bondara was also a master of Teräs Käsi techniques, which he coupled with his lightsaber ability to duel.^[2] Jedi Knight Joclad Danva was also a Teräs Käsi practitioner. Jedi Master Plo Koon was believed to be a Teräs Käsi practitioner as well, since he was a master at hand-to-hand combat. It is not known how Jedi could have been trained in Teräs Käsi, as the Followers of Palawa did not appear to be on friendly terms with the Jedi.

Phow Ji was a Teräs Käsi champion who once defeated Joclad Danva. Arden Lyn was also a follower of this combat style. Nova Stihl had been a practitioner of Teräs Käsi for twelve years.

Known moves

Defensivestance — Painting of a classic Teräs Käsi defensive stance

Many of the techniques and attacks of Teräs Käsi were named after various animals around the galaxy, suggesting that practitioners of the martial art took inspiration from the way animals moved.

Aryx slash was named after the aryx of Cerea.
Charging Wampa was named after the Wampa of Hoth. The move involved charging at your opponent, attempting to hit them in the jaw, followed by a simultaneous hit of both arms on the opponent's neck.
Dancing Dragonsnake was named after the Dragonsnake of Dagobah.
Death Weave
Förräderi
Gorax smash was named after the gigantic gorax species.
Gronda stomp was named after the Corellian gronda.
Gundark slap was named after the gundark species.
Leaping veermok was named after the leaping movement of the veermok.
Nexu Grin was named after the nexu of Cholganna.
Rancor Rising was named after the rancor of Dathomir.
Riding Bantha was named after the beast of burden of the same name.
Screaming squill was named after the scream of the squill.
Shenbit bonecrusher blow was named after the shenbit bonecrusher.
Slashing Wampa was named after the wampa of Hoth.
Sleeping krayt was named after the dangerous krayt dragon.
Spitting Rawl was reputed to be the most powerful attack in the arsenal of unarmed combat techniques belonging to a Teräs Käsi Master. It consisted of a sideways flip, bringing one's feet down on the opponent three times before bashing with both fists at the same time in a vertical fashion.
Steel hands was a technique which was eponymous with the martial art itself.
Striking Sarlacc was named after the dreaded Sarlacc.

Practitioners

Arden Lyn JTL — Arden Lyn, Teräs Käsi master

Behind the scenes

Teräs Käsi is inspired by a real-life fighting style called pencak silat.^[8]

In Steve Perry's novel The Musashi Flex, a prequel to his Matador book series, Teräs Käsi is briefly mentioned as one of the fighting styles practiced by the novel's main character.

Translated from Finnish, "teräs käsi" means "steel hand,"^[source?] though it's grammatically incorrect. The proper form is an yhdyssana, or compound word, spelled "teräskäsi".