My personal headcanon for Cal's style;
As a PT-era Jedi, Cal's training foundation was obviously Shii-Cho, no doubt beginning in Yoda's classroom sessions. However, given his age when Order 66 was issued, I doubt that Cal spent more than a year with Jaro Tapal, straight up guaranteeing that he hasn't truly mastered any of the traditional saber forms. That being said, I do believe that Cal was heavily influenced by the common practices of the day and the needs of his career. At the time, Jedi combat training was almost exclusively geared towards battlefield situations, fighting battle droids, mercenaries, pirates and bounty hunters rather than fellow Force-wielders. While his encounters with the Inquisitors and various Dark Jedi make Cal a more experienced duelist than he otherwise would have been, the majority of his career has been spent fighting hordes of stormtroopers and goons, meaning he would certainly prioritize techniques that worked for general combat. With this in mind, I believe that Cal's lightsaber technique is based on a rudimentary understanding of Shii-Cho, Ataru, Shien and Niman (Forms 1, 4, 5 and 6), all four being very widely practiced styles during the Clone Wars era.
Viewing Cal's fighting style through the lens of these forms, Shii-Cho clearly forms the basis for his offensive technique, the majority of his attacks following the direct sweeping cuts of the Determination Form. Given the games' emphasis on parrying rather than simply blocking (hence the stamina meter), it follows that Cal's defensive technique is based in Shien, employing the Perseverance Form's active parries and shunt blocks when dueling, regularly using guided blast deflection, and occasionally adopting the reversed grip in certain cases. Ataru is most visibly seen in his physical component, regularly employing acrobatics, parkour and fast-paced footwork clearly derived from the Su-Ma rotations. He uses this to reinforce his defense by pairing his parries with nimble evasions as well as add to his offence by driving his strikes home with the occasional flourish and physical combat integration, in keeping with the Aggression Form's emphasis on using the entire body as a weapon. But more than anything else, the form Cal's style most closely resembles is Niman, the balanced array of techniques suitable for any situation being perfectly suited for Cal's needs. The most prominent features of the Moderation Form are alternative weapon proficiencies and the integration of Force abilities into one's bladework, both of which are staples of Cal's overall approach.
As already mentioned, the fact that Cal's formal training was cut short means that he has certainly not mastered any of these disciplines, and his status as a regularly on the move insurgent means that he's generally more concerned about killing the enemy than refining his technique. Like Luke Skywalker's imitation of Vader's Djem So style, Cal's use of these forms is more an approximation based on what he was familiar with rather than being true to form. However, he compensates for this by following the Niman approach of balance and consolidation, getting around his thin and undercooked skill set by employing all of his skills in equal measure. This is most clearly seen with his arsenal; Cal's lightsaber is effectively several weapons in one, allowing him to employ his full range of techniques in a way that most people simply can't. He's not good enough with any form or weapon to dominate, but he knows a lot of them and can switch to something more appropriate to suit the situation and the opponent. Single saber doesn't work? Go saberstaff, switch to dual blades, activate the crossguard, break out the Force abilities, or just shoot them in the face. A Swiss-Army Jedi.
To reference the old EU for a second, Cal Kestis can best be described as a combination of Exar Kun and Galen Marek. He's a talented but undertrained warrior who compensates for his lack of developed skill by using all of his skills at once, getting around lack of power with versatility. Like Galen Marek, he employs an array of complementary forms whose component mechanics cover all of his bases and are simple enough for easy adaptability. Like Exar Kun, he funnels this broad skill set through a heavily customized weapon that allows his to radically alter his fighting style in the midst of battle.
turnnoffyourmind
vaporwave
pixelskylines
gummygunk
kianamaiart
tangentwithtanner
dailybridgerton
