Shi Dhuk (pronounced she-dook) is an ancient Shen practice encompassing a range of physical and mental techniques. Shi Dhuk traditions are numerous and varied, though they are reckoned to have originated as one discipline long ago on the Shen homeworld of Kovalar. Shen oral legends recount that it began as an attempt by ancient a cult of ascetics to place the body and mind in such harmony that a master could even resist death. However, these legends are impossible to verify, and scholars generally regard them as romanticizations.
Nowadays Shi Dhuk is a widespread cultural phenomenon in the Starmourn sector of varying popularity amongst humanoid races. Popular “Shi Dhuk” focuses on routines of 'shufa' - combinations of physical postures and mental states - as a means to achieve health and wellness, and indeed studies have shown that Shi Dhuk provides practitioners with some measurable health benefits. It has also seen extensive commercialization, with Shi Dhuk attire, accessories, and other merchandise becoming increasingly common. Corporations have even successfully trademarked individual shufa or entire shufa routines. This encroachment of corporate interest is condemned by the Shen Council of Elders on Kovalar who have since established the Shi Dhuk Archive in a mission to combat corporate interests and push Shi Dhuk as a uniquely Shen form of cultural and intellectual heritage.
However, other races, in particular the Nusriza and the Corran, also claim similar ancient traditions that they blended with Shi Dhuk, and which form their own schools. Therefore, there are three main schools of Shi Dhuk. First, there's the Shen Tradition, which considers itself "pure" Shi Dhuk, and is the most popular.
Second, there's the Tajhan Tradition, which was born of the Nusriza and is named after the title of their monarchical leader. Long years ago, the tradition that begat the Tajhan School was exclusively taught to the royal family, thus the name. Today, it's nearly as popular as the Shen School.
Finally, there's the mysterious Martial School of the Corran. Unlike the two traditions, the Martial School does not seek to spread its teachings, is centrally-controlled, and is taught exclusively on their homeworld of Otra IV. In the case of both the Shen and Tajhan traditions, there are multiple schools with somewhat varied teachings within the larger traditions.
Shi Dhuk as practiced in the Shen Tradition is a structured discipline which has pupils proceed through a simple hierarchy of shufa, no matter what school the student studies with. However, one of the schools within the tradition - the Dha Dhuk school - begins not with posture exercises as in popular Shen Tradition Shi Dhuk, but rather with structured meditations called 'ghifa' covering a range of traditional Shen values. Although there are foreign aficionados of Shen culture who study in the Dha Dhuk school, it is almost entirely the province of the Shen.
Other schools within the Shen Tradition include:
- The OneSky School, which believes that transcendence is theoretically possible for one who truly masters Shi Dhuk to transcend to a higher plane they call Willspace, though they acknowledge that nobody has ever achieved such mastery and that they can't demonstrate the existence of such.
- The Jidi School, which places emphasis on veneration of ancestors.
- The Repose School, whose adherents seek to harm no living creature.
Some schools within the Tajhan Tradition include:
- The Olore School, who teach that it's only through the shufa that we may purify our minds and bodies, and rid them of the accumulated toxins - emotional, mental, and physical - that the outside world seeks to drown us in.
- The Inward School, which teaches that reality is merely an illusion, and the self is all.
The Martial School
This branch of Shi Dhuk emphasizes mastery of mind and body to strengthen both and improve the fighting performance of its practitioners, who are mostly made-up of current and ex-military forces of the Corran. It is legendarily punishing, both physically and mentally. It's exclusively taught on Otra IV, and would-be rogue instructors are typically hunted down and destroyed.
Some basic shufa are shared between both Traditions and the Martial School. These include:
- Aghishufa (open pose) - sitting in a cross-legged position with a straight spine and emptying your mind.
- Qwanashufa (fetal pose) – originally honoring the Shen Ritual of Coadunation, this involves sitting on your knees and bringing your forehead to the floor while picturing the womb.
- Qudhanshufa (tree pose) – standing with one foot brought up to the knee while considering the sanctify of life.
- Suyadhanshufa (lying down pose) - lying down with arms stretched out while thinking about self-care.
- Kupashufa (marriage pose) – begin by lying on back with arms under hip-bones, bend the back to rest the weight on the crown of the head and the forearms, bend further to release the arms, bringing them to the top of the chest while holding love in your heart. In the Martial School, however, this signifies the pain of torture, and is done while embracing pain delivered by a teacher or fellow student.
- Okshufa (duty pose) – legs up in the air, hands on the back, straightening the abdomen, and considering the nature of duty.