- "The art of Teräs Käsi is about control and mastery of one's self."
- — Joclad Danva
Teräs Käsi, or "steel hand" in Basic, was a deadly and mystical martial art discipline renowned throughout the galaxy for its lethality. Many who learned the secrets of Teräs Käsi brought the knowledge to other corners of the galaxy - though it remained rare enough that to learn Teräs Käsi off of Bunduki, one had to seek out one of these graduate masters. To learn Teräs Käsi, students were often sent to learn directly from the Followers of Palawa, where students were taught about history, literature, metaphysics, and the philosophies of the Pacanth Reach cultures, with the Followers encouraging students to use the art for the good and betterment of society.
Teräs Käsi practitioners were the undisputed masters of melee combat, their skill and prowess rivaling even that of the Jedi. Utilizing ancient meditative techniques, practitioners were capable of pushing their bodies to supernatural limits, achieving the seemingly impossible by mastering mind over body. Masters of the art used extremely quick and devastating strikes, with many of the moves being so fast that the artist appears to blur with speed.
Masters of Teräs Käsi were known to deliver strikes that rivaled slugthrowers and blaster pistols in terms of power, easily punching through body armor, with even novitiates capable of surprising damage - though to a somewhat lesser degree. Further, intense training in Teräs Käsi could develop a blinding speed and tune the senses so accurately that a practitioner could anticipate strikes with an uncanny ease, being able to dodge so quickly that they appeared as a blur. As a result, practitioners also had a high degree of acrobatics; a falling practitioner could use midair acrobatics to direct their fall and avoid striking ledges and other potentially lethal obstructions. These feats of strength, speed, and acrobatics were made possible due to the central tenets of Teräs Käsi, mainly control and mastery of one's self, to the point that a practitioner had complete control over their body.
Teräs Käsi also incorporated meditative arts, turning a Teräs Käsi artist's mental control inwards rather than outwards; practitioners could enter an immobile meditative trance-like state and stop bleeding, as well as slow poisons and diseases - master meditation artists were even able to slowly heal their own wounds by channeling their mental energies back into themselves.
As a martial art, Teräs Käsi was patterned after the movements and hunting characteristics of various beasts throughout the galaxy, with many moves being named after these movements - such as Charging Wampa, Rancor Rising, and Dancing Dragonsnake to name a few. Teräs Käsi emphasized close work, utilizing hands, feet, elbows, blades, and sticks, with half a dozen basic stances that relied on four ranges of engagement; kicking, punching, elbowing, and grappling range.