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Dueling Academy

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this form of educational facility was believed to pre-date even the Old Republic itself, with several being able to trace their roots back to the era of Xim the Despot. The earliest of these academies was established to teach the art of self-defense with weaponry, but over the centuries they evolved into schools which taught the art and chivalry of dueling. Each academy had its own set of philosophies on dueling, which were shaped by the master instructors and the weapons they preferred to use, but all considered physical combat to be the basest from of combat. During the height of the Old Republic, attendance and graduation from a dueling academy was a mark of prestige, conveying a worldly sense of mystique and upbringing. Many of these schools benefitted from the teachings of individuals who failed to attain the rank of Jedi Knight, for these individuals brought the art of lightsaber combat to dueling schools. For this reason, the general public came to see the Jedi Order as the greatest of all dueling academies. While many of these schools accepted the linkage to the Jedi as a way to bolster their own image, they failed to see how public opinion could influence their existence. During the last decades of the Old Republic, as the Jedi Order was deemed ineffectual in the struggles leading up to the Clone Wars, the public lost interest in dueling schools. In just a few years, all but one dueling academy - the School of Hidden Wisdom - had shut down operations and faded into history.