One of the Stock Poses: a character holds his or her sword upright, with the blade between his or her eyes, often followed by Stab the Sky.
The pose originates in the European Swordsmanship tradition. When saluting a superior, a Worthy Opponent, or the audience, the swordsman would bring his sword-holding hand in front of and close to his throat, with the tip pointing up and slightly forward, then slash down sideways, so the point stops near the floor next to his right foot. According to The Other Wiki, this custom originated during The Crusades, when the knights kissed their swords as makeshift crucifixes before charging into battle. Nowadays, it is mostly seen in competitive fencing, but has also seeped into all kinds of media thanks to the sheer awesomeness of the move.
Examples:
- In Soul Eater Black Star alternates between staring through his sword and his free hand (which he keeps in the standard martial arts index/middle finger up, ring/little fingers folded) while training with Tsubaki's Fey Blade form.
- In the Star Wars Expanded Universe, practitioners of the Makashi style of lightsaber combat would sometimes perform a "Makashi salute" before fighting an opponent. The salute involves holding the lightsaber vertically in front of their face, then swinging it down toward the side.
- The illustration
of the Duelist Prestige Class in the Pathfinder core rulebook depicts a duelist performing a fencer's salute with her rapier.
- After obtaining the Master Sword in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Link slashes the sword 3 times looking incredibly badass, then stares through the sword with a look of uncontrollable excitement, then decides it's cooler to close his eyes and solemnly Stab the Sky.
- Carrying over from Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Rebels has the Grand Inquisitor and Kanan do a Makashi salute before their final battle in the first season finale. It is used to established that Kanan is going all out (because with Ezra being believed to have fallen to his death, Kanan believed he had nothing to lose if he fights now), and both sides acknowledge the other as a Worthy Opponent after spending the entire season of the heroes fleeing from and/or losing to the Grand Inquisitor. The next time a Makashi salute is performed, it's a Five-Second Foreshadowing because Kanan's opponent, the Sentinel, is the Force's manifestation of the Grand Inquisitor when he was still a good Jedi.
