Swordplay

It was past midday after his Kido class so it was time for lunch, Arawn wasn't feeling too hungry so he decided to take this time to learn his way around. The next course was Zanjutsu, which meant learning to use a sword. Arawn had some training with hand to hand combat, but no weapon training. Well the school he had gone to did have some stick and cane fighting. But he had no formal training with bladed weapons. This would be an eye opening experience. For this class it seems men and women were separated. Arawn was happy to be rid of Yue, she was too energetic, and it wore him out. The men gathered into the training dojo, and sat waiting. The dojo was huge, it's wooden floors waxed and polished. There were windows on the walls, but only as a means to allow air in. They were all small square portals too high to look through. Against the far wall was racks filled with wooden swords, next to those were several sheathed swords. Arawn thought he spied sparing dummies in the corner, and what looked liked a punching bag.

The instructor was a burly man, with a scar starting on his cheek and disappearing under his chin. His head was devoid of hair, making his eyebrows look out of place. He had to be over six feet tall, but due to his muscular build he seemed even larger. He looked like he was constantly scowling. He paced around the waiting students, "Look to that wall." he said in a gruff voice, his hand motioned at the wall holding the sheathed blades. "I'm sure every one of you would like to see hold one of those." Arawn admitted even he would, there was something about the fine crafted weapon that called to him. "But not one of you is worth to be cut down by it."
He stomped his foot on the floor. "I will make you worthy enough, or you'll at least die trying." Arawn thinks he meant it, what followed was a grueling series of exercises which left his body in complete pain. Their first task was running laps inside the dojo. This sounded simple, but was truly a trying task. The floors were slippery and all the students had taken off their shoes at the entrance. It was nearly comical as they attempted to complete fifteen laps of the large dojo without falling down. The sweat didn't help matters much, but when complete they moved on to the next exercise; push ups. This was an even bigger mess than the running. The teacher counted very slowly, and if anyone fell he would add five more to the count. Arawn was glad he had skipped lunch; it would have probably been on the floor after all that exercising. Several people fell, Arawn was one of them, what started as fifty ended at ninety. But after all that they got to handle the wooden swords. They lined up in rows of six and stood a distance apart from each other. The drill this time was simple swings. Holding the sword at the ready position, sword in front, raising the blade above the head, then hold at ready again. It was almost like a striking motion. It was a simple motion, with a slight forward step. The teacher counted even slower than the previous times, stopping to correct a person's stance or grip on the blade, and then making an example of the poorer students. Arawn was lucky to get very little attention from the instructor, but the swings were starting to take their toll. The wood was light weight, but the previous push ups and the sheer number of swings had pushed everyone to their limits. Finally the instructor stopped.

"Alright you worms, that's all for today." Everyone let out a sigh of relief, unfortunately a bit too soon. "Now, it's time to clean."
Never had he heard such a unified "EH!?" Of course Arawn was one of them.
The instructor motioned some buckets and towels. "There's a water pump in back, the rest start wiping." Once they got the buckets filled, they began to clean the floor of all the footprints and sweat. Arawn had to literally run laps again, but this time pushing a towel across the floor. When finished it was dark outside, they all quickly made way to the cafeteria before it closed, Arawn had worked up quite an appetite. There wasn't much to do after that but was up and sleep. First day was over for him and he was already in pain. Tomorrow wouldn't be any easier.

OOC: I figured since I'm still learning, I'd stack this post.

Arawn, as well as the rest of the class, were now accustomed to the Zanjutsu class. The exercises rarely left them sore, but the count did get steadily higher. Rarely were they short of breath long, and some of them even looked forward to the time in the dojo. On the other hand, learning to use a sword was more difficult than imagined. It's difficulty was increased by Arawn's impatience and marginal martial arts skills. Since they used wooden swords Arawn couldn't get the feel of his swings properly. It felt like he was swinging a bat around, not a blade. Yes the instructor did say to visualize, but they were only using wood shaped like swords. Furthermore Arawn felt using his other hand would be more beneficial. Since they were just learning the instructor demanded they use a two hand method of wielding the swords until they were of higher skill. A two handed holding method had it's strengths; mainly strength. When swinging with both hands more power is added to the swing, and when used defensively it can block powerful blows easier than a single hand could. And that was the method's weakness as well, Arawn noted. By committing both hands you do lessen your defense when using a big swing. The swings are also slower since both hands must remain in sync. Defensively it had merits, but offensively it seemed unstable. As if reading his mind the teacher clapped his hands, calling everyone's attention.

"Now that you have the basics of swings and a slight grasp of a defensive posture, now it's time to work on movement." He picked up a wooden sword from the racks, and went through the motions the students had just finish. He did two handed swings from left to right, then right to left, the overhead chop/swing they had first learned, and finally a small thrust. "Move with half steps," He preformed the overhead chop again this time a small shuffle of his feet made him inch forward. "also lunges when necessary." The same overhead chop, but this time it looked like he hoped forward dragging his rear leg. It seemed way too stiff and formal a style of fighting to use against those monsters that Arawn remembered. "This is the basics of Zanjutsu. Simple movements and motions, this the art of the sword at it's purest." Perhaps the teacher wasn't reading Arawn's mind, but everyone's in the class. Arawn could only guess it was like his karate class, everyone thinks it's all just tossing a punch or kick; but there's a subtlety to it. Learn to kick properly, learn to punch properly, then using it correctly. He was a white belt again, and this was the building of the foundation that would become a great wall.

The classes flowed quickly. Everyday they reflected on what was done the day before, and then added something new. Lunges and steps, side steps and parries, upward slashes and finally light disarms. From barely swinging the sword to now being able to what could only be described as sword kata. It was almost like dance steps; swing, turn, step, swing, etc. There were several each unique names, but for the most part got you to remember they pattern and making them seem more fluid. Some of these sword katas required two people, so you timed your movements as best you could. Failure could mean being hit by your partner. "You punks are almost good enough to be cut down." Arawn could only guess that was as much a compliment they were ever going to hear from the teacher. " At this rate you might be able to spar." The students gave shouts of approval. Everyone was itching to try a real fight. Arawn wasn't particularly interested, but wondered if he could hold his own. "Shut up and get back to work! I said might you maggots!" Arawn turned back to his swings. It was self study of sorts, but that just meant you reviewed steps, or took swings. The students rarely got chance to talk since group practice was their main focus at first. "Man I hope we get to spar, I think I'll come out the top of the class" He wasn't the only one practicing swings, there were three others. A short haired young man was the one that spoke first, he didn't bother introducing himself, just the statement. The older looking man to his left continued, "Top of the class? Yeah, that'll be the day." The final man only snickered. "Say what you will, but I've practiced with a real sword with my father." He grins as the others stop laughing, "With a wooden sword it will all the easier to take out scrubs like you." Arawn continued his swings as the continued talking, between thrusts, and slashes. If they were this competitive now, when they started to spar it would only get much worse. He really didn't have much confidence in his skills, or wasn't happy with it's current level. He suddenly hoped sparring wouldn't happen anytime soon.