Home Training

During coffee time Blink, Magra and Jogr reached a few agreements concerning Hubr's training among themselves. Blink's two earlier demands were unanimously approved. Jogr was also obliged to be present whenever Blink trained Hubr. As it didn't interfere with his work, Jogr did not make any strong objections. Lastly, Blink requested for Hubr to train at home for the next few days while his fingers healed.

The couple were a little concerned over the last request at first but quickly realized that training at home with their younger brother would be more beneficial for Hubr than if he were to train at the training center with over two hundred kids and only one instructor to attend to all of them.

Hubr wanted to object to the ban on evening training, but his objection was immediately squashed by Blink.

"But how do I keep up with the rest if I don't train at night?" he inquired.

"Where did you leaern that training until late at night will make you improve your skills?" Blink retorted.

"From the other kids who are better than me."

Blink gave the boy a contemplative look and decided to rely on his stature.

"What's the color of my robe?" Blink asked.

"Brown, Nangku."

"What's the color of the robe of the trainees who you said are better than you?"

"White, Nangku."

"Is a blue-robed apprentice better than a white-robed trainee?"

"Yes, Nangku."

"Is a brown-robed disciple better than a blue-robed apprentice?"

"Of course, Nangku."

"So, are you going to listen to your fellow white-robed trainees or to your Nangku who is a brown-robed disciple?"

Hubr hesitated a little but eventually answered, "I guess to you, Nangku."

However the boy still looked perplexed over the matter, so Blink decided to explain to him the function of rest and recovery in developing the body. Hubr nodded his head but seemed to have understood only half of what he was told.

After breakfast Blink asked Hubr what sort of trainings they had received so far from their instructor. Since it was mostly foundational fist and leg techniques with basic stances and movements, Blink didn't feel the least bit concerned. He thought that since Hubr had been training for three years that his foundation should already be good.

What Blink didn't realize was that when sparring was introduced during the onset of the second year of their training, Hubr, like all the other kids, took their foundational training for granted and merely focused on learning how to beat up their next opponent.

It so happened that Blink was of a mind to assess Hubr's foundation. He felt it was important to understand how he should proceed with the boy's martial arts development. To his dismay, he discovered that Hubr's fist and leg techniques, not to mention his stances and movements, were all over the place.

"Your foundation is totally crap!" Blink uttered in total disbelief.

Hearing Blink's verdict, Hubr bowed down his head in shame. He seemed to be on the verge of crying.

Just as quickly as he said it, Blink regretted speaking his mind out loud. With hands on his hips, he looked up to the sky, took a deep breath and heaved a deep sigh while looking down on the ground.

"Nimgun, it can't be that bad, is it?" Jogr asked in an attempt to alleviate the situation.

At that Blink rubbed the boy's head and wrapped him in his embrace. He assured the boy, "I'm not angry at you; I'm sorry I shouted."

Hubr made a few sobbing sounds and furiously wiped his eyes with the sleeves of his robe. He even used Blink's robe as a towel. Blink tenderly wiped some of the tears with his thumb.

It was this scene that Magra walked into as she entered the common room where Blink decided to hold their daily training. The sight stopped her on her tracks, but she quickly recovered and whispered to Jogr, "I came to get Kraszad's laundry."

She picked up Kraszad's spare robe and pants. She stood there for a moment looking around, feeling unsure if that was really all of her younger brother's dirty laundry.

Magra took one last look at the scene of her younger brother soothing her son's feelings before walking out.

When Hubr had stopped sobbing, Blink told him that they must work first on his foundational skills before they could proceed further.

Hubr merely nodded his head.

Over the next five days Blink made Hubr work on correcting his form on his fist and leg techniques down to the smallest detail. And because the boy was determined to be like his legendary uncle, he took Blink's instructions seriously and executed each move according to Blink's specifications.

Of course, there would always be times when Hubr would rather try something else but it was all within Blink's expectations. Hubr was, afterall, just seven years old and still needed a lot of playtime.

Blink tried whenever he could to bridge the rigid discipline of martial arts training to the boy's natural desire to have fun in order to not burn the boy out. This way, Blink was able to sustain the boy's passion for learning.

Once in a while, Blink would also show Hubr an advanced technique that he could learn after mastering his foundations. Blink found this to be the most effective technique to pique the boy's interest.

During the course of these five days, Hegla broke into the common room and declared that she was interested in learning martial arts as well. Jogr wanted to tell her daughter off, but Blink said it was fine.

It turned out the little girl was only being wilful. After two days of being constantly told that she was doing things wrong when she didn't want to do it the 'right' way, she stomped her feet and screamed indignantly, said "I hate you" to her beloved Nangku Kraszad and quit.

She gave Blink the cold shoulder that whole day. But on the next day, she climbed up on Blink's lap during breakfast asking to be fed by Nangku Kraszad.

Although Hubr's foundation still needed a lot of work, they were acceptable enough to Blink for the latter to consider introducing him to basic defensive techniques.

Blink discovered that Hubr never learned a single defensive move and suspected that he just went on an all-out offensive during sparring bouts like he was some berserker with a bloodlust.

Blink therefore set out to teach Hubr some basic blocking and evasion techniques. He decided that he would expand his sets to include attack and counter-attack techniques eventually.

Three more days passed with Hubr showing signs of improvements that amazed even Jogr who had to endure being the invisible third presence in the training room.

Even as he was putting all his efforts at training Hubr, Blink had not forgotten his training. Every day he still did his morning runs and still went into the forest clearing to practice. By this time he had also incorporated the curling technique to his palm techniques.

Blink was also able to design two basic sets of movements utilizing his palm techniques. The two sets of movements would be very suitable for Hubr to practice.

That night after dinner Magra asked a question that made Blink queasy.

"When are you going back to the academy?" she inquired. She was looking intently at her adoptive brother. Everyone around the table also looked expectantly at him.

Blink evaded his sister's gaze. "Soon," he managed to say.

"I hope it's not too soon," his mother remarked.

"Indeed, someone here will be quite devastated if you were to leave next week," Jogr added.

The last two comments gave Blink enough heart to declare that he could stay home for at least a month.