Chapter 12 - Everyday training

—" Kenjutsu or the "Art of the Sword" originated twelve hundred years ago and has been progressing and developing ever since. But we will be here not only for the sake of art, but also for the sake of the Path." — Isao highlighted the word "Path". — "Kendo is already a modern branch and that's what I will teach you. "— he stopped and measured four people, including me, with his gaze. A little to the side, the experienced ones were already working out the racks, but they did not interfere with us, they only occasionally looked at us.

—" I do not know why exactly you want to comprehend the path that I teach here, but that is your business. Kendo... this martial art was created by the Military Virtue Society of Great Japan a hundred years ago. And it is needed to temper and strengthen your "Japanese spirit" ... but not everyone will understand this, so your task is to try to repeat after me and do what I say." — the man said and took a bokken, that is, a wooden mock-up of a sword, from the rack. — "The first Kata, that is, the sequence of movement, is a test of your body. I will see how each of you does it and understand how ready your body is." — he finished and started moving.

I immediately focused on his movements and breathing, because I already have experience in Taijutsu, so I immediately began to notice relatively similar moments. There were six movements in total, they are also called six Kata. Kata, as the teacher said, is a formalized sequence of movements related to the principles of conducting a duel with an imaginary opponent. That is, it is a technique of movements that must be repeated thousands of times to consolidate in muscle memory. More precisely, it works for the average layman, and as far as I could understand, there is something strange in my body, perhaps it served to develop such eyes.

As soon as he finished the movements, I immediately started repeating them. Take the leg slightly to the side, breathe in the air and a smooth stroke of the bokken in front of you, then lift the right elbow smoothly and exhale.

— "Hmm. "— the teacher frowned, watching me perform these movements. —" You three keep repeating the movement, and you Felix-kun come forward. Okay, repeat the movements" — I did what he said. — "Yes, my brother was right. Perfect execution of movements, if I didn't know that you hadn't really practiced before, I might have suspected that you were a master in hiding." — he smiled. —" So, let's move on to the next movements, watch carefully and if you want, you can take off your blindfold." — he warned me and started moving again, only these movements were already not only smooth, but in some places all aggressive.

— "Everything is perfect again. "— he breathed out, as if he had just accepted reality. —" You need a different approach." — he thought. —" I think practice will do. Only this very practice will be broken up by studying new techniques and movements. Saeko, come out here. " — he raised his voice a little. And soon the door leading to the dojo corridor opened and Saeko, his daughter, walked here with a serious expression on her face. The girl herself was watching us from the second floor, but she didn't show it.

—" Yes, Father. "— she bowed to her father with a serious expression on her face, and he... his eyebrow twitched. Apparently, he doesn't like this behavior of his daughter too much, but she has already chosen her path, and he can't do anything. —" Felix-kun really has a talent and I want you to spar with him. You are of the same age category with him, and even classmates, so you will find an approach to each other. I allow the use of the first five Kato."

— "Got it." — she said seriously and looked at me piercingly, stopped at the bandage. — "Felix-kun, even though I am a girl, this does not mean that you need to underestimate me and continue to walk with a bandage. I learned from my uncle that you have no problems with your eyesight. "— with some slight resentment, she said because she thinks I don't put her on a par with myself.

— Saeko-chan, I don't underestimate you. "— I smiled at the girl. —" It's just a habit and I have very sensitive eyes." — I took off the blindfold and allowed the girl to examine her eyes. —" I'm sorry if you thought that, but to be honest, I even admire you." — I confessed, which surprised her. —"Your father probably talked you out of the sword path, didn't he?" — I looked at Isao, who looked away. No matter how he was a master, but he loves his daughter, I still realized this when his brother talked about him. And Saeko, one might say, chose for herself the Bushido code, that is, the Samurai. That's why she tries to stick to it and keep herself in control... I don't really understand what influenced her choice and why she chose this path, but that's her business.

—"You're a very perceptive Felix-kun. "— Saeko even said with some respect, and her look at me subtly changed. —" Get ready." — the girl said and stood up in a stance, pointed the tip of the bokken at me.

— "I'm ready." — I nodded and the teacher gave a start. The girl immediately used the third Kato, this is considered a direct attack of the bokken. But she did it masterfully, I didn't notice any unnecessary movements or sharpness at all. She got into the right stance in advance, so I imagined what the blow would be, so I reflected it without any problems and counterattacked using a second, slightly aggressive movement. This is considered a bokken swing from top to bottom to hit the opponent's head. The girl put a block without any problems and sharply struck the next blow and, if not for my reaction and perception, the blow would have hit me in the side.

— "You are very beautiful when you are so focused. "— I couldn't keep it to myself, because really, the girl was extremely focused on our sparring and because of this she looked like a little Valkyrie. If she heard my words, she ignored them and continued to attack me with different movements, to which I could only respond with a block. But the girl is obviously experienced, so in less than a minute she caught me, and bokken gently slapped me on the arm.

— "That's enough. — The teacher's voice was heard. — "Very good."

— "Good fight, I liked it." — I smiled at the girl, who, judging by the look, expected a different reaction.

— "Usually... newbies get angry because of losing to a girl. " — she answered my unspoken question.

—" It's pretty pointless, you've been studying this art for what a year, and today is my first day. It would be foolish to expect a different result." — I shrugged my shoulders. — "Moreover, I even liked sparring with you, especially looking at your focused face."

— "... "— the girl didn't answer anything and just continued to look at me with a calm gaze, but when she returned the bokken to the rack, I noticed reddened ears.

After that, the older guys started sparring, but none of them had Saeko's skill, apparently, she really devoted herself to this sword art. We talked to Isao about attending his classes and paying in yen, the Japanese currency. The amount was not very big, so I immediately transferred the money to his account. Some of my ideas to scientists in New York brought results a few years ago, so I have a lot of money in my personal account, after all, Alex pays for the work of scientists and transferred money to me personally for my work.

At home, my sister was waiting for me and interrogated me so that I would tell everything that happened in the dojo, and then I continued to teach her self-defense. And so, the days began to pass, at school I most often communicated with Saeko, well, and , Rei since she and her sister always came to eat at our table. And as a result, our group became entrenched, just one day I realized that we usually walk around the school with this composition. Of course, Rei often called Komuro Takashi with us, but in a month, he only took a walk with us once, but even then, he quickly left, leaving the girl upset with such an attitude, so I had to calm her down and take her to a cafe. Saeko and I spar every day in the dojo, where she and her father show me new moves and where I fix them. In general, her skills training was conducted not only with me, or rather, at first, she showed training with older guys, whom she easily defeated due to skill and speed. The only one who could hold her longer is me and then until I finally lose, even if I touched the girl with a bokken a couple of times. At first, I often went out beaten with the dojo, but this did not reduce my desire to master this art.

In two months, we settled in a new place, but everything was not so rosy for me, since the laboratory was far from home here and it was not possible to visit it often, so I concentrated on my other hobbies and on communicating with my friends.