Internal Strike

-5 pm

It was time for Kensei's training back in the Ryozanpaku training ground with an old ragged hanging punching bag and a few wooden boards. Kenichi soon joined in after he came back from school. He and Ohma sat together patiently waiting for Kensei as he described today's event. About beating the mop head with a sneak attack and challenge from some girl named Kisara.

"She says she is going to target Takeda-senpai if don't beat her." Kenichi cried.

Ohma sighed, "Then just beat her into a pulp."

"That's not possible, Miu says currently I have no chance against her," Kenichi muttered, "also you know that I cannot girls."

"Don't listen to Miu, she is dumb. Just focus on winning " Ohma said, "this not hitting girls philosophy is going to get you killed in the streets."

They stopped talking as the door slip opened and Kensei walked in with two small ceramic bottles in their hands. Ohma had already caught the scent coming from it, which smelled similar to that of peanut butter.

"Before we begin your training," Kensei said approaching them, "drink this."

"This one for you," Kensei said placing a bottle in front of Kenichi and the other in front of Ohma, "and this one for you."

"What's this?" Kenichi was first to ask.

"One of my secret concoctions. I have many with different effects, this one, in particular, is my secret muscle blend," Kensei said then continued, "Fighters generally need two grams of proteins per kilo of their weight. This will take care of your needs. Kenichi is 62 kg so his requirement is 124 grams of protein while Ohma is around 74 kg, so he needs 148 grams of protein intake. My concoctions would solve it all. Drink it."

Ohma and Kenichi shared a look for a moment then picked up their respective bottles and started gulping the light brown liquid inside.

They exhaled and deep breath as finished the contents and kept the bottles.

"That was quite good," Kenichi said. "I thought I would be bitter."

"Yeah, like peanut butter," Ohma added.

"From now on you will have concoctions every day. It will make progress of your strengthening process smoother." Kensei added. "Let's begin with our training, which you both have been skipping for a while now. I heard that Kenichi has completed basic training of Karate, Jujutsu and Muay Thai, but not even one kung-fu style."

"I was busy, alright," Ohma said bluntly, "I cannot just overburden myself."

Kenichi made a sorry face. "Sorry... I just didn't have the chance."

"No worries." Kensei laughed. "Besides you wouldn't have managed to learn much when you have so many styles to choose from in my arsenal, so today I chose one for you."

"What style are you going to teach us?" Kenichi asked.

"Bajiquan, the Fist of Eight Extremities," Kensei said getting it a bit stern, "It's like Muay Thai, the Art of Eight Limbs, just like Muay Thai it uses Eight Points to attack but unlike Muay Thai, Bajiquan techniques are for close combat, which you lack. But before, show me your Horse stance."

"What?... Why?" Kenichi asked.

"To check your basics," Kensei said.

Ohma shrugged and got up and span his feet and took the squatting static position which was Horse Stance. Kenichi got up and did the same.

"Horse stance, this is the most fundamental stance in most Kung Fu as well as other martial arts. It's part of a formal training called 'Zanchun', it's used for developing the ability to generate striking power instantaneously." Kensei said. "Now punch and don't rotate the fist as you do in Karate, keep it straight."

Both disciples punch forward, moving their hips and straightening their legs from the side they struck from.

Kensei placed a finger under his chin. "The form is stable, not bad, go back into attention stance and observe."

He took a horse stance and straightened his arm from his shoulder then curled it, pointing forward the elbow while his other arm remained straight. Then moved his hips and upper body along the direction of his elbow, thrusting sideways.

"Striking from the outside like this is called Waimen Dingzhou. If you successfully hit someone under the arm with this, no man of any size will be able to endure."

Kensei then changed his position, he placed his back fist near his solar plexus. Then he moved, looking sideways, he swung his elbow upwards while bringing his back first down to his navel level.

"Striking from the inside is called Limen Dingzhou. Swing your elbow upwards to hit the chin or other points in the meridian line while you swing your other hand downwards for leverage."

Then he went back into the standing position. "Practice this four hundred times on the bag, two hundred of each technique and one hundred on each side."

With that Kenichi ran over to the punching bag and started practising on the punching bag. Then Kensei's eyes turned to Ohma. "You don't seem very enthusiastic about this."

Ohma shrugged. "I need to work close combat, I know that, but I was hoping you'll teach me that An Jin thing you talked about."

Kensei sighed and then explained.

"There is a Kung Fu called Xinyiquan, in this, there are three stages of power," Kensei explained as he picked up one of the thick wooden boards. "Ming Jin, An Jin and lastly Hua Jin."

Ohma sighed, "Don't tell me you are gonna make me train in the first stage before you start teaching me An Jin."

"Don't worry." Kensei laughed as stood opposite Ohma. "Ming Jin is just basic conditioning, you already have Ming Jin, don't worry about that, we can begin your An Jin training now. But before that-"

He held the wooden board forward with both hands.

"-Break this board with one strike. Just do it."

Ohma nodded and took his stance, then struck the board with a Seiken, contracting his muscles at the moment of impact.

[ Adamantine Kata: Ironbreaker ]

The board broke in two and Ohma's fist went through it, stopping an inch before Kensei's face. Ohma then pulled back and Kensei threw the board away.

"What was that for?" Ohma asked.

Kensei didn't reply and just said, "Now stand beside me and follow my instructions and movements."

They both took their positions and Kensei.

"First take the Qigong stance. Your feet should be shoulder-width or a little wider, with knees comfortably bent and a relaxed demeanour overall. Cup the hands in front of the tanden, in front of your navel, with palms facing your abdomen, elbows bent, and fingers slightly bent. For position two, raise your hands to heart level, the solar plexus with palms facing down to the ground, elbows still bent. For position three, raise the hands to in front of your brow, the upper dan tian, palms facing forward away from you, elbows still bent."

The second step.

"Release the muscles along the outside of your neck as well as down your spine, lengthening and opening. The head should feel light and balanced atop the spine. Your spine should feel long and open. You should neither slouch nor be rigidly standing tall. Imagine a string attached to the top of your head from heaven, giving a feeling of being lightly suspended. Lightly touch the tongue to the roof of the mouth, relaxed, with the lips slightly touching. Saliva is considered to be a powerful component of Jin energy and should be swallowed if necessary."

Ohma did as instructed and Kensei continued.

"The spine acts as a highway for Ki. The spinal cord transmits messages from the brain to the rest of the body. If the spine is crooked or bent, this cannot happen as efficiently. With a stable and centred spine, you should feel your bones stacked one on top of the other, requiring less effort. Think of the spine as a rope rather than a stick or pole, attached at one end to your tailbone and stretched slightly to the string at the top of your crown from head and neck exercise. Allow the spine to feel open, with space between each vertebra. Give your vertebrae room to breathe. Do not try to wrench your spine into a perfectly straight line, but instead aim for openness and to be mostly straight. Focus instead on the feeling of stability and openness as well as uprightness without effort. Your chest should feel open and slightly sunk, but not concave. It should not be wrenched open nor hunched in. Good chest posture should come naturally from your spinal and shoulder posture."

They continued.

"Place your palms on your belly under your shirt. Inhale through the nose and allow the abdomen to expand as your lungs fill with air. Exhale and allow the abdomen to contract, thinking of your belly button getting closer to your spine. Imagine this process gently massaging the internal organs as well as allowing the lungs to take in more oxygen than shallow chest breathing. Do not tense or restrict the chest. If your chest expands too as you inhale, that is fine. Heed your body's natural desires and do not restrict them militantly. Let this process continue for a moment."

The process continued for half an hour until Kensei's future instructions.

"Open your eyes, don't tense your muscles and resume a normal position."

Then Kensei walked over to where the wooden boards were and picked up another one of them and went back towards Ohma like before. He held the board up again and said, "Break it with a single strike."

Ohma nodded and used the same move.

[ Adamantine Kata: Ironbreaker ]

His fist effortlessly broke through the wood and stopped an inch away from Kensei's face. Before the wood was hard and Ohma's fist felt its resistance of it, but now it was just punching cardboard.

"Your striking technique uses the principle of relaxation before contraction to produce explosive strength, the more you could relax your muscles before contracting, the more power you have," Kensei answered Ohma's question before the latter could even ask.

"This is An Jin," Ohma muttered.

"This is An Jin," Kensei said. "But yours is only a small accomplishment. You cannot claim proficiency in it unless you learn to relax without mediation, you cannot claim to be a master of it until you can relax and contract your muscles like that in an instant. Moreover, you cannot claim to be perfect until you reach the state of hyper relaxation while standing. Keep practising daily, you'll eventually reach it. You could also enhance the effect if you add a surge of Ki at the moment of impact of the strike, making it Fa Jin."

"Is that so." Ohma placed cupped his chin.

"Now is not the time to contemplate," Kensei said interrupting Ohma's thoughts, "follow me, I have one more technique I want to show you."

He walked over to Kenichi who was still practising the elbow strike on the punching bag.

"Kenichi, could you have aside?" Kensei said.

"But I am practising. Did I do something wrong?" Kenichi asked.

"No, I just wish you show you another technique," Kensei said.

Kenichi shrugged and stepped away as Kensei approached the bag. He stopped at the kicking distance.

"Watch carefully. It's one of my best kicking techniques."

He placed his hips low, then lifted his right leg, positioning it like a front kick.

'Releasing a powerful kick with his hips placed in such a low stance.' Ohma thought.

"CHOI!"

With a shout Kensei moved, throwing a front kick but he twisted his body to the left midswing and trusted the kick forward like a side kick. The kick slammed and the sheer force travelling from the kick tore the inside of the bag and ripped through from the other side, pouring sawdust onto the floor. Then Kensei retreated his foot leaving an impression of his shoe on the bag.

"The trajectory of the initial front kick is altered by adding the torque of a side kick," Ohma remarked, "I've never seen that before. An internal type kicking technique, I have only seen fists or palms before."

"What is an internal type technique?" Kenichi asked.

Kensei opened his mouth to answer but then another voice did it for him.

"Internal techniques are attacks which seek to damage the inner organs instead of flesh and bone directly by sending a wave of energy inside the body," Akisame said entering the room, "Just like Ohma's palm attack."

"That's how it is," Kensei said greeting Akisame.

"But I don't understand why are you teaching killing technique to kids," Akisame said.

Kensei gave a wry smile, as Kenichi got a bit confused.

"What do you mean by killing techniques?" Kenichi asked.

"Mastered Internal techniques could easily kill a normal man," Akisame explained, "moreover had that kick hit someone in the jinchuu pressure points also known as intermaxillary suture; it will cause pressure build in a wide area, stronger than a punch could. Its energy will permeate deeper and deteriorate the brain functions. Followed by inexplicable headaches, the person hit would suffer from impaired consciousness.... followed by death after less than three years."

Kenichi's face turned pale as Akisame continued, "Such techniques which kill a man in a long period are called Sannen Goroshi, Ohma was previously hit by a technique like that."

Kenichi snapped at Kensei, "I learned martial arts to defend myself, not to kill anyone."

Kensei awkwardly said, "Alright, I just got excited for teaching."

Meanwhile, Ohma's eyes still lingered on the torn punching bag.

********************************

-A while later

"Lot to meditate on today," Ohma muttered as walked towards the Ryozanpku entrance under the darkening strike, his mind still lingered on the kick. When he reached the entrance, he found a small metal box with a note striking which read: For Tokita Ohma.

Ohma careless picked up the box and opened it, revealing its contents and rummaged through them. A pair of thin black fingerless fighting gloves with a design similar to gym wraps, a pair of black fit arm sleeves with holes for the elbows, black wraps, a pair of black foot protectors and lastly another note.

'They are made up of a special material, ordinary blades couldn't even put a scratch on them, you need them in the future and to finish what we started. -Amou'

"How did she find me?!"

---------------------------------

Authors Note:

The training part ended, bullet poof gear acquired, and it's time for the Underground fighting arc.