It wasn’t long after his morning training that Ikazuchi found himself seated at his desk with an empty book in front of him. Starting now, he intended to create the final copies of each manual beginning with the fundamentals. The first several pages were dedicated to detailed training routines that he had learned since young and further optimized as he progressed. Their focus was on establishing a perfect foundation for martial arts and allowing the body to reach a point where it was optimized for combat. This introductory information was something added specifically with the intention of teaching someone with no experience.
Following that, the most fundamental skill required was the ability to coordinate and move the body. This was also his own first step in training with his father. Something that Ikazuchi only understood after attaining a certain level of skill was the fact that no amount of weapon training would be productive if the user couldn’t skillfully move their body. This manual was something that he intended to fully dedicate to the aspects of swordsmanship that didn’t require a sword. This included how the user could fight if they were disarmed or their sword was damaged beyond repair.
First and foremost, Ikazuchi wrote about the importance of breathing correctly for both training and battle as well as a few different methods that he knew of to correct the body’s habits. By simply breathing correctly, it was possible to bring out more of the user’s potential allowing them to achieve a higher rate of efficiency in both training and battle. He detailed when was the best moment to breathe for both stamina and exertion as he recalled his various experiences. In particular, he shuddered slightly as he recalled the early days of his training when he felt the distinct feeling of suffocation due to the extreme exertion he trained to sustain. While he was certain that he had long surpassed his father’s level of skill, he couldn’t deny the foundation that was established throughout his childhood.
Secondly, Ikazuchi began to introduce footwork rather than any method to directly engage in combat. Although his techniques were more refined, this was also the same order as what his father taught him. Naturally, Ikazuchi was dissatisfied as a young man who wished to learn to fight. It was only after he matured that he understood the importance of how to properly move.
Contained in these pages were various bits of information about how to carry the weight of the heavy armor he equipped, the methods to move silently while doing so, and even how to perform acrobatic feats without burden. It wasn’t something that everyone would be able to understand, but he believed that there were people who could benefit from these details.
After that, his explanation shifted more towards combat, mixing both his technique and experiences to offer efficient guidance. He stressed the importance of controlling each movement, always ensuring that a second point of contact was available to respond. This meant that the user shouldn’t freely use high kicks or jumps as they would be unable to take another step in that moment. This was a fatal mistake in high-speed combat. At a more advanced level, it was also possible to incorporate the user’s arms, weapon, and even scabbard as the second point of contact in order to move more freely. Still, he continued to stress the importance of maneuverability.
It was at this point that he highlighted the importance of the user’s vision. In order to move properly, it was important to understand what movement was best during any given circumstance. There were countless clues about what the opponent’s next movement would be contained within their stance. Each action would limit their possible actions in one way or another. It was important to develop the experience and understanding that would allow the user to use that information to predict the opponent’s actions and control the battle through skillful movement. Each step would ideally be properly measured with the feet never being too far from the ground in order to maintain maximum mobility while engaging an opponent.
An example Ikazuchi offered was a simple step forward. In that moment when the opponent’s weight rested solely on one leg, their possible movements would become limited. In this example, the opponent’s weight was on their right leg. This instance would greatly increase the difficulty of moving towards the right due to their balance in that moment. This meant that the user would have an opportunity to throw the opponent off balance if they properly grasped that moment by adjusting their position towards the opponent’s left and attacking. From there, it was important to estimate the possible responses. By predicting the opponent’s responses, it would allow the user to attack at the best angle to limit their movements further while also determining the ways that the user could move in response. Ideally, the user would limit the number of actions available to the opponent to less than the number they predicted for themselves.
Despite being a simple example, he didn’t offer a second. Something that he understood during his time writing journals was the fact that there weren’t enough pages in the world to establish the perfect movements for each possible circumstance. He believed that it was better to understand the idea that he offered through that one example and allow the one reading to slowly grasp and apply the technique with their own experiences.
Finally, the last segment of this manual was dedicated to offense, defense, and how to blend them into the user’s movements. Naturally, this wasn’t focused on using a sword but instead on the ways that the user could strike with their body. First, he detailed various stances that were stable and allowed the user to exert their full force. Understanding that feeling was important for gradually teaching the body to exert the maximum amount of force that it could without compromising its other movements. This was something that everyone gradually learned through combat as it was a fundamental skill. After that, the main focus was increasing the fluidity and freedom of the strikes while using the appropriate one based on the distance and positioning of the opponent.
It was only after the user could fully exert their strength that they would begin to understand the methods required to block such attacks from someone else. The simplest and most direct was naturally a direct battle of force between the user and an opponent. If that failed, the next simplest was to dodge the attack. While Ikazuchi did highlight that fact, he didn’t encourage mindlessly clashing or dodging.
He had touched upon it earlier, the fact that moving in particular ways would allow the user to limit the actions of the opponent. Taking that one step further, if you could limit the actions enough then you could spot clear openings. These openings typically followed an action so it was very important to try and ensure that your openings weren’t available to your opponent while you were striking at theirs. At the very least, it was important to ensure that you had options to counter should the opponent capitalize on one of your own openings.
To expand on defense further, it was possible to skillfully block attacks with more than simple force to create openings for attack. Rather than a direct clash, it would be better to use calculated angles to guide incoming strikes away from the user. This could cause the opponent's momentum to put them in a disadvantageous spot. Like the positioning, this was a matter of experience but he believed that the brief explanation would still benefit anyone studying the manual in the future.
Ikazuchi’s final notes in the manual were dedicated to sharing his own experiences with combining the various principles and encouraging each individual to experience combat with a large variety of individuals to find or create the ideal style for themselves. He had refined his skills alone, so he knew the benefits that it had for anyone intending to walk a similar path. Even if he struggled and took detours on his path, it was precisely due to those difficulties that he developed the experience and confidence that he had now. On the final page, Ikazuchi signed his name with the boldness and sharpness that would be expected of a swordsman as he prepared for the next manual that would detail the fundamentals of swordsmanship.
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Total Word Count: 2,040