Flashback [Kendoka Sasarin] The Art of Longsword Combat

[Imass]

The Art of Longsword Combat
Spring 17 580

“Welcome to the Kendoka Sasarin young boys!” announced Mizra Aqdas as the boys quickly gathered before him in the longsword training room.

Everyone was amped up to start formal training again. The excitement in the air was almost stifling. It was the first day of training for many of the boys, including Imass. There was a big smile plastered on the youngster’s face ear to ear. He had been looking forward to this for almost ten whole days; that is when his father announced he would start formal training.

Looking around Imass stared at all the Akalak boys around him. Some were older, but most were around his age. Everyone was wearing the standard white training garbs; they wore white, cotton tunics which were made to fit snuggly. They tucked their tunics into white, cotton breeches and wrapped a black cotton belt around the waist. Their shoes where basically flat, thick leather soles wrapped in black leather from toe to high ankle. All the Akalak boys looked handsome and proper, except for maybe a couple of messy ones.

The longsword training room was simply a very large empty room separated from the main floor. The wooden beams arched high above the heads of even the tallest Akalak; there was nothing else of note. Everything else was painted soft white. There would be no distractions here.

“Form a circle around me boys,” Mizra Aqdas instructed the boys to stand arm length’s apart in a circle around him. He walked around in the middle of the circle and made sure that every boy was facing another one in the circle. Imass didn’t understand why Mizra was doing this, but after a chime everyone in the class could see each other and see the Instructor Aqdas clearly. Waiting patiently, Imass’ heart was fluttering. He didn’t know what to think. He didn’t know what to do. He simply listened to the old and wise Akalak speak.

Mizra removed a paper from his belt and began to take attendance. It was the instructor’s responsibility to make sure that all the correct boys where in that room. After each boy’s name was called, the instructor’s aide would hand them a wooden training longsword with a metal core. The metal core was for balancing the training sword, so it felt like a real blade. Imass didn’t really understand this either, but he would take his elder’s word for it. Once Imass received his wooden blade he stared at it with impossible delight and gripped the handle hard. This wooden weapon was the best thing that ever happened to Imass. He had been waiting for this moment a long time, because his father wouldn’t get him one previously.

Finally, all the training weapons were issued and everyone was accounted for. Finally the buzz and giggles of excited children ended as Mizra was finally ready to start the real training. The last bell had been all preparation for the first session; now it was time to start. At this point Imass was so excited he couldn’t hold his happiness in. He was smiling ear to ear, waiting for the real stuff to begin.

[Imass]

“At the beginning of each and every class, we will gather together in a circle just like this. We will place our swords on the floor in front of us,” Mizra demonstrated what he meant by placing his sword on the floor at a 2 o’clock position with the hilt of the sword closet to the feet, “The sword must be placed on the floor in exactly this position, does everyone see?” Each and every Akalak child placed their swords in the same position on the floor. Very few had trouble completing this simple task. Instructor Mizra only had to wait a few seconds until all the kids got it correct; the young Akalak’s would often help each other out in these situations. Imass was a natural though. He placed the sword on the floor at the correct angle the first try, his face was beaming.

“We place the sword in front of us as a symbol of readiness and alertness. Even when we are not using our swords, we should be ready to fight at any moment! Do you guys understand?” Mizra asked. Everyone answered ‘yes’ in some vague form of unison, so the instructor continued, “Each training session you are to arrive and form a circle like this with your swords on the floor, exactly like this. Then you are to wait for me to arrive. Do you guys understand that?” Everyone responded in agreement. Imass nodded furiously, he wouldn’t let Instructor Mizra down, and he would come in every morning and stand in the circle with his sword ready on the floor. That was easy sauce for Imass, but his teacher was not done yet.

“Not only will you come here every morning and wait for me in this formation, but you will bring back the same training weapon every time. Until that training sword breaks, it is yours and no one else’s. You cannot share your weapons and you cannot lose your weapons. You are to wear this wooden sword on your belt at all times outside the Kendoka. Is that understood?” This time Mizra got a mixed response so his asked again. Imass shouted louder than before in his enthusiasm. The young boy told himself that he would always carry his longsword no matter what. Imass was intent on impressing his father and his peers.

Days before, his father had stressed the importance of maturity and discipline during training. Due to the risk of injury, it was imperative that the young Akalak’s listened to the instructions on point. This was drilled into the young Akalak after many long talks with his father and Imass was happy to oblige. He would follow Instructor Mizra’s commands no matter what. Imass even prayed to Wysar the night before.

The morning ritual was not done yet. Instructor Mizra continued, “After I have spoken we will split into two lines and walk around the circle. When I give the command those on the left side of the circle will walk clockwise, while those are the right will walk counter clock wise. Let’s try it now,” Instructor Mizra designated which side of the four walled room would be considered the “top” of the circle. The two Akalaks students whom stood at the top of the circle would be the line leaders. One would lead half the circle around clockwise and the other would lead his half counter-clockwise. If completed successfully, the two lines would pass by each twice before everyone was back in front of their own swords.

Although Instructor Mizra did not mention it, but this part of the morning ritual was designed to make sure than the boy’s were in the right mind set before training began. The boy’s would naturally take ownership over their practice blades, especially since Mizra had commanded it. By making the circle, they had to focus their minds to make sure they got back to their swords.

For the next fifteen chimes they practiced the morning ritual; stand in a circle, place the swords at their feet, and walk in the circle. This was incredibly boring work for Imass. He wanted to get to the actually fighting already, but this wasn’t happening. It felt like an eternity of walking around in the circle. To Imass’ amazement some of the Akalak had trouble doing this correctly. How could they ever hope to be good swordsmen if they couldn’t even do the morning ritual correctly? Imass thought to himself. The Akalak was still young and naïve, he didn’t realize some boys were not natural or talented like himself.

[Imass]

After the class had (somewhat) mastered the process of the morning ritual, Instructor Mizra began some real workouts, “Today we will begin with some hand and wrist exercises. It is important that your tendons are strong and flexible for combat. Okay, first, grab each finger like this and wave your finger, wrist, and arm!”

Grasping his forefinger with the opposite hand, the Instructor whipped with his finger so that the waves traveled down his hand, wrist, and forearm, ending at the elbow. The idea of this exercise was to improve finger flexibility. The instructor repeated the same whipping motion for each finger and thumb, loosening up his whole hand. Once he was done whipping all his fingers, he shook the hands with his arms bent at the elbows, and hands out in front. He shook his hands both vertically and horizontally.

Now it was the student’s turn. All the Akalak boys followed the instructor immediately. Imass had a little trouble at first; he was whipping his finger with the opposite hand. It wasn’t supposed to be like that at all. The opposite hand was just holding the finger in place while his exercise arm did all the whipping motion. As Instructor Mizra walked around the circle, he caught Imass’ problem and corrected it easily enough. Within a minute he was whipping all his fingers successfully.

This isn’t too hard and it feels awesome The young Akalak thought to himself. Imass loved hearing the bones in his fingers pop, but after a while his tendons started to relax and strain. It actually felt good to work out his hand and fingers. It was an enjoyable, pleasurable sensation. After a good while, Imass’ hands began to strain slightly, but he paid it no attention and continued to exercise. Finally Instructor Mizra returned to the center of the circle and told everyone to stop. Imass shook his hands at the elbows, both vertically and horizontally like Mizra had demonstrated. His hands and fingers were all warmed up now.

[Imass]

“Great! You are all doing well! Now it is time to do our wrist exercise!” The Instructor continued.

The wrist flexibility exercise was much tougher than the finger one for Imass to figure out. It was much more complicated. The exercise was as follows; the right arm was held closely to the side of the body and was bent at the elbow. The forearm was held tightly over the stomach. Imass visualized it like forming the letter “L” with his arm and forearm against his body. Although the forearm was horizontal across the stomach, the hand was bent at the wrist with the fingers pointed vertically towards the chin. The thumb faced away from the body. Using the opposite hand to grasp the base of the thumb, the wrist is forced into further rotation while the forearm remains horizontal across the stomach.

Instructor Mizra walked around the circle slowly, showing each and every boy how the stretch was done. It would be futile for the instructor to put this exercise in words, so he went around and coached each boy individually as the whole group rotated their wrists. At first Imass did not get it, but by watching the older boys and the trainer he was able to eventually get it. He even listened to the tips the instructor was giving the others boys. After he understood the concept, the young Imass was confident in his ability.

Finally, the teacher walked by to inspect Imass’ technique, “Excellent, you got the basics down,” he said to much of Imass’ pleasure. Imass smiled and continued to do the exercise. His instructor was about to walk away, but suddenly he snapped, “You are not stretching or working out Imass! You are just going through the motions! I can tell your not stretching anything…. Here!”

Before Imass knew it, the old Akalak was pushing his wrist down his stomach, “Push down, yes, like this,” As the Akalak inched his wrists down his stomach he could really feel the rotation stretching his wrist now. It hurt slightly, but it actually felt great just like the finger stretch. After a few seconds though, Imass need to bring his hands back up. He let out a deep gasp for air. He was actually holding his breath. Shaking out his hands, Imass did the same thing on the opposite arm.

“Good job Imass,” Instructor Mizra remarked, “Each time you do these exercises you need to feel the stretching and the strain. It is extremely important you train properly. We cannot have you just going through the motions, you understand?” Imass nodded furiously in response and continued the exercise as Mizra continued down the circle.

The young Akalak would work hard in his exercises, but what he really wanted to start was the "actual" longsword training. His golden eyes stared at the wooden practice sword in front of him while he twisted and strengthen his wrists. He wanted to pick it up and swing it already! He was good enough, he knew it! Imass would not disobey orders though, so he continued the exercise just as he was taught. None of this stuff was challenging Imass yet, but he trusted his instructor was right.

[Imass]

After what seemed infinity to Imass, the instructor finally told them to stop stretching their wrists. In reality, only a quarter of a bell passed, but even that long was too long for one or two stretches. At this point the young Imass was absolutely certain that it would be time to pick up the longswords, but he was absolutely wrong. Instructor Mizra continued with the hand and wrist exercises.

“Alright, now I want everyone to get into the saddle position,” Mizra instructed. Most of the Akalak boys already knew how to do this from unarmed training, but the old Akalak taught them anyways, “Start with your feet together like this. Pivot your heel, pointing your toes outwards. Now pivot on the balls of your feet, point your heels outwards. Good. Now pivot one last time on your heels, to point your toes forward… now sit in it like a saddle,” Long story short, this technique allowed for every Akalak to spread their feet apart at the optimum squatting position. If Mizra specified feet at shoulder length apart or something, it would feel like an unnatural squat position to some Akalak. The foot pivoting technique allowed for all the Akalak boys to be comfortable in their squats. Once the feet were properly planted, sitting in the saddle position was simple enough; all you had to do was squat down until the thighs were parallel to the floor.

Imass watched intently as his instructor trained them briefly on how to get in the saddle position. Imass followed his direction on point and was soon sitting in the posture. It was an uncomfortable position, but it did not bother Imass too much. Instructor Mizra ran around and made sure everyone was looking good. He had nothing to improve on Imass’ technique except to remind him to keep his back straight and keep balance across his all across his feet and not just his heels.

Once everyone was in the saddle position the next hand exercise started. This exercise was by far the easiest of them all, but it was also the most painful. Holding his arms in front of his body and bent at the elbows, Mizra instructed all the boys to repeatedly hyperextend their fingers, “Form a solid fist, boys, then open your fingers quickly and stretching them as much as possible,” Instructor Mizra held a tight first in front his body for everyone to see. He was squeezing so hard his knuckles were white. Then he extended all his fingers and thumb, his fingers and palm white now. He did the first few of them slowly then started to go faster; he fully opened and closed his fist as fast as he could, “Keep opening and closing both hands as quick as possible and has hard as possible. I want to see white knuckles and white fingers. It’s important you do this hard for it will strengthen your hand and your wrist!”

Not breaking out of the squatting position, Imass held out his arms and began to hyperextend his fingers and thumbs. The concept was very easy to get, not many people needed more coaching. He could feel his hands curl into a tight ball only to spread out again. Almost immediately Imass began to feel the straight in his wrists, but he would not stop. The instructor kept barking for people to go harder and faster, so Imass obliged him until he didn’t know how much hard he could go. His abdomen and legs started to ache from the saddle position and his hands were on the verge of cramping, until finally Mizra told everyone to stop.

Taking a deep breath, Imass realized this was the first time he had sweated in the whole training session. Shaking the hurt from his hands and standing straight, he waited for the next grueling hand exercise.

The young Akalak did not even get a moments rest though. The moment they stood out of the saddle, the Instructor yelled for everyone to get back in the squatting position. Imass sighed a little inside, but he didn't say anything. Imass just wanted to start the longsword training already.

"Stay in the saddle, but now you are going to do the finger clap," Holding his hands straight in front of his body, palms facing the student. He kept his fingers together; even his thumbs were pressed up against his index fingers. Without doing anything with his thumbs, he bent his fingers at the knuckles down to his palms producing a clap. Mizra alternated with each hand until Imass could no long count how fast he was going. After showing everyone how it was down, it was now the student’s time to drill.

The finger clap was twice as hard as the hyper-extension exercise. Within seconds Imass’ forearms and wrists where beginning to hurt. The boy Akalak did not mind though. It actually felt good for him to perform the exercise. He looked around and he saw some kids accelerating up the learning curve like Imass and yet others were failing. Soon enough his legs and chops were burning again and now his whole hand was hurting. Imass was sweating sheet now too; he was working as fast as possible.

The last thing the boy wanted to do was 'go through the motions'. Imass wanted to train for real. After a full two minutes Imass yielded the exercise along with the rest of the class as Instructor Mizra announced they were done with the finger claps.

The instructor gave them a few minutes to relax. Imass could not wait to get his hands on the longsword.

-End Part 1-

OOC-
Thanks for reading this thread! I know it is long a boring, but my goal is to go into great depth of what a single training session in the Zendoka Sasarin would be like. I am going to do this single session over a series of solos to represent Imass' novice years in longsword training. Huzzah for NANO!

[Jackalope]

Imass

Award

Skill	XP Earned	Lore Earned
Observation	+3	A Moment I've Been Waiting For
Bodybuilding	+1	Daily Instructions for the Kendoka
		Basic Hand and Wrist Flexibility/Strengthening Exercise
		Importance of Doing Excercises Correctly

Jackalope's Notes

Looking forward to more of these. A Lore heavy grade, sorry there wasn't much in the way of XP. Keep it up, Imass! If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.