Flat-Brim Samurai Chapter 2 - Getting Ready

Flat-Brim Samurai Chapter 2 - Getting Ready

Right after his 10th birthday, the next day (Which is November 21st btw. This story takes place in America)…

(I got just what I wanted!!! I'm so glad that dad's gonna teach me about swordsmanship) Apollo thought as he gripped harder on his bokken, eager to train. He started to swing it around vigorously without any skill, he used his full power. He was then almost instantly shut down by his father as the bokken was taken from his hand ,"First you're going to have to learn how to use your hands before you can use this, I don't trust you enough not to break anything yet." The frowning Apollo was disappointed, dejectedly saying ,"What now? '' ,''First, eat breakfast. Then, get your gi on, I'll show you a few things" said Kenji (His fathers name).

Apollo then ate the breakfast his mom made for him. After that, he and his father went to the dojo. Kenji started ,"Show me your fighting stance," which Apollo immediately replied to. His balance was off and his hands left him completely wide open but his eyes said that he was totally ready. Kenji poked his forehead, leading to Apollo falling over clumsily. Kenji talked to his son while doing a stance of his own ,"Make sure to keep your hands up, elbows down and keep your feet at a 45." The confused but excited young Musashi tried his best to meet his dads expectations…

For the following three weeks, day after day, his stance got better and he learned many things. 1. To be ready but not tense 2. To flow with the fight and your opponent and 3. Form is more important than strength. ,"Remember not to clench your hands. Having your hands all scrunched up like that means that your mind is the same way." "OK!" Apollo replied, sloppily retaining lesson after lesson. ,"Let's move on to the next segment. Your movement, how to use your legs and ki control. Now that you know the basics of standing and striking with your hands this should be a lot easier to teach you". Apollo rehearsed kick after kick, movement drill after movement drill, his manipulation of ki getting refined over and over. He took step after step along a long and arduous path to mastery.

Three months later…

Growing stronger in ki reserves and getting better technical skill was leaving Apollo busy with his mind, wanting more and more. His father occasionally helped him by using a technique made for implanting information inside a person's head called art: Information translation (This technique is usually how information is imparted onto others. Although usually tame, often leading to mild headaches, sapping mental strength. It does, however, have more severe consequences if too much information or if too high value information gets put into someone without the proper level of brain and nervous system strength to compensate). Finally, all that was left now was strength training and that could be done by Apollo alone. ,"You're officially ready to train with the dojo, but son… please take off the hat while you're training with the rest of the group," Kenji said, pleading with his son. Apollo gleamed at what he just said with sparkles in his eyes and lost control of his emotions, celebrating excessively. This made Kenji chuckle. Although he was a little sad for not getting to wear his favorite hat in the dojo, he was extremely excited to join class.

Entering the dojo, Apollo saw people of all shapes and sizes, young and old. But one stood out to him, one of similar age but with a mysterious golden aura exuding from his body. He was taller than Apollo with a more refined look, he joked around a lot and was enjoyed by most people he hung around. In this case he was focused on very similar aspirations to Apollo. Apollo approached the kid. ,"Yo, What's your name?" Apollo asked ,"Cias, yours?" ,"Apollo." Their wills almost magnetized the two of them, but before they could fully converse. ,"Attention!" his father entered the room with his hands behind his back. Everyone in the dojo ran to get to their spots designated by rank. They stood up straight with their hands at their sides. One word separated the issues of the outside from those of training. In a strict and disciplined tone, Kenji said ,"Hajime!!!" (Hajime meaning begin in Japanese).