Reeds for Steel: Part Two: Cuts and Stances

It looked, and felt, like it would rain. The air was uncomfortably heavy and low, full clouds hung over the impossibly high spire of the White Tower, looming above Elaryl as she waited in her yard for her Basic Sword students. She peered up at the grey quilt covering the sky, silently hoping that they were just there for show. If it rained, she could cancel her class; but she knew she wouldn’t. She would stand there, and teach under the raindrops, with her students silently hating her. Well, it would happen to them again, and another teacher would make them do it. She really thought that it always ended up being part of the duties of the Trainee’s first teacher to make them hate her a little bit, for some reason. She either bored them because Basic Swords really was that Basic, or was too strict, or paired them up with someone who didn’t fight fair, or made them spar in the rain. None but the last situation was intentional.

But the life of a Trainee was full of pain, exhaustion, boredom, frustration, and all kinds of other unpleasant adjectives. They all found out eventually.

For today, at least, they would get to pick up a lathe again, and that would make most of them happy. Her students began trickling in; when she thought that everyone who had attended her first class had returned, she took her place at the front of the class again. This time there would be no long introduction, and much less lecture and explanation. Today, they watched and learned, or fell behind.

“Gathering step,” she commanded, and began counting “One-Two, one-two, one-two…” A girl in the front row realized what Elaryl meant, and began stepping, practicing the footwork she had learned in the last lesson. Eventually they all began practicing the step. “Backwards,” Elaryl shouted, and they reversed their direction. She held up her hand and eventually they all realized that she wanted them to stop. She turned her back to them and took the first half of the gathering step, then rotated on her feet so that her original back foot was now her lead foot, and she was facing them again.

“Pivot,” she explained, and demonstrated again. “Gathering step, front; one-two, one-two, one-two, one-two, one-two, pivot. One-two, one-two, one-two…” She lead them in this pattern for a few moments, then switched tack. “Passing step. One-two, one-two, one-two, one-two, one-two, pivot!” She saw several of the trainees figure out her switch on their own, and look up at her as if they weren’t sure whether or not they were right. She smiled and nodded at them, then demonstrated the second type of pivot, the only difference being that her back foot became her lead foot, then returned to back foot as she pivoted.

“Switching step,” she named, then demonstrated. “This step switches your feet and your angle—you will step your back foot up to meet your lead foot, then your original lead foot becomes your back foot. Notice here that you are in a very weak stance for a moment—keep this in mind, make this switch very fast and fluid. Use this step wisely. Alright. Passing step: one-two, one-two, pivot. Gathering step: one-two, one-two, backwards one-two, one-two, passing step, one-two, pivot, switching step, passing…” She ran the Trainees through a long series of varying arrangements of steps and pivots, watching various Trainees trip over themselves or others, scramble to recover, and try again. When segments of the Trainees performed the series correctly, it was like watching long grass wave in wind. She always got a little lost in this part of the lesson, reciting steps and numbers, watching bodies weaving back and forth, synchronized. Eventually she shook her hair out of her eyes, held up her hand again, and motioned towards the practice lathes. This portion of the class, at least, was a lecture.

“Cuts with a sword should take minimal movement. Think of how I asked you to sit when assuming the Flame and the Void. Your body should not be overly tensed; try not to tense muscles you do not need to use. Your shoulders should always drip down your back, like candle wax—do not hold them up by your ears, thinking they’ll add power to your strike. They won’t. Tensed shoulders will only limit the movement of your arms. Unnecessary tensed muscles, in fact, will always limit movement.

“Think of a cut using circular movement. The cut will in fact be a chop—making contact with the enemy—and then a slice, although they happen so fast as to become one movement. This is not true of all weapons, but it is true of a longsword. The slicing movement is integral to making a clean cut rather than just a striking blow with some unfortunate bleeding—many people who are unfamiliar with swords assume that all blades are razor-sharp. Mine is certainly not. It is sharp, but it will not cut through a silk handkerchief which lands on the blade by any means, and it will not take an off arm with only a chop.” Elaryl called one of the trainees—she thought his name was Gerol—up as she unsheathed Anarië.

“Grab the blade,” she instructed. Gerol looked at her fearfully, as if she had asked him to climb up the Tower and jump off. “Go ahead,” she encouraged, “it’s fine.” He gingerly reached toward the blade, laying his palm against the flat. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye again and she nodded him on. Taking a breath, he wrapped his fingers around the edge of the blade, and raised his eyebrows, surprised.

“See?” Elaryl nodded. “It’s sharp, but you won’t lose your fingers. She fished a length of rope from the pouch hanging from her swordbelt and handed it to Gerol. “Wrap this rope around the blade. Now pull it tight.” The rope began to fray slightly, but remained intact. Elaryl pulled Anarië toward herself, and the rope came apart in Gerol’s hands. “The technique I teach relies on the pull.” She held the blade out in front of her.

“This blade is primarily a cutting weapon. It is designed for use against most types of light armor; this is probably the majority of the fighting you will be doing. Other types of swords are designed for other purposes; against plate armor, for example, or chainmail. More advanced sword lessons may cover these other techniques.” She shifted to stand in the basic stance she had taught them.

“As I said, think of cutting as circular. Forms start in one stance, and end in another, which leads to another form, and another stance, and so on. There are five stances which our forms begin from and end in. Two of them usually begin from your strong side; I believe it is important to be comfortable with the stances on both sides, strong and weak. For all of these stances, both hands will grip the sword.” She listed them, demonstrating while facing them, assuming the stances on the opposite side she was naming so that the students could mirror her.

“Los’Val, right side. Hold the sword level with and behind your right ear. Your sword should have a slight diagonal rise; think of your back hand pulling the hilt down to create the rise, not your front hand pushing it up. Now, do the same on the left. Your stance will have to change to take this stance on the left, so that your left foot becomes the back foot.

“Taer’Val. The top of the hilt is level with your waist. The sword is pointed upward, the tip heading for your opponent’s face or throat.

“Mosiev’Val. The opposite of Taer’Val, with the sword pointed downwards towards your opponent’s shins or feet.

“Rahien’Val. Hold the sword above your head, your arms slightly bent. The sword is sloped slightly upwards, heading for the space between an opponent’s eyes.

“Ji’Val, right side. This time the blade is pointed backwards, held level with your waist, blade pointed down. Switch to your left, and once again, switch your stance so that your left foot is the back foot.” Once Elaryl was done demonstrating the forms a few more times, she circulated the yards as the Trainees practiced, answering questions and correcting stances as she moved. She moved back to the front.

“These stances can be maintained during the footwork; just maintain the position of the sword while moving your feet.” She demonstrated Los’Val with the Gathering step. “Cuts flow from these stances, and in the beginning, you should practice cuts with the footwork we practiced earlier. The step happens with the fullest extension of the cut.” As she completed a Passing step, she swept her blade upward and diagonally, slashing across an invisible opponent’s torso. Her students imitated her.

“Alright. Take a few moments and think about something. How can you combine the footwork and stances we’ve learned, using cuts to link the stances, to create a series of movements that makes sense physically and contains the most power with the most efficient movement, using only one sword?”

Elaryl gave the Trainees about twenty minutes to think and to practice their sequences, then called their attention back and watched each student perform his or her series. She corrected or praised, asked questions, and offered suggestions. Finally, their assignment done, she took up the same position as the beginning of class, readying for more drills. The remainder of the class, perhaps another half an hour or longer, would consist of Elaryl calling out series of stances, footwork, and cuts, and the trainees assuming them, so that they would be second-nature. The footwork, stances, and eventually, forms, would need to be ingrained in the Trainees’ muscle memories.

“Rahien-Val. Ji’Val. Passing step, one-two, one-two, cut upwards.” As she spoke, the first drops of rain fell. She flicked her eyes upwards, squinting against the drops. Well, the weather had held out for most of the class…or at least half of it. She had a feeling that not many Trainees would be staying after class to practice.

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OOC: Ok, another 500 word post (at least), responding to this new information. You have some specific homework this time—describe the sequence your character comes up with. They can use a few simple forms if you really need to, but try to stick to simple cuts, thrusts, etc. I will have the last part of the lesson up on Friday. Thank you all for your prompt responses!