Reeds for Steel: Part Two: What She call it?
Krath Theron, Written by Dorian
Posted on Wed, Jun 16, 2010 13:09 pm
It was another day of training, and still Krath had not mastered the Flame and the Void, however he had found sufficient reading material on other ways to reach the oneness the meditation sought to create, and Krath was sure he would find his answers. He knew he would still need to find a way to get more sleep then the few hours his body forced him to have; his nightmares still persisted. However, he was looking forward to training today; it allowed him to silently participate in groups, even if he loomed over top most in size and some in skill. The dark skies meant little to him, as it often rained in Amacidia, and he forced his men to train in such situations, it was no good pretending that every time you fought or were to receive orders it would be a lovely day with shining sun and a gentle breeze. His training jerkins were tightly tucked in and his pants belted properly, these things would give reduce chances of snag or if practice sparring were to ensue, less grip. He tried to be prepared for everything. He had arrived early, yet again, and being much sooner then most of his peers, Krath started the day off with gentle stretches to loosen his muscles.
As the others gathered Krath heard Elaryl’s command; so, it was Krath began to dance, following a pattern of percussion One-two, moving backwards and forwards, pivoting side to side. It was every much like dancing, keeping in time with the beats, even when she got them to switch feet, lead foot to the back, and vice versa. He was sure they looked like a group of hired dancers at a royal’s party. Not that Krath had ever attended a nobleman’s affair, but he had heard Lord Captian Strykur discuss them before; how some often hired professional dancers to attend the parties, to add an element of elegance as they moved with perfect timing, much like a warrior must. Being a warrior was just as much an art as dancing, but instead of weaving story with your body, it was weaving death. Shaking himself out of past memories, atleast this time pleasant, he moved to get his practice blade.
“Cuts with a sword should take minimal movement. Think of how I asked you to sit when assuming the Flame and the Void.” Elaryl remarked, which made him shift uneasy, as he still lacked the ability to obtain said theory… “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…” she explained how not all blades were sharpened to a razors point, demonstrating by calling one of the trainees, Krath having not remembered his name, to grab the blade. Krath watched as the nervous lad grabbed the blade, he looked as if certain his fingers were going to shredded off by the sharp edge. In truth, most blades shouldn’t be that sharper, daggers perhaps, but most blades weren’t meant to cut cleanly through flesh. Krath remember one large lad in his unit whom had chosen a claymore as his weapon, and no one questioned him for it. It was large and unwieldy, but how he weld it was far more deadly then most with a longsword. Its edge was extremely dull, but with the right force, it cleaved bodies in half with its mass.
“Los’Val,” Elaryl called, moving the blade to her right side, she held the sword level, with a slight diagonal rise up, behind her right ear. The name she called it was unfamiliar with Krath, but he mimicked it, his lips mouthing in a silent The Lion on the Hill. She then moved, which he followed her Taer’Val or The Apple Blossoms in the Wind done from a high stance. He was sure she would mention that the blade would turn slightly the direction you were moving, when you circled your enemy, however she kept on moving to Mosiev’Val, which was the same stance as before, just from a low stance. Next to come was The Hawk Surveys the Plain or as she called it, Rahien’Val; holding the sword above his head, with his arms slightly bent. He didn’t like this stance, superficially because he never used hand and a half or two handed weapons, but he did also question leaving more body so undefended. Sure it brought power but at what cost? He continued to copy her movement, and muttered the title he was familiar with. He had wondered where she had learnt these terms from, and perhaps would ask her, as they were strange sounding words. He would of course wait till after the lesson was complete, as it wasn’t a students place to question the teacher infront of class. After a few more drills, they were completed, some students wheezing loudly from exhaustion in the muggy air, Krath even had worked up a bit of a sweat.
Luckily for the wheezing students, she then gave her assignment, “Alright. Before we finish this class, I’d like you all to think about something over the next few days. 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? And yes…using only one sword. Come back next class and show me what you’ve come up with…” her assignment seemed easily enough completed, Krath thought, it would almost require no actual work which gave him a sense of uneasement, it was unfair for him to just regurgitate his training regiment, he would need to come up with something new. Elaryl began again, driving the students into the drill. However Krath followed the instructions, he was determining the order of which he would complete her assignment.
Krath would return the next day, the rain drawing more from his body they he would ever dare to admit, he feared catching pneumonia or another sickness, he opted to return to his bunk and try to get some much needed sleep. Awaking early the next morning Krath grabbed his training blade and began to determine what he wanted to showcase. He felt naked without his shield, it was very much a part of him, and a part of his strategy to over power his enemy, but he was here to learn how to be a warrior, not reminisce over his past. If he wanted that, he was sure the guards were recruiting. He determined that he would start in The Lion on the Hill, it was a simple guard stance, with sword held point-up and hilt near to the shoulder, but instead of pointing his blade at his would be opponent like Elaryl described, Krath choose kept the blade vertical. He then struck, moving swiftly to The Boar Rushes down Hill, swinging his blade down quickly, he side stepped to the right, crossing one boot over the other, as Krath moved into The Lion Springs, a quick thrust forward during which Krath lunged with his strong foot till his arms fully extend, which he Gathering Step his feet during its upward slash, and moves the blade back into the The Lion on the Hill, instead of the blade being vertical however, it points forward, at his opponent. Krath cursed himself as his recovery from The Boar Rushes down Hill to The Lion Springs was too sloppy, and began again. And again. And again. He was performing the attack exaggeratedly slow, but he was training, not to mention, it wouldn’t be very instructional if it only took seconds. Krath pondered the complexity of the movements, if they would be acceptable, as he slashed downward. He would just need to see.
Edited by Taryn to remove the coloring changes to the font. Please do not change colors of the fonts for lessons, they should remain unchanged for site formatting consistency.
In reply to Reeds for Steel: Part Two: Cuts and Stances[show]/[hide]
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.
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!
