The Way of the Sword

by Unknown

  When Jack was in position, Sensei Kano knelt on one knee so they were more or less of equal height. He then rested each of his hands on the outside of Jack’s guard, so that he mirrored his stance.

  ‘I want you to attack me. Any kick or punch will do. You’re at zero range so you should be able to land something on an old blind man.’

  Jack wasn’t so sure, but he gave it a go anyway. He went for a basic jab to the face, direct and quick.

  Instantly he found himself off-balance, his lead hand trapped and Sensei Kano’s own fist in his face, the knuckles pressing against the tip of his nose.

  ‘Try again.’

  This time Jack kicked, a roundhouse to the ribs, but before he had even moved Sensei Kano had pushed against his shoulder. Jack had to step backwards to regain his balance. At the same time, Sensei Kano had thrust a spearhand strike directly at a pressure point in his throat, stopping just short.

  Jack swallowed in astonishment.

  He had lost before he had even started. It was as though Sensei Kano could read his mind.

  ‘How do you do that?’ asked Jack, amazed.

  ‘I’m hearing you with my hands. I use my fingers to feel where your power is and as soon as you start to move, I counter by redirecting your energies then striking in retaliation,’ he explained. ‘You will learn this technique too. With time, you’ll be able to intercept an attack before your opponent has completed a single move.’

  Sensei Kano stood up and indicated for Yamato to take his place.

  ‘To begin with, I want you to simply maintain contact with one another. Push and roll your forearms in a circle,’ tutored Sensei Kano, guiding them in their initial circular movements. ‘Stay relaxed. You’re trying to feel the movements of your opponent and find gaps in their defence. The main principle in chi sao is to greet what arrives, escort what leaves and rush in upon any loss of contact.’

  Jack and Yamato were clumsy at first and had to restart several times before they managed to achieve any kind of fluidity.

  ‘No, don’t lean into it, Jack-kun,’ Sensei Kano instructed, his hands resting upon their shoulders so that he could judge their progress. ‘The key to chi sao is to keep your centre and stay relaxed. Think of yourselves as bamboo shoots in the wind. Be rooted yet remain flexible. Then you will grow to be strong.’

  The winter sun was low in the sky by the time Sensei Kano called an end to their training. Jack and Yamato had continued with the same drill all afternoon until Jack thought his arms were about to drop off, but gradually the two of them had found their rhythm and the circular motions had become faster and more fluid.

  ‘Excellent work, boys,’ commended the bō master as they wended their way through the snow-laden gardens and icy waterways in the direction of the Niten Ichi Ryū. ‘In a few more sessions, I’ll teach you how to trap one another’s arms and spot the gaps you can attack into. It won’t be long before you’re doing chi sao blindfolded.’

  ‘We’ll never be able to do that,’ snorted Yamato. ‘It’s hard enough now and we can see what we’re doing.’

  Without breaking his stride, Sensei Kano turned and walked straight across the frozen pond.

  ‘Watch out!’ cried Jack.

  There was a splintering crack at the edges as the surface took Sensei Kano’s weight, but incredibly the ice held.

  ‘You would be amazed what things you can accomplish,’ shouted Sensei Kano over his shoulder to his two astonished students, ‘if only you have the courage to believe in yourself and trust your senses.’

  31

  YUKI GASSEN

  ‘How’s your training going?’ enquired Tadashi.

  He sat down next to Jack and the others on the stone steps of the Butsuden. Tadashi had been the first student to be chosen for the Circle of Three and, following the selection, had politely introduced himself to the other entrants. Tadashi and Jack then found themselves paired together in sword training, striking up an easy friendship.

  ‘Good, I think,’ replied Jack. ‘Sensei Kano’s tough, though. I just hope I’ll be ready in time.’

  Spring was now only two moons away and with it the flowering of the cherry-blossom trees that would herald the Circle of Three. Consequently, the sensei had begun to push their charges harder and harder. Jack and the five other entrants had been preparing for the Circle of Three for over a month and, like Jack, each of the participants had acquired a mentor. Yori’s was Sensei Yamada. Akiko and Harumi had been taken on by Sensei Yosa, while Kazuki was on an intense training schedule set by Sensei Kyuzo. In addition to his own lessons with Sensei Kano, Jack was being coached along with Tadashi under the watchful eye of Sensei Hosokawa.

  ‘And how about you, little warrior?’ Tadashi asked, turning to Yori.

  Yori didn’t respond, but continued to gaze out at the thick blanket of snow covering the school’s courtyard. Tadashi gave Jack a nudge and mouthed to ask if Yori was all right. Jack nodded, pointing to the side of his head to indicate Yori was a deep thinker.

  ‘Sensei Yamada told me not to eat an elephant for lunch,’ Yori eventually replied.

  Everyone stared at Yori, bewildered by his statement. Jack began to wonder exactly what sort of lessons Sensei Yamada was teaching his little friend.

  ‘How’s that going to help you in the Circle of Three?’ asked Saburo, looking baffled. ‘It’s impossible to eat an entire elephant.’

  ‘Precisely,’ said Kiku, shaking her head in exasperation. ‘Don’t you understand anything Sensei Yamada teaches us?’

  ‘I would if he didn’t always speak in riddles.’

  ‘He’s telling Yori not to get worried about the entire Circle of Three. Instead he should concentrate on one challenge at a time,’ Kiku explained. Then, seeing Saburo’s blank face, she continued, ‘In other words, if you broke a large meal down into smaller pieces, you’d be able to eat it all without choking like a pig!’

  ‘Got it!’ exclaimed Saburo. ‘Why didn’t you just say that before?’

  ‘That’s good advice,’ agreed Tadashi, ‘but has anyone discovered what the three Circle challenges actually are?’

  They all shook their heads. Beyond knowing that the Circle referred to the three highest peaks in the Iga mountain range, the actual three challenges of Mind, Body and Spirit remained a mystery.

  ‘It seems bizarre to me that you’re training for something you know nothing about,’ commented Yamato, kicking the snow off the step below. Despite his best efforts to remain cheerful, he was clearly still upset at not being selected for the Circle of Three.

  ‘Sensei Yamada told me that’s the point. Only the unknown terrifies man,’ Yori revealed, his tiny hands trembling at the thought. ‘We’re preparing for the unknown.’

  A snowball slammed into the side of Jack’s face.

  Jack cried out in shock, his cheek smarting with the cold.

  ‘Bullseye!’ shouted a familiar voice.

  Jack wiped the icy remains away and glared at Kazuki, who had entered the courtyard with his friends. They all carried snowballs and were playfully tossing them them at one another.

  Kazuki ducked as Moriko, the black-toothed wildcat from the rival Yagyu Ryū, threw one back at him. She squealed as Kazuki plastered her with two in quick succession. Jack now wasn’t certain if Kazuki had purposely aimed at him or had simply missed Moriko. Kazuki and his friends continued to bombard one another.

  To Jack’s surprise, he noticed Kazuki’s two hulking cousins among the group. Raiden and Toru were the twin brothers who had attacked Jack at the hanami party the previous year. Not only did it appear that Kazuki was recruiting Scorpion Gang members from the rival school, but he was bold enough to invite such students into the grounds of the Niten Ichi Ryū in broad daylight.

  ‘Kazuki, you’ve dropped your inro,’ said Tadashi casually, while reaching behind to scrape off a layer of snow from a higher step and compacting it into a ball behind his back.

  Without thinking, Kazuki glanced down to look for his woode
n carrying case. On looking up, he realized too late that he’d been tricked. Tadashi’s snowball struck him square in the face. He yowled in surprise as half of it disappeared into his mouth.

  Tadashi gave Jack a sly grin and they both burst into laughter. Everyone else joined in, even Kazuki’s friends.

  ‘Attack! Attack!’ spluttered Kazuki, spitting out snow.

  Spurred into action, the Scorpion Gang hurled their snowballs as hard as they could. Jack and Tadashi attempted to evade the barrage, but it was useless. They were completely exposed and several hit home.

  Other students from the Niten Ichi Ryū, seeing the snowball fight start, began to congregate in the courtyard.

  ‘Look, we’ve got spectators!’ said Kazuki, a genuine smile spreading across his face. ‘Let’s have a game of Yuki Gassen?’

  ‘You’re on!’ shouted Tadashi, gathering more snow.

  There was a murmur of excitement from the gathering crowd, whose numbers swelled as word of a snowball contest spread. Even the men working on the Hall of the Hawk downed tools to watch.

  ‘How do you play Yuki Gassen?’ Jack asked, seeing several groups of students start to build waist-high walls of snow across the courtyard.

  ‘The aim is to capture the other team’s bokken,’ explained Yamato as Tadashi began to kick snow into a large pile a couple of paces in front of the Butsuden’s steps. ‘Each team is allowed ninety balls. You can hide behind the snow walls, but if you get hit by a snowball, you’re out.’

  Tadashi removed his bokken and thrust it vertically into their mound like a flagless standard at the start of a battle. At the other end of the courtyard Kazuki did the same, then selected five of his friends to form his team. They huddled under the snow-laden eaves of the Hall of the Hawk’s nearly completed roof.

  ‘So who’s going to be in our team?’ asked Tadashi.

  ‘You can count me out,’ said Kiku immediately, hurrying over to the sidelines.

  ‘Well, that leaves six,’ he said, looking at Akiko, Yori, Saburo, Jack and Yamato. ‘We have our team.’

  They all began to build up their arsenal of snowballs. Soon they had six equal stacks around their bokken.

  ‘Ready?’ shouted Tadashi to Kazuki.

  ‘Hang on,’ replied Kazuki, poking his head up from his team huddle. ‘We’re discussing team tactics.’

  ‘What are our tactics?’ asked Yori, in a timorous voice.

  Tadashi studied the layout of the battle area. At the centre of the rectangular courtyard was a waist-high wall of snow. Set back on either side were two shorter snow-wall shelters, then a couple of sloping mounds and finally a waist-high semi-circular wall around each team’s bokken.

  Tadashi frowned. ‘Kazuki’s clever, he’s pitched his bokken right next to the Hall of the Hawk and the building work stops us approaching from behind.’

  The team glanced at their own bokken, which was dangerously exposed to attack from the rear.

  ‘OK, here’s the plan. Yori and Yamato, you stay back to defend the bokken.’ Yamato was about to protest, but Tadashi continued. ‘We need strength at the back and Yamato, you look to be the best thrower among us. Saburo and Akiko, you take the middle ground to cover Jack and me, while we launch the attack.’

  They all nodded in agreement and took up their positions to start.

  Kazuki and his team gave a great shout, then split apart and positioned themselves strategically across the courtyard. Nobu and Raiden stayed at the back, while Goro and Moriko took midfield, leaving Kazuki and Hiroto up front.

  ‘Who’s going to referee?’ shouted Tadashi.

  ‘I will,’ offered Emi, emerging from the crowd.

  She beckoned the team leaders over.

  Kazuki and Tadashi faced off.

  ‘Remember, this is a friendly game and my decisions are final,’ said Emi, making eye contact with both of them to ensure their understanding.

  Jack immediately recognized her father’s natural authority in her.

  ‘What are your team names?’ she asked.

  ‘The Scorpions,’ stated Kazuki with pride, raising his arms skyward.

  A loyal cheer erupted from the sidelines.

  ‘And your team, Tadashi?’

  Tadashi looked back over his shoulder at Yamato.

  ‘The Phoenix Team,’ he replied, a round of applause immediately breaking from the crowd.

  Jack saw Yamato nod at Tadashi and grin. It was a good choice, the phoenix being Yamato’s family kamon.

  ‘Take up your positions,’ announced Emi, and the excited spectators roared their approval. ‘Yuki Gassen will begin in five… four… three… two… one!’

  32

  SCORPIONS VS PHOENIX

  A volley of snowballs flew through the air and Jack dived behind the nearest snow wall.

  ‘OUT!’ cried Emi.

  There was a great cheer from the crowd and for a moment Jack thought he’d already been caught. Then he saw Saburo wiping the remains of two snowballs from the front of his kimono. His friend gave a half-hearted bow before slouching off to the sidelines.

  ‘Jack! To your right!’ warned Akiko.

  Taking advantage of Saburo’s departure, Hiroto was sneaking forward and now had Jack directly in his line of fire.

  Jack ducked as a snowball whizzed past his head. He threw two balls back in retaliation but they missed, striking the spectators instead. A mixture of catcalls and boos broke from the crowd. Jack retreated to behind a snow mound on his left, randomly throwing balls as he ran.

  ‘They’re going to overrun us if we don’t attack!’ shouted Tadashi over the growing chants of the Scorpion Team’s supporters.

  With that he launched several snowballs at Moriko, who was advancing down the right.

  ‘OUT!’ cried Emi.

  Pretending she hadn’t heard, Moriko kept lobbing snowballs.

  ‘OUT! Or forfeit the game!’

  Moriko kicked the nearest snow wall in frustration and hissed at Emi. The Phoenix supporters booed Moriko’s dishonourable behaviour.

  ‘Cover me!’ shouted Jack as he sprinted forward to join Tadashi behind the central wall.

  Akiko and Yori let loose a round of snowballs. Three of them struck the lumbering figure of Raiden as he stepped out from behind his defence to target Jack.

  ‘OUT!’ announced Emi.

  The Scorpion Team retaliated with a barrage of snowballs. A moment later, there was a squeal of pain from behind.

  ‘OUT!’

  ‘They’re using ice balls!’ cried Yori, a large bump already swelling on his forehead as he staggered to the sidelines.

  Tadashi gave Jack an uneasy look. ‘And I thought this was supposed to be a friendly game.’

  Tadashi stood up and quickly blasted Kazuki’s team with several balls. The rest of the Phoenix Team joined in, but despite a courageous offensive, a long shot from Kazuki took out Akiko. Fortunately the ice ball struck her arm and not her face.

  Only Jack, Tadashi and Yamato were now left against four Scorpions.

  Tadashi spotted Nobu trying to ferry ice balls to Kazuki. Launching a lightning attack, he managed to smack Nobu twice in the rear.

  ‘OUT!’

  ‘Shame we’re not using ice balls,’ commented Tadashi, giving Jack a mischievous grin.

  ‘Or snowballs for that matter,’ replied Jack. ‘I’ve run out.’

  With the fight now three on three, their main problem was the dwindling supply of ammunition. Tadashi indicated he only had five left, but he nonetheless passed three to Jack.

  Tadashi then spotted Saburo’s original stockpile by the bokken and signed his intention to get them. Jack threw a covering shot at Kazuki while Tadashi zigzagged towards them. Tadashi dived the last few paces but was plastered by two ice balls from Hiroto and Goro.

  ‘OUT!’

  Tadashi thumped the snow in annoyance, then got up and and walked off the court. As he did so, he secretly signed to Jack where one of the Scorpion Team was hiding. Jack nodded his under
standing.

  ‘Scorpions! Scorpions! Scorpions!’ chanted the supporters of Kazuki’s team.

  Jack and Yamato now stood alone in defence of the Phoenix bokken and the small group keeping up a chorus of ‘Phoenix!’ were in danger of being drowned out.

  Yamato indicated to Jack he was out of snowballs. Jack pointed to Saburo’s pile. Yamato took a deep breath and darted over to them, sliding behind the semi-circular snow wall as an ice ball skimmed overhead.

  As Yamato attempted to pass Jack some snowballs, Goro had a clear view of him. He emerged from behind his defence but Jack, having been tipped off by Tadashi, was ready for him and flung a snowball at the Scorpion. It struck him cleanly, but too late. Goro had already launched his ice ball at Yamato.

  ‘OUT! OUT!’ declared Emi in quick succession, dismissing both Goro and Yamato.

  Now it was two against one.

  Jack peered from behind the protection of his shelter, trying to locate Kazuki and Hiroto. They had retreated to their bokken and were huddled safely behind the semicircular rear wall plotting their strategy to get the Phoenix’s bokken without being hit by Jack.

  Jack had one snowball left. How on earth was he going to defeat them both? Jack ran for Saburo’s remaining stockpile, but a barrage of ice balls sent him diving for cover behind the nearest mound. It was then that Jack’s eyes fell upon the shattered remains of one of the ice balls. Hidden inside was a shard of rock. Not only had the Scorpions compacted their snowballs into ice, they had now made them doubly dangerous.

  Jack didn’t know what to do. He had a single snowball. He could attempt to reach the remaining stockpile, but he would surely get hit and seriously injured. He could surrender, but he was certain Kazuki would throw his lethal iceballs anyway. Or…

  Carefully peering round the edge of his snow mound, he spotted the perfect target. Ducking back down as an ice ball sailed past, he grabbed a couple of handfuls of extra snow and squeezed them together with his remaining snowball until he’d compacted it into a large ice ball of his own. Then, with all his strength, he lobbed it high and hard over the heads of Kazuki and Hiroto.