17 - Chapter 16
Tasha left the hotels and headed to the katana school based in the heart of London. She took one of her blades with her to help her train with the real thing. She had booked the training venue for twelve hours a day for the next seven days. She really needed to get the most out of the training that she could. At least there was no concern about physical or mental conditioning. She also felt that she would not have any problems pushing herself to the limit.
She hoped that in the seven days, she would be at least passable and comfortable using the sword. She had booked the best instructors to meet her and then to provide continuous coverage from at least one instructor for her training montage. The image of the protagonist learning to use a sword for the first time as portrayed in a variety of manga was firmly embed in her mind.
She soon arrived at the venue and was led into the training room. There were 6 instructors present. They had all agreed to cover two hours a day every day for the next seven days. She had asked them to meet the previous evening and plan out a cohesive strategy to maximise her gains. She hoped they had managed to come to an agreement.
Tasha bowed to her instructors as she entered. She introduced herself and the instructors returned the greetings and introductions. One of the instructors, the picture of a strict grandfather, took charge. All the other instructors were obviously in awe of him.
“You will address me as Sensei.” he said, “I know you don't want to reveal your reason for wanting to learn the katana, and that too with such an intensive schedule. Understand this, I will not waste my time, if you are serious about learning, and are willing to put in the effort, I will train you. If I feel like you are wasting my time, I will walk out.”
“Now, I want to see what you are capable of.” he continued. “Are you going to get changed so we can start?”
“Thank you for your time Sensei.” replied Tasha with a low bow, “I wish to train in my current attire, as I may need to fight in this. I won’t always have the luxury of choosing my dress code.”
The sensei just raised an eyebrow at her statement. “Show me your weapon,” said he.
Tasha presented her sheathed katana to her sensei, he took the weapon, unsheathed it, then spent a few minutes examining it. “The weapon is acceptable, though not for use in a tournament.” he said, “are you strong enough to wield the weapon for extended periods?”
“That is one of the purposes of the training Sensei,” replied Tasha. “I need to understand my limitations.”
“I take it you have some military training?” he asked, his gaze appraising.
“Yes Sensei, I was a member of the Hunter Troop, an all female special forces unit.” replied Tasha. “I have also taken part in multiple operations as part of the unit. I have retained a significant portion of my training.”
“Interesting, that will mean we can largely skip the mental and physical elements and focus on learning the katana.” he replied, “Though I will still need to access your capabilities. Let's get started. Start by sprinting from one side of the room to the other at full speed, until I tell you to stop.”
Tasha started sprinting, though not at her full speed. She was still faster than any normal human had the right to be. She maintained an even pace, and focused on her technique as she sprinted. It was only after 15 minutes of maintaining that pace that her sensei asked her to stop. She came to parade rest in front of him. The rest of the instructors were openly gawking at her. In normal circumstances, it should be impossible to sprint for 15 minutes straight. Even most professional athletes could only maintain a sprint for 30 to 35 seconds.
“Good you can follow instructions, and have the stamina.” said her Sensei, “There is hope that you may yet learn.” It seemed he was the only one not impressed by her physical prowess.
“Let us start with an introduction to the katana” he said “We will start with grip (tenouchi), posture, and basic stances (kamae) like Chudan-no-Kamae, Jodan-no-Kamae, and Gedan-no-Kamae. We will proceed with the three basic cuts (kihon), Shomen (straight vertical), Kesa-giri (diagonal), and Yokomen (horizontal)” he continued. “The rest of the day will be spent in drills for transitioning between stances and cuts, practising slow, deliberate movements for precision. Let us get started.”
The rest of the day was spent in training the movements until they were fully ingrained in her muscle memory. Tasha only took short breaks to rehydrate and occasionally use the bathroom. Apart from that she spent the full twelve hours pushing herself to her limit.
“Good, I will see you tomorrow,” said Sensei who had remained for the entire day with her. It seemed she had not needed to arrange for the other instructors.
Tasha returned to the hotel, spent a little time reviewing updates from her team, took a long shower and crashed out. Tomorrow would be another difficult day.
The second day started by revisiting day 1 techniques to reinforce muscle memory. Then proceeded with suburi (repetitive cutting drills) with the katana. Her sensei had her focus on fluidity and consistent power delivery. While she was doing this, her other instructors were setting up the next phase of her training.
“The next step is an introduction to precision cutting,” said Sensei, “You will be using the ballistic gel manikins as your target.”
The next several hours were spent practising precision. Slowly the sensei had her raise her speed whilst maintaining accuracy and control. Finally her sensei had her pairing movement drills with cuts, focusing on maintaining balance and power during motion.
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A very tired Tasha returned to the hotel only to crash out. Though she had been used to pushing herself to her limits, both physical and mental, in her special forces training, this was different as she was using a whole different set of muscles.
The third day started with a review of the previous two days, before moving on to footwork and movement. They started with the basic ashi-sabaki (footwork) drills, sliding steps, pivoting, and maintaining stance during motion. Tasha found this challenging as the posture was very different whilst holding a katana compared to using a gun.
They moved on to integrating the footwork with cuts, moving forward (irimi), retreating, and lateral shifts. This led to combination drills, attacking and evading movements with precise cuts. Finally they moved on to partner drills with katana, practising controlled offensive and defensive movements.
The complete immersion in the training was leading Tasha to become rapidly familiar with her weapon. She was also picking up the techniques very quickly. It was only the repeated actions required to imbed the motions into muscle memory that slowed her down.
Tasha returned to the hotel, and forced herself to socialise. She needed to take a mental break so that she could continue to push herself at the same pace.
The fourth day began as usual with a review of the past days’ lessons. Then they moved on to speed and flow. Her sensei had her start with shadow katana practice to increase speed without sacrificing form. This transitioned into timed cutting drills to build quick reaction times.
The next step were transition drills, focusing on fluidly moving between stances, strikes, and defensive actions. The day ended with free-flow practice, chaining multiple movements into continuous forms (katas).
Tasha was beginning to see her training starting to come together into a cohesive whole. The fourth day had pushed her the most so far. Mentally she was too drained to even think. She picked up dinner on the way back to her hotel bed, only taking the time for a hot shower on the way.
On day five her sensei stepped up the training moving on to advanced techniques. This started with an introduction to advanced cuts, rising strikes (kiriage), thrusts (tsuki), and turning strikes. Once she became comfortable with those, then they moved on to disarming techniques and counters in controlled partner drills. The other instructors, all of whom were now spending the whole day either supporting Tasha’s training or training themselves, took turns to let her get used to different opponents.
They moved on to advanced footwork and body positioning to enhance technique efficiency, finishing the day by incorporating advanced strikes and defensive manoeuvres into advanced kata.
The sixth day moved on to sparring and strategy. They started with a review of all techniques learned so far, with corrections and adjustments before moving on to controlled sparring with a weighted bokken to apply skills in dynamic scenarios. This was to reduce the risk of accidental injuries. The next step was to practise tactical drills this included assessing range, reading opponent intentions, and feinting. Finally they moved on to extended sparring sessions with emphasis on learning through action.
As they were coming up to the end of the current training schedule, Tasha asked all the instructors to keep the next evening free to join her for dinner as a thank you for all their efforts in pushing her so far.
She returned to the hotel and took a long bath to let her muscles relax. She fell asleep in the bath, only transitioning to the bed when she awoke shivering.
The last day of her training started with her showcasing her understanding of the skills she had learned all week. This was followed up with focused practice on the weak points identified.
Her sensei had her spend some time in solo practice focusing on mindfulness, form perfection, and flow. This was followed by mastery of a formal kata, blending precision, speed, and mindfulness. Her training ended with open sparring against all her instructors simultaneously. Even though her strength and speed surpassed all her trainers, she was still repeatedly pushed back by the exceptional usage of skills.
As the training ended, all the instructors prepared to go out for dinner.
Dinner was a boisterous affair, with everyone having enjoyed the week as intense as it was. They promised to keep in touch. Tasha promised to call them all back to continue her training when she returned, with that the night ended.
As the evening came to an end her sensei took her to one side. “While I am not certain, I think I can make a good guess as to the reason for your training.” he said cryptically, “If you wish to speak upon your return, seek me out. Be very careful. You have learned well, and your speed and strength are exceptional, but I fear they may still not be enough. If only I had another year to train you properly.”
“What do you know, Sensei,” asked an anxious Tasha. “Can you tell me any more?”
“If others have not initiated you into those secrets,” he replied, “then it's not my place to do so. I will be able to guide you further once you learn more.”
Tasha called everyone a cab, and made her way back to the hotel.
Tasha took the evening to try to relax, but the last conversation with her sensei kept playing in her mind. She checked her open quests.
Quest 1: Book a flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for seven days time
Book a flight and hotel for exactly seven days.
Reward: Location to further investigations into your family accident
Status: Complete
Quest 2: Commission a cold steel weapon
Commision and receive a high quality cold steel weapon
Reward: Location to further investigations into your family accident
Status: Complete
Quest 3: Get as strong as possible
Use your Quest Points to purchase as many stats as possible before your travel for Quest 1
Reward: Location to further investigations into your family accident
Status: Complete
Quest 4: Learn to wield a cold steel weapon
Learn and practise the art of wielding the cold steel weapon you commissioned for Quest 2
Reward: Location to further investigations into your family accident
Status: Complete
Claim reward - Yes / No
Tasha clicked on yes and felt her system change.
Map feature unlocked
Map location gained
When Tasha opened up her options and selected the map options, she found she had access to a static map. It had a pin positioned over Malaysia. As she zoomed in, the location resolved to a spot in Gunung Stong State Park. The literal definition of the middle of nowhere.
Tasha packed up a small bag, and 3 of her katana in a sword case, and headed to the airport. She could sleep on the plane. Just what would she find in the middle of the state park?