The Cloaked Samurai

The morning dragged on, and you wished it was already the afternoon. You couldn't wait to have your next lesson.

When the noon meal finally arrived, you shoveled as much food into your mouth as polite manners would allow.

"My, you certainly are hungry today," your father grinned as he watched you.

"Yes, Papa! The food is excellent, as well!" you replied happily, finishing the last of your fish.

"You're in a better mood than you've been all week," your mother decided. "Does it have anything to do with your daily meditation?"

"Yes," you nodded, taking in another chopstickful of rice.

"Really," your mother said with a curious, knowing smile.

At last, the time for your lesson came. Maemi helped you wrap the cloths around your chest and position your clothes around you. You carefully took out the comb your sister had given you and tied back your hair.

"I'll return soon," you promise Maemi, sneaking out of the house and across the street.

"Hello, Akio," Farren said as you entered the dojo. He tossed a bamboo pole in your direction; this time, you caught it.

"We will be working on the basics of defending yourself during a fight," Farren instructed. "Yesterday was to help you avoid your opponents attacks and also to help you gain a preemptive strike if necessary. However, sometimes an attack is impossible to avoid, especially if you don't sense or react quickly enough."

"Being like the wind wouldn't help me," you nodded, catching on.

"Good. I'm glad you're seeing that different elements apply to different aspects of fighting. The combination and flows between the elements are why people say the samurai had an element of his own. Would you like to guess which element we'll focus on today?"

You thought about it. Wind and water were already used, leaving earth and fire. Earth seemed like the best choice in defense.

"Earth," you said.

"Good. Take a moment to become as the earth, then keep that feeling during the lesson," Farren said. You closed your eyes and imagined the earth. You remembered as a child playing in the fields and feeling the solid dirt beneath your feet. It absorbed every shock without fail. You opened your eyes and nodded to show that you were ready.

Farren approached slowly from the front.

"Most defense is all instinct," he said. "Now if I swing at your right shoulder, what would you do to block it?"

You extended your elbow out and lifted your bamboo pole, the back of your wrist outward, to block his.

"And the left?"

As Farren aimed at your left arm in slow motion, you simply moved your arm across your body.

"Excellent. Now what if I attack your right leg?"

You pointed the pole at the ground, the back of your wrist facing inward.

"No. Keep the back of your wrist pointed out. Let me show you why." Farren put his pole on the ground and does the same with yours. He took your hand in his, and you tried to keep from blushing.

"Do you see this?" Farren lightly traces a line up the inside of your arm. "This is where an important artery is. If the attacker missed and sliced your wrist instead, you would bleed to death. Also," he holds your wrist in one hand, "see how the strengths are different. Now try to keep your hand straight." Although your muscles were tense, when he lightly punched your arm from the direction the inside of your wrist was facing, your hand was pressed back. He did the same thing from the opposite direction, and it was easier to keep your hand straight.

"Let's try again," Farren said, picking up his bamboo pole and handing you yours. He swung at your right leg, and you blocked it the same way as before but with the back of your wrist facing out.

"Good! How would you protect your left leg?"

You moved the bamboo pole in front of your left leg, not changing your hand position.

"Exactly," Farren nodded. "Now we'll move on to the head attacks. If I swing from the right side to your neck..."

You hold up the pole vertically, your wrist facing out, on the right side of your head.

"The left is the same," Farren said, demonstrating. You blocked his attack by moving your arm to the other side of your head.

"This next one is a bit more tricky. What happens if I attack from above?" he asked you.

"Holding the katana vertically wouldn't work, so..." You made the bamboo pole parallel to the ground and raised it over your head. His pole met yours, and the two became locked as you pushed against each other.

"This can happen in a fight. The two opposite forces are equal, and you're stuck in the same position. Any ideas on how to put the edge on your side?" Farren questioned. You reached up with your left hand to hold the pole so that you were holding it with both hands.

"No. That wouldn't work," Farren shook his head. "Watch." He moved his pole along yours to the end farthest from your hands. It was easy for him to push that end down and throw you off-balance. He set his bamboo pole on the ground.

"Let me show you how to increase the force on your side," Farren said. "Put your arm up like before, when you were blocking my attack." You obeyed, only keeping your left hand at your side.

"Now put your left hand on the pole," Farren instructed. You did as before, putting your left hand by your right.

"No, put it on the opposite end," he said, placing his hand over your left one and moving it to the other end of the pole. "And open your hand to allow your palm press against it. If you wrapped your hands around the blade of a katana, you would cut your hand." You released your grip as he instructed.

"Now both ends are evenly balanced," he said, picking up his bamboo pole. He attacked from above, and you were able to push him away with the extra force from your left hand.

"Excellent. If you were using a real katana, you would turn the blade on its side to let your left hand press on the flat part. Then your hand wouldn't be cut, and you would have a greater surface area to work with.

"Defense is just a combination of the blocking techniques. Action and reaction. You react to the attacks of the enemy. If you can, sense and predict the enemy's next move," Farren said. "Let's see if we can put it all together."

For the remainder of the lesson, Farren and you fought. At first, his attacks were slow, but they gradually became faster as you got better and better at predicting and reacting. Finally, the door slid open.

"Brother, your students are here. Mr. Akio, your lesson is over," Farrah said. You bowed as usual, thanking them, and left.

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"Thank you, Maemi," you sighed as she handed you your kimono and helped you change. "I'm glad I told you about this. You're a wonderful helper."

"It is my duty, my lady," Maemi bowed her head.

"Even so, what I'm doing is against the law. I appreciate you keeping the secret," you said. You opened a drawer and dug through it, pulling out a small pouch. "Consider this your first payment."

You gave it to her, and she couldn't hide her happy smile.

"Thank you, my lady!" Maemi thanked you. You rubbed your shoulder as you left the room. You were sore, but you were definitely content. You were actually starting to enjoy your lessons, although it was a relief to be a proper lady again. You were convinced that nothing could go wrong.