Within the village many children had gathered from all ages and backgrounds as they trained in various techniques but the most common among them was the introduction techniques that were either the basic forms or the eight animal forms.
One after another the children continued to train in their chosen animal style before they moved on to practice another technique.
The old man that was previously a member of the capitals soldiers was seated as he watched them. "No. It is all wrong. Those techniques were never meant to be used like this. Sure they are excellent for building up the basic forms but if you are going to abandon it… then there is no need to continue training in it over a long time so seriously since your new techniques will be imbalanced and your muscle memory may get in the way of learning a new technique unless it is similar in some way. I understand that the martial arts you practice is specially prepared but there is a much simpler way of doing things."
"Old man, you know about this?"
"Teach us then!"
"Prove it!"
The old man stretched his body and started demonstrating. "This is not a widely known thing for these techniques but those that have practiced them to the extreme or were fortunate enough to discover its hidden secrets have made a name for themselves in the capital."
"Wow really?"
"I did not know that it was so good."
"Same here."
"It only has a couple of forms though."
The old man sighed. "Do not look down on it because of the fewer forms and stances involved. Even a simple sword draw can become a killer move if it has been practiced over and over until it has been refined to perfection. The eight forms are the same as they can be practiced to the extreme but it required much patience, understanding and a fair amount of luck to get to a higher level of power and skill."
He then stood up and demonstrated. "This is the eight tiger forms that you all practice, it is meant to be a purely aggressive and offensive style. The opposite of that is the eight snake forms which are an extreme form of control and defence which is the opposite of a purely offensive style.
Which one should you practice the offensive or defensive style? Which one is the better option? The defensive style may have methods to control a fight and land a killing blow but even a purely offensive style would have a couple of moves to prevent them from becoming injured."
"Snake forms!"
"Tiger forms!"
"I like the crane forms!"
The old man nodded. "Everyone has differing opinions but I can say for certain that everyone is right but also wrong. Each form has their own advantage and disadvantage, if practiced to the extreme then they can use the advantages to overcome the advantages once they have gained the experience to do so but there is another method."
"What is it?"
"I am curious too!"
"Come on old man.."
"Quit stalling!"
The old man laughed. "So impatient. Well let me tell you this. There are eight forms of eight which are all sixty four forms in total within the official imperial eight animal style. Some that have access to them all could practice all forms and bring them together to let the styles compliment each other and make up for their weaknesses.
Most however will choose among two or four of the animal forms so that they could combine them into a more complete set of martial arts forms that would be more balanced.
It is about whether you wish to practice to an extreme or you wish to choose balance as you could choose among opposites but others may choose among styles that were quite similar and had the same purposes. It is all about preferences and suitability to what you are training in."
"So are the snake and tiger styles suitable to each other?"
"What about leopard and tiger?"
"What about crane and tiger?"
The old man laughed. "There must be a way to bring two forms together as they should have originally been created to be used together. Either as a sixty four form art, thirty two form art, a sixteen form art or just as an eight form art. It is just that many have been left to figure it out themselves or those secrets have been highly guarded by those in the capital."
"So what is it that you use?"
"It must be something good if you know so much!"
"Show us!"
"Boar!"
"Snake!"
"Eagle!"
"Mantis!"
"Crane!"
"Tiger!"
"Panther!"
"Leopard!"
The old man spoke after a while and demonstrated his style to them slowly. "This is the Tiger and Panther sixteen forms that I have used all my life."
The forms that were more likely panther were very equal in terms of power and stealth but had many movements that were quick and quiet to take down enemies.
The forms that were more likely tiger were very powerful and aggressive as if they could break through tough defences .
Each forms had a variety of tough gripping motions and punches that would rip or brutally beat the opponent without holding anything back but when put together, it helped to increase the overall stealth, speed and ambush potential which made the tiger style even more dangerous when an enemy could not see the attack coming.
"Wow!"
"I want to try and see which other ones suit me best!"
The old man explained after he had finished. "I will quickly explain the arrangements for the forms. At the top there is tiger then it goes around to panther, leopard at the right then, boar and then snake which is at the bottom and the complete opposite of tiger.
As you continue there is mantis, crane on the left, eagle and then back to tiger. Just like how snake and tiger may be opposites, they can also make up for what they are lacking in. The same goes for panther and mantis, leopard and crane then boar and eagle. Most would choose balance while others would choose something like myself to add onto the style that already exists.
Those that had access to more of them may choose to master more of them like using a combination like snake, tiger, leopard and crane but others may choose to learn eagle, panther, mantis and boar forms for more balance. Those that had chosen to focus on an extreme would choose something like eagle, tiger, panther and leopard while those with the opposite would choose mantis, crane, snake and boar.
Some may have even went on to develop their own sub-styles based on one of the eight animal forms as they may not have been able to get access to the other forms but it depends on each individuals choice and their own compatibility as not everyone is suited to the same thing."
He did not know that he had been listened to by many spies within the village and key information had been collected and sent to Ki who remained within the family mansion.
She looked over the information and smiled. "This should be very useful to my own understanding of my martial arts forms and my mulberry arts. I always felt that something was missing but I could not exactly pinpoint it. There has always been an imbalance between some of my movements and forms which leave some weaknesses in my defences while my attacks lack true killing power. It is not exactly suited to my current body which has been strengthened by my body art and poisonous body tempering baths."
Her swordsmanship and palm arts were excellent and let her control many fights that she had but it had lacked a lot of aggression and power that was required to deal a swift and deadly blow or cut to her opponents.
It was a perfect style for a master of poison as she could take her opponents down even with the slightest small cut but when facing someone with a tougher body, a self sacrificing style of combat, poison immunity to some level or excellent healing there was always the risk of her style failing to be quick enough to end the battle before she is put in danger.
Not every opponent would be the same as they each had their own things that made them difficult to kill so Ki needed to consider the many other variables.
Her martial arts were based on the poison clans style and a little of the blood sects style, basic martial arts foundational moves and the snake forms which had helped to form her mulberry arts and her drunken style as she gained further enlightenment but she knew that it had yet to reach its full potential.
With the new information, she started considering the strengths and weaknesses of her style that was primarily wood based and had a hint of water or blood based forms within.
There was also her experiences within the northern lands which provided her additional gains and the divine ice sword arts she gained along with what she knew about Rashida's style of combat so she had more than enough to think about so that she could increase the lethality of her mulberry arts without sacrificing her control and precision along with the unpredictability of her drunken style as she is in control of her unpredictable and unstable movements.