A single bead of sweat rolled down Kazuki's face and his arms began to
tremble.
That was all the incentive Jack needed. Kazuki was fading fast.
'Jack! Jack! Jack!'
The shouts kept coming.
'Kazuki! Kazuki! Kazuki!'
No, he wasn't going to be beaten by Kazuki! He would not be defeated
by the sword. He could see Akiko willing him on from the sidelines and he
fought the bokken in his hands. Gritting his teeth, he closed his eyes and
called upon every last drop of strength he had.
Suddenly, like the breaking of a wave, his body flooded with a curious
energy. He experienced an infinite nothing, his arms seeming to stretch on
forever, weightless, almost numb.
There was a loud wooden clatter as a bokken fell to the floor of the dojo;
then an explosion of clapping and cheering and only the sound of his name.
'Jack! Jack! Jack!'
'Well done, Jack-kun. You defeated the sword,' said Sensei Hosokawa.
Jack opened his eyes to see Kazuki fuming, his arms limp by his side, his
bokken lying on the floor.
With utter relief, Jack lowered his aching arms. They felt heavy as lead,
but he had won. He had beaten Kazuki – in front of everyone. Relishing his
very public triumph, he bowed to Kazuki.
Kazuki, imprisoned by etiquette, was forced to acknowledge Jack's
victory with a lower bow.
At lunch that day, Akiko, Yamato, Kiku and Saburo crowded round Jack at
the table at the far end of the Chō-no-ma. Kazuki sat rigid at the opposite
table, fixing Jack with a thunderous expression and ignoring the attempts of
Nobu and Emi to lighten his mood.
'How did you manage it, Jack?' pestered Saburo. 'Your arms were
dropping. You were defeated. Then BANG! They went straight as an
arrow.'
'I don't know,' said Jack, who was still trying to massage the remaining
tension from his shoulder muscles. 'I just had a rush of energy from
nowhere and my arms felt weightless.'
'Ki!' said Kiku.
Jack looked at her, baffled.
'Ki means "life force". My father explained it to me once. It is your
spiritual energy. With training, samurai can channel it into their fighting,'
explained Kiku.
'Of course!' interrupted Saburo enthusiastically. 'The sohei monks of
Mount Hiei were legendary for being able to harness their ki. Supposedly,
they could defeat their enemies without even drawing their swords.'
They all gave Saburo a collective look of disbelief.
'No, really! Sensei Yamada could probably teach us all how to use our ki.
We have his Zen class this afternoon. We could all then defeat our swords.'
'It's unlikely he'll be any help,' mumbled Jack, more to himself than
anyone else, but Akiko overheard him.
'What makes you say that?' she asked.
'Well, last night Kazuki decided he wanted me to apologize and tried to
break my arm.'
'Why didn't you report him?' said Akiko, her eyes inspecting his arm
with genuine concern.
'What's the point? Kazuki stopped before anything happened. But only
because Sensei Yamada showed up. He wasn't much help. He did nothing
but spout some meaningless saying at me.'
'What was it?' asked Yamato.
'"In order to be walked on, you have to be lying down." Some sage he is!
What help is that?'
'Excuse me.' A tiny voice piped up and Yori, the boy who had forgotten
his bokken, peeped round from behind Saburo. 'Sensei Yamada may be
suggesting you learn to defend yourself.'
It took a moment for the meaning to sink in before Jack realized Yori was
right. It was suddenly so obvious. If he could master the sword and taijutsu,
and be stronger, faster and better than Kazuki, then it would be Kazuki
lying down, not him.
With the right skills, he could defend himself against anyone, maybe
even Dokugan Ryu!
Now that was a reason worth training for.
'Are you all right, Jack?' asked Akiko, curious at the look of
determination fixed upon Jack's face.
'Absolutely. I was just thinking about Yamada's words. They make sense
now. Complete sense.'
There and then, after just one lesson at the Niten Ichi Ryū, Jack vowed to
devote himself to the Way of the Warrior.