3rd person Pov:
In a courtyard, a slightly bulky handsome man was swinging a wooden sword. Near him, a child was looking at him performing with a dumb-looking expression. But if someone looks closely, they could see that the child's actual expression was uninterested. It was like he was looking at a jester perform on stage just that the show was not of his choosing.
After a few moments, the man stopped swinging the sword and looked at the boy with a proud expression and said, "How was it, Michael? What I just showed you were the basic moves of the Revstein family sword art, 'Moon-blade dance'. Amazing, isn't it?"
But Michael's expression did not change in the least. The man, Joseph, looked at Michael's expression and thought, 'Maybe I executed the moves too fast, and he could not completely see.' But after a few moments, Michael spoke, "Inefficient."
Joseph was expecting to hear words like 'amazing', 'so cool', and 'you looked amazing doing that father'. But when Joseph heard what Michael had said, he almost slipped and fell to the ground. He could not believe what he was hearing. Maybe he had heard it wrong, so he asked again thinking that maybe he perceived his words wrong. "What did you say, Michael? I could not quite hear you."
"I said inefficient." But Michael was still harsh as usual (Only to joseph) and showed no mercy. Before Joseph could speak words of protest, Michael continued, "Your moves were inefficient, father. Too many extra movements. You could have easily performed the moves with fewer movements and in a short time."
Joseph heard what Michael said but still could not come to terms with his words. This was a divine sword art. One of the only five divine weapon arts that existed in the world of Astoria. And also, it was the strongest among all of them. Only twice in history has someone been able to reach the peak of this sword art. Yet Michael, a boy who had little knowledge of swords or anything, right now was saying that it had too many wasted movements.
"Michal you are wrong. This art has been in our family for generations. This is the strongest sword art in the entire world. You are saying that because you do not know much about it yet." Joseph did not get mad but still corrected Michael for his words.
"Perform the same moves again but this time with some changes that I am about to tell you," Michael said in reply to Joseph's words. Joseph looked at Michael and thought that maybe he should reprimand him. This was a sword art of their ancestors. They could not just make some changes to it. But before he could say anything, Michael spoke again, "I know it is hard to change what you have been doing all your life. But just humor me, father."
Joseph shut his mouth and looked at Michael while contemplating what to do. In the end, he sighed heavily and just agreed. "Alright, I will do what you say." There was not much harm in listening to what the boy had said so Joseph relented and decided to do what Michael asked him to.
"First off start with your stance. The distance between your feet is too much. You can keep the distance the same but then you will have to firm your knees accordingly. Doing so would also not be okay as it would not make harmony between, your lower body and upper body so it is better to shorten the distance. Shorten it until I tell you to stop." Joseph did what Michael had said and started shortening the distance between his feet. He had shortened the distance by about one-third when Michael stopped him.
"Okay, that is enough. Now your lower body should feel more stable." Michael was right. Joseph did feel that his stance had become firmer but felt like there was room for improvement. Michael continued, "Now comes your upper body. when you hold the sword, you make your shoulder the base. Instead, this time, make your spine the base. In other words, when you swing your sword, do it according to your spine, not the shoulder. Doing so would allow a firm hold on the sword and it will lessen your chances of getting disarmed by someone. The spine, unlike your shoulder, is supported by your whole body."
This time joseph was listening to what Michael was saying earnestly. What he said made sense, so he paid him more attention. Michael then again continued, "Next is how much distance there is between the body and the sword. Since I told you to make the spine your base, so hold it diagonally to your navel as the navel is the base point of the spine. Or it does not have to be diagonally, but make the base point your navel, not your shoulder. There are stances where the sword is held according to the shoulder such as short swords, but in the case of swords of average or large sizes, this stance method is best."
After saying all this Michael's face turned serious and he said, "And the last point which is also the most important point. Harmony. Do not treat the sword like a weapon. Treat it like your arm. An extra-long, sharp arm. When a person moves his arm, it is not just the brain that is giving the command and the arm that is moving, but the whole body is involved in the movement. So, when you use the sword, there has to be harmony between your whole body. Your stance, your base, and your movement must all be in complete harmony."
"Shorten the distance between your body and sword. Do not create too much distance between both. Harmony must be complete and precise. Do not focus on just the intended or executed movement but keep attention on your whole-body movement. Now try executing the movement like how I told you to. You can swing your sword however you like, just keep the basis according to how I have told you." Up to this point, Michael stopped speaking and beckoned Joseph to follow his instructions.
=====
\\\ Leave comments and reviews. Recommend my novel to your friends. Also, please rate my novel. And FYI, power stones help my novel's ranking.
I will try to upload 6 chapters tomorrow but no promises as 6 chapters are a lot of work.