Flat-Brim Samurai Chapter 2
Right after his 10th birthday (which is November 21 btw and this story takes place in America)…
I'm so glad that I got just what I wanted and I'm so glad that dad is willing to teach me about swordsmanship Apollo thought as he gripped harder on his bokken eager to train. He started to swing it around vigorously without any skill with his full power as he was now. He was almost instantly shut down by his father as the bokken was taken from his hand ,"First you're going to have to learn how to use your hands before you can use this, I don't trust you enough not to break anything yet". The frowning Apollo was a little disappointed but got what his father was getting at ,"Then what do I need to do? '' Apollo hopefully replied ,''We'll figure that out tomorrow" said Kenji (His fathers name). That night the Apollo could barely get any sleep as his heart pittered and patterned, the ki inside of him brimming with life and excitement.
The next day had finally come and once Apollo ate the breakfast his mom cooked for him he and his father went to the dojo. Kenji started ,"Show me your fighting stance" which Apollo immediately replied to. His balance was off and his hands left him totally wide open but his eyes said that he was totally ready. Without further adieu his father poked him with his finger on his forehead leading to Apollo falling over clumsily. Kenji explained to his son while doing a stance of his own ,"Make sure to keep your hands up, elbows down and feet at a 45, now show me a punch" The confused but excited Musashi tried his best to meet his dads expectations…
3 weeks later, day after day his stance got better and he learned many things. 1. To be ready but not tense 2. To flow with the fight and your opponent 3. Form is more important than strength. ,"Remember not to clench your hands because having your hands all scrunched up like that means that your mind is the same way". "YES" Apollo replied, retaining lesson after lesson. ,"Let's move on to the next segment, your movement, how to use your legs and ki control. Now that you know the basics of standing and striking with your hands this should be a lot easier to teach you". Then for the next 3 months kick after kick, movement drill after movement drill, manipulation of ki getting refined over and over, he took step after step along a long and arduous path to mastery.
Growing stronger in ki reserves and getting better technical skill was leaving Apollo busy with his mind, wanting more and more. His father sometimes helped him a little bit by using an art which implanted information inside his head called art: Information translation (This technique is usually how information is imparted onto people's children but can also be gained from other people who specialize in a certain subject. It can be agonizing on someone's mental strength and often leads to headaches and can lead to severe consequences if too much information or if too high value information gets put in without the proper level of brain and nervous system strength to compensate). But finally all that was left now was strength training and that could be done by Apollo alone. ,"You're officially ready to train with the dojo, but son… please take off the hat while you're training with the rest of the group" Kenji said to his son. Apollo gleamed at what he just said with sparkles in his eyes and almost lost control of his emotions but stuffed his excitement down (although he was a little sad for not getting to wear his favorite hat) for his chance to train with the people who practice under his dad and use those emotions there.
Entering the dojo Apollo saw people of all shapes and sizes, young and old. But one stood out to him, one of similar age but with a mysterious yellowish golden aura exuding from his body that Apollo didn't know what to think of at first. His name was Cias Kain and he was taller than Apollo with a more refined look to him, he joked around a lot and was enjoyed by most people he hung around. In this case he was focused on very similar aspirations (even if he didn't know it yet) to Apollo and they walked towards one another to greet each other. ,"Yo, What's your name?" Apollo asked ,"Cias Kain, yours?" ,"Apollo, and woah, COOL NAME!!!" their wills almost magnetized the two of them but before they could fully converse. ,"Attention!" his father entered the room with his hands behind his back. Everyone in the dojo ran to get to their spots designated by rank (which went front to back the higher rank on the right side) and stood up straight with their hands at their sides. One word separated the issues of the outside from those of training, which in a strict and disciplined tone from Kenji said ,"Hajime!!!" (Hajime meaning begin in Japanese).