[Minori Gin]

the sun rises

Preparing for a naval excursion wasn't something one did quickly and with little preparation. Any time a ship was to be at sea for an extended length of time, there was significant planning that went into selecting the crew, preparing the materials, and then over-preparing for the event of a disaster. The open water was unforgiving and becoming lost upon it could be quickly deadly if a crew wasn't properly prepared. That was why Gin often coordinated with Jokyū Kentaro before extended trips.

The two walked through their ledgers and confirmed the supplies Gin would need to go to market and purchase before their ship would be sea-ready. Equipped with this confirmation, Gin readied to leave Kentaro's home. On his walk out of the clan compound, he spotted a young boy, presumably hard at training. He recognized the child as one of Kentaro's nephews, though Gin had never met the two of them himself, just heard plenty of stories about them.

Which one was this again? They were twins, so Gin hadn't really mentally distinguished between them much. Oh well - he could open conversation here and learn all he needed to know.

"What are you working on there?" Gin asked, calling out to the boy. It seemed like he was probably training something, but who knew with young ones like that?

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[Katsuo Jokyū]

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Sword Lessons

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He needed to get better and quickly! The gap was getting wider and wider every day so every day he went without training the further behind he would get. That stupid trident of his was giving him such an edge over him to the point where Katsuo felt even further behind than normal. Sure he had his staff knowledge and his claws and bow expertise, but those weren't special to him. Any shinobi could learn how to use them he needed something to make him unique, but what? How would he stand out above his brother if his only weapon access was just simple weapons others could use? He needed to find something he could excel at that others couldn't and his brother couldn't emulate.[break][break]

Yet sadly all he had this time was a simple sword his family kept in storage. Something about it being used in the past by someone in their family he didn't pay too much attention to the details. He just figured it was another tool he could at least make some use of. Even if it wasn't unique it at least would give him more weapon versatility. Katsuo thought if he could never find a specialized and personal tool to use he would get himself to be able to fight using different weapons for any occasion. Especially since he might not always be around weapons of his choice or his weapons could be taken from him so best to be prepared.[break][break]

His training would be interrupted though by an unfamiliar voice of the compound. They didn't say his name so at first, it didn't register it was aimed at him, but he would turn around and be polite to the person and respond to their question. "I'm working on learning how to use a sword properly." Katsuo would show the sword he had found in the compound's storage and then point toward the dummies he had been practicing on. "It's not a weapon I normally use, but I figure it's something I should learn to expand my weapon knowledge," Katsuo would add to give some context to his training to the white-haired man.

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[Minori Gin]

the sun rises

When Gin got closer, he could clearly see the blade, and nodded his understanding. It looked like an old blade. Maybe heritage? Gin had a lot of respect for the art of blacksmithing and much appreciation for his own blades, but he knew little about the process itself. Still, he could tell an older blade when he saw one. Different eras of metalwork had their different styles, the same as any other art.

"Studying the sword is definitely a worthwhile pursuit," Gin agreed. "There are a lot of things you learn from sword stances and styles that can inform how you use other weapons, too. I've heard Kumogakure is quite famous for its various sword styles, too." Not quite so famous as Kirigakure, but the village hidden in the clouds has some unique focuses.

Drawing his own blade from his hip, Gin tilted the blade to catch a glint of light and said,

"I happen to specialize in swordsmanship, if you want any pointers. I work with your uncle often, so I've trained with him before." He wasn't really the teaching type, but he didn't mind showing off a little in order to help a young shinobi out. It was just a natural part of being in the military, helping out fellow soldiers.

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[Katsuo Jokyū]

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When the man spoke he sounded quite a bit knowledgeable on the subject of swordsmanship. Well at the very least of it the historical aspect of it of their village and another village. This didn't mean he was a good swordsman as studying something and practicing it was different things. Katsuo knew this from experience, especially with how far behind he had gotten his brother. Knowledge-based he would argue he was certainly the more well-versed of the two, but physically being able to do things was Natsuo's specialty. Something Katsuo was a bit bitter about if he was honest with himself. [break][break]

The man would draw his sword and comment on having trained their uncle and could provide pointers. An almost smug grin would paint Katsuo's face though it wasn't directed towards the white-haired man. It was to the thought he might have the chance to one-up his brother by having a mentor in training how to use a sword. Natsuo may have his trident, but maybe Katsuo could get an upper hand with swordplay. So this was easily an offer he couldn't refuse. "Alright, I'm game to learn a thing from you." Katsuo would sheathe his sword before asking, "What exactly did you have in mind?"

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[Minori Gin]

the sun rises

The kid agreed. Good. It wasn't like Gin would take much offense (only a little) if he hadn't, but knowing he seemed enthused to learn was a good feeling. Now the only question remained... Was this kid Natsuo or Katsuo? He hadn't introduced himself!

"First thing's first, we need to introduce ourselves to each other. I'm Minori Gin, naval officer of Kumogakure." If Katsuo returned the introduction, he would not his head in understanding and try to commit it to memory. Usually, he was pretty good at remembering names, though it wasn't like he tried that hard.

"As for where to begin... I've practiced a great many styles, but most of my experience is with the silken steel," he said, thoughtful. Was that style too advanced for most genin? It was where he'd begun his own sword training at a very young age, underneath his mentor. Perhaps the Omote no Tachi were the best place for a young shinobi to begin.

"In the academy, did they teach you of the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū? It's the oldest of sword styles, perhaps around even before the discovery of chakra. It's fundamental to many other styles... Show me your basic forms," he decided. Knowing if Katsuo had those fundamentals down would help Gin know exactly where to begin!

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[Katsuo Jokyū]

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The white-haired man would agree to be Katsuo's temporary master in the ways of swords mastery which was certainly something that made Katsuo happy. He loved learning new things and even if his ambition in doing so was a bit askew, but hey whatever his reason for it didn't matter so long as he improved upon himself right? May one day he will get over his obsession with feeling inferior to his brother, but till that day came it would be his main driving force for now.[break][break]

The man would force an introduction upon the two of them which was probably a proper thing to do in a student sensei relationship so Katsuo would oblige. "Jokyū Katsuo at your service," Katsuo would say simply as he didn't have any proper titles or accolades like his master Gin seemed to have. At the very least he wouldn't be compared to his brother by this man due to the fact he didn't try to comment on his brother so far. Most people seemed to put it upon themselves to mistake him for his brother, but it seemed this man had a good head on his shoulder. At least for now, Katsuo could trust the man to not compare him to Natsuo.[break][break]

Master Gin would then ask Katsuo what h learned in the academy when it came to specific sword styles and Katsuo felt a bit disappointed. "Honestly? The majority of my academy years was during the plague so my teachings came more from self-study," Katsuo would say this looking down a bit because it made him remember the times he failed to learn what he did while trying to best his brother. He would raise his head soon after continuing with, "So I'm afraid I might not have a firm grasp of the basics as you would like." Katsuo knew this probably wasn't the news Master Gin would want to hear, but it would be better to tell him the truth than just fib and get a faulty lesson out of it.

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[Minori Gin]

the sun rises

Katsuo revealed that the majority of his academy years were during the plague, a fact that wasn't very surprising in retrospect. The plague was so recent and this boy so young that it seemed about the right time. Gin let out a thoughtful hum, nodding his understanding. If he'd had to teach himself or only rely on his family for education, that meant that there was a lot he could miss out. They were starting from an even more blank slate than anticipated, but Gin could work with that.

"We'll have to go back to the very basics, then," Gin decided. "The first thing an instructor usually teaches for this kind of thing is how to properly draw the sword." He slid his sword back into its scabbard.

"It probably seems like a simple thing, right? However, it's one of the most important motions you'll ever make in a fight. Being able to get your sword out quickly, without injuring yourself, and in proper form is the first step to being a successful swordsman."

Gin placed his hands in front of him, one on the hilt of the sword and the other on the saya.

"You want to make sure your sword is angled slightly, so that your arms almost form a triangle while in the drawing position. You hold your hand on the hilt steady, and rather than pulling it out, you pull the saya backwards away from it. Once your saya goes as far as it can, you step your hips back and turn your body to complete the motion. You never want the hand on the sword to move. Can you give that a try?"

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[Katsuo Jokyū]

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Katsuo felt a bit bad they would need to start so far into the beginning of swordplay but it was for the best if he was to learn properly. It would be bad if he had developed habits from fractured experiences that might bar him from improving so he didn't resent the man for suggesting they start there. Katsuo was slightly glad to be starting slow. Sur it meant it would take some time for him to learn it, but at least he would learn, and that's what mattered.[break][break]

The first step would be learning how to draw his sword. This sort of confused Katsuo because wouldn't be simple to pull out a sword from its sheath. So why would there even be a lesson on it? Katsuo would get his answer pretty quickly though as his new sensei would give him the directions needed to draw a sword and it sounded a lot more complicated than Katsuo expected. It wasn't drawing of the sword, but rather of moving everything but the sword from its original position. As if the sword was a fixed object in space and everything moved around it sort of situation and that was both confusing and interesting to Katsuo. [break][break]

His sensei would ask him to try the technique himself to which Katsuo felt a tad nervous to try it, but excited enough that he was eager to learn how to do it properly. So he would stand up straight as he felt it would be easier to go from a standing position into a crouching position. Placing his left hand on the hilt of the sword as he was instructed and attempted to unsheath his sword, but instead of pushing the says he accidentally pulled the sword itself. Katsuo knew this was wrong and frowned. He would look back at his sensei with a tinge of annoyance on his face as he attempted a second time, but this time doing a bit of a mix of pushing and pulling. "This is harder than it looks," Katsuo would say in frustration.

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[Minori Gin]

the sun rises

Many people struggled with this, so it wasn't unexpected. Swordsmanship was a lot more complicated than it looked at first glance. A lot of ninjutsu users in particular treated bukijutsu like it was some clunky artless form of swinging metal around, but the nuance required to be a skilled sword wielder was almost unparalleled.

"It is, isn't it?" Gin asked, smiling encouragingly, not seeming to judge Katsuo's mess-up at all. "It can require quite a bit of muscle control and isolation to keep yourself from moving the wrong part of your body. Being able to move specific isolated portions of your body is its own skill that is good to practice," he said.

Gin would repeat the motion again, taking it slower this time. Arms in a triangle, gripping the saya, pulling it back and then stepping his hips away.

"You should focus on holding your hand level without moving it at all. If you have to do the motion really slowly at first you can. Try to do it as slow as you need to until you can confidently keep your hand steady. Then try to speed the process up. You'll get smoother at it as you continue to practice it. When you flick the blade forward instead of moving your saya, you risk damaging the blade or hurting yourself. It's all about prioritizing keeping the blade level."

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While he wasn't getting how to draw his sword correctly at first it seemed his sensei wasn't belligerent with his failures and even accepted them as the norm. This did make the young blonde feel a bit better about his failings. It just meant he could get better if he worked harder and with an instructor to guide him it should be easier than doing it himself. So he would look at the silver lining of this training and keep trying. [break][break]

Of course, he still wouldn't get it at first, but his sensei would show it to him again, but this time slowly. He would even tell Katsuo to try doing things slowly at first to get a feel for it. The boy would nod and position himself as his instructor did. Taking a deep breath to try and clear the fog in his brain he would angle his arms into the triangle he had observed. Breathing again he would go to the next step he would place his hand on the saya and keep letting go and gripping it in repetition. He did this to get a feel for how the blade would sit in his hand adjusting his fingers and wrist as needed for the most comfortable draw for himself.[break][break]

Next, he would begin pulling the saya back though only a small bit and returning it to its fully sheathed position. A back-and-forth motion to get a feel for how this worked in conjecture with his grip. He would even readjust his grip to account for his sheath moving. He didn't want the blade to fall out of his grip with the shifting balance from the moving saya. Finally, he would do the hip step while leaving the blade sheathed to get familiar with the movement of stepping back. Once that was complete he would attempt it all together and to his surprise, he would get it. A smile would flash on his face as he looked at his sensei in excitement.

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[Minori Gin]

the sun rises

The student before him took his instruction, beginning to walk through the process slowly. One step at a time, adjusting his grip, practicing the various stages of the removal process. Soon enough, he was able to bring it all together and complete a successful draw of the sword without catching the blade on anything. A smooth removal! Gin beamed at him, full of a genuine cheer at his success.

"There we go! You picked that up fast," Gin praised, patting Jokyū's shoulder encouragingly. "That's something you'll want to train regularly so you can do it on the field with ease. The shinobi who draws their sword faster and smoother gets the first strike," he informed the boy.

While they were on the topic of the draw, maybe Gin could impart some more wisdom on Jokyū.

"Once you're comfortable with your draw, you can do a lot of interesting things with it. One of the best starting moves to learn as a starting swordmaster is a trick draw."

Turning to one of the training dummies, Gin demonstrated what he meant. He pulled his sword out of its sheath in one quick motion, swinging at the training dummy before suddenly twisting his wrist up and bringing his blade down on the other side of the dummy.

"Feinting your first strike can throw your opponent off. Do you want to try it?"

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Torikkudorō [Trick Draw]
RANK: D
PHYSICAL TAX: Negligible
PREREQUISITES: (Style Prereqs)
CLASSIFICATION: Kenjutsu [Style: Dancing Silken Steel]
ELEMENT: None
HANDSEALS: None
DESCRIPTION: The user grips the handle of a sheathed sword and moves to draw it out in an offensive sweep. However, just as the blade approaches the target, the user twists their wrist upward to swing the blade directly skyward, avoiding striking the target and swinging it over and down to the target's other side. The user then tilts their wrist forward and swings horizontally with even more speed, the idea here to land a blow on the opposite side to this technique's original fakeout. When done correctly, this flourish appears effortless and can render enough force to slice flesh and muscle with ease.

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Sword Lessons

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Katsuo smiled at the praise he got from his sensei though in his mind he had to admit a bit of spite was in his thoughts as he thought he didn't pick it up fast enough. He needed to learn things faster and more accurately as possible if he was to surpass his brother, but at the very least now he was getting instruction so he had that boost to his training than when he trained alone. It would only be a matter of time before he gained the ability to surpass his brother and hopefully, these training sessions could help improve that goal.[break][break]

The next portion of this lesson would be the practicing of a new technique that could be possible from learning how to draw a sword. Something is known as feinting and though Katsuo had a vague idea of what it was he never saw it in action before. "Woah," Katsuo would say aloud as his sensei performed the technique. "So cool!" Katsuo couldn't hold his excitement as his eyes lit up. "How did you do that?" Katsuo would also ask to see a more detailed explanation. This was because when his sensei did the technique step by step on drawing the sword he was able to pick it up quickly by slowly imitating each step so maybe he could do the same with this technique.

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[Minori Gin]

the sun rises

Katsuo was thoroughly impressed, and asked for a more detailed demonstration. Gin nodded, trying to put together the pieces on how to explain it in his head. He'd helped others with sword training before, but that was mostly when he himself was a student, studying right alongside them. Putting his blade back in its saya, he started from the beginning.

"A lot of sword technique is about isolating movements, controlling part of your body. With this feint, it's really all about focusing on how your wrist moves," he began. "Though you're moving your whole arm, the precise twisting of your wrist is what gives the technique its speed."

Now, to demonstrate through slow steps.

"First, you draw your sword as you usually would. The second you remove the tip from the sword, you bring it in an overhead lunge, as though you're striking the shoulder." He brought his arm up in a wide arc, slowly twisting his wrist to complete the motion of the blade.

"Before it collides, however, you flick your wrist up, over their head, and to the other side." This, too, he mimed slowly. This detailed demonstration would reveal the truth of his statement. Though the broader motions were performed by the shoulder, all the intricacies came in the finite movements of the wrist.

He sheathed his blade once more.

"Give it a try."

tagged: Katsuo Jokyū || word count: 227 || notes: x

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[Katsuo Jokyū]

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Sword Lessons

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Was it a lot to ask his instructor to demonstrate each step slowly? Possibly, but if that's what Katsuo needed to learn was it such a bad thing to do? It wasn't like it wasn't proving to be much of an issue in the young shinobi's eyes for the steps to be broken down so simply. Besides if he picked it up fast enough wouldn't that be a great boon to his learning abilities? So who was to say it was too much to ask his sensei to do this? To Katsuo it just made sense to break things down and learn them in step-by-step increments and it worked with how he learned so it shouldn't be that much of an issue right?[break][break]

Still, it didn't stop him from being a bit insecure about asking the man for much help. For all Katsuo knew they might have had to do something today and Katsuo was taking quite a bit of his time by asking for help. So he made a mental note to somehow return the favor later when he was able to. As for the instruction Katsuo would follow along with both his eyes and his movements to try and recreate the flow of motion that his sensei was showing him. It was a slow process much like before, but at least it was progress and once he felt he got the idea of how it worked he would speed up the process.[break][break]

At first, it was still slow much like how he was taught it, but with each successful feint, he would increase the actions. After multiple tries, it would begin to resemble that of the proper technique till eventually it would be done correctly in one quick swing. Smiling up at his sensei he did it again to show he had come to understand the technique. Figuring out how to use the sword has become a lot easier for him than when he first started training and it was all thanks to his sensei. He wondered what else he could accomplish with the man's training so he had to ask him a question, "Do you think I could call on you for extra training if I need it? That's if you aren't too busy of course."

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[Minori Gin]

the sun rises

With the demonstration concluded, it was Katsuo's turn to try to put the lesson to work. The young boy began to repeat the steps, slow to start. Gin watched this repetition and made small notes whenever needed, mildly correcting Katsuo's form. Small things, bring your elbow in, angle your foot slightly more when you step forward. It was his opinion that the most important thing for any young bukijutsu expert to learn was control. Getting things right as soon as possible allowed one to develop their fundamentals rapidly, and improved their general performance with all of their techniques.

Soon enough, Katsuo was performing the technique pretty smoothly. It would take some refinement and use in real combat to be perfected, but the boy had learned well, and could definitely confidently perform it in most situations. That was a satisfying result to Gin, even if the kid wasn't at peak form yet.

As Katsuo wound down from practicing the feint, he asked Gin if he'd be available for other training.

"Sure. I'm out of the village at sea fairly often, but if I'm in the village and you call upon me, I'd be happy to assist you. I spend a lot of my time training already, so may as well share some of my knowledge around."

tagged: Katsuo Jokyū || word count: 215 || notes: x

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