Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Title: Day of training
((just a day in the life of Ryu when he lived in Japan with his master))

"TSA!" A voice rang out, piercing Ryu's dreams. The young boy of eight years old shot out of bed, barely avoiding the tip of the bokken as he flew out of his covers, rolling as he hit the floor in front of it, "Is it morning already Sensei?" his small, groggy voice eeked out as he knelt, one eye closed, the other only half open.

"Yes my student, it is." Shoto ((its pronounced 'Soke' like sake with an o)) Tanemura, a grandmaster of Ninjutsu and Ninpo and forty six year old man said to his student, Ryu Hayabusa, as he placed his bokken back into the black cloth belt on his waist. Ryu pushed him self up at a normal speed, stumbled slightly, and rubbed his eyes. He shook his head, dressed himself, and retrieved his Bokken. He hesitated, then put it back down and asked his master, "What weapon are we working on today then Sensei?" being half asleep he had just gone to the weapon in his masters hand.

"None at this moment my son...first we will get you warmed up." Master Tanemura said, walking out of Ryu's room and to the massive training area at the back of his personal dojo. "Hai! (yes)" Ryu ran out of his room, leaving his hakama and weapons there. The small boy was dressed in a standard Gi and out door tabi shoes, all black in color, aside from the bandages on his hands which covered the small cuts he had sustained the previous day.

He started running laps around the area on a track that was a half mile in length. The boy started at a normal jogging speed, then picked up pace evenly as he proceeded along the course. Master Tanemura was kneeling at the out door kamidana, burning a cone incense that smelled of jade and meditating. The old mans keen ears picked up on Ryu's steps, keeping track of how many laps the boy took.

After Ryu was at a full sprint, his arms not in use as he could move faster that way, he had made four laps. He soon came around to finishing his fifth when his master broke his meditation and said "Enough." in a loud enough voice so the sprinting boy could hear it past his heart beat, foot steps, and the air spanning the forty or fifty foot difference between the pair. Ryu quickly slowed him self and knelt down in seiza on the inside of the track.

He meditated for the better part of a minute, slowing his breathing and heart rate. He came out of his meditative state and walked over to his master who was still kneeling in front of the kamidana, and sat down in the same position next to the old but fit man. Both but their hands up in a prayer like position and Shoto Tanemura said, "Chihaya furu, Kami no Oshiewa, Tokoshieni, Tadashiki, Kokoro, Mio Momoruran. Shiken Harimitsu Dai Komyo." Ryu repeated the last sentance, "Shiken Harimitsu Dai Komyo." and they both clapped their hands twice, bowed, rose back up, clapped once, and bowed once again. This was the start to any training session in the art of Ninjutsu and Ryu had done it every day for the past three years.

Afterwards they both stood, "What should we start off with Sensei?" Ryu said, watching Master Tanemura as he walked toward the training area. "More warm ups...two hundred push ups, two hundred sit ups, two hundred squats, and two hundred bends and thrusts." Tanemura said. With this Ryu sighed slightly, as he always hated warming up at black belt level, and ran off to a patch of packed down dirt.

~Fifteen minutes later~

Ryu was just finishing all of the warm ups though he was used to it by now so his muscles weren't hurting too much. "One ninety-seven, one ninety-eight, one ninety-nine, two...hundred." He said, finishing the last of his bends and thrusts. Once he did so he took to meditation once again to slow his heart beat and breathing.

A minute or so later he came out of it and stood, Master Tanemura was slowly doing some warm ups of his own a few meters away. Military presses were his exercise of choice at the moment. "I finished Sensei." Ryu said, facing his master.

"Good, now take two more laps and we will begin. Come back to me with your Rokushaku Bo, Sai, and ten Shuriken." Tanemura said, continuing his military presses, having done them non stop since he had ordered Ryu's warm-ups those sixteen or so minutes prior.

"Hai." The young Ryu said and took off at a full sprint to complete another mile of running. A few minutes later he completed the two laps and ran to his room, slowing down to reduce his heart rate as he did so. At this point it was five thirty in the morning and he still had over thirteen hours of training left in the day, The young boy entered his room and retrieved his bo staff which was only about four and a half foot tall given the fact that he himself was only about four foot tall, a pair of training sai, and ten of his somewhat dull shuriken.

The small boy jogged out with the tools in hand and jogged over to his master, he placed down the tools and meditated once again. He addressed his master a minute or so later, "I'm ready Sensei."

"Well done, Run through your drills and kata for both the Rokushaku bo and the Sai while I finish warming my self up. Make it perfect, if you mess up once, start over. Not all of it mind you...just what you made an error on." Master Tanemura said, ending his military presses and beginning a version of the bends and thrusts, where he was on his back instead of on his stomach.

"Hai." Ryu said and walked off, using the Bo staff first.

~Two hours later~

Ryu was just finishing all of the drills and kata for his bo staff when master Tanemura called out to him, having finished two more exercises. "Enough my student, it is time for breakfast...come." He extended his arm out to the young boy and Ryu put down his wooden weapon and jogged up along side his master.

~About Thirty minutes later~

"Ahh...that was good Sensei, thank you." Ryu said, patting his stomach that was now full of rice, eggs, and ham. "Did you want me to clean up or should I go back and do my Sai drills?"

"You go my boy, I have warmed up enough, I will wash, though I expect you to be at least half way done by the time I finish."

"Hai!" Ryu said, handing his dishes to his master and running out the door, down the hall, and back out side to continue his training.

~One hour later~

Master Tanemura walked back out side, his arms clasped behind his back. "Progress?" He said, approaching the training Ryu with the small bits of steel in his hands. "About five eighths Sensei." Ryu said, stopping and bowing to his master then restarting the Kata he was on. "Good, come to me once you finish."

Ryu nodded his head once and continued. Finishing about twenty minutes later he walked up to his master who was watering a few plants that he kept, mostly medicinal herbs that had high healing and antiseptic properties. "I finished Sensei." Ryu said, standing in a ready position as his master tended to lash out randomly to test the boys’ reactions. "Good, now then let us begin." The old man walked to the center of the training area and waved Ryu over.

When the small boy walked over Tanemura said, "Now...get your bo, one sai and hand me the shuriken. Then set your self up on the rokushaku bo, upside down with one hand. Your other hand has your sai." Ryu sighed at the difficulty of this task and then did as his master instructed. "Now, block the shuriken with your sai while keeping your balance." master Tanemura said as he took his stance.

[damnit this is gonna hurt] Ryu thought as he held his sai in front of his face, though not obstructing his view.

One, Two, Three.

The shuriken flew toward Ryu at a somewhat low speed.

TING, TING, TING.

This was the sound of the metals of the shuriken and sai connecting as the tiny stars were deflected and spun away. Ryu shook a little as the fast motion of his arm took its toll on his balance.

Four, Five.

Two more shuriken came flying toward Ryu, this time slightly faster.

Ting.

One shuriken missed Ryu entirely with a move of his leg and the other was deflected straight at the ground and stuck in the dirt.

Six, Seven, Eight.

Ting, Ting.

Two more deflected but the third struck Ryu's arm, and he yelled out in pain as it grazed passed him and flew behind him. He kept his balance though and the other two came flying toward him.

Ting, Ting.

Both blocked, "Well done, come down and wrap up that scratch." Tanemura said. With that Ryu put the sai to his fore arm, pushed off his bo, it was pushed into the dirt slightly and stayed there.

Ryu flipped back in the air slightly and landed on his feet, he pulled the bo staff from the ground and placed it down, then ran off to the large house and cleaned up his wound. He came back a few minutes later with a new bandage on his hand that stretched up to his elbow. He stood in the ready position with his hands clasped in front of him.

Master Tanemura then took an advanced Stance that was similar to that of Katate Ichi Monji no Kumae but with several differences that made it unique. "Now we spar until lunch, say...two hours?" Ryu nodded and took katate ichi monji no kumae, and the two began to spar.

~Because I know that two hours of sparring is going to be waaayy to much to post...Two hours later~

Ryu was breathing extremely heavily, and his master was breathing quickly as well. The eight year old was on the borderline of consciousness, only kept awake by the pain when he was pulled up to his feet by his master, "Stay up right my son...keep awake, and breathe into your center." Ryu nodded quickly through his breath and fell to his knees so that he could go into mokso (all of the meditation stated earlier).

Tanemura followed suit and within five minutes Ryu was breathing normally, though his lungs and most of the rest of his body was killing him. The two went inside and had lunch, Ryu washed the dishes this time. About forty minutes after they went in, they came back out and continued to train. "I would like to teach you a new style at this point my student...It is called, Shaolin Fist. This art, as its name implies, is one of the many shaolin styles, and is the most powerful style that I know of."

Ryu listened with intent at the power he would soon come into, jaw agape as his master explained the raw power that is at the finger tips of the master of this style. The two went back and forth for about three hours, Ryu asking questions and Tanemura answering them and providing volumes of information and stories of monks who utilized this style.

Master Tanemura showed Ryu a basic technique of the shaolin fist style in putting a hole clear through a two inch thick sheet of stone, not just broke it, but was so powerful that it blew a hole clear through the stone. The small boys jaw dropped to the point where it would unhinge itself should it go any further.

The two then went to have the last meal of the day. The anxious Ryu could not wait to begin learning the shaolin fist style and only stopped speaking to chew and swallow with great periods between bites that made the meal last a several hours.

After the meal was finally finished it was about eight o'clock in the evening and there was only a couple of hours left in the day to train. "Given the time, I'll take you through a small introductory course in the style before we retire."

With this the two trained until ten o'clock in the evening, at which time they both went inside and slept soundly, only to have the same sort of day in another seven hours.

~Shadow King, Shadow of Balance, Ra~