Natsuhiko spent a day practicing the way to hold the sword and the starting stance. After mastering it, Renji Asanai began to teach him the footwork of Kendo the next day.
There were many footwork of Kendo. There were six basic footwork rules, namely the broken foot, the stepping foot, the sending foot, the following foot, the opening foot, and the stepping foot.
Among them, the breaking foot was the most commonly used footwork in Kendo. It was similar to the sliding step, where the feet were not lifted and moved close to the ground. It could reduce the shaking of the body and maintain the integrity of the posture. At the same time, the sliding movement was small, so that the body could be adjusted quickly when attacked.
It took Natsuhiko two days to be able to keep his body stable while sliding.
During this process, Natsuhiko needed to hold the long sword and maintain the basic sword-holding posture.
Then Renji Asanai taught him the stepping foot. The stepping foot was very similar to the breaking foot. It was almost walking with the breaking foot and moving forward step by step.
After that, it was the sending foot. The right foot was in front and the left foot was in the back. The heel of the left foot had to be slightly raised.
If moving forward, first move the right foot forward with the breaking foot and then quickly follow with the left foot.
If moving backward, move the left foot backward with the breaking foot and then follow with the right foot.
In addition to moving forward and backward, there was also moving diagonally. It required the upper body to maintain a stable posture and use the sliding method to move with the feet one in front and one behind.
It was not possible to move forward and backward at the same time. This was to have a supporting foot to stabilize the body during the movement.
It took Natsuhiko five days to master the sending foot.
After that, it was the sending foot. The sending foot was to move diagonally and sideways. Through this change, the body could be turned to attack and defend against the enemy's attack.
This was relatively simple. It took Natsuhiko two days to master it.
After that, it was the following step. The following step was very similar to the sending foot, but the difference was that the sending foot moved forward with the front foot first and the back foot moved backward with the back foot first.
However, the following step was to move forward with the back foot first to close the distance with the front foot. Then the front foot would move forward and suddenly attack or retreat in an instant.
The first step was also called 'Sneak Step'. This footwork was used to catch the enemy off guard.
After Natsuhiko grasped it, he learned the Stomping Foot. The Stomping Foot was also known as the Shaking Foot, which was closely related to the Sending Foot.
When he moved forward, his front foot was forward, but all of his feet were on the ground. He used a huge amount of force, and at the same time, his back foot moved quickly to keep up.
At the moment his front foot stepped down, his strength would accumulate, and as his back foot followed, his body's strength would explode.
These were the six basic footwork techniques. Natsuhiko spent more than ten days to master them. Along with the training, his spirit particle density also slowly increased.
Footwork was the key to Sword Dao. Practicing footwork well would allow one's body to be stable and steady. This was the foundation for practicing fighting techniques.
As for the first practice, it was the swing.
The footwork used in the swing was closely related to the Stomping Foot or the Shaking Foot. Using the Abdominal Breathing Technique, when the Shaking Foot moved forward, one would adjust the center of gravity and lean forward. At the same time, the Qi in the body would be exhaled. At the same time, with the shoulder joint as the axis, the arms would be swung out and chopped forward.
Moreover, there were also requirements for the hand movements when swinging the sword. When swinging the sword, the little finger of the left hand had to grip the hilt and the left hand slightly turned inward.
However, when the sword was swung to the furthest distance, the right hand had to twist inward. Relying on the pressure from the turning of both hands, the force would hit a point and be transmitted through the sword to the enemy.
The swing was the result of the footwork, the body, and the arms working together. It required the mobilization of the whole body's strength, which was extremely beneficial for training spiritual pressure.
There were also two ways to train the swing. The first was to pursue the number of swings. By swinging as much as possible, one could increase one's endurance.
The second was to pursue the speed of the swing. By swinging as many times per unit of time, one could increase one's explosive power.
Lucia told Natsuhiko to train in both methods, especially the first one. He had to be able to do 50 swings without activating the spirit particles.
This was not a small challenge for Natsuhiko, who had a small body.
After Lucia taught the basic essentials of the swing, Natsuhiko began to train by himself. He held the bamboo stick and stood in the open space to practice the swing.
Once, twice, … five times, ten times.
When Natsuhiko started to swing, it was very easy. Very quickly, he completed ten swings. However, after ten swings, he could feel the weight of the stick and a trace of fatigue.
Eleven swings, twelve swings, … nineteen swings, twenty swings.
Natsuhiko continued to train. After more than twenty swings, when he reached the twenty-first swings, he felt tired and his arms hurt. He had no choice but to stop and recover the spirit particles to replenish the spirit energy in his body.
Natsuhiko rested for a while and continued to train. He swung again and again, causing the spirit particles to be depleted and replenished.
Under such circumstances, Natsuhiko's spirit particle density increased very quickly. He was able to withstand a lot of swings.
35 swings, 36 swings, 40 swings.
47 swings, 48 swings, 49 swings, 50 swings.
Until half a month later, Natsuhiko was able to achieve 50 swings in one set, which satisfied Lucia's requirements for himself.
However, he had only mastered the movements. When swinging, the strength of each part of the body and how to respond to it required the help of others.
At this time, Lucia took the initiative to be Natsuhiko's training partner.
Lucia held the wooden sword and stood in front of Natsuhiko. Her beautiful eyes emitted a serious expression.
Natsuhiko stood three steps in front of Lucia. He held the blade with both hands and took a deep breath. His right foot suddenly took a step forward and heavily stepped on the ground. Then, his left foot quickly followed.
At this time, Natsuhiko's hands, with the help of his shoulder joints, bent his arms and slashed forward fiercely.
The wooden stick followed Natsuhiko's movements and smashed towards Lucia's face.
Lucia raised the bamboo blade in her hand and slightly adjusted her posture. She used the side of the wooden sword to hit the side of the wooden stick in Natsuhiko's hand.
She only used a very weak force, but the wooden stick in Natsuhiko's hand was knocked away and bounced to the side.
And the appearance of this force also caused Natsuhiko's movements to pause. At this moment, Lucia stomped her right foot heavily and slashed out with the Bamboo Blade in her hand.
Natsuhiko felt a huge gust of wind blow at him as the Bamboo Blade's shadow instantly appeared in front of him. He couldn't help but close his eyes.
However, the expected blow didn't come. Natsuhiko opened his eyes and realized that the Bamboo Blade had stopped a centimeter in front of him.
Lucia retracted her wooden blade and shook her head. "When you attacked just now, your hand movements weren't coordinated well. You didn't concentrate your strength.
Secondly, you didn't do a good job of retreating. Swinging not only has forward movements, but also backward movements. Don't stop retreating just because your opponent blocked your sword move.
By retreating in time, you can avoid the opponent's subsequent attacks, giving you the ability to dodge and counterattack. "
"I'll remember it."
Natsuhiko memorized this in his mind. Lucia nodded and said, "Again."
Natsuhiko trained with Lucia and grasped the essence of swinging. He could already memorize it by heart.
Following that, Natsuhiko learned many basic sword moves, such as striking the face, striking the abdomen, stabbing the throat, striking the face, slashing back, and striking the body.
These were all basic sword moves, and they were also the most direct and simple moves.
By mastering these, one would have enough combat strength to protect themselves. However, compared to the profoundness of sword arts, these were only the simplest moves.
Sword arts also had facial attacks, abdomen attacks, hand attacks, and throat attacks.
Apart from that, there were also the Psychic School, One Saber School, Yin School, Divine School, and hundreds of other schools.
However, Renji Asanai and Lucia Kuroki did not know these contents. The Grim Reaper who had been stranded here only taught them these basic skills and had to leave.
However, these basic moves were enough for Natsuhiko to protect himself.
At the same time, Natsuhiko also mastered the technique of using spiritual pressure. By consuming spiritual particles, he could increase his speed, reaction, and strength.
Covering the long sword with the spiritual droplets would allow the sword to move faster and possess greater power.
Now, Natsuhiko was only eleven years old. His body was small and could not be compared with Renji Asanai and Lucia. However, by consuming spiritual particles, he could compete with them for a short time.
With the practice, Natsuhiko's spiritual particle density had increased a lot. He believed that if he continued to practice like this, he could reach the fifth-class spiritual pressure one day.
At this time, it had been three months since Natsuhiko came to this world. It was winter.