Young Samurai _ The Way Of The Dragon - Chris Bradford [54]
‘Get up!’ sneered Sensei Kyuzo, showing no sympathy. ‘I’ll give you one last chance to get me. Unless you’re too feeble.’
Shaking his head clear, Jack staggered back to his feet. He could see Akiko now had her eyes covered with her hand, unable to watch any more. Yamato was silently willing him to give up while he had the chance.
Though Jack knew his sensei was baiting him, his blood was boiling and he couldn’t resist a last attempt. Scanning the wall, he looked for a weapon that would keep his sadistic teacher at bay. He picked up a length of chain with a weight on the end. This had to be it.
Whirling the manriki-gusari above his head, he advanced on the taijutsu master. Jack was pleased to see Sensei Kyuzo immediately backing away.
‘Such a weapon is very difficult to disarm,’ said the sensei, retreating further. ‘You cannot block it. You cannot grab it. You cannot easily avoid it.’
Jack grinned. For the first time, he had Sensei Kyuzo. He’d beaten him. And now he would strike…
‘Your only option is kuki-nage,’ shouted Sensei Kyuzo, whirling towards Jack. ‘An air throw!’
Jack whipped the chain round as fast as he could. Sensei Kyuzo, arms outstretched, spun within its arc. His lead hand caught Jack in the head and, using the momentum of Jack’s strike, he whipped him off his feet. The other hand took control of the chain and drove Jack towards the ground. Jack flew through the air and landed hard upon the dojo floor for a third time, his arm trapped in a painful lock.
‘The air throw is based on the principle of the sphere: a sphere never loses its centre,’ explained Sensei Kyuzo. He disarmed Jack of the manriki-gusari but kept the lock on, despite Jack’s submissive taps. ‘In this case, you cannot resist the force. You have to go with it, throwing your attacker in the air.’
Jack tapped louder, the pain in his arm growing unbearable. But Sensei Kyuzo continued to ignore his calls of submission.
‘You’ve now seen the four disarming techniques that you’ll be working with. These could save your life in a battle. Pair up. Choose a weapon. Then practise on one another.’
He finally released Jack, discarding him like an unwanted toy.
Rubbing his aching elbow joint, Jack joined Akiko and the others at the Weapons Wall.
‘Why do you let him goad you like that?’ said Akiko, glancing at Jack with concern as she weighed a spear in her hand.
‘I never volunteered to be the taijutsu punchbag,’ protested Jack. ‘He always has it in for me. But at least I know whose side he’ll be on, when there’s a war.’
‘Jack, don’t say such a thing,’ she scolded. ‘You can’t question his loyalty to Masamoto-sama. If Sensei Kyuzo heard you talking like that, he’d give you punishment for a month.’
Jack shrugged. ‘He’ll punish me anyway.’
‘This is heavy,’ grunted Saburo, trying to lift the kanabō for himself. ‘It would certainly crush a skull or two!’
Yamato was swinging the chain in his hand. ‘Jack, this was a good choice of weapon, but if you wanted distance, why didn’t you use a bow and arrow against Sensei Kyuzo?’
‘Good idea, he’d never be able to defend against that!’ puffed Saburo, the iron club in his hands.
‘Wouldn’t I?’ challenged the taijutsu master, who’d suddenly appeared behind Saburo.
‘Well… surely, it would be impossible,’ Saburo stammered, dropping the kanabō with a loud bang.
‘It’s merely a matter of reflexes.’
‘But how could you stop an arrow?’ exclaimed Saburo, taken aback by Sensei Kyuzo’s blasé attitude.
‘With your hands.’
Saburo snorted incredulously.
Sensei Kyuzo glared at him for his impudence, but then noticed that his students had all gathered round. They were looking expectantly at him, wanting to see this great feat.
He snatched a bow from the Weapons Wall. ‘I need someone who can fire an arrow straight. Akiko-chan, I instruct you to shoot me in the heart.’
Sensei Kyuzo walked