Chapter 1, update 2
continued below...
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Transcript:
Keo: I've told you Ilina! Mind how your feet hit the ground. Otherwise you will end up ON the ground!
Ilina: I was doing just fine, Uncle Keo. I wouldn't have fallen if you hadn't startled me.
Keo: Ilina if your footing was sound, a mere startle would not have caused you to fall.
Ilina: Give me a little credit. I've been practicing this form for two weeks. I almost had the whole thing memorized
Keo: Ilina, Black Mountain Swordcraft is a martial art. I don't want you getting so caught up in the ''art'' that you forget the ''martial''
I ask you to memorize forms not so you can perform them from memory, but because the only way to teach you how to fight quickly is to first teach you how to fight slow. So you can defend yourself if you ever have to.
And memorization won't save your life if your footwork is sloppy. I need you to take this seriously.
Ilina: My life is not at stake, Uncle Keo.
Keo: Well... Not today, I suppose...
Ilina: Your nearly as paranoid as my mom is! Heh heh!
Keo: You should have seen your grandmother when I was your age.
But the point is, Ilina, this stuff is important. Even when you are just practicing, here from the safety of --
--a... remote couger - infested forest, into which you have wandered off alone without telling anyone...
Even then, you MUST mind your feet! Now, show me the ready stance again.
Keep your center of gravity over your feet!
Don't rush! It's not a race!
Don't do that, Ilina! You'll break your ankle!
Whatever position you're in, you should be able to hold it for a whole minute. That's how ou know you're balanced!
Well don't look down! No one's going to attack you from below!
Ilina: I KNOW!
Keo: If you know, then show me!
Ilina: I'm trying!
Keo: Ilina, you're about as stable as a house of twigs!
Ilina: Well you don't have to be rude about it!
Keo: Heh heh! Alright, Kiddo, why don't you let me show you?
Okay, perhaps don't think so much about your FEET. Instead think of the EARTH. The Earth is the true deeper meaning of Black Mountain Swordcraft.
Your sword itself is testament to this. The blade is iron from the stone within the Earth. The hilt is wood from the trees that feed upon the stone. It is bound with hides of the creatures that feed upon the trees.
But your feet connect with the Earth directly.
Ilina: *sigh* One micht imagine, Uncle Keo.
Keo: Heh! Not just the physical Earth. Her Spirit too. Grandmother Earth.
You know the story of how the Earth herself gave birth to all the animals, and then to the first human. The Earth is the first Matriarch. The first of the Sacred Ancestors. Think of Her. And think of the great kindness she extends, letting you walk upon Her.
Keep your eyes on where you're going, and your mind on where you've been. But always, always, keep your focus on WHERE YOU ARE! Feel the ground. Really FEEL it! Do not shift your weight onto your foot until you are SURE!
The Earth has laid a path for you, the way all your other ancestors have laid paths for you. However, YOU must do the hard work of discerning that path.
If you disgrace the Earth with careless steps, if you take the first of our Sacred Ancestors for granted, she will trip you. She will have no choice.
However if you HONOR Her, and make each footfall an act of worship, She will rise from under you to support you. And may even lift you to victory. Or at least to walk away alive.
HYAA!!
Does that make sense, Ilina?
Ilina: I don't know. You're giving me a lot of ''why's'' and not a lot of ''how's.''
Keo: Heh heh! ''How's'' are much harder for me to explain than ''why's.'' I guess I'm trying to describe something that feels like instinct after years of practice. But we can work on it more tomorrow.
Ilina: You think the Earth really has such strong opinions about Swordcraft, Uncle Keo?
Keo: Maybe she does, or maybe it's just a story. But the Earth is an important figure in the old Black Mountain religion. And Swordcraft was an important feature in ancient forms of worship.
Dying traditions I was lucky to learn. And I'll be luckier still if they outlive me.