𝚃̴𝚑̴𝚎̴ 𝙼̴𝚊̴𝚜̴𝚝̴𝚎̴𝚛̴𝚙̴𝚒̴𝚎̴𝚌̴𝚎̴ 𝚠̴𝚒̴𝚝̴𝚑̴.̴.̴.̴ 𝙼̴𝚊̴𝚐̴𝚒̴𝚌̴?̴

𝒩𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓃𝑒𝒹... 𝑅𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉?

Another day of swordsmanship class. Usually, Kiyotaka would choose a spear but for the sake of trying to tap into his muscle memory he picked up a wooden katana. He swung diagonally and vertically making clean slices from the sword. Beautiful arcs of his blade made the air around him feel majestic.

The cheeks of his face were slightly puffed up and looked like a squirl who had its mouth filled with nuts after a successful gathering. Sophia wondered why his face looked like that.

Sophia watched in awe of his beautiful showing and watched him with her full attention. As Kiyotaka took a breath in and swung with all his might down at the dummy which was in front of him. It was slashed though. I clean slash though.

Kiyotaka now stopped and tried to sheath his wooden katana. He didn't have a sheath, but he simply held the katana to the side and moved away from the dummy.

"Kiyotaka how did you do that?" Sophia inquired of him. He looked back at her obliviously and asked her: "Do what?"

Sophia, who was filled with excitement, changed the question she had asked. "How did you do it for so long without running out of breath?" Kiyotaka wondered what he was going to answer but decided to answer truthfully.

"With circular breathing." He answered back simply and monotone as he always would and did. Sophia was confused. 'Circular breathing? What's that?' Sophia asked herself.

"Circular breathing is a technique that usually is used for wind instruments, but I thought that it could be used in sword arts as what I just did." He answered.

[POV: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka]

How this works is a mix of things. Both circular breathing and a sword style called Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū. It's a sword style with specific focus on footwork and breathing. The reason I decided to try to mix these two together is that both focus on breathing. By using circular breathing, I could theoretically continue to attack for hours.

Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū has a seamless connection between each different technique. The main goal of the sword style is continuing to strike at its opponent without pause. A continuous flow of movements, avoiding unnecessary pauses or breaks during transitions between movements.

Aligning my movement with a rhythmic pattern, similar to the controlled breathing in circular breathing and developing precise timing in your strikes, blocks, and footwork to maintain a never-ending flow of attacks. The precision of the attacks and the timing of your breath and breath size all influence how long you can go on.

Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū also focuses on adaptability, which I excel in. Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū is a sword art that is designed to sometimes have open stances and movements which bait your opponent in.

To do this one needs a heightened level of concentration and endurance. You need to maintain mental focus though it all. Even in spars. Physical endurance is also needed to execute the technique consistently and effectively.

Furthermore, what is more needed is a strong connection between mind and body to ensure that your mental awareness guides the precise execution of techniques. This coordination is essential for Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū, where mastery of the sword requires a deep understanding of both physical and mental aspects.

It's essentially Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū but improved on. Not to disrespect it. It's a beautiful sword art but to survive I need to develop and adapt to any situation.

As I thought about the sword technique I had just modified, Sophia asked me a question. "Can you teach me how you do it?" Teach her huh. I'm not surprised she asked for it. "And what would I get out of it?" I asked her. I was genuinely curious about what she could offer me.