Chapter 138: Competitive Kendo

"Which school of Kendo did you learn from previously?"

Kimura Kazuki cut to the chase and asked her right away. He had to be clear on which school of Kendo it was that Harunaka had learned from.

In his mind, he had not planned to teach Harunaka the core styles of the Yagyu Flying Sword Style as it would attract too much attention. Additionally, comprehension of sword power was required to learn some of the core styles. Yet, Harunaka was merely an ordinary person and even came from a well-off family, so she had never encountered the mysterious unknowns before.

However, it was definitely possible to teach her the foundations of the Yagyu Flying Sword Style.

Seeing Harunaka lower her head after he asked her the question, Kimura Kazuki wondered what was on her mind and frowned as he asked, "Harunaka-san?"

"Huh?" Harunaka raised her head vacantly as she heard Kimura Kazuki's voice. Seeing Kimura-senpai looking at her, she was put into a momentary panic, but she quickly regained her composure and replied apologetically, "I'm sorry, senpai, I was distracted."

Not asking what it was about, Kimura Kazuki nodded his head and repeated his question.

Hearing this, Harunaka explained, "I learned the Hokushin Itto-Ryu, mainly learning cut-off strikes. Shintani-sensei taught it to me."

Shintani-sensei... Could it be Shintani Satorusa? Kimura Kazuki was stunned momentarily.

Furuhashi Sakurakyu had told him before that he had hired a Kendo instructor for Harunaka called Shintani Satorusa.

"Your instructor only taught you cut-off strikes? Isn't that a neglect of duty?"

Harunaka's eyes dimmed, "Shintani-sensei was a police officer of the Police Department, she died on the job when she was caught in a fight with a criminal

five years ago."

Kimura Kazuki turned silent for a while.

Most of the Kendo practitioners who were above the Rokudan level in Japan were police officers. Of course, it was not a necessity for police officers to learn Kendo. It was the other way round where most of those who practiced Kendo would end up choosing to join the police force. In Japan, many children would choose to learn Kendo, just like sports students who were raised in a particular direction.

It just so happened that the practice of Japanese Kendo usually ended up being life-long cultivation.

This was due to the age restrictions and time limitations imposed on the practice of Kendo at different levels. One level must be fulfilled before attempting tests for the next level, and so on for level after level. Kendo practitioners mostly ended up choosing to be police officers as it was part of the job description of a police officer where officers were always engaged in a fight between life and death. Police officers had to be skilled to partake in crime-fighting, or else there would be a high chance of them dying on duty.

One look at the National Kendo Championships would show that the champion titles were mostly won by police officers, followed by teachers. In fact, the champions from the years 1989 to 2013 were all members of the police force.

Kimura Kazuki chose not to dwell on the solemn topic and asked bluntly, "So that means that you only know how to perform cut-off strikes?"

"No, I also taught myself the Tachi sword basics of the Hokushin Itto-Ryu."

Kimura Kazuki nodded his head in approval.

Cut-off strikes were one of the signature moves of the Itto-Ryu school and were highly regarded upon in the school. It was a technique used for frontal combat that was mostly used in one step, one sword distance.

It was an essential distance in any Kendo competition where taking one step forward meant being able to strike the opponent while taking one step backward would allow one to be able to dodge the opponent's attack.

A cut-off strike was a movement in which the shinai was raised high and swung down in a big motion.

It was a movement that utilized the basic strength of both arms and the detailed maneuver of the shinai, allowing the sword to reach maximum speed before reaching above the head. Then, all that has to be done is to extend the arms fully,

There were still techniques to release more force from the arms. However, to Kimura Kazuki, the cut-off strike basically depended on speed and was a technique that was used in a life or death battle.

At the same time, Kimura Kazuki realized that the swinging practices Harunaka had been doing in the house before were cut-off strikes. Of course, the empty swing practices were also known as suburi.

Suburi was the foundation of practicing Kendo, but it was far more complex than just the basics.

The process of practicing suburi was also a constant recalibration of one's understanding of Kendo, particularly in understanding the motion of raising and swinging the sword. Some practitioners understood it as a motion utilizing the arms, whereas some practitioners swung from the wrists or their shoulders. At the same time, their footwork had to be aligned with the swing. This was why many practitioners ended up with different styles in combat even if they learned from the same school of Kendo techniques.

"Let's have a friendly match so that I can gauge your skill level."

"Sure!"

Seeing both of them head into the changing rooms to change their clothes, the other members' eyes glowed with anticipation.

The members were familiar with the capability of Furuhashi Harunaka. They were not exactly sure how strong she was, but it suffices to say that the Head of the Kendo Association was no match for her. It was well-known that Furuhashi Harunaka would take up the position of Head once Hokuto-san graduates.

However, what they were anticipating was the capability of Kimura Kazuki. Though they had all seen the video, but it was simply video clip and would not be as interesting as watching him fight in reality.

Kimura Kazuki was fully equipped in Kendo competition attire when he walked out and was also clad in protective gear with a bamboo sword, a shinai, in hand. In all honesty, he felt restricted in this attire, but it was not like he had a choice. Competitive Kendo required all practitioners to dress this way for protection. In fact, there was an abundance of rules in competitive Kendo.

"The three of us will be the referees." Iwai Hokuto held the two Vice Head of Departments and smiled, "Kimura Kazuki will be the red flag, and Furuhashi Harunaka will be the white flag."

Naturally, Kimura Kazuki and Harunaka had no objections.

The two of them stood in the middle of the dojo and bowed to each other right after Iwai Hokuto signaled the commencement of the match.

After the bowing ritual was done, Kimura Kazuki held the sword with both his hands. He could grip the sword with a single hand, but an upper section grip would be required.

An upper section grip was not a Kendo rank. It was a stance where the sword was held with a single hand high above the head as a starting position. The stance came with a poor defense, and the strikes would never be as strong or vigorous as a dual handed grip. Hence, the grip was rarely used unless the person was an exceptionally skilled Kendo practitioner or was someone who practiced a dual-wielding style.

Kimura Kazuki understood that the rules and regulations in competitive Kendo had their own purposes, but they were all restrictions from his perspective.

He could not be bothered to use a single-handed grip anyway. Moreover, the Yagyu Flying Sword Style was originally dual-handed but was merely modified by himself to be wielded with one hand.

The moment the match began, Kimura Kazuki stayed still and made no move as he listened to the crisp shout let out by Harunaka, knowing that this was what they called Kiai in competitive Kendo.

There were two types of Kiai in Japanese Kendo. The first type was shouts that were let out when not conducting attacks and was the type of Kiai produced to announce resolve and courage to shock opponents. It served to signal the opponent that you were ready for combat and could strike at any moment. This type of Kiai was not a necessity, but it was purposeful for beginners as it could also relieve the anxiety of being in a competition.

The second type of Kiai was the type of shouts that were produced during attacks. Strictly speaking, the shout let out had to an announcement of the body part that was to be attacked. The word head had to be announced if the participant was aiming for the head, and arms had to be announced in Japanese if they aimed for the arms. If the body part that was hit differed from the shout produced, the referee could decide that it was a lucky hit and nullify the points earned. This was why the second type of Kiai was necessary.

Of course, the requirement was less strict in an actual competition. Sometimes, when meaningless shouts were let out when the attacker made a strike, or even when other weird sounds were made, the referees would usually allow points to be earned.

In any event, it would be fine as long as there was a shout.

Harunaka moved her feet and hopped around as the match started, allowing her the capacity to react quickly to attacks from the opponent. However, as she noticed that Kimura-senpai held his initial position without any intention to attack, she knew that Kimura-senpai probably intended to observe her skill levels.

She frowned as she collected her thoughts and took the initiative to launch the first attack.