Chapter 13: Basics
In karate, they are called kihon.
In sumo, it's kimarite.
All martial arts known and practiced have a set of basic techniques that form the core of what they are and how they are defined. From basic stances to basic blocks to basic strikes. The basics form the core and foundation of the style, and these basics are also reflections of those martial arts' philosophy.
For example, in karate-do, the core principle is "there is no first strike in karate", and as such, the most basic techniques are the 5 blocks, represented with the "form of 5 blocks", or "Go-uke no kata". Whereas in kenpo karate, the core principle is "the body turned into a weapon", and the most basic technique is the forward punch, the "Seiken suki".
In kung-fu, there is the "zhung zuang" stance, representative of the dominance over the animal self.
In sumo, you have the "shiko", showing the rikkishi as spiritual leaders who cleanse holy grounds.
All martial arts have a core philosophy, and all martial arts have basic techniques that reflect said philosophy.
Even the modern art known as the "art of Alai" has the "no-guard stance" to reflect the philosophy of "kill before being killed".
Amity Blight had a simple sphere of solid mud floating in front of her. It was as basic as it could be, so basic that any abomination magic master would be embarrassed to use it in any real situation.
And yet, her opponent lay there, on the ground, knocked down by this simple thing even a child could make. It was simple, and massively effective.
Amity did not truly understand it yet, but that sphere would be the first basic technique of something new. And even if she wasn't aware of it, it was reflecting the very battle mentality she had within her, her philosophy if you will.
Today,
Amity Blight was making history.
Jessica got back up quickly and struck her stance again. She was bleeding from the nose, but smiling. She went in for another round. Amity stared confused and put her guard up, only to be thrown backwards several feet by a powerful punch. The ball remained where it was. Why? Didn't it just fly at full force to help her before?
It was dizzying, she didn't understand what was happening, and couldn't make up her mind on what to do. She had bruises and nasty cuts all over, and the weird ball that had just saved her didn't move anymore.
I mean, it was her "fist" wasn't it? Why didn't it move?!
She came under another barrage like before, normal punches this time. Punches that she was shaken by even through her guarding arms. Why wasn't her "fist" moving?!
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Her fist.
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Do fists move on their own?
No, they don't.
You have to move them yourself, you are the one that controls them.
You decide where they go and how they move. It's on you.
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The ball suddenly flew at Jessica's face once more, she managed to dodge it this time, but as soon as her attention was driven elsewhere, Amity threw the hardest punch she could at Jessica's face. Which did very little, if anything, Amity's hand hurt more from that than Jessica's face did.
And as soon as Jessica turned back to Amity to punch her again, the ball came flying back. This time, she had no choice but to leap backwards to dodge it. And they were back at the stalemate. The ball in front of Amity, this time swaying a little from side to side alongside Amity.
Amity was in a fighting stance. When did she do this? She didn't realize, but this position felt oddly… natural. Like she could be perfectly comfortable like this. She was blading off to the side like Jessica, her arms were limp on each side, hands loosely opened, and slightly raised. She was swaying from side to side slightly, like grass in the wind. It was a very loose and very relaxed stance. It almost didn't feel like her, but at the same time, it did.
Amity felt strange, it was like she was both completely relaxed and extremely focused at the same time. Like her unconscious controlled her body and her conscious controlled her actions, if that makes any sense.
She was aware of everything that her opponent was doing. Her stance, her sway, her breathing, her gaze, her focus. Everything was in sight, and she felt ready to react to whatever she might do.
Jessica tried to dive in once more, but Amity reacted unusually quickly, and the ball went flying towards her the instant she tried to move. She dodged it, and the ball fell back in place. It was as quick as a jab, and it was reacting to her movements insanely fast.
She tried again, to face the same result. But this time, she looked at Amity and noticed something. While the ball moved, she did not. She barely did in fact. It was as if the ball was reacting faster than she did, which did not make sense, it was still her moving the ball, so what was happening?
Upon thinking about it, with what little she knew of magic, it quickly began to make sense.
0.5 seconds
That is the average amount of time it takes for the body to turn a thought into movement.
When your brain makes a decision to move in a particular way, it has to send the signal of that decision through your thalamus, your cerebellum, your spinal cord, and all the way towards your muscles. Only then can the action take place as planned. This entire process takes about 0.5 seconds.
But what if you could bypass all of that, and turn a thought straight into action?
It would be almost instantaneous.
Witches have been taught that magic is an extremely deliberate process that requires distinct focus and intent to work. But that is not entirely true.
There can be magic that sprouts out of unconscious will, instinct even.
Willow uses it often, and her Jukai sumo is dependent on it.
This magic is very simple and basic; no complex constructs or spells are possible with it.
But for certain purposes, it is more than just enough, it's exactly what's needed.
If there is to be a martial art with magic at its center, it would need the kind of magic that comes from mindless thought. Anything else would just be too slow.
Little by little, it was coming together.
Jessica was faced with a problem. It was clear that she needed to get in range to land a blow on Amity, but with a "third fist" that could go as far as she wanted it to go, getting close would be a pain.
She tried a couple of times more, to no good result.
She tried once again, but this time focused on the ball to see how it would move. That's when she noticed a way to get past it. She smiled.
She went in once more, but as soon as the ball moved, she stopped and stepped to the side. And then went back in, finally getting close enough to Amity to land a nasty blow to her gut, blowing the air out of her lungs.
As quick as the ball was, it was unfortunately too quick. It would gather a massive amount of inertia that would make it fly way too far if it missed, and would take too long to take back to defend again. With that in mind, Jessica simply pulled a feint and misdirected her opponent's attack, leaving Amity wide open.
She wasted no time and went for the head, landing a fierce blow that almost knocked her out. Before she could land a third hit aimed at the chin, the ball flew back and smacked her on the back of the head. In the heat of her opening, Jessica let her guard down. Amity took the chance to fall back into position.
And they were back in the stalemate.
Another feint like that and she was screwed. Her new style was already showing some glaring weaknesses that needed to be worked on. It was crude and unpolished, and it was a long way from being able to be called "complete" …
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But damn did it feel good!