I've found that all the training that I have received from both of my parents has truly turned me into a new person. I already know that the way you train up your child will decide on the type of person they will become. I haven't reached their level yet... But that's alright, I don't expect to reach great heights of theirs, at the age of 10.
I am no prodigy...
I waste too much of my time, being lost in my thoughts. Why is this so? In the past, I use to think a lot about everything. Maybe I think about things that matter very little. I have to change, I must not dwell too much on the past because when I do, I am only keeping myself there.
"Sotaro, come on. Don't you want to train again today?." Mother says as I lag behind her. Almost dragging my feet.
"I'm coming mother, don't worry I'll be right there!" I yelled loud enough for her to hear but not loud enough for any pedestrians to be too disturbed by my loud outburst. Of course, I sped up to stand by her side as we walked. "If you want to get stronger then you must understand that consistency and immersion is essential."
"Don't just inherit techniques of others but, apply them, study them, and experiment with them." These very words she uttered, felt to be of great importance. It was also great advice as well. My mother has these moments where she gives very useful insights.
"I understand, mother."
"Good. Shall we continue on our destination?"
"Yes.'"
Thirty minutes afterward, we had arrived. I got dressed and warmed up. And also made sure to go back over all of the techniques I had learned, from both my father and my mother.
"Sotaro, today's training will be very different other sessions". As soon as she finished saying those words I heard the door of the dojo open. And there he was. My father.
"Today, your father will be joining us for this training session. Yes, we will train you together and try to drill as much of our combined martial arts knowledge in you as possible. It should be enough for you to become an, all-rounder."
"To start, your father will take care of your training."
This should be interesting, I figured that I would be training with mom but I didn't expect dad to show up. They're both really bent on taking turns training me. I'm okay with it, I have no complaints.
"Okay son, today I will introduce you to more punches to add to your arsenal. I want you to use all of the accumulated skills that you have acquired and will acquire over your life to better yourself."
"I understand, father. I'm ready to begin anytime."
My father gets in stance, a traditional fighting stance, and pivots his left foot and with that action the fist follows it.
"This is what you call as hook punch. The punch is thrown with a 90 degree bend. The twist of your body, adds torque to properly transfer the power of your punch."
He got in stance again. And I followed along mirroring every single move like, a step by step handbook.
"Your ability to pick up on things for your young age is impressive! I'm proud of you!" I was stunned by these exclamations. Father isn't usually like this. It put a smile on my face. Then he transitioned from Proud Father to Instructor.
"Ready for the next one?" Father asked in a gentle voice but with professionalism.
"I'm ready." I responded with an air of respect.
Instead of mirroring his movements, this time I carefully watched him. He had a tight guard, tighter than usual. His rear foot began the action by pivoting and then his right fist was thrown low and traveled upward from that position. Afterwards he relaxed his tight guard.
"This is what you would call an uppercut. Pretty much one of the strongest punches a person can throw."
"It sure looked pretty powerful with you doing it father. Your demonstration enough told me it was in the realm of being, a fight ender."
Father chuckled a little bit. He seemed so amused with my awareness of the obvious. I'm beginning to think that he personally wanted to hear me respond like this.
"I want to teach you two more techniques before I hand over instruction to your mother. These last two are going to be a little weird."
Weird? Well if he says so, then I believe it.
"Overhand hook is what we will do first. Lastly we'll do the corkscrew punch. Are you ready?"
While he was speaking I was already warming up my shoulders, prepping for the last two. "Yes, sir!"
"Similarly to the straight, you will use your dominant hand. And as you pivot you want to crunch your body and throw the punch downward in a shape of an arc."
It seemed a lot more than weird. Unnatural is the word that I would use.
"And for the last punch I don't think I even need to show you a demonstration. All I have to do is tell you that you twist the fist of a straight or jab."
Interesting.
I think its about time I handed off your instruction to your mother.
"Sotaro our session shouldn't take too long. In order to make sure of that I think we should begin right away. What do you think?"
"I'm completely fine with that."
"Let's begin! I want you to angle your arm shorter than that of a hook punch." I did exactly that. Leaving my right hand in a chop position on my chest.
"Then twist your torso back and throw it forward as hard as you can. This is known as the elbow strike. Shadowbox, and treat them the same way you would treat punches. Forming combinations."
Because of the limited range and unfamiliarity, I couldn't exactly do a hook punch kind of attack towards the face confidently so, I angle down to hit what would be the stomach. Then I turned my head to look behind me and threw it straight back.
After that, I mimicked the uppercut motion landing with my elbow instead of my fist.
"Looks good, I think that's enough of that. Now I would like for you to do a kick. A very simple one called the back kick. Lift leg and angle it at 90° and throw it straight back. Don't forget to look back while doing this to make sure you land your target."
I tried it and thought that it was easier to grasp than the roundhouse.
Good, Now we'll move on to the spear hand. Close your finger and throw them straight like trying to stab with the fingertips. Targets of the spear hand should be soft areas of the body like the eyes and throat.
This training didn't go on for too long at all... Infact it was rather fast paced because after the spear hand I learned the hip toss, shoulder throw and knee strikes.
I've inched closer to being able to chamber all of these techniques in more efficient ways. I will be even stronger in future, far exceeding the level I am today.
Mark my words, I will be strong but not just physically but have the mental fortitude to push the limit.