Post by BlacKitten on Aug 5, 2013 20:42:43 GMT -5
“That rock…,” the desert warrior briefly glanced at the fragments of the rock in which he had shatter with a single strike of his spear. The color between the fragments and the ground were completely different. It didn’t matter. His eyes stared back towards the unusual creature that certainly did not belong in the desert. Regardless, the black and white colored animal or human was rather adorably cute in appearance, very innocent looking.
Maru appeared rather happy by his excited arm movements as he energetically walked closer towards the man. To the man’s surprise, the panda kneeled down on both legs before tilting his head downward. Politely bowing in respect, Maru humbly asked for a favor, “May you teach Maru the ways of using the spear?”
Confusion was written all over the man’s face with a flavor of surprise. The talking panda had requested something that no outsider had ever done, “We don’t traditionally teach outsiders of out techniques. Why do you wish to learn? You took down a couple of spearmen, so you obviously already know how to fight.”
“A good martial artist must be open-minded to explore the other styles of combat in order to widen one’s knowledge. There is no such thing as a perfect martial art. By learning from others, Maru may improve himself.” He paused for a moment, then continued, “… and besides… Maru knows that you’re stronger than the other spearmen. Skill is a very hard thing to hide. You’re much talented than the others.”
The spearman noticed that Maru had already figured out that he was the one who knocked the panda unconscious when they were at the pitfall. Undaunted, the man stepped forward toward the panda, looking down. This was an unusual and awkward situation for him. Squatting down, he held out his own spear in both hands, “Perhaps we both can learn something from each other. Shall we begin…, Maru?”
Hearing his own name made Maru feel acknowledged somehow, definitely a big difference than being seen as food. His head lifted back up, seeing a long wooden pole being handed to him with a spearhead at one end. Politely and slowly as if they were performing a ritual, he accepted to borrow the spear with both paws. Rigid yet smooth, this spear was well crafted with fine craftsmanship. Standing the long spear on its butt end, it stood at least half a meter taller than him, roughly two and a half meters long.
The spearman called over friend of his, asking to bring at least two more spears. Not before long, his friend did as he was told, carrying a spear in each of his hand, handling one to Maru’s teacher. Pointing the spear towards the panda, he seemed to have challenged him to a duel, “Let’s see what you can do, Maru.”
He was expecting a step by step instruction on how to use the spear such as how to grip one, starting with the basics, but it seemed Maru was being tested already. Ignorant of any other methods, the panda faced his adversary sideways while standing in a wide stance with a straight spine. His knees were bent low, providing a strong foundation, and his head was turned to the side, facing his foe in the eyes. Gripping the pole on the far end of the butt side, the width of his grasp was shoulder length. Besides a different weapon, everything felt the same. Long ago, this way of fighting was used to fend off multiple attacks while guarding a door or a gate. It contained only six and a half techniques, since a long pole lacked the verity of movement due to its sheer length. Raising, thrusting, crescent, horizontal, vertical, and circular were the primary movements. Each movement can be used to attack or deflect.
Maru’s opponent stood sideways as well, but his stance was much higher. The distance between his grasp of the spear was much wider. While sacrificing stability, he gained a much more mobile posture. Both the spearman and Maru seemed to know the little ‘secret’ of the weapon usage as they face each other. By pointing the spear directly at the opponent’s eyes at the perfect angle, the opponent cannot see the long pole anymore, only the tip. The goal was to prevent the opponent from calculating the distance of the pole was due to their perspective.
The desert fighter made his first attempt to attack. A rapid barrage of thrusts were fired from his spear, quickly thrusting and retreating repeatedly from all angles at random as if testing the panda’s reaction. To Maru’s surprise, his opponent’s spear was slightly bending like a snake. Unlike the spear he held which was firm, his opponent’s spear was much flexible, almost ruining the accuracy of it, but it made it a bit more unpredictable. It seemed there were different types of spears that these clan members use, and this flexible spear in particular was very suitable for speed and agility.
Defending was pointless; reacting was futile. Trying to react and deflect the rapid thrusts was like playing a game of Whack-A-Mole; too slow, the player would lose. To win, one must attack, and the offensive attack can be a great defense. The panda completely ignored the fury of thrusts coming at him. Intercepting the timing, Maru shifted his whole body towards his foe, and he thrust the spear in one quick motion. He did not retreat the spear; he thrust went all the way through.
His opponent ended his barrage of jabs by ending it with a crescent downward deflection, knocking Maru’s thrust off course. With the panda’s weapon down, he lunged straight in towards the opening. However, the panda didn’t waste time for defense. Instead, he redirected his spear upwards as if he was lifting a shovel. The far end of the pole whacked onto his opponent’s grip, hurling the opponent’s spear spinning upwards.
The spearman leaped several meters off the ground, snatched the spear in midair, and he plummeted back down instantly with a swing of his spear. Stepping back, the panda aimed the sharp point of his weapon towards the opponent, thrusting it straight up. CLASH! A long silence filled in the pause of astonishment. Maru gapped slightly, amazed, speechless. Tip to tip, the two spears of the fighters canceled each other out! But… this wasn’t the panda’s doing. “He… blocked the point of my spear… with the point of his spear?” On top of that, his opponent did it in midair!
Throughout the little spar, many other desert folks crowded at the side, watching as bystanders. Neither of the two fighters bothered to notice them. Maru was like a sturdy brick wall, and his opponent was like an acrobat, dancing and whirling around the panda at all angles, including from above. The panda knew far too well that his opponent was only toying with him. The speed and accuracy of his foe were one a whole different level, and the panda was more used to hand to hand combat. WHANG!
The full-fledged spearman whacked the long pole out of Maru’s hands.
Without warning whatsoever, Maru’s spear suddenly vanished the moment he tried to pick it up! Audience’s jaws dropped in surprise, utterly dumbfounded. Was this panda a magician? What happened? Where did the spear go? Tilting his head, the bear-like creature was just as confused as they were.