March 7th's cheat sheets since she started her sword training.
March 7th's Sword Training Notes
Page One
Learning swordplay is so difficult! Just remembering a sword style alone makes my brain start steaming. But, Master Yanqing says that sword styles are the foundation of swordplay, and nothing can ever stand firm on an unstable foundation. If you don't properly memorize your sword styles, all of your footwork and stances will be affected.
Hehe, fortunately, I am a natural genius. I have created my own set of sword style cheat sheets, so I can remember them easily, no matter how complicated they are.
I've named these sets of sword styles that Master Yanqing has taught me, with all of their feet and wrist movements, the "Crazy Limbs Technique."
Standing firm, collect your breath, believe inside that you are the best Draw back your sword, hand in the air, get your enemy feeling scared Spinning steps with a relaxed wrist, it takes a while to get the gist Approach sideways and wait for your moment, this is how you crush your opponent A diagonal step before slicing through and even the Aeons are cleaved in two Step back, spin and one more blow, if the first misses, you have another go Step back, sword in, raise the pipa, take a short rest before going deeper Trace along the seven stars, stepping left and right, make sure your rhythm is clear and tight Stand up, raise your sword, knee as a booster, standing tall and proud like a rooster Retreating and advancing mustn't be slow, but moving too fast will hurt your toes Lunge down to slice, stab up while they're blind, this will make your rival lose their mind After a right slash, rise up tall, maintain good defenses and never fall Stab and slash in a thousand ways and your opponent never knows your plays Body and mind must be one with blade, only then can progress be made Again, again, a dozen times, practice from morning until the dark of night Sheath your blade and calm your breathing, March 7th is a hero worth believing Page Two
Ahhh! I'm going to lose my mind! Everything Master Yunli teaches is completely different from what Master Yanqing teaches!
Master Yanqing teaches me to focus on footwork, telling me that I need to move flexibly while being aware of my left and right. But Master Yunli said that these are all just useless fancy movements. She said that I needed to learn how to exert power and charge up my strength to unleash a strike with my full force.
Now it's like my legs are dancing while my arms are swinging a battleaxe. If this continues, I'm going to end up with a split personality!
Ah... No time to stress over this now, I'll memorize Yunli's sword style first and worry about it later. Although, her set of sword styles is pretty short. It's basically just about direct attack, I'll call it the "Simple and Rough Technique."
Breathing deep and legs planted steady, a hero never falls and is always ready Hold your breath, sword out straight, this position will be your fate A step, a thrust, like thunder's boom, scares opponents to their doom A direct slash crashing into their blade, though your brain rings, you won't be swayed Drop your arm and slash across the core, they're now two halves forevermore Chain of strikes, diagonal sweep, with each blow slash strong and deep Precision counts, not just the show, the key is a decisive blow One strike to kill, that's the trick, strength can make the miracle stick.
Page Three
With the past few days of my masters' careful training and my diligent practice, both my footwork and strength have seen an improvement. I have also come to learn a few things for myself.
Although my masters' teachings place emphasis on different things, they both take different paths to reach the same result. If you have only footwork and no strength, your blade has no destructive power. If you have only brute strength and no footwork, your moves become repetitive and predictable. Integrating these two approaches is much easier said than done. Thankfully, I have my sword style cheat sheets.
Keep it up, March! If you carry on like this, you might even overtake your masters some day, hehehe...