Training of a Master
-Madrid 1812 -
The instructor lowered his blade and frowned.
"Come now, Diego. Your father sent you here to learn the art of swordplay and I am not going to disappoint him."
"I don't have the passion for it as I do for my other studies, Sir Edmond." Diego sighed and lowered his saber.
"Give it time." The man counseled. "You have only been here for three weeks. Not yet sufficient time to get settled and aquatinted with the life you will be living here for the next four years."
Diego's eyes lit with the implications of Kendall's words . He was excited to be at the University. So many things were opening before his eyes. Things that he had never even dared to explore. He couldn't learn and study enough. He wanted to do everything and learn everything at once.
"One thing I am going to make sure you learn," Kendall swung his saber up and in the blink of an eye had Diego disarmed and the blade to the young man's throat, "is how to defend yourself."
Diego grinned and stared at his instructor. No man could possibly be that fast. He hadn't even seen Kendall move.
Now he was curious. He would have to make sure he paid close attention to these lessons so that one day he would be able to anticipate his instructors moves and possibly disarm the man himself. As much as he despised swordplay, Diego realized that he would need to learn it and learn it well. For there were unknown and unforeseen dangers in such a newly settled territory as Alta California and a man would need to know how to defend himself and his family.
Diego nodded at his instructor and bent to retrieve the blade that had been knocked out of his tight grasp.
As Diego bent, Kendall turned his practice blade to the side and slapped the young de la Vega on the backside.
Diego grasped the sword and snapped to attention, his blade in the en guarde position and ready to strike.
"Never take your eyes off your opponent." Kendall instructed. "Never give into anger."
Diego's eyes narrowed as the sting from the blade receded and all that was left was his wounded pride.
"A good swordsman will provoke and taunt you by whatever means is at his disposal." Kendall attacked and allowed Diego to complete the easy parries. "When you anger an opponent, his control and common sense falters. That makes him an easy target and easy to disarm."
Kendall's movements became quicker and Diego had to work harder to make the parries. The parries were the same but the pace had changed and with each series of parries, Diego was struck with his instructors blade because he was not quick enough.
This angered Diego, and hurt when the blade impacted with bare skin, and he fought harder to be quick and to parry his Master's blade.
"A cool head, Diego." Kendall instructed when he noticed his apprentice getting a little hot under the collar. "That is what will win tournaments. That is what will keep you alive."
Diego nodded and concentrated on stilling his rapidly beating heart. He was so concerned with trying to parry his instructor's attacks that he did not attempt to study the man's movements and how casually he carried his blade.
"And don't grip the blade so tightly," Kendall showed Diego the proper way to hold the blade so that his fingers would not cramp or be bent when he faced a heavy handed fencer.
"Now see how comfortable that feels?" Kendall asked as Diego felt his grip on the saber change. It felt more comfortable, more natural in his hands now and he felt that he had more freedom of movement.
"Now parry five." Kendall instructed.
The young man parried above his head but was not quick enough in returning to the ready position and was struck in the wrist by Kendall's practice blade.
"You must be quick and accurate, Diego." Kendall smiled, repeated the same action and was pleased when Diego parried quickly and returned to the defensive position. "As soon as you have parried my blade, you must come in for the strike. Don't think about it. Just do it! If you give your opponent the chance, you will loose the opportunity. And in a battle, that could be fatal."
A few more exchanges and Diego had grasped the concept.
"Very good." The older man grinned. "You are a quick learner, Diego. You will be a fine swordsman in no time."
Diego smiled. " Well that is, it seems, what my father sent me here to learn."
"Oh I think he wants you to take from your studies here anything and everything you can. Not just the art of the blade." Kendall's arm moved faster than the eyes could see and Diego parried unsteadily.
Diego's body jerked as he blocked Kendall's attacks and the older man nodded.
"Smooth movements and fluidity will come in time." Kendall patted Diego on the shoulder when he noticed the young man straighten his posture and stretch tense muscles.
Diego breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. Kendall gave him no rest, however, and attacked the young man with his guard down.
Diego's blade skidded across the polished marble and he sighed.
"Pick it up."
Diego stared at his instructor then cast a quick look at his blade lying a few feet away. Diego took a step towards the blade but one step was all as Kendall's blade sliced through the air and blocked his path.
Diego's mind raced. He needed to think of an alternate way of reaching the blade without getting stung again. Diego could already see that Kendall was going to make retrieving his blade difficult.
Diego crouched low, his lean legs bending easily, and began to circle Kendall like a lion stalking it's prey.
Kendall thrust a few swings at Diego's midsection, deliberately pulling back at the last second so that he didn't hurt his student. The next time Kendall struck at his student, Diego twisted away, found an unguarded arm and shoved Kendall away from where his blade lay.
Diego leapt toward his blade and just managed to slide his fingers around the handle as Kendall recovered and swung at his student. The tip of his blade punctured the arm of Diego's shirt and Diego spun away from the blade to get his bearings. He was all of a sudden nervous about the sharpness of the blade and he needed to concentrate at the task at hand rather than allowing any other thoughts into his muddled brain.
Diego spun away from his opponent, quickly bringing his blade into the defensive position and backed away.
"Good." Kendall smiled. "Very good."
Diego did not take his eyes off his Master. He watched the mans movements like a hawk. His footsteps, his eyes, his hands, his body.
Each gave away a little more about his opponent and Diego leapt to exploit it.
In mid-step, seeing Kendall's eyes waver to a student who had just entered the room, Diego lunged.
While not as quick or as graceful as Kendall could have done it, Diego's blade crashed against Kendall's and for a moment the unsuspecting student thought Diego would disarm his instructor.
Kendall recovered quickly and pushed the young man back but found himself unable to disarm Diego as he had been able to previously.
Suddenly, Kendall stepped back, saluted and pointed the tip of his blade to the floor.
"That was excellent, Diego!" Kendall exclaimed.
The young man released the breath that he didn't realize he had been holding and smiled.
"You're grasped the importance of never letting your guard down no matter what may be distracting you.." Kendall praised. He nodded to the other student, indicating he would be done momentarily, and continued.
"You've discovered that simply watching your opponent's blade is not enough. You are correct to watch everything that could be used as a potential weapon against you. Hands, eyes, feet, legs, arms. All these, if used correctly, can be an incredible aid in combat."
Kendall pulled the chain that held his timepiece and glanced at the time. "Hurry now. I don't want you to be late for your next class."
Diego nodded, gathered his things and saluted before taking his leave.
"I've taught you the basics and now I want you to have better control over your blade. I want you to learn tip control." Kendall stood beside a large stuffed head with several markings on it . They crossed in several places and these were the places where Diego would be targeting with his blade.
"Now at first I just want you to stand in position and extend your arms so that it barely touches the target."
Kendall took the blade from Diego's hand and demonstrated. Diego nodded his understanding and took his blade when it was offered to him.
"Now I want you to extend and then immediately go into the defensive position. Speed and quickness will keep a man alive in battle."
Diego nodded and extended his arm toward the target. After striking, off center, he immediately brought his arm back to the defense position.
"You will learn quickness and accuracy with this exercise and I want you to aim for a position on the target and see if you can hit it consecutively." Diego nodded and it took some time but he was able to hit the same target more than once in a row.
"Now I want you to start from a different position."
Diego's eyes narrowed when he didn't understand.
"I want you start from a parry four position and aim for a different spot on the target."
Diego did as was instructed and after ten minutes of the exercise, he was instructed to complete the exercise from the five position.
After 45 minutes of this truly mindless exercise, Diego's arm was beginning to ache. He flexed and rubbed it and Kendall smiled.
"You'll probably want to soak it in warm water tonight. It will ache for a few days. The more you work at using your arm, the less it will hurt when you practice."
Diego nodded and breathed deeply.
"That's all for today."
Diego nodded and reached for his things.
"Today we are going to learn how to effectively defend on horseback." Kendall mounted his stallion and motioned for Diego to follow him.
It was an 'off' day for the rest of Diego's studies so Kendall had taken his student out into the countryside to learn some new, complicated moves.
Kendall was amazed at how well his student was proceeding, not just in the study of the sword but in the other two classes that Kendall taught as well. The man was a remarkable student. He had a gift for learning and the will and determination to soak up all the information like a sponge.
"You're an excellent rider, Diego." Kendall smiled as their steeds took off at a trot across the countryside. "I'm sure you don't have to worry about falling off the horse."
Kendall chuckled and Diego shot a frown at his instructor.
"You have everything all set?" Kendall asked as he surveyed the protective gear that Diego had donned for the occasion.
Diego nodded as he placed the mask over his face.
"We are going to be concentrating on your defense only. I don't want you to attack or riposte. That will come later when you have learned better control."
Diego nodded slowly, his eyes barely visible through the slits in the mask.
"Don't worry, I know how much you ache to get in a good swing at me." Kendall chuckled and pulled the reins so that his stallion would circle Diego's. "You've still got three years to get in that one good swing."
"And why only one?" There was a hint of amusement in the young man's voice and Kendall could not see his eyebrows rise in question.
Kendall laughed and lowered the mask over his head. "Because one shot is all you will get before I unseat you from that horse rather unattractively."
"Ah." Diego laughed and parried the first of many attacks his instructor inflicted on him.
"On horseback," Kendall instructed as his stallion continued to circle, "the legs are an easy target. You need to learn how to parry low to protect them. While at the same time still be able to parry high to protect your head and vitals from being hit as well."
Diego nodded and then grimaced in pain as his parry was not quick enough and the side of Kendall's blade caught him in the lower calf.
Diego backed his stallion away so that he could gather his bearings, take a deep breath and be prepared for the next assault, which he had learned, could come when he least expected it.
It did and Diego surprised himself as well as his instructor by blocking several blows in succession all directed at different portions of his anatomy. Kendall was impressed but was determined to not let the man become too smug with his growing abilities. He quickly switched blade hands and swung low, again catching Diego in the lower calf.
Diego gritted his teeth as the blade struck the exact same place as it had moments before.
"I am going to have some nice bruises if you keep hitting me in the exact same place time and time again." Diego sighed and continued to parry some easy attacks.
"The price for greatness." Kendall chuckled, and swung his blade toward Diego's head. "The ladies will get over a few bruises marring that body of yours soon enough."
Diego laughed, carefully hiding the blush beneath his mask, as he turned his stallion away and blocked his instructor's blade at an awkward angle.
Kendall nodded his approval, removed his mask and saluted. Diego followed suit and grinned, his thin mustache turning up as he smiled.
"The whip is probably the easiest combat that I will be teaching you." Kendall instructed as he unraveled the long strip of leather and slid it across the floor like a snake.
"Oh?" Diego smiled and paid close attention. This usually meant that something unexpected was going to happen and he wanted to be prepared for it.
"There are certain disciplines that come along with learning to use a whip effectively."
Diego nodded and unraveled the whip that had been given to him by his instructor.
"Now this is what you do to control it. In saber the same thing is true for a whip. You need to control the tip."
The snap of the whip echoed around the room and those walking by on the upper levels stopped to watch. Very few of Kendall's students learned the whip. Many found it difficult enough with their other studies to concentrate on more than one form of combat. The whip was not the first choice of many of the young, proud men who came to train under Sir Edmond Kendall. Many found it obsolete beside the saber.
"The whip can reach targets that sometimes a saber cannot." Kendall instructed his student. "When you don't want to get too close to your target, you can use the whip to disarm them, to strike them, to do just about anything that you can think of."
Diego nodded as he slipped on gauntlets to protect his hands.
"Now, attack me."
Diego narrowed his eyes and began to advance slowly. His eyes darted from his instructor to the whip and back again. He certainly didn't want to be stung by the sharp leather.
"You must show no fear or hesitation in combat, Diego." Kendall casually slid the whip across the marble floor, unnerving his opponent further. He could see that Diego was nervous about getting struck and Kendall would just have to put his mind at rest. Strike him and get it over with!
He could see Diego's movements clearly and correctly anticipated his move.
Diego feinted to the left, and attempted to strike his instructor as he raised his arm to extend the whip. What Diego didn't catch was that Kendall did not go for the feint and thus there was no area left open for Diego to strike. Diego was not quick enough in his retreat and the students watching from above cringed as the whip wrapped itself around Diego's protected wrist and wrenched the saber out of his grasp.
Diego took a deep breath and fought down the anger. A few seconds later he smiled. "It seems that my saber spends more time on the floor than it does in my hand."
"Well then, I think you should join it!" Kendall laughed and cracked the whip towards his opponent. This time the leather wrapped itself securely around the young caballero's ankles and Kendall pulled.
The young caballero from California joined his fallen saber with a crash.
Those watching from the upper levels could only chuckle and move on. Their talented schoolmate had met his match on the combat field.
Diego did not move as Kendall, with a flick of his wrist, unwound the whip from Diego's ankles and wrapped it around himself .
Diego stared at his instructor through dark hair that had fallen into his eyes and grinned.
"Well it looks like I had better begin to understand what you are teaching me or I am not going to be able to sit down in my other classes."
Kendall laughed and bent to help the young Don to his feet.
"You'll catch on. You've taken on a lot this semester. You've been here for less than a year and you are already excelling far past my other students who have been here much longer."
Diego smiled. "I try to do everything to the best of my ability."
"Now that you have the finer points of saber under your belt. I want to teach you a little about some other weapons." Kendall turned the staff over in his hands and Diego could not help but to feel threatened. "You think I am ready or would have such need to use these skills?" Diego asked calmly, his well practiced eyes darting from Kendall, to his body, to the staff and then back again.
"An opponent will use anything at his disposal as a weapon and you must be prepared to defend against anything." Kendall pulled a long cloak off a nearby seat and swung it at Diego who evaded it easily.
The staff clattered to the floor and Diego retreated as Kendall's arms were both now covered by the long, flowing material.
When he twirled the cloak over his head and then proceeded to snap it back like a whip, Diego noticed a gleam in the light. He twisted quickly away when the knife came dangerously close to cutting his midsection.
"Very good." Kendall smiled and advanced on the matured caballero. "You didn't think you would ever be quick enough to anticipate my moves, did you?"
"When my lessons began four years ago, I didn't expect to be able to defeat you either," Diego chuckled, advanced on his instructor. He grasped the cloak as it came down on him and caught the blade of the knife on the guard of his saber. He wrenched the cloak out of Kendall's hands and caught the blade before it struck him.
Kendall dropped the blade and launched himself toward the staff lying a few feet away.
When he swung the smooth piece of wood at the young man, it impacted with his blade sending tremors up his hand and arm.
Kendall wrenched the blade out of his opponents grasp. Not an easy task since Diego kept a loose grip on the handle so that just this very thing would not happen.. His blade clattered to the floor and Diego leapt out of the way of the long staff before it struck him in the head. He ducked under the staff as it was swung carefully and deliberately at vital portions of his anatomy that would down him immediately if he were to allow himself to be struck.
Diego grasped for the staff lying on the floor and brought it up to smack loudly with his opponents. After a few minutes of heavy, bone jarring strokes, the men retreated and Diego used this opportunity to attack rather than to rest and regain his breath.
He swung tight to the inside and just barely missed his instructor. Kendall took a deep breath and winked appreciatively at Diego when he missed.
"Before I graduate, it is only fitting that you get a taste of your own medicine." Diego grinned and swung low at Kendall's feet. The man easily leapt over the staff but landed awkwardly and Diego exploited this.
Soon the man was quickly beating down Diego's attacks, but was doing so at the cost of much needed energy. Diego's attacks were hard and precise and Kendall finally faltered. Diego smiled and wrenched the staff from his instructors grasp.
"It is very much like saber combat. There it is easy to see where the attacks will lead to once they have been started." Diego slid the staff under his instructors legs and pulled. Kendall toppled to the floor with a loud 'Ooof'. The students watching from above had heard that Diego had defeated Kendall before but none had ever seen it happen. Many just stared in shock and others smiled and continued on to their assigned tasks.
"Now I have repaid you in kind for all the times that you put me on my backside!" Diego laughed and reached a hand down to help his instructor to his feet.
Kendall nodded and reached out to grasp his friend's hand. Instead of allowing Diego to pull him to his feet, he pulled with all his might, using his legs to remove Diego's from underneath him.
Diego was deposited once again on his backside right beside his instructor.
"And remember what I told you." Kendall laughed. "You would only get one chance ."
"I'm sorry to see you go, Diego." The older man embraced his young friend tightly.
Passengers were already boarding the boat that would take them thousands of miles away to seemingly another land.
The wind whipped dark hair across Diego's face as he returned the tight embrace of his instructor and friend.
"My father needs me to return home." Diego smiled.
"All of your hard work will be rewarded in life." Kendall smiled. "You don't need a piece of parchment signed by a few University officials to prove that you attended and excelled at this level of learning and knowledge."
"Thank you for all of your hard work in getting all of this information into my hard head and making it stay there." Diego chuckled.
Dock workers came to Diego's baggage and loaded it carefully onto the ship.
"My turn." Diego sighed a bit regretfully and gave his friend one last tight embrace.
"I'll be back one of these days. You can count on it."
Kendall nodded and watched as Diego took one last look at the land that had been his home for nearly four years. The young man had recently had a personal heartbreak and now he was headed home to lord knew what kind of corruption plaguing his home. Kendall chuckled at the thought of Diego using his excellent skills in defense of his home and family. No one would be able to match his skills. Of that, Kendall was certain.
Diego turned to wave to his friend but his eyes and his mind were elsewhere. Somewhere in the large city that he was leaving was the fiance that had left him for no understandable reason. A life that he had dreamed for the last few months was gone in a day. It had been almost a month but the pain and heartache of loosing Sephira would be forever in his mind.
Perhaps the long voyage home would push her out of his memory. Certainly he would find a lovely young woman in Los Angeles that would make him has happy as he had been with Sephira. A woman alive with courage and spirit. A woman who would love him for his faults as well as his strengths. A woman who would not try to change him or change herself because of him.
He would find the right woman. He even had an old friend to visit when he returned home. Perhaps she would still be available. She would be the marrying age now and he had loved her since they were children. Maybe his love had been just a boyhood fantasy. He doubted that was the case but did not dismiss that is was certainly possible.
As he laid down on his bunk, he thought of what the young woman would look like. He would have to ask his father, when he returned, what had become of her ........
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