Kapitel 31: Ki & Ranks

"He won!" Kenichi cheered. "He actually won!"

Ohma walked over to them, his legs weak and trembling but with a smile of victory on his face. The coach ran passed him towards Kanou who still lay there unconscious.

"He is not moving!" The coach shouted. "Somebody help! Call an ambulance or something. I don't think he is breathing."

Akisame walked forward and shared a look with Ohma.

"Do whatever you want?" Ohma sighed and Akisame walked passed him toward the coach.

"Let me have a look," Akisame said as he bent down.

"Are you a doctor?" The coach asked.

Akisame replied, "Just an amateur one," before getting to one knee and picking up Kanou.

"He just needs a little shock." Akisame as he snaked arms under Kanou's armpits and joined them together behind his neck then pulled back. Kanou's mouth flung open as he gasped for air. Akisame released him before grabbing his upper arm and wrist and popping the joints back into place.

"AAAAAA!" Kanou screamed his pain as his eyes opened with a jolt, back from the unconscious state.

"How are you feeling now?" Akisame asked as he released his hold.

Kanou got back on his feet, feeling a bit dizzy, his eyes set on Ohma. "Oi, Tokita!"

Ohma turned to look at Kanou.

"He still wants more?" said Kenichi.

Ohma sighed, "Finally, you are calling me by my name."

"This isn't over yet, we'll settle someday," Kanou growled.

"No more street fights!" The coach cried. "You are going to represent Japan in the Olympics."

"I don't give a fuck about medals or Olympics," Kanou growled, "I got into Judo only to become stronger."

Akisame stroked his moustache and remarked, "Teaching without rigour only creates weak fists. Practising without motivation creates a first without a reason to fight. A teaching method without severity only transmits deformed martial arts, a superficial and inconsistent learning method can only lead to the disorderly practice of martial arts. One could not improve themselves while holding themselves back all time, it's a teacher's duty to let their disciple go all out from time to time and transform the violence within into martial arts."

The coach only got more confused by this.

"Heard that, Kanou," Ohma said. "Kiss your medals and enjoy your Olympics, you are not made for the warrior's world. But if you want a rematch then get in line, many are itching to settle their scores with me."

With that Ohma proceeded before another figure blocked his path.

"Now what?" Ohma said. "What are you doing here, Tachibana?"

"Rika!" Kanou looked in surprise.

Rika stood there in front of Ohma. "So you actually won."

"Yeah," Ohma said, "Aren't you going to tend to your boyfriend?"

"That I will," Rika said, "For now I just wanted to thank you."

Ohma furrowed his brows. "For what?"

"I don't know yet," Rika replied. "Let's see if turns into less of a brute after recovering from this loss."

"That's why you wanted me to beat him?"

"Pretty much."

"Whatever," Ohma said under his breath walking past her towards the Elder and Kenichi, "I don't care anymore, I just want to eat solid food again."

He stumbled on his foot when reached them, Kenichi and the Elder catching him by his shoulders.

"Be careful!" Kenichi said.

The Elder held Ohma by the shoulder. "You did well, winning against an opponent who uses soft style locks and throws by using soft style locks and throws."

"There is a possibility," Akisame said from behind approaching them, "that this kid could leave sports Judo and join our worlds, possibility the Killing Fist to get back on you."

Kenichi curiously asked, "Killing Fist? What's that?"

The Elder replied, "You will when and if the moment the right."

"I don't care about that," Ohma spat turning to Akisame. "Just fix whatever is wrong with my stomach."

"Alright then, are you ready?"

"I have been ready for days. Just do it."

Akisame then slammed his fist on Ohma's stomach, making him drop to his knees and making him some blood onto the ground.

"That's it. From tomorrow you could eat as much as you did before."

**************

That night, after getting bandaged up by Kensei; Ohma wanted nothing more than go back home and do some image training. But then the Elder called him for some private talks about something essential related to him.

"Today during your fight with the judoka you may have felt a strange energy activating ." Elder said. "Do you know what it is?"

Ohma paused for a moment then replied with a question, "Is it 'Ki'?"

The Elder nodded a yes. "How much do you know about Ki?"

"Only that it is a mix of one's Life Force and the Willpower," Ohma replied, his eyes wide, "Are you telling me I have awakened Ki?"

"Partially." Elder replied. "Your Ki hasn't been fully awakened, but it wouldn't be long until you fully awakened it. So you are now ready to learn about Ki and how Ki users are ranked, but before I begin remember that the world of martial arts is so diverse that it's hard to make an absolute classification, this is just the general outlook."

Then he continued, "First let's begin with Ki. Your definition is mostly correct, Life Force doesn't have any specific attribute other than it runs through every living being, it's one's willpower which is used to control the Life Force, this is what gives it the attributes used by martial artists that being Sei and Dou. Let's start with Sei Ki, Sei users use a calm attitude to guide their Life Force to boost their senses past their limits, experiencing the world around them as an extension of themselves. While Dou users use their fury to guide their Life Force to push their force production ability far beyond their limits. Remember all Ki users could use the Life Force to have better control over their bodies if they train that way but only Sei and Dou can be used to push past the body's normal limit. Then there are those who are born with the ability to use both Sei and Dou, but that's something for another time. Let us move on to the three different levels of Ki control."

"First level is Invocation of Ki; which allows user to channel their Ki inward into their techniques and attacks. The second level is Release of Ki; which allows the user to release their Ki outward from their bodies and use it in various ways against their opponents. The third is Holding of Ki; which allows the user to not only release but freely control their Ki in and out of their bodies, even able to pull in and redirect the Ki of other people or the environment. There are many rules and sub-levels in this but we are just covering the basics for now. Now let's move on to the development of Life Force or also known as Inner Energy inside the body and how it is used to rank Martial Artists."

"The first rank is of Disciples who know how to circulation of the Inner Energy in the body by learning how to store in in the tanden ( Centre of the Body). The main idea is to gather the Inner energy to the tanden and then distribute it evenly to the whole body. The second rank is of Experts; this is for those who are starting to master the circulation of inner energy to have better control over their body. The third rank is of Masters, who mastered exerting the Inner Energy to enhance the body's functions and movements to its limits. This gives them enhanced healing speed and the ability able to see the Ki within the surrounding environment and so on. The fourth rank is of Grandmasters, in this stage one develops a spiritual link between their Willpower and Source of Life within themselves, they no longer need to store Inner Energy in their tanden as they can connect to the Source of Life and draw as much Inner Energy as they want or as much as their bodies could allow them to."

"Such ranks are also used to rank one's mastery of martial arts, but you know martial arts are diverse so it is hard to rank all of them in the same manner. Then there are Ki and body phenomenons and development of tanden while the ascending ranks which we will leave for another day."

"What about you?" Ohma asked.

"What about me?" The Elder snickered.

Ohma then asked, "What about the fifth rank, the Legendary Master?"

The Elder laughed. "You will get to know when the time comes."

"What about Kenichi? Why aren't explaining this to him too?"

"He will get to know when the time comes."