Ignoring Akiko’s protests, Jack strode over to where Yamato was practising. He watched with interest, studying his moves and technique. All the while, Yamato ignored him and continued to parry and thrust at his imaginary opponent.

‘May I try?’ asked Jack, when Yamato had apparently decapitated his attacker with a powerful cross-cut.

Yamato slid the bokken into his obi and inspected Jack as if he were a fresh recruit. For a moment, Jack thought the boy would refuse in order to prove his authority over him.

‘Why not, gaijin,’ said Yamato with a look of haughty amusement. ‘It would be good to have a target to practise on. Jiro,’ he called, ‘fetch me a bokken for the gaijin!’

The little boy came scampering out of the house with a second wooden sword in his arms. Struggling to carry an object that was taller than he was, Jiro gave the weapon to Yamato who, bowing with his two hands outstretched, offered the bokken to Jack.

Jack stepped forward to take it.

‘NO! You must bow when given the honour of using another’s sword.’

Jack riled at Yamato’s command, but did as he was told. He dearly wanted to handle the weapon, to know how to use it like he had seen Masamoto wield his two swords on the beach.

‘And take it with two hands,’ instructed Yamato as if Jack were a little boy.

Grasping it with both hands, Jack found the wooden sword to be surprisingly heavy. He could now appreciate how such a weapon could inflict damage devastating enough to kill.

‘NO! Blade down,’ corrected Yamato, when Jack held the bokken out in front of him as he had seen Yamato do. He turned the bokken the right way up in Jack’s hands.

‘Don’t let the kissaki drop!’ Yamato rolled his eyes in disbelief at Jack’s ignorance.

‘Kissaki?’ questioned Jack.

‘The tip of the bokken. Keep it in line with the your opponent’s throat. One foot forward. One foot back. Wider. You must stand strong.’

Warming to his role as teacher, Yamato paced round Jack, fastidiously adjusting Jack’s stance and form until he was satisfied.

‘That’ll have to do. First, we will practise kihon – the basics. A simple parry and strike.’

Yamato stood opposite Jack and lined his kissaki up with Jack’s. An instant later, he struck Jack’s bokken. The weapon shuddered in Jack’s hands, sending a shock wave of pain up his arms and forcing him to drop it. Yamato’s blade struck forward and stopped a hair’s breadth from Jack’s throat. Yamato stared Jack contemptuously in the face, daring him to move.