‘Master the basics. They are all that matter. Get your stances right. Make your moves precise. Then you can fight. Fancy techniques are for travelling fairs and impressing the ladies. The basics are for battle.’

Suddenly he stopped his pounding of the post.

‘You, gaijin! Come over here,’ ordered Sensei Kyuzo.

‘My name is Jack, Sensei,’ replied Jack stiffly, taken aback at the sensei’s insulting use of the term.

‘Fine. Gaijin Jack, come here,’ he said, beckoning him with one sharp flick of his hand.

Kazuki let out a snort of laughter, whispering ‘Gaijin Jack’ under his breath to Nobu.

‘Kazuki-kun!’ said Sensei Kyuzo, without taking his eyes off Jack. ‘I trust that you will live up to your father’s reputation as a samurai. Pay attention!’

Jack got up and stood opposite Sensei Kyuzo. He didn’t know what to expect; the sensei was clearly ruthless. Jack certainly wasn’t going to underestimate him again.

‘Before we deal with kicking, punching or throwing, you must be able to control your enemy. We are going to start with grabs and locks, since it is easier for you to feel the energy lines in a hold than a strike.’

He squared up to Jack, eyeing him meanly.

‘Grab my wrist as if you were trying to prevent me from drawing my sword. Attack me!’ he ordered Jack.

Jack stepped up and warily took hold of the sensei’s arm. His own wrist instantly flared with pain and he involuntarily dropped to his knees to relieve the agony. Sensei Kyuzo had merely wrapped his hand over Jack’s arm and twisted it towards him, but the effect was overpowering.

‘This is nikkyō. It applies painful nerve pressure to the wrist and forearm,’ explained Sensei Kyuzo. ‘Tap your hand on your thigh or the floor when it gets too unbearable, gaijin.’

Sensei Kyuzo then rolled Jack’s wrist a notch further and Jack was blinded with agony. Jack slapped his thigh manically and the technique came off. Through eyes watery with pain, Jack could see Kazuki thoroughly delighting in his public suffering.

‘Get up and attack me as hard and fast as you can,’ he ordered.

Jack did, but was immediately driven to the ground again by the excruciating agony of the same simple move. Jack’s hand thrashed wildly on his thigh and the pressure was released.

‘You see the soft controls the hard. The harder Gaijin Jack tried to attack, the easier it was for me to defeat him,’ he said, a callous smile on his lips as he demonstrated the technique several more times for the benefit of the class.

Sensei Kyuzo then performed further techniques on Jack, flinging him around like a puppet, using him as a punching bag, pushing him over for having a poor stance. By the end, Jack was exhausted, battered, bruised and aching.