Someone will beat me someday, but it won't be today, and it won't be you.
…
Five days after the results of the civil service examination were announced, the military examination began.
There were only 408 names on the list of those who passed the written test.
Ogata was not sure how many people actually participated in the "Imperial Examination".
But according to the gossip he heard from various channels, the total number of people participating in the "Imperial Trial" was about 500.
In other words, one written test directly screened out more than a hundred people, eliminating nearly one-fifth of the participants.
The martial arts examination was held on a river beach on the outskirts of Edo.
The martial arts test officially begins at 5 a.m. (8 a.m.).
When Ogata and others arrived at the scene, it was almost 7 o'clock in the morning.
Although there is still some time before the martial arts test begins, quite a few people have already gathered at the scene.
Shimada was shocked: "There are so many people..."
"Most of those who come here are probably here to participate in the 'Imperial Trial'," said Makimura, "There shouldn't be many people like us who just come here to join in the fun."
The only two people who accompanied Ogata to the Imperial Examination and came to join in the fun were Makimura and Shimada.
Now, early in the morning, the only people who can come and join in the fun of the "Imperial Trial" at this time are those who have no jobs and nothing to do on weekdays.
The venue for the martial arts examination was located in a wilderness outside Edo. One had to leave Edo and walk for half an hour to reach the venue.
Such a long distance is enough to scare away most of the people who want to join in the fun.
So in the end, there are very few people who come here as spectators, basically just some idle people who have a strong interest in military tactics.
Ogata expected that few people would come to join in the martial arts test, so he did not let Atachi come along.
There are very few women who would travel so far to watch a bunch of rough guys sparring and competing.
If Ating were to come along, he would definitely stand out and attract too much attention.
Although Ah-Ming has makeup, one of the "Four Great Evil Spells in Asia", as a cover, it is still too risky to show her face in such a conspicuous environment.
To be on the safe side, Ogata asked Atachi to stay in the hotel and did not allow her to accompany him to take the martial arts test.
And Ogata's judgment was correct - there were indeed very few women at the scene.
When Ogata looked around, he didn't see a single woman, only a bunch of rough men of different ages.
Asai had no interest in the "Imperial Trial".
Yuan Yi was very interested and expressed his desire to join in the fun last night.
But Lin rejected it sternly.
Uncle, have you forgotten that there are many of your enemies wandering around in Edo right now? Don't go looking for trouble at this time - these are the exact words Lin said when she rejected Yuan Yi last night.
Ogata was curious: If Lin knew that Genichi actually sneaked out every night to kill his enemies one by one, what would she think? What expression would she have...?
After being sternly rejected by Lin, Ogata thought that Genichi would argue with him.
But unexpectedly, after being rejected by Lin, Genichi nodded in agreement very obediently, and patted his chest to say: I understand, if you don't want to watch the "Imperial Test", then don't watch it.
Mamiya was also one of the wanted criminals of the shogunate, so he would try his best to avoid places where large numbers of people gathered and where there would definitely be officials present.
Although Lin did not need to hide her identity like Mamiya, she, like Asai, had no interest in the "test match before the Emperor".
So in the end, the only people who accompanied Ogata to the martial arts exam were Makimura and Shimada.
The breath of hundreds of people made the surrounding air turbid and stuffy.
Not far away is a winding river that is nearly 3 meters wide.
The land under the feet of Ogata and others was the riverbed washed out by the river over the years.
The terrain is flat, with hard soil or broken stones underfoot - this kind of terrain is indeed suitable for use as a trial venue.
"Look." Shimada suddenly pointed in a certain direction, "What is that?"
Ogata and Makimura looked in the direction Shimada's finger was pointing.
At the end of the direction that Shimada's finger pointed, several people dressed as officials were hurriedly standing up three flawless white curtains with neat techniques.
The three standing white curtains just formed a rectangle with one side missing.
In this "rectangle with one side missing" surrounded by three pieces of white curtains, there are dozens of small stirrups.
At this moment, many people have sat down on these dozen small stools.
Without exception, the people sitting on these small stools were all wearing clothes that looked very expensive, and they had swords hanging around their waists that looked very special.
Each person was accompanied by one or more people with nicknames.
"That should be the seat specially used for dignitaries who are interested in the martial arts test to watch the test." Ogata said.
"That should be it." Makimura nodded, "Those people should be high-ranking officials of the shogunate, who came here to join in the fun."
In order to prevent outsiders from approaching and to highlight the authority of these dignitaries, the seats of the Yue Qing Yun guests were surrounded by white curtains on three sides. Only the front was not blocked by the cloth because it was needed to watch the trial performance.
Looking at these "superiors" who were already in position within the three white curtains , waiting for the martial arts test to officially begin, Ogata couldn't help but laugh.
This scene reminded Ogata of the "Shintoku Performance" he participated in when he was not yet the "Executioner Ittosai".
At that time, many of the "superior people" from the Hirose domain came to the competition venue to join in the fun.
Looking at the small people serving beside those big guys behind the white curtain.
For no reason, Ogata recalled the time when he was chosen by Matsudaira Sadanobu.
A few days ago, after being invited by the old Chinese to become his nickname, Ogata used the tactic of "delay" and successfully dragged the matter over.
After returning to the hotel, Ogata told Atachi and others the explosive news that "he was noticed by the Chinese elders" because there was nothing to hide.
When A-Machi and others learned from Ogata that he was actually favored by the Chinese elders, their first reaction was to wonder if Ogata had a fever.
Ogata understood very well the reaction of Atachi and others at that time.
After all, in the Edo period, when people attached great importance to hierarchical order and family background, and it was almost impossible to move between classes, "a person of low status being spotted by a big boss and then rising to the top overnight" - this kind of thing was extremely difficult to imagine.
It took Ogata a lot of effort to convince Atachi that he was not talking nonsense and that he did not have a fever.
After believing that Ogata was telling the truth, Ating asked Ogata first: "How do you plan to respond to the old Chinese?"
And Ogata answered without hesitation: "Don't make any response for now, wait until you defeat Shiranui."
The reason why Ogata did not reject Matsudaira Sadanobu on the spot was that he was afraid of angering Matsudaira Sadanobu.
That night, Ogata and Matsudaira Sadanobu met for the first time. Ogata knew nothing about Matsudaira Sadanobu's personality and didn't know if he was the kind of person who "hated being rejected by others."
At this point in time when Shiranui has not yet been defeated, angering the country's second-in-command is a very irrational thing to do no matter how you think about it.
And it was impossible for Ogata to agree to Matsudaira Sadanobu, as he had not forgotten that he was a criminal.
So, to be cautious, Ogata replied to Matsudaira Sadanobu, "Let me think about it," which was the most conservative answer.
Ogata was also very lucky. Matsudaira Sadanobu agreed to give Ogata time to consider, without setting any time limit.
Ogata planned to put the matter of Matsudaira Sadanobu behind him for the time being, and deal with the matter of Matsudaira Sadanobu after defeating Shiranui.
By then, it wouldn't matter whether or not he angered Matsudaira Sadanobu. The worst that could happen was that he would just escape from Edo.
…
…
The time of waiting is always boring.
In order to kill time, Ogata quietly opened his personal system interface and checked the status of his various experience bars.
[Current personal level: Lv33 (2955/5000)]
[Sakakibara Ittoryu Level: 11th Stage (5715/7000)]
[My dual-wielding skill level: 10th level (8300/10000)]
[Shiranui Style Ninjutsu Level: 6th Stage (3210/4500)]
These days, Ogata and he would sneak out of the hotel together almost every night to "hunt rats".
It is a low probability event to run into an enemy whose appearance Genichi still remembers.
It was not until the night before yesterday that we finally encountered the second group of rats after launching the "rat hunting" operation: a group of Yakuza, totaling about twenty people.
According to Genichi, this group of samurai were his enemies four years ago. At that time, Genichi went out to Suruga area for some things and met a Yakuza family.
After some things happened, Genichi destroyed the base camp of this group of Yakuza. These people should have come to seek revenge.
For this group of "rats", Ogata used Muga Nisshin Ryu to kill them and gained a batch of Muga Nisshin Ryu experience points.
In addition to assisting Genichirō in annihilating his enemies, Ogata also dealt with a lot of troublemakers in Yoshiwara these days.
After the results of the written examination were announced, the crime rate in Yoshiwara skyrocketed.
The reason was that many people who failed the literary examination came to Yoshiwara to relieve their sorrow.
They are full of negative energy, and after a few drinks, it is very easy for them to do all kinds of things.
These Okatas also successfully subdued many of the troublemakers in Yoshiwara, and gained some personal level and Sakakibara Ittoryu experience points.
Personal level experience points increased by 2250 points, Sakakibara One Sword Ryu experience points increased by 460 points, and Muga Two Sword Ryu experience points increased by 1450 points - this is what Ogata has gained in recent days.
…
…
After looking at my personal system interface countless times and yawning countless times, I finally heard the sound of taiko drums.
As soon as the taiko drum sounded, Shimada on the side immediately poked Ogata with his elbow.
"Lord Ogata, it looks like the martial arts test is about to begin."
The sound of the taiko drum was so loud that it drowned out all the noise at the scene and drew everyone's attention.
There were three taiko drums set up at the edge of the test venue, and three shirtless strong men stood in front of the drums and beat them vigorously.
After the drumbeats died down, a fat official with an unusually loud voice appeared and reiterated the rules of the martial arts test to everyone.
The rules of the martial arts test are very simple and crude.
It's just a constant competition, the losers are eliminated and the winners advance.
It goes on like this, round after round.
Keep fighting until there is a final winner.
When the government promoted the "Examination Before the Emperor", it stated that the reason for holding the "Examination Before the Emperor" was to encourage people to learn literature and martial arts.
This simple and crude form of letting everyone fight directly is indeed in line with the original intention of "encouraging people to learn literature and martial arts."
Because there were about 400 people who had passed the civil examination and were qualified to take the martial examination, in order to speed up the process, they were divided into two venues - "Field A" and "Field B". The two venues were tested at the same time.
An officer with a very loud voice will call out your name. The person whose name is called should come forward. If you do not show up, it will be considered that you have given up.
You can use any weapon, or even your bare hands if you like.
The above are the rules of the martial arts test.
Whether it is the format or the rules of the martial arts test, there is an air of immaturity that needs constant improvement.
However, this was the first time such an examination-related event was held in the 200 years since the opening of the Edo Shogunate. It was not easy to achieve this level without any examples to refer to.
After the loud-voiced official announced the rules, the martial arts test began.
Because the competition venue was divided into "Field A" and "Field B", the participants who were eager to play and the small number of spectators naturally split into two groups and went to the venue they were interested in to watch.
"Makimura, Shimada." Ogata took out his sleeve band and tied his sleeves tightly with skillful movements, while saying to Makimura and Shimada beside him, "If you hear my name later, remember to call me."
Although he didn't know when he would hear his name and it would be his turn to go on stage, Ogata decided to prepare in advance and tied up his sleeves first.
Makimura: “No problem.”
"I think even if I don't concentrate, I can clearly hear whether someone calls your name." Shimada smiled bitterly.
The officer in charge of calling out names had an unusually loud voice.
It was loud enough to drown out the noise of hundreds of people.
If you still miss your own name in such a loud voice, it only means that you may have a problem with your ears.
I have to say that the shogunate is very conscientious.
They provided protective gear to all participants.
It’s just that it’s not the very mature and complete kendo protective gear that is used on modern Earth.
The protective gear provided by the shogunate to the participants was an "upper body armor" made of bamboo and wood.
Then give you a forehead guard to protect your head.
Then there is no protective gear for the limbs and lower body.
Although it is incomparable to the protective gear that protects us to the teeth on modern Earth, the protective gear provided by the shogunate is actually very advanced from the perspective of this era.
At this time, most warriors did not have the concept of "wearing protective gear" when practicing swordsmanship.
The weapons provided by the shogunate are also very complete, including wooden katana, wooden wakizashi, wooden spears, wooden odachi... As long as you don't use any particularly unpopular weapons, you can basically find a weapon that suits you among the weapons provided by the shogunate.
…
…
The three Ogatas stood between "Field A" and "Field B", watching the trials one after another being carried out on the two fields together with boredom, while silently waiting for an official to call out the name "Mashima Goro".
After waiting for an unknown amount of time, finally—
"Mashima Goro! Mashima Goro! Please come forward!"
"Yichang" his name sounded.
Turning his head to look at the "Yoru Field" not far away, Ogata smiled and said, "It seems that my trial venue is the "Yoru Field"..."
Just as Ogata was about to turn around and walk towards the "Y Field", another loud shout from the "Y Field" made a look of slight surprise appear on Ogata's face.
"Takigawa Heiichiro! Takigawa Heiichiro! Please come forward!"
This loud shout not only surprised Xu Fang.
At the same time, Takigawa Heiichiro, who was standing next to the "O-field" field, was surprised.
However, the surprise on Takigawa Heiichiro's face was mixed with a strong sense of joy.
…
…
There are several officials in both the "Field A" and "Field B" venues who are responsible for managing the armor.
When someone is about to go on stage, help him or her put on armor.
After some of them finished, I helped them take them off.
After checking his identity, with the help of two officers in charge of armor from the "Oba", Ogata quickly put on the armor that only protected his upper body and tied a forehead protector on his head.
There is a piece of iron tied to the forehead guard. When your opponent attacks your head with a knife, this piece of iron can cushion the impact and may even save your life.
After putting on all his armor and picking up a wooden sword, Ogata stepped onto the "O-field" field.
Standing opposite Takigawa who was already standing opposite him.
After the officer called out the name "Mashima Goro", more people gathered around the "O-field" ready to watch the fight.
Anyone who has paid attention to the essay test knows that the first place in the essay test was taken by a man named "Mashima Goro".
After learning that "Mashima Goro" was going to compete, everyone came to see with their own eyes what the person who won the first place in the literary test looked like.
At the same time, we also want to see how capable the person who won the first place in the literary test is.
Looking at Ogata, whom he hadn't seen for several days, a smile with a bit of ferocity appeared on Takigawa's face.
"Mashima-kun, I never thought that my first opponent in the martial arts exam would be you. It seems that we have a very special fate."
"Yes." Ogata said calmly, "I think so too. Maybe there is a very special fate between us. I always run into you no matter where I go."
Takigawa sneered: "I should thank this wonderful fate between us for giving me the opportunity to face you with my sword openly!"
After saying that, Takigawa slowly raised the wooden sword in his hand and assumed a mid-range stance.
…
…
The days that Takigawa has been living these days can be described in one word: torture.
To be addressed as a "guest" or "subordinate" by Matsudaira Sadanobu - this has always been Takigawa's long-cherished wish.
His purpose of participating in the "Imperial Examination" was to gain the appreciation of Matsudaira Sadanobu and then smoothly enter the official career.
But unexpectedly, unexpected accidents occurred one after another.
First, he couldn't even make it into the top 10 in the literary examination, and the one who took the first place in the literary examination was the ronin Majima Goro, with whom he had a grudge before and whom he looked down upon very much.
Later, they witnessed Matsudaira Sadanobu calling Majima Goro "guest" at Bayberry House, and at Matsudaira Sadanobu's request, they had to compensate Bayberry House and go to Shirobei Club to receive punishment.
The punishment that Takigawa and his friends received from the Shirobei Club was to pay a fine and then stay in the Shirobei Club's prison for two days.
Among this series of blows, the biggest blow to Takigawa was that Matsudaira Sadanobu called Majima Goro a "guest".
The person whom he had always looked down upon was actually called a "guest" by Matsudaira Sadanobu and was protected by him - such a gap, and... his jealousy towards Ogata, made Takigawa unable to sleep at night these days.
He was jealous of how he could get the first place in the literary examination and be treated as a guest by Matsudaira Sadanobu even though he was just a ronin working in the Shirobei Club.
As time passed, jealousy turned into grief and resentment towards Ogata.
…
…
"You may not know it?" Takigawa sneered, "I am the Menkyo Kaiden of the Wugai Ryu!"
After saying the word "Menkyo Kaiden", Takigawa puffed out his chest with pride.
"Cheer up, there won't be many opportunities to compete with the holder of Mugai Ryu Menkyo Kaiden!"
"You're lucky!"
Takigawa did not lower his voice when he spoke just now.
After hearing what Takigawa just said, the spectators standing at the edge of the "Field B" field let out low exclamations.
…
"Don't spread it... Is it true or not..."
"How amazing... He is so young and yet he is already the holder of the Menkyo Kaiden, and it is a Menkyo Kaiden that has never been circulated."
"Humph, this guy might be bragging. Everyone has a mouth. I even said that I was Menkyo Kaiden from Katori Shinto-ryu."
"This person's exemption is either a legend or bought."
…
At a time when the samurai class had become corrupt and every warrior was uneducated, the title Menkyo Kaiden undoubtedly had a strong deterrent effect. When you brought out this title, the way others looked at you would instantly change.
Unfortunately, due to the increasing number of scandals of "paying for permission to be passed on", the value of "paying for permission to be passed on" has decreased a lot in recent years.
Ogata had long known that Takigawa was a man of both literary and martial abilities, and that he was the holder of the Mugairyumenkyō Kaiden.
As soon as Takigawa finished speaking, Ogata couldn't help but let out a strange smile.
Ogata slowly raised the wooden sword in his hand and asked:
"Allow me to ask you something - do you know what happened in Yoshiwara recently? For example, there are fire thieves and officials coming to Yoshiwara to steal the credit."
"Why would I care about what happens in a small place like Yoshiwara every day?" Takigawa said coldly.
——It seems that this guy doesn’t know that there is a man named “Mashima Goro” who single-handedly fought off the fire thief Kai’s officials who came to steal his credit…
The smile on Ogata's face became even weirder.
Between the two stood a referee who was responsible for deciding whose attack was effective and who won.
When the referee saw that Ogata and Takigawa were ready, he shouted loudly without any hesitation:
"start!"
"No leak, Takigawa Heiichiro, report in!" Although he wanted to knock Ogata to the ground right now, the pride as a samurai still made Takigawa perform samurai etiquette before the battle.
"Komoku Ittoryu, Majima Goro." Ogata said calmly, "I am here to see you."
The first to launch the attack was Takigawa.
After confronting Ogata with a knife for about a few breaths, Takigawa released a powerful Qi Kai and swung the knife at Ogata.
Wuwailiu is also a famous swordsmanship school.
Known for its extremely high practicality.
Because of its high practicality, Wu Wai Liu also has the nickname "Murderous Sword".
Facing Takigawa's chopping knife, Ogata was neither panicked nor hurried. He raised the wooden sword in his hand and used his own sword to meet Takigawa's sword, blocking Takigawa's downward chop.
The first attack was resolved, but Takigawa did not show any frustration or unwillingness. He just kept a gloomy face, stepped back one step, and after increasing the distance between himself and Ogata, he launched a new round of attack on Ogata.
After Takigawa launched a fierce attack on Ogata like continuous waves, those who were watching the battle nearby and had just questioned whether Takigawa really had the strength of Menkyo Kaiden all shut their mouths.
Anyone who has learned a little swordsmanship can see how sharp Takigawa's series of attacks are.
Let’s not talk about anything else - if it were someone with slightly worse swordsmanship, Takigawa’s first strike would definitely not be able to block it and would be killed instantly by Takigawa.
…
"That guy is really strong... Looking at his swordsmanship, he seems to have the strength of Menxu Jiechuan..."
"He's so young and already the holder of the Mugai-ryu Menkyo Kaiden... I'm so envious. He can open a sword gym to support himself in the future."
"Luckily, the opponent I just encountered was very weak, and I didn't encounter this guy..."
"There are indeed many experts participating in this 'Imperial Trial'..."
…
Takigawa did not come to the martial arts test alone.
Uesaka and some of Takigawa's friends who also participated in the "Gozen Trial" were present.
At this moment, Uesaka and others were standing at the edge of the "O-field", watching the contest between Takigawa and Ogata.
Looking at Takigawa who had successfully suppressed Ogata with his raging fast attack, Uesaka smiled and nodded:
"It seems like the winner will be decided soon..."
Many people at the scene shared the same opinion as Uesaka, thinking that the outcome would soon be decided.
Takigawa, who had taken the initiative, launched a series of attacks on Ogata.
On the other hand, Ogata could only passively defend himself with his wooden sword and did not even have a chance to fight back.
Ogata's movements were clumsy, as if he had never swung a wooden sword before, forming a sharp contrast with Takigawa's light and nimble movements.
One was the holder of a sword that had been passed down without gai liu menxu jie chuan, and the other was clumsy, as if he had never used a wooden sword before. The winner was already decided - this was the thought of the vast majority of people at the scene.
But some people have expressed different opinions.
…
"Mashima Goro... I feel like I've heard this name somewhere before..."
"He was the top scorer in the written test. Of course you have heard of his name."
"No, I seem to have heard about some of his deeds that were not related to the written test, but I don't remember what he did..."
"What a coincidence, me too. I seem to have heard of this name somewhere some time ago... This guy seems to have done something extraordinary..."
…
Takigawa focused all his attention on Ogata in front of him, and he could not hear the discussions of the people around him at all.
Looking at Ogata, who was clumsily wielding the wooden sword in front of him and could only passively parry his attacks, a strong look of joy appeared on Takigawa's face.
——I can win! I can win!
Takigawa shouted excitedly in his heart.
Takigawa swung the wooden sword in his hand at Ogata again and again, and felt extremely excited as he saw that this guy, who had dealt him heavy blows time and again, could only passively take or block his attacks without even having a chance to fight back.
There is a sense of pleasure in revenge.
——So what if he won the first place in the literary examination and was called a "guest" by Matsudaira Sadanobu? Isn't he still far inferior to me in swordsmanship?
Takigawa said this to himself.
Or rather... comforting myself like this.
Bang!
The two men's wooden swords collided heavily in mid-air again.
This time, the two did not separate quickly after the clash of swords.
Instead, they began to wrestle like two bulls.
"From the looks of you, you don't seem to be very good at swinging a wooden sword."
Takigawa continued speaking in an excited and proud tone towards Ogata, who was separated from him by two intersecting wooden swords.
"The winner is decided! You lose!"
After saying that, Takigawa took the initiative to jump back and withdrew from the wrestling with Ogata.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, Takigawa pounced on Ogata again like a beast attacking its prey.
Ogata remained calm from beginning to end, even when he was directly suppressed by Takigawa just now.
After Takigawa took the initiative to jump back and quit wrestling with him, Obe said to Takigawa in a calm tone:
"Someone is going to beat me someday, but it won't be today, and it won't be you."
After saying that, Ogata shifted his focus.
I adjusted it to the "special center of gravity when using a wooden sword" that I hadn't used for a while and was quite unfamiliar with until now, but I am gradually getting familiar with it again.
Facing Takigawa who rushed towards him again, Ogata only adopted an ordinary mid-range stance.
whoosh!
Takigawa's wooden sword carried a huge potential energy as it chopped towards Ogata from top to bottom.
Ogata did not block Takigawa's slashing sword with his sword as he did before.
Instead, rotate clockwise with the left foot as the axis.
Ogata's rotation not only avoided Takigawa's sword.
While dodging Takigawa's blow, he used a special technique to accumulate power. The power was transferred from his feet to his waist, and from his waist to his right arm.
After turning clockwise and dodging Takigawa's downward strike, Ogata turned his face towards Takigawa again.
Just like cracking a whip, Ogata's body turned clockwise, and then "swung" the wooden sword that had accumulated power along with his body towards Takigawa's chest.
Dragon Tail·Dodge!
Bang!
There was a loud crash and the sound of wood breaking at the same time.
Ogata's wooden sword accurately hit Takigawa's side chest, leaving cracks on the part of Takigawa's armor that was hit.
The expression on Takigawa's face also began to change drastically.
His facial features were distorted by pain, and his face changed from full of joy to full of pain.
After flying sideways two steps away, Takigawa fell heavily to the ground.
[Ding! Use Sakakibara Ittoryu·Ryubi to defeat the enemy]
[Gain 80 points of personal experience and 180 points of swordsmanship "Sakakibara Ittoryu" experience]
[Current personal level: Lv33 (3035/5000)]
[Sakakibara Ittoryu Level: 11th Stage (5895/7000)]
Dragon Tail·Dodge - Ogata combined the "Dodge" taught to him by Professor Genichi with his "Dragon Tail", which can be considered a variation of Dragon Tail.
Dragon Tail is a horizontal slashing technique that works best with "Dodge", which accumulates power by rotating the body, and can maximize the power of "Dodge".
Ogata discovered that after defeating the enemy using a combination of special techniques, the experience points gained from the style would be much higher.
For example, after defeating Takigawa just now, Sakakibara Ittoryu's experience value increased by 180 points.
After Takigawa flew sideways and fell heavily to the ground, the whole audience fell silent.
Those who had just believed that Ogata would soon be defeated by Takigawa all opened their mouths wide, with faces full of surprise and shock.
"I'm sorry." Ogata said to Takigawa who was knocked away by him, "I haven't used a wooden sword for a while, so it took me some time to get familiar with it again."