Year of the Boar, Thirteenth Month, Day 27.

 I suppose I should not be in the slightest bit surprised that my entire body hurts. There is not an inch of me that does not ache. It is amazing how just a few weeks of not exercising has turned me soft. I arrived at the training field at dawn to find one of Sasanuma's deputies waiting for me. I could see from the look on his face that he had not believed I would go. He was even more surprised when Kaede arrived with Haru in tow. Both of them dressed for battle. How either of them thought they were going to be able to move in the heavy, creaking leather armour they sported, I have no idea. I almost laughed but thought better of it when I saw the thunderous look on Haru's face.

I wore a simple servant's outfit; loose enough to move in but not so baggy that it would hinder me. It felt good to be outside and do something active. Once we had been taken through some exercises to warm our muscles, Sasanuma's man informed us that we would be starting with some 'form'. It only took four of the movements we were taught before Kaede decided that she and Haru would dispense with the armour. I was only surprised it had taken that long. Apparently, these 'forms' will help to teach us how to move with a sword and we will not be allowed to even touch a sword before we have learned them properly.

That is fine with me; it seems perfectly sensible but I had no idea how hard it was going to be. For two entire sticks, we tried our hardest to get into the correct positions and none of us even managed to do one of the forms properly. We tried three forms, each one made up of several movements and each one harder than the next. I could see how annoyed Sasanuma's man was becoming and if I had not already been aching from head to foot, I would have found his efforts not to show Kaede his frustrations rather comical.

I am a little disappointed that Sasanuma has decided not to teach us himself but I suppose he has better things to do than teach novices how the basics of swordplay. Perhaps in time, if I can improve enough to warrant some more advanced teaching, Sasanuma will deliver it. In the meantime, I am quite glad to have something to do. We will be back on the training ground at dawn tomorrow. I imagine that Sasanuma believes we will tire of that rather quickly but he does not know me...