Routes To Akasha

Foci

In order to awaken the harmony of the mind, body, and spirit, one must push these to their limit. Through martial focus, one learns that the only limits we have are those we impose on ourselves, and that by moving past these limits we move towards enlightenment. Martial arts to focus the body, sutras to focus the mind, meditation to focus the spirit and achieve harmony. All these are steps on the road towards enlightenment. By focusing on the rightness, the quintessential harmony, of an object, a person, or a motion, one can achieve various effects through the motion of that rightness, that Ki.

A sword is an encapsulated world, close to perfection because it is untouched by any dissonance of its being. Through the sword, one can touch the world. From the point of the blade to hits haft, time slows. Destiny follows, for the destiny of a sword is assured. Through the sword, all things can be possible, just as many other means and methods of reaching enlightenment exist.

The Way, that which the scholars term 'Do', is another such means of achieving unity, and through that unity one can see past the barriers that make the physical world. Do is a collection of motions spiraling towards perfection and enlightenment. Through these motions, one breaks past the barriers of the physical world and achieves a new future.

Sutras open the mind to possibilities, allowing harmony between mind, form, and spirit, that quintessential bond that holds the universe together. Through sutras, one treads familiar paths, drawing the mind through old battlegrounds and relearning old lessons. Through this focus, the mind opens, flowering like a thousand blossomed lotus. In that flowering, it becomes all things and through all things comes to know them.

Evolving Mastery

Ki is life, and life is Ki. Nothing that exists does not have Ki, for Ki represents the quintessential structure of the cosmos. However, just as a river is not static, Ki is not bereft of emotions- indeed, it is fiercely affected by them. As a novice, Shu only sensed this primal force as a thin haze that hung about a person's being. When his understanding expanded, this haze became a flame, burning within the center of all things, and then a field of light, shining from behind the physical form. In centering and meditation, one could touch this field, and manipulate it through various means and methods- but it was too often an ephemeral thing, brief and transitory, without substance of its own.

Now Shu knows that the understanding he had of Ki was incomplete, and that he is yet on the road to true understanding and enlightenment. Ki is all things, so it is only natural that Ki is many and varied as all things are many and varied. While his understanding of the Sphere of Mind is yet only fledgling, Shu recognizes that as emotions are a quintessential piece of the tapestry that is life, so too are they a quintessential piece of the weave of threads that is Ki. Each shade a dye on the weave of the cosmos, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, just waiting to be drawn to hand and woven into reality.

With this understanding, Shu has found a new way to alter the threads of the weave of the cosmos, taking careful steps on the path towards enlightenment.

Techniques

Junsai-Ken

Life 2

Entropy 1

The Junsai-Ken, or Water-Shield Fist is a technique that allows Shu to deflect attacks as if they were water running over the body, protecting himself from what might otherwise be lethal damage.

Mechanics

This rote is a simple healing technique used under the guise of deflecting attacks while dodging. The use of entropy 1 determines the most probable motion of the enemy's attack to reduce the difficulty of a dodge, while life 2 reduces the damage taken.

One Thousand Moments

Mind 1

Time 3

In the normal progression of events, the phase in which Shu can accelerate his movement to strike in a flash requires such focus that this can only produce one indivisible action. However, with the use of mental focus and readiness, one can enact two such actions provided the body be physically capable.

Mechanics

This allows the 'splitting' of the action granted by the time 3 rote 'accelerate time' to be split into two actions, provided the actions are made with different parts of the body. Such actions can be making an attack with each hand, or making a kick and a punch simultaneously.

Step Between Moments

Time 1

Life 1

A technique involving the use of perfect timekeeping, Shu ascertains the precise time it takes for his opponent to strike, dodge, or otherwise move, then uses that knowledge to strike between movements when his opponent is most vulnerable.

Stonebreaker Fist

Entropy 3

Shu strikes the ground with a fist, focusing his Ki into the earth and setting up a sympathetic vibration. The greater the amount of Ki focused, the greater the area of effect. When he chooses to release the vibration, stone, earth, or even buildings tear themselves apart.

Ten Thousand Fists

Entropy 2

Time 3

Shu strikes simultaneously in concert with himself, his fist tracing ten thousand paths to its target- but only one of these probabilities connects, striking past each of the target's possible defenses.