Jacob was not getting anywhere with his sword training. At least not while he was not holding his own, real sword.
A long time had passed between his accidental discovery of his sword skills and when he formally started to try and hone them in any way. In the meantime, he had either never used them due to a lack of a reason to ever use a sword in his everyday life, or made sudden extensive use of them when he was in an extremely dangerous situation. (Dangerous situations being an actual occurrence occasionally on Manta Carlos, or when he dove into Lenn's dark past.) During those moments, he never had to think about what he was doing, and he was well aware of that fact. His skills seemingly came from nowhere, without thought or practice. An incredible feat considering the extreme skills he displayed.
But now, Jacob sought to try and understand his sword skills. Even if he could not find out where they came from, he could at least understand what he was capable of on a conscious level. Part of the desire stemmed from watching his daughter Chiru demonstrate her own expertise during her visit to the island and the school. When he watched her wield a bow and arrow with such skill, using the same focusing methods he used, he knew that it was something from within and not just spontaneous. He needed to know, for her sake.
The problem he was running into, however, was that practicing with a training sword or anything else other than his own sword just was not working. Even before he tried that, he just knew that trying to practice weaponless was a futile act. He would breathe deeply and calm himself like he always would, but the "Zone" would not come. When he picked up a wooden sword and tried to take his stance, his body seemed to forget everything. He was wobbly and unbalanced and incapable of anything.
With his real sword in hand, just as he was on the field that day, it all happened instantly. A single deep breath with his sword in hand, sheathed or not, and the world slowed to a crawl and almost all sound dropped away. A relaxed swing of his sheathed sword sent out a buffeting wave of wind across the field like it was nothing.
"... Guess I have just do the real thing..."
Jacob took his stance and began a slow mock duel with his sword, attempting to study his own body and movements as he did so without breaking out of the "Zone". "Slow" was a relative term though. To himself he was moving at a substantially reduced speed. To others, he was like a swift wind up and down the field. But at least he was visible. At full speed, he would have been barely a blur.
A long time had passed between his accidental discovery of his sword skills and when he formally started to try and hone them in any way. In the meantime, he had either never used them due to a lack of a reason to ever use a sword in his everyday life, or made sudden extensive use of them when he was in an extremely dangerous situation. (Dangerous situations being an actual occurrence occasionally on Manta Carlos, or when he dove into Lenn's dark past.) During those moments, he never had to think about what he was doing, and he was well aware of that fact. His skills seemingly came from nowhere, without thought or practice. An incredible feat considering the extreme skills he displayed.
But now, Jacob sought to try and understand his sword skills. Even if he could not find out where they came from, he could at least understand what he was capable of on a conscious level. Part of the desire stemmed from watching his daughter Chiru demonstrate her own expertise during her visit to the island and the school. When he watched her wield a bow and arrow with such skill, using the same focusing methods he used, he knew that it was something from within and not just spontaneous. He needed to know, for her sake.
The problem he was running into, however, was that practicing with a training sword or anything else other than his own sword just was not working. Even before he tried that, he just knew that trying to practice weaponless was a futile act. He would breathe deeply and calm himself like he always would, but the "Zone" would not come. When he picked up a wooden sword and tried to take his stance, his body seemed to forget everything. He was wobbly and unbalanced and incapable of anything.
With his real sword in hand, just as he was on the field that day, it all happened instantly. A single deep breath with his sword in hand, sheathed or not, and the world slowed to a crawl and almost all sound dropped away. A relaxed swing of his sheathed sword sent out a buffeting wave of wind across the field like it was nothing.
"... Guess I have just do the real thing..."
Jacob took his stance and began a slow mock duel with his sword, attempting to study his own body and movements as he did so without breaking out of the "Zone". "Slow" was a relative term though. To himself he was moving at a substantially reduced speed. To others, he was like a swift wind up and down the field. But at least he was visible. At full speed, he would have been barely a blur.