Vaux Ikogu on tapān

Gonyaul rejoiced as he felt the raw sensations of consciousness and feelings return to his waking form. He spent the first hour before the sun rose meditating on his senses without judgement and with intentional breath. The air entering and exiting his body was gratefully appreciated with the honor of a dear friend coming to visit, providing company, and then departing on their way. During the time he did not steer any thoughts, but let thoughts come and go like waves on the sand.

When he exited his debris shelter he rejoiced again. It was indeed a beautiful day. These lands were remarkable, not good or bad compared to home, just different and inherently beautiful as well. After a peaceful breakfast, he moved to his practice area to engage in Vauxian martial arts, also known as Vaux’Ikogu on tapān.

He warmed up with proper breathing and centering. As with any movement art, it's not just how quickly and forcefully you can strike. A huge part of it is having a firm grip on your mind. Gonyaul cleared his mind, focused himself, and tapped into his potential.
Putting his feet up to shoulder width apart, no further, he breathed. Next, he
placed his hand on his lower abdomen, about 2 inches below his navel. He pushed in lightly and let his breath anchor in this area before journeying through his nose.

Next, he concentrated on all parts of his body one at a time. Anywhere he found tension, he surrendered it. He was now part of the ground, never losing balance, focus, or centering. His limbs swayed like branches in the wind, never hesitating for fear or apprehension.

From here his frame emerged and the style blossomed. Very slowly and precisely he masterfully delivered all 108 movements woven into one another. It was the story of his people if you knew Vauxian sign language. Furthermore it made him feel connected to his tribe even though they were separated by such a great distance. In addition, he added one more movement pattern of his own creative design, because this was a living story that his life was continuing forward.

Gonyaul was only halfway done with his practice. He suddenly became the complete opposite in his movements; picking up pace, his lines of extension moving beyond into reaching endless movement that even looked off balance to the untrained eye. The techniques were unusual, that made use of the hands, feet, legs, arms, elbows, knees, and head. Some techniques moved along the ground while others were for evading attacks; and it is not uncommon to see a combination of the two. Some attacks looked violently forceful: including headbutts, slaps, punches, elbows, kicks and knees. Some attacks looked soft: such as takedowns or sweeps. Overtime of the patterns, the main emphasis seemed to be the interaction between kicks and evasions. It was a bizarre art, to which could be misconstrued as acrobatics or interpretive dance.

After he finished, Gonyaul bathed, packed up and got dressed into his new winter attire. He cleaned his campsite, grabbed the farm tools he needed to return, and began walking in the direction of where he met Wim the other day.

While on route he was continuing to consider the idea that this was going to be his last day in the settlement.