Rin woke up in the morning to find his master, Huan, standing in the same spot. Rin asked him, "Did you not sleep? Are you still in the same position as yesterday?"
Huan laughed and said, "Sleep? Heh.. I do not sleep completely. I sleep with half of my brain like a dolphin so that I do not drop my defenses. In this place, a moment of distraction means your death. Now hurry up, enough chattering!"
Huan took him to the forest where there was a waterfall with a powerful current. Rin wondered, "What kind of training is it today?"
Huan said, "A sound mind in a sound body. To fully control your senses, we must increase your endurance and build your muscles."
Rin replied, "How so?"
Huan said, "Do you see that waterfall? You will stand on the rock beneath it and throw punches upward against the current. You will do this for two continuous hours, and then we will increase the time regularly."
Rin replied, "That's impossible! I will surely die! The force of the current crushes trees and huge rocks."
Huan replied, "What a coward you are! How will you become strong without putting your life on the line? Go now and do as I commanded."
Rin went and touched the water, finding it bone-chillingly cold, as snow began to fall. He turned to Huan and said to himself, "Am I truly to be the heir of this man when I am afraid of just cold water? No, I am stronger, and my master trusted me." Rin jumped under the waterfall and, in an instant, disappeared completely. Silence prevailed for a few seconds; Huan thought he had died and was about to release a fire that would erase the waterfall entirely to save him. But from behind that silence, a hand emerged resisting the current. Yes, it was Rin, and he said, "I succeeded! I resisted the current; I almost lost my life." He grabbed the rock, climbed onto the stone, and stood once again under the torrent. He was unable to move his body due to the massive water pressure. Huan called out to him, "Strengthen your resolve and break the weakness within you!"
Rin began to move his hands slightly and continued trying for days and days until he was able to move his hands and throw punches upward with ease. Huan said, "Come, we will move to the second level. You will put these weights on your hands, feet, and chest, totaling 40 kilograms, and repeat the same training."
Rin replied, "But master, any mistake or any slip and I will fall into the water and drown because of the weights!"
Huan replied, "And that is the reason for the training—to reduce your margin of error to the absolute minimum."
He put them on and returned to his place, and the goal remained the same. He kept punching the waterfall upward as before, but he achieved no results until three weeks had passed and he began to move and harmonize with the weights, as his body grew accustomed to the extra load. The master said, "Now we will double the weight to 80 kilograms."
Rin replied, "Understood." Huan was pleased because Rin had begun to emerge from the circle of that weak and frail child and started to progress in his level. He wore the doubled weights and began to move forward; he was moving with extreme difficulty, so much so that a snail would have outpaced him, yet he did not give up. He spent an entire day to reach the waterfall even though the distance was only 50 meters, and he finally arrived, but night had fallen.
Huan told him, "Return now without taking off the weights; you will also sleep in them tonight."
Rin replied, "Impossible! How so?"
He said, "You will do it so your body gets used to the extra weight."
Days and months passed, and Rin began to develop every week after a mountain of suffering until he reached the fourth month. He began to move with precision and smoothness as if he were wearing no weights at all. Then he said to Huan, "Hasn't the time come to take them off?"
Huan replied, "No, one final task remains. Do you see that tree? You must climb to its highest branch, stand at the very end of it, sit down, and remain in meditation. The goal is to have birds nest on top of your head. This will make your energy still and train you in complete control. If the birds feel you are a living being, they will flee; and if your weight becomes too heavy on the branch, it will break, and you will fall and die. You must distribute your weight from the branch to the tree to remain stable while the birds nest and lay their eggs. Only then does the training end."
Rin replied, "Alright, I will try."
Huan said to him, "You will not try; you will execute. Trial allows for repetition, but this time, if you lose your life, there is no coming back. Climb up only when you are certain of your success; if you are even 1 percent hesitant, withdraw."
Rin replied, "No, I will do it."
The real challenge was reaching the top of the tree step by step. Reaching the highest branch took a long time, but he finally arrived. It was so thin you would think it would break. Rin advanced slowly and sat cross-legged. The winds were strong, pushing him left and right, and he had to adapt. Sleep was forbidden because it could cause his fall; balance required 100 percent of his focus. Days passed, night followed day, and he made no progress because the birds knew he was a stranger. Huan shouted at the top of his voice, "Do not think of success or failure! Think only of the state you are in. Make your mind completely clear without distracting thoughts!"
These words were the thread Rin needed. He focused and cleared his mind; his balance increased, and he began to move with the direction of the wind, mimicking the movement of the branches as if he had become part of the tree. Exactly two months after remaining still and silent, birds began to hover around him and stand on his head without discovering that he wasn't a branch. The birds actually began to nest until the nest grew large, and the female began to sleep in it. However, a feather made him lose control and sneeze! The birds flew away instantly in fear, and a massive effort was wasted. Yet, he did not grumble; he returned to the same position. After a few days, other birds came to nest. This time, he held his breath most of the time—breathing for two minutes and holding it for two minutes. This would reduce the chance of a sneezing fit. The birds nested and laid their eggs, but Rin did not move even though the training was over and he had succeeded. He remained still for an additional month until the eggs hatched and the birds grew until they could fly. Only then did Rin open his eyes and begin to descend slowly until he reached the ground and fell asleep from exhaustion. Huan was very happy and said, "Well done... sleep and rest like a warrior, for tomorrow the practical training truly begins."
So, what do the days hold for Rin, and how much has he improved after receiving his master's training?