As Baki returns to civilization before the match with his father, we get to see a demonstration of Hanma Yujiro's brazen attitude when he tells Strydum that he is going to attack the Prime Minister. And not just that-- Yujiro even calls the police and tells them he is coming for the Prime Minister. The police set up a blockade to defend the politician and, when Yujiro arrives, he informs them that they don't have a sufficient number of people to attempt to protect the Prime Minister. He says they'll need at least 100 people if they hope to have any chance and he even waits for back-up. When all the people get there, he charges right up to the group and pushes the entire crowd back, before jumping them entirely and running into the Prime Minister's mansion. He promptly dispatches a few guards and busts into the Prime Minister's office, who greets the massive man timidly and offering a thanks for showing the weakness of the police force. Yujiro shakes his hand and axe-kicks the man's desk in half.
It's gotta be nice being so bad-ass you can do whatever you want.
"The Reflex is a Lonely Child..."
To further prepare for fighting against Yujiro, Baki wants to test his reflexes against an expert swordsman. However, the swordsman does not want his sword to spill the blood of an innocent young boy, so he refuses. Baki understands and, so, he provokes the swordsman with an attack, which causes the sword-wielding master to strike back. Baki disappears from view, leaving the swordsman confused for a moment (but only for a moment), until Baki comes from out of nowhere with a counter.
Upon waking, the swordsman is obviously at a loss for an explanation, but he assumes the Baki was able the see the sword swing. The young Hanma denies this and, in fact, he says he couldn't see it at all. His eyes were even closed! Instead, he explains, he waited for the sword to barely touch his flesh before using the momentum to flip his body over and land a kick to the swordsman's head. Quite the feat-- enough so, in fact, to convince the older warrior that Baki has a chance against his father.
Reflex training is important in regards to all of your senses. If you cannot see an attack coming, you may be able to hear it. Or, you may be able to react at the very moment someone touches your flesh in, perhaps, an attempted grab. You can train your other senses by practicing your martial art in a darkened (or pitch black) room, a room with a strobe-light going, or loud music playing. That means you could train single techniques, combinations, drill your skills with focus mitts, 3 step sparring, a wooden dummy, two-man sparring sets or just straight up sparring. Go slow at first, whatever you do, because you may get injured if you go full blast right off. Also, if you can get your hands on a Shocknife, you can mimic Baki's training with the sword without the possibility of dying. The Shocknife, I've heard, is an awesome product that actually causes pain similar to the feeling of being cut with a REAL knife. That's so awesome (I know, I'm weird).
Calling on an old acquaintance, Yujiro has his own reflex training prepared. His old friend is a master of the bow and arrow. Interesting enough, he has crafted a bow with a 200kg pull strength (about 440lbs). Yujiro moves several paces away, informs the archer that he'd better intend on killing Yujiro, and waits for the release. As soon as the archer releases the arrow, Yujiro is right in front of him, with the arrow in his hand. That's just crazy.
The rest of the episode is full of drama between Baki's parents, including Baki's mother biting the poor boy on the arm when he attempts to hug her. He ends up walking down the street in a daze, before bumping into Hanayama.
Although Baki is a badass, I'd have to say his life seriously sucks. That's all for this episode. Until next time, good luck and train hard.
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