Starring:
Midoru, Tsukiko
Date: August 8, 2010
Summary:
Tsukiko has been designated to aid Midoru in the teaching of his samurai students in the way of the ninja. He asks her to come train, so that he may aid in in facing one of the trials she will face as a teacher of Sanyari.
"A lesson in power"
Chuunin training grounds -- Konohagakure
The sun shines high overhead, throwing heat down to the land below it. The place was mostly empty. People knew that things were not as they should be. The genin training area was full of people, working off their anxiety with a bit of sparring and excercise. No doubt the chuunin would be doing the same, but most of them were probably out taking countermeasures. And thus, Midoru was by himself in a grass filled circle -- a clearing in a secluded copse where training could be held privately and without snooping eyes. For safety's sake, though, a loud shout could draw attention to any asking for it. Tsukiko was given directions and asked to appear. He was simply waiting for her.
Tsukiko would arrive early. This was usual for her. She hurried into the copse and paused before her new tutor. She offers a respectful bow, "Midoru-sama. hello. Thank you for offering to work with me."
Midoru inclined his head to the girl. He could respect a diligent person. Makes for a good soldier.
"Thank you for agreeing to learn. A humble act." He turned away and started walking towards the center of the clearing, a myriad of weights set up. "To business then," were his words as he unsheathed Mhaldor and slid it into the ground. He turned to Tsukiko, "If you have an questions, ask them, now or later."
Tsukiko looks at the weights with some trepidation. Physical strength was never her best attribute. She looked back to you and nods, "Hai.. I have no questions yet." Her eyes returned to the weights, searching for the smallest of them to start with
Midoru nods, "Understood." The giant of a man went over to the weight rack, picking out one that was slightly lighter than the middle most weight. A daunting size, likely, for a girl of Tsukiko's height and strength. He took another of the same size and lifted it onto an iron bar, pinning the two on opposite sides, so that they would stay. He brought it over and set it down in front of Tsukiko before taking a few steps back, examining. He pointed at the weights, "Lift."
Tsukiko looks at the weights for a few long moments after the instruction is given. She steps up to the weights and prepares to lift them. the first thing you notice is her form is wrong.
Midoru takes note of this, and simply stands a waits, patiently silent.
Tsukiko tries to lift the barbell, but her bad form pulls her to the weight instead of lifting the weight to her. She releases the barbell and catches herself to keep from falling over before standing up again
"Cease," said Midoru gesturing her to stop trying to lift the thing. He left his hand held out and seemed to clench the muscles in it -- the armor shifted, before sliding loose. He removed the whole arm of the suit, gauntlets and all. He slid over to the girl and sat down on his haunches, gesturing to the open arm, hard with muscle. "Punch me in the arm."
Tsukiko blinks at looks at the man. She doubts she could hurt him with the attack, then wonders what she clould learn from this. She steps over and takes a fighting stance, obviously a very basic stance. She makes the best attack she can, punching the man in the arm
Midoru's crimson eyes seem to miss nothing as Tsukiko moves to strike him, matching the girls movements with what he pictured in his mind as the perfect punch. The attack bounced harmlessly off of his bicep and he nodded, as though appeased. "Again."
Tsukiko falls back into her fighting ready stance, looking at the mans arm. She didn't even hit hard enough to leave a red mark. She looks up to midoru and nods, swinging a second time
Midoru nods as the swing is taken and it lands solidly on his arm. "Improvement." That one had hurt-- not enough to cause harm or anything that lasted more than a moment, but it was better than the last. And it left a small mark. "Once more."
Tsukiko felt a little more confident after that swing perhaps too confident. She takes a third swing, the punch landing off center, glancing away
Midoru shakes his head, "A mistake. A need a good one. Once more, please." He shakes his arm out and presents it, waiting and watching placidly.
Tsukiko frowns at that one. she wasn't learning anything and she was just making herself, and Konoha, look bad. SHe settles herself and throws all her weight into the punch. but she aims it poorly. Her attack skips off his arm and she ends up punching his armor with her hand. She takes her hand back in sudden pain
Midoru's armor suddenly shifted, and the whole upper portion of his body was revealed, the gleaming metal being taken and placed gently to the grass. He turned to Tsukiko, putting his chest up for a target. "Again. We have a bigger target, now."
Tsukiko looks embarassedly up at Midoru, ashamed at her performance. She nods and resets herself… except she is now standing with a reversed stance, preparing to punch with her left hand. She takes a deep breath and throws her punch
Midoru's arm suddenly shoots out, holding Tsukiko's arm still and steady. "Here. Don't move, not an inch."
He held the arm up as he moved to the side of it. "Your balance is off and you are drawing yoour strength from the wrong place. You are getting it from here," he tapped her bicep and tricep. "You should be drawing it from here." He tapped her thigh.
"Power is the building and utilizing of momentum. Perfect form will defeat all but the very strongest of people, if they have no balance. A strike truly begins at the ground. Understand?"
Tsukiko freezes at the sudden grab. She was worried that she had done something wrong,, and she did. She tenses at the touches, overcoming her momentary fear to listen to the lesson. She corrects her posture as you tell her how, pushing wiht her legs to feel how the transfer of motion feels." She looks back and nods
Midoru nods, "It's good you think so, but you're probably wrong. This is something you have to feel to understand in its entirety. I will aid you in thus." The giant of a man moved the arm back. "The very first part of a punch is your setting. The perfect punch requires perfect and prolonged balance." It was with quick, firm movements of the hand on Tsukiko's shins that he rearranged her legs, expertly. A tap on her stomach pushed her back a bit, putting more weight on the hind foot. "What's different about this stance than the previous?"
Tsukiko feels the stance she's in, "this stance is formoving forward, not moving backwards. like I'm going to run through my opponent."
Midoru nods, "Truth. Your view of things is… odd. You made no note of more obvious things, yet felt something that many have to be told to notice." He taps Tsukiko's stomach, "Abominals are slightly clenched, here. You'll want to make that more pronounced. Balance is easier to maintain as well as to fix, stance wider. This is what we will focus on, for the moment. The lower half. I will guide you through the steps of a proper punch. Prepared? It'll be slow, so you'll need to work at keeping balance, but I'll help hold you steady. Ignore this, and let me take care of that -- your job is to feel the momentum." He inclines his head, "When ready."
Tsukiko listens to the instructions. She tenses as she is told, trying to absorb everything. Her observations come from one used to running away during a fight. From dodging and returning fire from a distance. She lets you mold her form, too absorbed in the lesson to let her nervousness take her over.
Midoru nodded, low murmurs explaining motions as he puts Tsukiko through them.
"And we begin…" His hands move swiftly, but steadily, constnat motion in their firm pressure. He pushes her front leg forward, pushing against the back of her shoulders at the same time. "First, you lean forward, you take a step, setting yourself, the path you want your momentum to take. That feeling of going -through- an opponent is what you want, what you'd felt."
His hands flashed down. "Your knees bend. This is the first stop of momentum from the ground. Here, not only is it bent to an upwards path, but it is amplified, increased…" His hands flash up, lifting Tsukiko's shoulders, moving back her right arm. "Here, your knees begin to unbend. This is where the momentum is pushed upwards through your thighs. The smallest unwinding of the pressure of your knees shoots the power outwards. It increases explonentially with further unwinding. Thus, the most explosive punches have you legs fully extended at the end of them. Moderation is observed, however, as it hurts one's balance…"
His hands flash, and Tsukiko's one arm is tucked in, the other partially extended, her body twisted slightly at the waist. "The momentum passes through the thighs. Here, it rounds the curves off the backside -- another spot for an increase in explosiveness, and the same happens at the hips. Twisted, the tension both guides the momentum and forced it through a smaller area, increasing torque."
His hands flash again, and Tsukiko's arm is almost fully extended, the other almost fully tucked. "The energy flows upwards through the hips, shooting to the back and the shoulders -- the shoulders being the final node of amplification." His palm runs slowly along the length of the girl's arm, mimicking the flow of momentum and making it a full extension with the other as he went along. "Finally it flows along the length of your arm, moving down it quickly, after the travel it's made. And when your arm is fully extended, it should reach one point." He taps, "Your fist. Which should guide the momentum into your enemy's body…"
He dropped his arms, signifying his completion and letting Tsukiko move on her own accord. "It is with efficient movement that you win fist fights. With this--" he taps his bicep, "--you have strength. But with what you just learned, you have power. Great strength supplements the other, but is by no means a requirement. And this is why, Tsukiko, you are more powerful than you believe. Understood?"
Tsukiko listens carefully through the entire lesson. She feels and listens through every step of the travel of power. When you finish and step back she concentrates a moment and slowly steps through the punch. She steps back and repeats this process, taking note to feel how her muscles feel as she steps through the punch oer and over in slow motion
Midoru nods slowly, watching as Tsukiko practices what she was just taught. She got better with each repetition, fixing a mistake on the third punch that hadn't been there on the second, widening her stance a little than it had been on the previous stance. "Good. You learn quickly -- less of a bother to teach than others I've met with."
He moves to the side, beckoning. "Now, use what I've just taught you to lift the weight. The principal is not exactly the same, but it will let me see how in tune you are with your body, if you can adapt the method."
Tsukiko looks up, momentaril lost in her practice. She nods andstands straight again. She walks back to the weight and looks down to it, as if looking to an opponent. She squats down and grips the weight. her form is right this time. She strains and start to lift it. She can only get it a foot off the ground though. Her form was better, but her physical strength just wasn't there
Midoru nods, "Better." He gestured to the areas of her body as he spoke instructions, "But not quite what you need. You have the ability to lift this weight, Tsukiko. Clench the muscles in your arms. Don't try to lift with them; command them to be still. Use your legs."
Tsukiko takes a breath, listening to your instructions. She tenses her muscles and stiffens her arms. She slowly pushes up with her legs, pulling the weight up with her until she has the weight at her waist, standing fully with her wide stance for strength as you taught her. She takes a deep breath before trying to raise it more. she sinks an inch then pushes her whole body into the effort of lifting the weight. Pushing her strength from her feet, through her legs, up her back and through her arms. She lifts the weight up and barely manages to get it up over her head. She can't quite get her arms fully extended above her head before her thrength gives out. the weight comes back down quickly, much to her fear.
Midoru's hand flashed outward, grasping the weight's bar before it could cause any harm to the girl. "Good," was his reply, lifting the weights with a single hand, muscles shifting in his arm. "I had not expected for you to lift the weight higher than your waist. You're stronger than you look as well." The weights were, by then, dissassembled, and the Kuroyari moved and put them away, leaving the metal bar by the rack.
The 6'10 man turned to the girl and inclined his head in acknowledgement. "You have sufficiently learned the travel of momentum through the body, and the foundation of power. Your training is complete; use this new knowledge as you see fit." He lifted a fist to his heart, giving salute.
"You are dismissed."
