Reikon sped into the training area of the Hakuda classroom. A single drop of sweat trickled down from her temple to her jaw, her breathe coming short and heavy. She had ran the whole way here, just as she had done from her Zanjutsu class to her dorm room, because she had realized she would be late. Her arm rested against the wooden doorway, her head facing down toward the ground, her body heaving with each breath. When she finally caught her breath, she stood erect and walked into the training room. She instantly bowed to the sensei, mumbling a greeting.
"It's good to see you, Reikon. Come to give combat another shot?" The sensei, named Hotaru, asked jokingly. Reikon didn't give him an answer, she only gave him a weak smile and nodded slightly. Walking over toward the doorway again, she removed her shoes, and placed them to the side. She then reached into a closet, producing a training gi from its depths. She wandered off into a side room, coming out in a different outfit than before. Now she wore a training gi, with her hair back up in its messy bun; it had fallen out somewhere between the zanjutsu training ground and the dorm.
"So, are we ready?" He asked politely, as she took a few steps forward, her bare feet touching the dirt-covered training circle without a sound. With a grim nod, Reikon prepared to learn the art of hand to hand combat. "Good, now there are a lot of things to Hakudo. So many things that there is no way I could teach you all of them, even if I had every day from your first to the day you graduate. In fact, I don't even know everything there is to know about it. But I do know the basics, and you will too by the end of today. However, the best way is to learn from experience. You will learn the most basic elements. The stance, blocking, countering, attacking, and footwork." He said, as he walked closer to her. He suddenly bowed very deeply, and them positioned himself in a basic stance. His fist was brought up at an angle, the other resting at his waist, his body facing to the side, with his feet spread about shoulder length.
She nodded, taking up her own stance. The day before he had shown her a more appropriate stance for her, since she relied less on strength in combat. She had both hands open, instead of curled into fists, the first in front of her and the other up against her chest. Her legs were spread less, and bent at the knees slightly so that she could move more quickly. She stood on the balls of her feet, allowing for swift movement. He smiled, and stepped forward, throwing a direct punch at her. Instead of blocking, as he probably wanted her to do, she simply chopped at his wrist, knocking off aim so that she could spin within the area directly behind his fist, throwing her other arm's elbow at his gut.
Hotaru brought his other arm up, blocking the elbow with his powerful forearm, and pushing her forward. She would roll forward, and jump back to her feet, taking up the same stance as before. There was a sharp pain in her left wrist, she must have twisted it. Damnit, still not good enough... She thought to herself critically, as she steeled herself for his next assault, this time she would get it right. He threw another punch, she repeated the first action. This time as she shoved forward she would roll, and hook her foot around his leg. She pulled hard, sending him down to the ground while she bounced back to his feet. However, he was still better than her. As she turned to face him he was back up and moving again. He threw a hook at her head, she blocked it, he threw four more blows, she blocked them. They went back and forth, each making occasional blows, Hotaru stopping every once and a while to give her a tip or two.
They continued this process for a few more minutes, before Hotaru finally called for a break. "I can only teach you so much, and from there I can only help you to master it. It seems you know it all, you just need to learn how to use it. This is something that you'll need more than just one opponent for. Maybe you'll master it after graduating, maybe not. I'd prefer it if you found yourself a partner to practice with, several actually, to keep each battle as original as possible."
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{51}
Subject: Hakuda Class 
Sat Jan 23, 2010 7:47 pm
