[open] time for the training montage

[okitactless]

Who: Yamato no Kami Yasusada and you!
Where: Menrva's school grounds; Tuesdays and Thursdays in the ballroom, Saturdays outdoors
When: Throughout April, beginning April 5th. Schedule here!
What: In a shocking turn of events, a sword spirit has offered to teach a swordfighting class. AMAZING.
Warnings: sparring, and Yamato



The basics

Since his suggestion for a sword class was sanctioned by Elsa, Yamato has been busy. Gathering supplies, searching for students and volunteers alike--a lot of effort has gone into preparations for this class.

The first class, and all subsequent Tuesday/Thursday classes, will take place in the ballroom. (Indoor shoes are required.) Introductions will be made, along with a few fun demonstrations of strikes, take-down methods, and other skills that will be covered in the class. Questions and suggestions are always acceptable.

With that out of the way, it's time to practice! Repetitive sets and form practice will make up the majority of Tuesday/Thursday classes. It can get tedious, but it's arguably the most important part of training, and Yamato is a strict and relentless teacher regardless of your level. Done with 50 reps of this strike? Great, time for 100 more! Think you've mastered this particular footwork? Time to trip you on your face! No mercy and no breaks until you fall down, or class is over.

The fun part

What would a sword class be without fighting? Wooden swords and protective gear have been provided. Usage of wooden swords is required, and protective gear is required for beginners and recommended for advanced students. Still, if you insist you don't need it, nobody's going to argue. Yamato won't hesitate to bruise or break bones either way.

Experienced fighters are encouraged to participate in demonstration matches, emphasizing the unique characteristics of their skills and styles. For practicing purposes, lower level students will be paired with more advanced fighters whenever possible. If there are no advanced partners available or a student is afraid for their life uncomfortable, lower level students will be paired together with supervision. A few training dummies have also been scrounged up for uneven numbers.

Competitive matches may take place on Saturdays, when the class is held outdoors. These will be 3 or 5 point matches, with each contact strike meriting 1 point. Students may challenge whomever they wish, Yamato included, as long as there is an advanced fighter around to referee and prevent death grave injuries.

The aftermath

The end of each class will involve a thorough cleaning of the ballroom-- and yes, it's just like it sounds. If your arms aren't about to fall off and you aren't covered in bruises, feel free to turn it into a competition! Races are fun, and the sooner it's done, the sooner you get to collapse. Food and beverages have also been provided outside the ballroom, so get some rest and chat with your fellow students. Group trips to some near shore restaurants for some post-practice bonding time are allowed and even encouraged. We're all comrades here, right? Right.

---


OOC notes:

-This is an open mingle for Yamato's sparring classes throughout the month! The first class will take place on April 5th, but feel free to use any date there is a class. Prose or brackets is fine!
-Tuesday and Thursday classes will take place in Elsa's ballroom, which means they'll be more restrained (practice sets and instructional sparring only). Please don't break the chandelier!
-Saturay classes are for competitive sparring matches, as well as anything a student would like to work on. This is where you can fly around and knock each other into trees and such.
-The class schedule is available for everyone to see, but Yamato has gone around recruiting and inviting people throughout March. Feel free to handwave getting an invitation if you'd like to come and play!
**NEW** -For anyone curious, Yamato practices and teaches Tennen Rishin Ryu style. I've linked some videos here if you want a visual reference!

Comments

Demonstration - vs beginner

[oneblackcat]

[He'll probably never need this, and it's really not even his favored style of combat. But someone he admires is good with a sword, so Omi can't help being curious about it. Just to see what it's like...

It's weird to be on the offensive, too, being more accustomed to (and suited for) sniping and evasion. Facing a girl isn't a big deal. Yuuki holds herself with confidence. That along with her opting against protective gear says enough: she's good.

At her signal, he nods, takes a moment to mentally review the reps and form practice from earlier, then charges forward with a basic strike aimed for the side of the neck. If there's one thing he does have in his favor, it's that he's already athletic and a seasoned fighter. His approach is quick and his attack without hesitation.]

[sleepingknight]

[His reward is the sound of his practice sword clattering against hers as she brings it up in a flash. And yet, in spite of the ease at which she parried, she seems pleased.]

Ooh! You're fast!

[Even if he's not quite fast enough, unfortunately. She puts enough force into her own blade to slide his away from her before returning to a neutral guarding stance, clearly waiting for him to try again.]

[oneblackcat]

[At the praise, Omi spares an appreciative smile.]

Thanks... You're much faster, though. I'm glad this is only practice sparring.

[And he makes another strike, this one a diagonal cut across the front.]

[sleepingknight]

[This time, she simply steps right out of the way, smiling cheerfully all the while.]

You can combine strikes, you know!

[oneblackcat]

Eh? Combine... like how? Can you show me?-- Slowly??

[sleepingknight]

Er...

[Slowly...]

...Maybe someone else would be better at that.

[oneblackcat]

[Omi blinks, not sure how to reply to that.]

Oh...

[He'll just have to give it a try on his own then? He tries to think back on the times he's watched Aya on the job. How did he do it...?

Maybe he's approaching this wrong. Formal instruction was a good foundation, but fighting-- actual fighting-- didn't feel anything like this. It was so much more organic and instinct-based. The practice forms were very mechanical by contrast.

Okay, Omi, how would you handle a situation on the field, if you were out of projectiles and had nothing but a sword?

He charges again, this time not worrying so much about properly imitating the forms. He makes a series of strikes aimed at the neck and chest. His skill with a blade is clearly amateurish, but at least he's trying her advice?]

[sleepingknight]

[Just as with before, she swats all his attacks aside with an insane, inhuman speed. But her smile's only growing all the wider.]

Yeah, like that! That's better!

[oneblackcat]

[Yuuki seems to be enjoying the actually-like-real-fighting approach, so Omi stays with it. He watches her as he attacks, paying attention to how she moves, how she blocks, the speed of her reaction time. She's way too fast to get a hit in the old-fashioned way... are there any alternatives? Can he get her guard down? Find a way to attack while keeping her preoccupied with something else? Turn her movements against her? Attack with a different part of the weapon?

And so he starts experimenting. The next time she blocks with her sword, he uses the resistance as a pivot point. He continues to press back against her sword as he arcs towards her and drives the rim of the hilt towards her face.]

[sleepingknight]

[She brings up her own blade to block it in a single quick, fluid movement. It doesn't look like she necessarily expected that attack - rather, she saw it coming and reacted nearly instantly.

Not only that, but there's power behind that petite frame, too. He'll feel her as she begins pushing him back, trying to force him to retreat - although even if he does, she won't pursue. Her goal here seems to be to act as a reactive training dummy for him to test moves on.]

[oneblackcat]

[She's surprisingly strong for her size. Of course, Omi is no slouch himself, but it's not his style to fight a battle of strength. He keeps his sword up to protect him from a strike as he fights her blade, but quickly side-steps, as though looking to turn her forward press into a destabilizing of balance. He doubts it will work, but more important is to get himself out of the way of that power so he's free to attack again-- which he does. This time, it's a slash aimed at her side with a low kick aimed to sweep her feet out from under her.]

[sleepingknight]

[She swats his blade away, falling when her legs are swept out from under her - but into what he'll see is clearly a controlled one as she swings her lower body to give it the momentum to turn it into a backwards roll away from him and onto her feet again.

Were she actually planning to fight back, he may notice that she's perfectly positioned to spring at him from that stance for all of a fragment of a second before she gets back on her feet, her grin never fading in the slightest.]

going to forward this a bit if that's okay....

[oneblackcat]

[It's encouraging enough just to see he managed to knock her off balance. There's no way to best her considering the vast difference in skill level between them, but if he can manage a few moments of almost-headway like that, that's victory enough.

After several minutes of sparring, it's time for a break. Omi takes off his protective gear and sets aside the practice sword. He looks at Yuuki in admiration.]

You're really talented! Where did you learn to fight like that? --If that's okay to ask...

[Not... that she did any actual fighting, but it's pretty clear from her defense alone that she's a formidable opponent.]

Totally fine!

[sleepingknight]

Huh?

[Having no protective gear, she's just got her practice sword slung over her shoulder.]

Mm, I have no idea!

[She's a shinki, after all. Not that this seems to bother her.]

[oneblackcat]

[Oh. Right.

Briefly, Omi pulls an awkward face as he realizes his blunder.]

Sorry. I'll do better remembering that.

[How difficult for conversation, too, when you can't talk about anything that happened more than a few weeks ago...]

[sleepingknight]

[She laughs, scratching at the back of her head with similar feelings of embarrassment.]

Since I don't remember how I learned it, it's hard to explain... [Thus why she declined to teach him earlier.] I don't know how Yamato does it!

[oneblackcat]

[And she doesn't know how she does it... Oh well. It would have been interesting to learn, was all.]

No, it's okay! It was just making conversation... But it seems like however you learned it, it must be something you enjoy, right?

[sleepingknight]

[She nods!]

It's like my body moves all by itself! It feels great, just being able to react right away like that!

[The feeling's faded as time goes on, but she still relishes in movement and athletics. Whoever she was before she died, she must have enjoyed it greatly.]

[oneblackcat]

[Omi thinks Yuuki must have been doing swordsmanship a long time, however she learned it, for her body to simply remember how to move like that. That's striking considering her apparent age; how young was she when she started training?]

That's pretty amazing! I don't think I'll ever be that good...

[sleepingknight]

[It'll be hilarious when they actually figure out where she learned it and how little sense it all makes, thanks canon.]

You never know! There's plenty of time!

[I mean, where else would he go?]

[oneblackcat]

[Omi laughs sheepishly. Time isn't really the issue...]

No, I don't think a million years would be enough to get to your level.

[sleepingknight]

You think so?

[Huh...]

You're a god though, aren't you? You could be stronger than you think!

[oneblackcat]

[Omi averts his eyes.]

That may be what we've been told, but...

Yuuki, just because someone said I'm the incarnation of Diana, it doesn't mean I'm that different.

[sleepingknight]

[Hmm...

She gets pretty close up in Omi's business, looking at him curiously.]

Being a god... doesn't that already change things?

[At least, that's the impression she's got.]

[oneblackcat]

[Omi's eyes widen a little, and he instinctively leans back a bit in response to her lean in.]

It... does to a point, but--

[Oh, how does he even put this?]

It doesn't mean I have the strength of one.