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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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 Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 11:01 pm
 Kaiju Blue wrapped the grip tape around his forehooves and trotted in place, limbering up for another practice bout with his partner. There was something extremely zen in these exercises; sparring wasn't at all like a real fight. It was a dance; you had to know exactly where the next blow would land, where you should place your hooves,how exactly you could sweep with your wings- provided you had them, of course. There was also the challenge of working with a partner; you had to be able to read them precisely. Kaiju's sparring partner of choice was an earth phony, a filly named Bumble Thunder. Their styles were certainly different; he was perhaps a little quicker and had the advantage of his wings, but she was certainly much physically stronger than he was, and her stamina was amazing. The two of them were well-suited opponents, and they both truly enjoyed their mock battles.
He'd heard it wasn't right to fight with girls, but he didn't really believe that as a blanket statement; certainly it was absolutely unforgivable to be rough with somebody weaker than you who didn't want to tussle, but not all girls were weak and not all boys were strong. Bumble Thunder certainly wasn't; she was one of the strongest phonies he'd ever met, and extremely enthusiastic about their exercises. And besides- this wasn't really fighting. There was nothing animositous in their actions; there was no anger or frustration or fear. This was controlled movement, and it was as poetic as it was explosive. Sparring trained the muscles and the mind; in order for it to be at all worthwhile, you had to use the unspoken language of kinetic grace.
Today they were meeting in a grassy field; the crisp autumn air was invigorating, and the cloudless skies made staying indoors in a gym or dojo seem like a waste of time. He'd gotten there first and swept the area clean of fallen leaves; one misstep could lead to serious injury. The park was reasonably crowded, but they were far enough from any picnickers that he couldn't see any problems. It didn't take long for his partner to arrive, an orange-and-blue firecracker with energy to spare. They nodded at each other as both dropped into their preferred starting stances. Their warmup would be their initial stretching maneuvers, which would then escalate into the real thing.
"Ready?" he said, grinning. "Let's begin."
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Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 8:12 am
Bumble Thunder was having an off day. An encounter with her weird stablemate Friend-Ship was unavoidable most mornings, and familiarity never made that any easier; their owner had checked in on them that morning, and that was even worse - what do you even say to a person who, who'd paid to have you manufactured?! And, she'd been obligated to actually talk to at least three strangers on her way to her sparring match, because she'd accidentally trodden on one's tail and another had cut in front of her in line at a pastry shop. She'd dodged as many others as she could who were just nosy, brushing them off with wordless or one-word replies.
But out here on the green, in the crisp autumn air, she could - hopefully - forget about all that. It wasn't hard to spot her friend and sparring partner, Kaiju Blue, because his namesake fluorescent mane stood out sharply against the green grass and fire-colored trees. Their ring today was marked by an absence of fallen leaves, and Bumble set down her paper bag and battle-bag a few feet outside the boundary. She knew that if anyone left that ring it'd be at speed - not that they ended up leaving the ring too often anymore, really. They were too used to each other for that kinda thing. With a quick wrap of her own tape, Bumble was ready. She stepped into the ring, shared a nod with Blue, and settled into her starting pose.
"Let's!" she replied, and without further ado made her opening motions. The stretches and warmup moves were slow and graceful; the first few times they'd done it, Bumble had thought them odd and felt they were out of place in her world of action-packed battles. But the improvement with them was markedly more than without, and the physical dialogue it opened with Blue was far more engaging than any verbal one.
With the courtesies out of the way, it was time to start the conversation in earnest. Her opening statement was a sharp one-two kick with her forehooves.Scaramouche Fandango Hopefully I'm doin' this fighting thing right, haha
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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 12:42 pm
He took the blows, catching them neatly with his forelegs. The impact sent tremors throughout his body; two good, solid hits with punctuating ripples. He nodded, almost imperceptibly- but in this state, they'd both notice. Proper fighting was all about the transfer of energy, the honest, wordless communication between two individuals. If you wanted to be safe, you couldn't practice to deceive. He answered her greeting with a swift retort; a rebuttal that could perhaps end the debate if she wasn't prepared. He swished out a leg, attempting the kind of sweep that could be caught easily. In a real fight, it could seat an opponent, or the catch could turn into a hard throw; but that, of course, was one of the nice things about having wings. Another thing that Kaiju Blue really enjoyed about their sparring was the lift he could get from tosses and kinetic transfers. If he was careful with his timing, the energy he got from a good connect could give him the necessary lift to flip nicely; all he had to do was flare his wings at the precise moment and follow the flow of energy backwards. Follow the rhythm. Keep up his end of the dialogue.
Kitty Sprightt Sweep the leg, grasshopper.
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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:34 pm
Unfortunately for Kaiju, no such sick flips were forthcoming. Bumble's mind was still cluttered with her earlier woes, and she lost her train of thought - and, consequently, lost track of his. She hopped the rails only for a fraction of a beat, but in this kind of conversation, timing was everything. Instead of catching his kick, or even hopping over it, she was caught completely off guard and was knocked on her butt with an "Oof!"
"I can't believe -" she groaned, so shocked she could only voice a fragment of a sentence. She shook her head, then held out a hoof. "Sorry. Help me up?"
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Scaramouche Fandango Crew
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 9:43 pm
"I gotcha," he nodded, extending a hoof and pulling his friend to her feet. He resumed his ready stance until she was again balanced, then darted out with a forehoof, trying to catch her square in the chest. No headshots or sideshots here, not yet. They'd get more technically difficult and dangerous as the practice went on, but for now nice and easy was the best way to go. He watched his partner, looking for the little muscle movements that predicted a greater motion.
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