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 Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 3:52 pm
Kyndall found herself walking into her evening karate class a bit earlier than usual. The drama club got out early from rehearsal so she'd been able to clean up and leave sooner. This made the teacher especially happy since she felt she needed to push harder now that she was Shalott and try and be better as a warrior. She'd still stick to the warrior virtues she'd been taught here by Master Liu, because these codes deserved observance.
She wasn't going to pick fights or participate in them until it was a necessity. She wasn't going to fight with anger or seek to do more than subdue her opponents. She certainly never wanted to kill anyone. Guide, educate, kick a** occasionally, protect, nurture: those were her goals. They weren't lofty or arrogant. They were the virtues of being a warrior as she understood the term. Perhaps it wasn't the universal definition but it was the only one she had and she was sticking to it. The zen approach seemed good enough for her.
She bumped into a girl about her own daughter's age and stepped back, smiling at her own mistake. She had her head in the clouds and was being careless again. She really needed to stop doing this but the last time it happened she struck up a friendship with Gently and couldn't say she regretted being so clumsy and airheaded. Still, in some instances it was inconvenient. You never knew how someone would react to being jostled for her not paying attention.
"I'm sorry about that!" she exclaimed, helping to steady the girl if she needed it. She hadn't bumped her very hard but sometimes equilibrium was thrown off and she didn't know just how good her balance was. "Sometimes I swear I can't focus to save my life." Which could be dangerous to her because now, literally, losing focus at the wrong time could cost her her life. She laughed, though, meaning it as a joke just now.
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 4:22 pm
Micah had not been paying attention to the world herself, and was ready to apologize as well. Beaten to the punch, however, Micah only stepped back and smiled. "Oh, I totally get it," she commiserated happily, reaching out to touch the elbow of the woman who she'd run into. "I swear, I couldn't get my head out of the clouds to save my life!" She laughed, tossing her head back in her signature fashion. She was, after all, a happy girl when she was unprovoked and when things lined up correctly. Today had not, thus far, brought any bad news now any obstacles she could not conquer with a stick and brute force.
Micah held out her hand after reflecting momentarily on her fabulous day and smiled brightly at the new stranger. "Hi," she chirped, "I'm Micah, I'm new around here. I was just... looking around and not paying attention either."
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 10:40 pm
"Well, then, you're in good company."
Kyndall laughed and felt better about her own clumsiness. She wasn't often clumsy, unless you counted running into Gently and knocking her down, but she was often lost in her own thoughts. It was a curse, sometimes, to be so easily distracted. It was nice to see younger girls in martial arts classes. She always feared for Harmony when she was out alone. She'd forced her to take classes so she knew how to defend herself.
"I'm Kyndall." she returned just as enthusiastically. "I'm glad you're here. Girls need to know how to protect themselves. Not many do."
She couldn't help it. As a mom she had no idea how to stop comparing everyone she met of roughly the same age or look to her daughter. She probably never would. Watching her child grow she could remember the different stages and now that she was a knight she felt more responsibility to prepare people for the worst and hope for the best. Micah seemed like a happy kid. She really hoped nothing bad ever happened to her where she'd need to use these skills.
"Stick close to me. I'll help you through class. It's not so hard."
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 12:05 pm
Defend? Class? Where had Micah stumbled into? Before she couls react and ask her questions, the door behind Micah opened and more and more women fjiled into the room. Well, she was hardly dressed for this. Micah looked down at her Rainbowdash tee shirt and black cargo pants. Certainly not dressed for this. Not even her Chuck Taylors would cut it for her. She thought momentarily about leaving the class, making up some excuse or even just admitting her own mistake. But somewhere between the welcoming pats on her back and the warm smiles from the women around her, Micah felt like it would be rude to do so.
So she only sighed, deflated, and smiled weakly. "Thank you," she murmured, toe of her shoe digging into the floor. Another clap on her back sent her stumbling forward a few steps. Why did people feel liek they had to do that? He pushed a wild curl from her face and looked around, the perpetrator was nowhere to be found. Stop touching me. Micah's temper bit to life again, face tightening as her lips thinned. No one else touch me.
"What," Micah coughed, trying to reign in her temper, "what is it we'll be learning? Like... Martial arts or what?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 10:59 pm
"Yeah. This is women's karate." Kyndall responded, looking confused. Hadn't Micah known that walking in? Kyndall long since didn't need the work on her technique but she liked the women's class because it focused on toning and working out, too. Building muscle as well as conquering the art of karate. That part of this made her very happy. She did like to look her best.
"It won't be too hard for you to blend in. Everyone starts somewhere and, as you can see, everyone here is very nice."
The women were notoriously supportive of one another and though Micah seemed young that would only work in her favor. Like Kyndall most of them had daughters and sons at home and were used to children. Well, teens. Already she was getting a normal welcome to the class, being pat on the back with soothing words of welcome along with it. In Kyndall's mind this is the way women should be, embracing of others instead of catty and mean.
When the master took the mat in front of them everyone spread out and Kyn led Micah further into the room next to her. She gave her a reassuring smile as they went through the usual warm up of push ups, sit ups, stretches and toning exercises. Of course, the teacher kept up with these easily but you could see varying skill levels in the room. Everyone was very supportive of everyone else.
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Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 1:38 pm
Now, Micah's core was very good. She wasn't really sure why, but she could pump out sit ups until the sunwent down. She was just good at them for some reason. Push ups, however, were a totally different set of problems. She had thin arms, devoid of all muscle. She got into position, and got down alright, but when she tried to get back up, her arms failed her for some reason. She had to flop onto her stomach to get herself abck up. She tried this three times before a woman to her left tapped her shoulder. Try it on your knees. Same position, just with your calves in the air.
Well, Micah wished she'd figured that out sooner. Her arms still struggled with the push ups, but she could at least grind out a decent number now. The only thing diluting her pleasure was the fact that she seemed like the only one in the class doing the girly knee pushups.
The stretches were easy too, very much like her running warm ups. With both legs out before her, Micah lay her torso down flat along them. Then them out to the side -- both legs forming a straight line with her body at the vertex -- she lay herself flat onto the ground. Standing up Micah leaned down to grasp her ankles, folding over easily. Butterflies, arm stretches, and legs, all Micah easily grasped. Toning went in much the same way.
Micah stood, rolling out her shoulders, with the other women, suddenly very eager to start the class she hadn't known she'd come to be a part of.
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 12:42 am
Kyndall kept a passive eye on Micah but didn't intervene unless she felt it was necessary. The other women were more than happy to help her out, having children of their own. She smiled at Micah made to switch to "girl" pushups. She knew what it was like to start off with those and force yourself to move on until you could do the other version. Kyn followed along with the warm up, impressively flexible for being a woman in her middle thirties. When they were finished her body complimented her on her tenacity at fitness by feeling comfortable and tingly.
The master separated them into pairs and Kyndall was put with Micah. She grinned at the girl, moving to face her so they could start practice. She ran to get combat pads for her arms so they could trade off practicing the punches and kicks. She slid the pads onto her hands and brought them up as a target for the girl. Not only was it important to practice your timing but your aim as well. Kyndall certainly didn't want to get kicked in the face so it was good they were doing punches first.
"You can go first." she encouraged. This way she could help with form and precision if she needed to. The master didn't mind. She generally knew what she was doing. She'd been attending his classes since she was nineteen or so. Possibly earlier but she couldn't clearly remember anymore. It was a long time regardless.
The master demonstrated the proper technique which most already knew. She waited patiently for Micah to give it a try as the others around them did the same. Both team mates were supposed to practice with both hands before they moved on to the next thing which was likely to be a kick. Kyn was ready for her, and smiling, wary of any potential mishap that might occur.
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Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 4:40 pm
Micah watched the master, still pretty confused. Was she supposed to pay for her class? She didn't have money? She was poor! Her parents had all the money, and it would stay that way until she got a job. ANd now she was trapped. Micah didn't like feeling trapped. Even with all the kindness around her, Micah could feel her temper string the bloom into the flaming flower it was. The combination of confusion and almost suffocating maternal concern, however, seemed to be doing a fair job of making sure that Micah's temper stayed a seed, burning in her gut. Even the inability to lash out, which would have been like lighter fluid with her temper, failed to do its job.
And so, the only thing to do was to play along. The punch seemed easy enough. It looked very much like the punches Jett put her though endlessly at her boxing lessons. Okay. She could do this.
No she couldn't. Micah had forgotten about her sore shoulder until it was too late. She hissed to herself and teared up, her horribly low tolerance for pain making her blush foriously. She shook off the concerned hand of another woman and tried to soundlessly reassure the woman and herself that all was well. The tears didn't help her case. Ow. Still, the woman hestiantly went back to her routines and left Micah to herself.
"I -- er -- forgot that I dislocated my shoulder a few days ago..." She didn't want to meet Kuyndall's eyes. She was an idiot, no need to see it reflected in a strangers eyes.
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Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2012 8:48 pm
Kyndall's heart immediately went out to Micah, nodding her head in understanding. She often forgot about her own injuries and didn't think anything of it. They were both tough. She smiled and nodded to the sensei, indicating that she was opting out of the class today. The master knew her well, a fourteen year student, and didn't mind. She was often found here and has been one of their most dedicated students.
"Come on. Let's go get a smoothie or something. My treat."
She certainly didn't want the girl to carry on, injured as she was. Straining an injury would be worse than much else she could do. And, conveniently, she was offering Micah a way out if she needed one, which she did. Kyndall just didn't know it. She was just trying to be nice to the girl surrounded by women. She didn't judge her, often finding her own injuries surprising.
They weren't much different in that respect so she understood. She walked over to the side of the mat and slipped on her shoes, waiting for Micah if she cared to join her.
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Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 3:42 pm
Smoothies sounded good on a regular day, but even better when the alternate option was working out with a sore shoulder. She waved a small goodbye to the master and the women around her before she zoomed for her shoes. There would be other days to make a fool of herself, however, now was not the time. Now was the time for icy, fruity deliciousness and Micah was alright with that.
She smiled at Kyndall as she laced up her dirty Chucks. "Thank you," she murmured, "for the smoothie and for the way out."
Honestly she could not have made it for the door fast enough. This was just not her scene. It was too... calming. Which was a strange word for a self defense class. Gyms she could do. There was this unspoke competition among the goers. But this was so... almost familial. It made Micah uncomfortable.
But smoothies were a better idea. A much better idea. And besides that, Kyndal seemed like a pretty neat woman. Micah would like to hang out with her.
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