The Kobayashi family was not unknown to Kaido, as a Member of the Noble Amatsu Family he had grown up being taught about the other noble families that existed within the Soul Society as a whole. More so as a member of the Gotei 13 he was well informed on the headed of the Kobayashi Family, and head of the Dojo Junichiro Kobayashi one of the few if only Kenpachi to survive the Captain Trials that was typically tradition of the Eleventh Division. Speaking of them he had heard of a current Captain Trial that had just happened at the Eleventh seems they were dealing with another new Kenpachi his money was on the current Vice Captain that made the most sense he would have to look into once he was done training there had been a lot of changes to the current set of Captains as of late very much seemed to be a mass changing of the Guard. With a shrug he continued walking up the well concealed path that lead up into the mountains high above the Rukon District. It was a good place to keep such an Elite Dojo he could feel the spiritual pressure of the mountain itself, it was indeed a highly spiritual place just by making the trek he could feel his body drawing on that power invigorating his body. He could only imagine how much better it would be once he really got into form.
Stepping into the courtyard underneath the torii gate that stood at the entrance he took a look around his eyes briefly settling upon the cherry tree set right in the middle. Moving past it he made his way to the Dojo proper opening the door as he entered into the building. Immediately the sound of wooden swords colliding against each other, bodies hitting the straw mount, and the shouts accompanied by strikes filled the air around him. This was why he was here this environment was what he needed to improve his martial capability. It didn't take long after asking some of the people taking a break from training where he needed to go for learning armed techniques. Now standing with other shinigami, and practitioners holding a wooden sword in hand he was being shown the opening steps to learning Agitowari or the Chin Splitting Strike, which would eventually transition into learning the next step to that technique the Suikawari.
Kaido slid fluidly out of one step right into the next the natural flow of Kobayashi family's techniques on full display as he practiced within the dojo many of those around him while skilled from their time at the academy were still novices when compared to someone of Kaido's skill there was a reason he had been made a vice captain, and why it would be ill advised to judge him slowly on the squad he was apart of. Already he had mastered the steps of the Agitowari so quickly since stepping foot within the dojo even if he his focus was no in the use of a single blade he could already see the ways he could work it into his natural two sword style of fighting. Pivoting on the balls of his feet he quickly spun around bringing his wooden practice sword down in a quick slash that if made by real sharpen steel would have been more then enough to bisect a man from jaw to groin where he stood. Backpedaling he pulled back wasting little movement as he reset his mid guard stance.
Centering himself a bead of sweat slowly ran down from his temple as he focused on what was in front of him in his mind eyes. It was a common training technique in the modern world they would call it shadow boxing a way of self training as one creates opponents from memory playing out their moves, and reacting to them trying to figure out the best way to come at them. Of course it was no replacement for actual spars however they were sufficient enough to begin to get the feel for not only an opponent but one's own techniques as well. Sliding his right foot forward he began the movements once more sticking to the dojo's teachings for the most part, but in places he could he applied his own personal style as it were. He went from shadow to shadow dodging here as one swung, parrying there against another a numerous array of mental training partners set against him. They all had their sights of him empowered by his worst critic himself he knew his weakness or at least thought he knew most of them so that's where his mental sparring partners struck the most.
In the midst of all this as he brought the practice sword down again pulling off a suberb form as he executed the Suikawari technique to perfection his mental sparring partner would have had a cracked skull through and through. That would have been the case if not for the solid contact of wood upon wood as someone stepped into to block his strike mid practice. Looking past the blades his eyes slightly widen though he suppressed the look of surprise on his face. Junichiro Kobayashi the Elder of the Kobayashi Family, and former Kenpachi of the Eleventh Division stood opposite of him crossing swords with him. "You are proving yourself quite the student of the blade Young Vice Captain, here let me give you a lesson in the Kobayashi style try to keep up." Pushing Kaito back with strength one would not expect from such an old man he was on the offensive his blade as much as an extension of himself as one of his arms.
This was a true master of the craft a true Kensei within the Seireitei it was reason enough for why he was left alive when typically Kenpachi's slew each other left, and right for the position. Kaito did not have time to dwell on such things being driven on the defensive he kept himself focused watching the old man's movement, and the way he seemed to dance from one strike to another. Sure he was being pushed back slowly, but surely still though he was learning with every strike as wood strained against wood. Bracing himself he recognized the Ryodan technique as the Old Man shifted in an instant to a high stance. He was going to have to bring in more of his own way of fighting into this if he wanted to keep learning. Moving back still near the edge of the mat he reached behind him his left hand wrapped around the handle of a second practice sword. That was just what he needed as the strike came down Kaito brought both swords up catching the blade upon them. Dropping one sword off to the side he avoided taking the brunt of the blow as he parried it to the side. Not stopping them he took this chance to push forward as the Old Men was pulling back to reset his stance he struck back. Though not at the old man, instead the combined might of two swords came down upon his raised guard. A sharp crack rang out as all three wooden swords broke under the pressure of Kaido's own personal technique.
Looking down at the ruined stump of the wooden sword the old man couldn't help but chuckle. "Decent enough, you have learned all you can here come back when you think you can give a retired Kenpachi a challenge with real blades." Tossing the ruined sword to the side Junichiro bowed, as Kaito did in turn. It had been a simple spar, but both men left with something they didn't have when they started it.
Muramasa wanders into the dojo. He never did find Ikasu, but the two body guards his father had sent out did message him about finding his older brother and thus he was relieved of that responsibility. When he had messaged his father about the situation Sasuga gave him leave to do what he was going to do after the meeting with Nara and be prepared to be called back or sent some other place. For now he busies himself with training up some martial skills. The style here is not exactly like that at the temple, but over all with the same principals. Joining in on a group lesson he begins to train himself in unarmed combat. It would be valuable should he find himself unable to call upon his weapons or powers. More importantly it would allow him to do non fatal attacks and holds, at least in theory. He has to admit that there's still a risk of that at some point if it the strength difference is too much. This training brings a smile to his face. Despite training as a monk for ten years, he has retained his love of fighting. Fortunately it was an order that trains in combat as a form of discipline and as a means to try to protect worshipers at the temple. He clears his mind of distractions and uses this as a form of meditation. Nothing but focus on the movements and rythms. The world falls away as his breathing matches his movements.
Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2020 5:54 pm
Hikage enters the Jade garden in an attempt to hide from his obnoxiously tall friend. He and Sora had been traveling together for sometime know. He is not certain about how long it has actually been. But it was difficult to train with mister thousand and one plus one more questions. Hikage smirks as he goes to the changing room and changes into his gi. After a few minutes he returns to the main area and spots a group training in hand to hand combat and walks over to join them. As he stretches out he runs through every technique that he has learned over the years. He has also noticed the other fellow that was at least six foot tall and carried on with an image in his head where he starts cutting the knees off of anyone who was over five and a half feet tall. But he does not linger on that thought for long. He does not want to distract himself and get hurt out of foolishness.
Muramasa moves with the group, timing each breath with the rythm. Ebb and flow. Come and go. In and out. Up and down. Each movement has its balance. The group moves for the most part as one and as one with a singular heartbeat. The new comer arrives and they space out to make room for him. Muramasa smiles at him kindly from behind his eye patch, but otherwise does not break his pattern. The moves learned here will aid him in the future. For now they are just excerise to replacec his daily routine with the monks that he had been training with. His reassignment to studying as his father's disciple and as a future priest for the temple has already made for an interesting learning curb. While he was taught the kagura from a young age, it was nothing he used to have to concern himself with mastering until recently. These martial arts classes should help to limber him up for it and increase his endurance. After the class stops for a break he approaches Hikage. "Hello, I am Muramasa Hi. Nice to meet you."
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2020 3:13 pm
Hikage trains along with the others in the class moving at their pace. It was similar to a dance with everyone moving in sync. Ever Since Sora-kun referred to his practice a dance that was how he saw it sometimes. Well a dangerous dance one the would not hurt that walking beanpole to learn. Next time he won a bet with his friend he would have to bring him here to learn some fighting skills. When the class stops he does some cool down exercises. While he does another beanpole approaches and greets him. Why did he seem to attract the ridiculously tall people where ever he went. This one seemed to go against tradition some when introducing himself or was Hi his first name. Well what did he care he could just follow example it was no big deal to him one way or another. Hello, Muramasa-kun I am Hikage Okami. Nice to meet you as well." Hikage studies the taller man a moment wondering about this lad and where he had heard the Hi name before. "Ah you are part of the Hi clan. I heard your clan was all but wiped out. Mine as well... hmm. Lets spar if I win you have to answer my questions truthfully if you win... well you can decide that I suppose it is only fair." The questions he wanted to ask would have to be asked carefully and somewhere where they were likely not to be overheard.
Muramasa smiles down at the little fellow. He seems a bit cocky but it is amusing. The only thing he wants to ask him right now is what clan he is from. "Alright, Hikage-kun," he says, using the same honorific on him, opting to not correct him that the correct honorific in this case would be 'san', but it is a non point in his opinion. At least for now. He is amused at his offer to spar with him in return for answering any questions that had yet to be formed by him. To be honest, he would have sparred regardless. "Alright, Hikage-kun. Let's have ourselves a little dance then." He takes up a stance and prepares to practice what they had already learned in the class so far. "Let's go."
Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2020 5:44 pm
It suddenly dawns on Hikage that he used the wrong honorific. This is what he gets for following through with Sora's dumb bets. He says nothing since Muramasa did not say anything about it. He grins as he takes a stance of his own. Out of the corner of his eye he see's one of the instructors is watching them smiling very slightly at them. He mentally reminds himself that he is not fighting Sora but someone he has just met. Hikage throws a couple quick jabs just to see how Muramasa responds. He moves cautiously trying to get a feel of this lads fighting style. He also wants to try out the new techniques that he has learned and wants to learn more.
Muramasa does not wish to underestimate the diminutive man. He is probably expecting that after all. Besides, something about his stance tells him that he knows more than he is letting on. At any rate the former monk in training grins at him and makes sure to keep his eye on him. His good eye stays trained on him while his eye patch is angled away from him. This would be a good time to test his meddle. "So, Hikage, which division did they assign you to? I was sent to ninth," he says conversationally as they circle.
Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 11:40 am
Hikage continues to circle his opponent cautiously and even throws out a light attack every now and then. "Hmm so we drop honorifics fine by me." He says "They are annoying especially after spending to much time with Sora. But as for your question I am in second I believe sixth seat are you seated?" He is unperturbed by the conversation while sparring it was the favorite tactic of his normal sparring partner.
Muramasa feints and weaves as he throws his blows. "Oh, me? I am seventh of ninth division. So we aren't that far apart." The entire time he continues to circle the way Hikage does. "We should try to limit our match, it looks like the others are watching us. Do you suppose that the class is going to start again soon?" he asks as he makes an aggressive move.
Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2020 12:14 pm
Hikage dodges Muramasa's attack and glances over at the spectators. Then back at his opponent and was about to respond when the instructor spoke over them. Telling them that they had half an hour left before the next class started. Hikage nods and throws several strikes at Muramasa. "How about we go till the next class starts?" He says. The guys they were originally training with had moved on to train more somewhere else. So it was a new group that was watching them. "Where have you trained before here?" He asks dodging a kick and retaliating with one of his own. "How fare the Hi are you rebuilding or shrinking? As far as I can tell the Mizu are extinct"
Muramasa laughs as they continue their sparring match. He finds this to be quite fun, actually. Sparring, countering, dodging, and grappling. All of this is so much fun to him right now. "The Hi fare well, Hikage. We have been doing a lot of healing and rebuilding over the years. Though according to my father we are not quite back to our original numbers, we are at least trying to find the lost members and believe it or not, taking in strays." He chuckles to himself about that, "Not a bad plan, really. There are plenty of people in the rukongai who would give their eye teeth for an opportunity to join a clan. Particularly if it pulls them out of poverty. Still, we are screening them and seeking them out. We're not letting in just anybody. Hey, good move there. You almost had me." He laughs again as he feints and then suddenly lunges at Hikage. "You said you belong to the Mizu clan? Mizu family proper, vassel, or retainer?" he asks as he starts to think of Kenji Mizu.
Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2020 12:34 pm
Hikage nods as he listens to what his opponent says. He then dodges the lunge as he ponders the question that was asked. "Hmm not sure that it matters anymore." Hikage says dodging yet another attack and throwing one of his own. "I guess I would technically be of the Mizu family proper though my branch was severed from the tree before a long time ago. I have played both the role of vassal and retainer for family over the years. By the time of the attack I doubt anyone knew what my heritage was." He ducks another attack then freezes as the instructor calls for their attention class was beginning. "Playing he thinks we are playing... I suppose we can continue our match after class?" The shrimp of second division bows to Muramasa and walks over to the others who were waiting to get started.
Quote:
Word count 146 x 3.5 + 796 = 1,307
kittenlynn
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Sir_Viliulfo
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2020 1:10 pm
Akagi Honosumi
Reiatsu 100 | Speed 15 | Strength 20 | Defense 20 | Stamina 15 | Intelligence 15 | Spiritual Power 15 Honosumi enters the dojo and prepares herself for training, centering herself and making sure nothing else was on her mind to interrupt her training. Once she is ready, she draws the daisho that makes up her zanpakuto and takes a chudan-no-kamae stance that is slightly modified to work with two swords. She practices several basic strikes and movements to warm up before moving to what she actually came to practice. Of course none of the movements were from the Akagi Arts, she wasn’t going to practice those in public where other people could see.
Moving to what she actually came to practice, she readies herself before practicing the Suikawari technique, a strike at the opponent’s head to split their skull open. She works on the amount of force put into the move, carefully working to put enough force to achieve the goal but not enough to unbalance herself. She also practices initiating the move with either blade, so that she can launch the technique from either one depending on the openings her opponent’s stance has.
After practicing that for a while, she works on practicing a defensive technique, the Hozan Kenbu. The hardest part in this was making sure that her swords didn’t interfere with each other and get in the way. She had to make sure that here swings were more precise than wild for the technique to fit here fighting style, and as such has been harder for her to master. But that doesn’t mean that she is going to give up on it. That just means she has to put more work and effort into learning it. She practices it for twice as long as the other technique, as it was the one she needed to put more work into. Once she finished, she took a short break outside in the mountain air.
Health 150/150 | Spirit Energy 50/50 | Clarity 20 | Movement Speed 15
Word Count for Post: 306 x 3 = 918 Word Count Total for Character: 1,302
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