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 Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:36 pm
 The Arena was quiet, almost eerily hollow with the lack of sound as Kallisto ran about it's perimeter a few times, warming up. She'd been stretching for the past little while, getting ready for a good hard work out. Something to keep her mind off life in general. The books she'd borrowed recently had been useful in that she was now practicing stances and counter-attacks, playing with her own style of fighting with an empty hand. The sanguine fully intended to move onto weapon work one day but felt it best to have a solid base in empty hand fighting first.
Inhaling deeply, she settled into the Zenkutsu-dachi stance and remained like that for a long moment, body squared and facing to the front, feet pointed forward, about two fists apart - a very forward stable stance. Slowly, she mimed a punch, followed by a kick and then did the reverse, pulling the limbs back in to settle back in her original stance.
Suddenly, a loud, forceful yell ripped into the silence, full of internal power. Echoing for a moment, it lulled only slightly before another followed on it's heels. Should someone be watching Kallisto they would find that each kiai was followed shortly by a strike of some sort. First the spearing hand of the Nukite strike and then the raw power of her signature move - a kick.
This went on for several long moments, her attacks varying between punches and kicks, sometimes interrupted by feints and dodges as she fought an imagined foe. At one time it had been her lover... but now it was empty space and she railed against it, letting out the pent up anger and frustration that had accumulated over the past while.
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:30 pm
 Abacus stretched as he walked, following the signs to the arena floor. He had visited the arena before, but had stayed only in the bleachers. The view was amazing from up there, but how did it look close up?
Abacus paused by the door to the arena and looked around. Kallisto was hard to miss. He looked at her curiously before approaching, stopping a few yards away. She looked... well, calm. Focused. He recognized her from a couple classes, even though they never exchanged words. He hoped she wouldn't mind if he took a picture of her.
Of course, this wouldn't go according to plan. When he raised his camera and positioned it, Kallisto unleased her kiai, startling Abacus back a few paces and to fall quite quickly onto his rump. He was thankful for the strap that held it in place around his neck, and saved it from bouncing against the ground.
From his new position, however, he was held in place by the precision of Kallisto's attacks. He watched, his camera forgotten as he concentrated on trying not to let his jaw drop and hang open with the speed she had mastered.
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:54 pm
Kallisto didn't notice the phlegm boy for a few minutes, so involved in her practice was she. Kicking and punching, she trotted backwards and nearly stumbled over the zero, cursing as she rolled her ankle in an effort not to step on whatever was on the ground.
Catching sight of light blues and purples, she blinked and peered at Abacus for a long moment, trying to figure out why on earth he was sitting where he was with his jaw hanging open. "Ah... what are you doing?" She was more confused then distant as she favored her ankle and held a hand out to help him up, "I didn't hurt you did I?" Looking him over, she made sure she hadn't and smiled. Feline pupils were slits in the bright light, giving her features an exotic appearance.
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:41 am
Abacuse realized quote belatedly that he had picked the wrong spot to stop and stare when she began to move backwards. Towards him. Quite rapidly.
He scooted to the side opposite of where she rolled, giving her an embarrassed grin in exchange for the curses he caused. "Allo," he greeted, raising one hand to wave at her before accepting her hand and aid in standing up. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that my view of your practice would have interrupted it," he brushed off his pants, straightening up pointing with his thumb to his camera. Or was it himself? "My name's Abacus, and I came here to take some pictures. Your yell earlier threw me off and, I, er, somewhat chose my seat a bit hastily, but it gave me a good view of your moves. Ah! Not in that way!" His thoughts derailed, the boy waved his hands as if chasing off the thoughts causing a blush to have a picnic upon his cheeks. "I meant that I couldn't stop watching because, er, I've never seen anything like it and... Ah, I'm babbling, aren't I?" He finished, laughing and scratching the back of his head. "Let's start over, shall we? My name is Abacus. Are you all right? I didn't mean to get in your way."
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 1:03 am
"My kiai....?" She asked, smiling despite herself as the other babbled, chuckling as he proceeded to blush. Crossing arms under her bust, she set her weight on her good foot, causing the other hip to just out, accentuating her curves. While not a slight, dainty creature, Kallisto was not without feminine appeal.
Quirking her brow, she simply picked up from where he left off, "At least you enjoyed the view. I'm fine. Just rolled my ankle." And then a though ocurred to her, "I guess you haven't been to PE class yet, hrm? I'm practicing the more advanced moves. They're variations on the basics - punch, kick, block, and dodge." To demonstrate, Kallisto first threw a basic punch at Abacus, letting her fist swish past his ear and then struck out with Nikute, "They have more specific purposes then bludgeoning your opponent into submission - though that works just as well sometimes.
"I'm Kallisto, by the way. You can take pictures if you want." Smiling, she figured it wouldn't hurt. She could even study her form that way.
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 1:33 am
"Ah! So that's what it's called? Kiai," he repeated, linking the word to... Ah, heck, it could have been any of those moves, or even that yell. He nearly bit his tongue when Kallisto shifted, his eyes following the motion before realization kicked in and his eyes snapped up to meet her's, then focus up and to the left, right there on the techno-ring and one of her pig-tails. It was safer, at least.
At her question, he shook his head... And nearly fell backwards again as she lashed out. "Agh!" He exclaimed, one boot sliding back and his arms pinwheeling in an attempt to remain standing. Come on, falling down would shatter the remaining dignity and cool points he had left! "Wait, really?" He asked, leaning forward and regaining his footing. "How so? I can believe that they can startle," he grinned, "and increase your speed and strength.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kallisto. Ah, really? Thanks!" He beamed, and snatched his camera up. "One moment please," he purred, his fingers making quick adjustments. One push of the button later, and Abacus captured one exotic fighter on film. "Ah, if it's not too much trouble," he began, gesturing towards her feet, "Could you... show me a few moves? And possibly, er, teach me the basics?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:23 am
She smiled as he flailed about and stepped back, out of his personal space to answer the question without looming over him, "Well, a regular punch looks like this, ya?" She fisted her hand for a moment, then flattened it out into the Nukite, "And Nukite looks like this. Obviously I can't attack the same way with both - this one is for damaging soft tissue. If I were to strike at harder things, I'd probably break my fingers." Kallisto shrugged, "There are lots of forms and stances to learn, each with a different purpose in mind. I've only learned a few to start with, mainly blocks and stances."
When he suddenly grabbed his camera she blinked and quickly struck a pose, looking determined. Stretching once he set his camera back down, Kallisto laughed softly as he asked for her help. "Show you a few moves, eh? I don't see why not." A nod at his second question, "Sure! I'll even teach you a few of the advanced moves if you like." Coming around to stand beside him, she frowned and paused, biting her lower lip as memory of a similar scene came forward; save they had been in the gardens then... With a soft sigh, she dropped her gaze to the ground as she settled easily into a neutral stance.
"Just copy what I do and I'll correct you as we go, okay?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 5:59 pm
"Ah! So there's different ways to attack certain things?" He asked, his eyes on her ha-- no, the Nukite. "Ah, not just ways since there's punches and kicks and such, but more than one, ah.." He thought for a moment, one hand moving in a circle as if flipping through a stack of flash cards with words. "There's different... effects, like damaging soft tissue as you said, to I assume bone-breaking, numbing, and others?"
He smiled at the pose, removing the camera from around his neck and activating a techno-ring to keep it safe. "I can make a copy of the photo if you'd like," he offered, his eyes lighting up at the offer of advanced moves. "Would you mind if I took a few more pictures of the more advanced poses? I'd like to make sure that I don't accidentally screw them up, y'know? Er, that is," he added hastily, "If I don't screw them up first, haha."
When she moved beside him, he tilted his head to one side and looked at her worriedly, but chose not to press it. It was gone, and when she gave her first command he nodded eagerly and mimicked her stance. "All right! Lead on!"
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 8:12 pm
She nodded as she answered his question, pleased to find him catch up on quickly, "Yep! Breaking bones, deadly strikes, disabling strikes and the rest. Oh, I'd appreciate that, thanks." With a smile Kallisto struck out on fist slowly so that Abacus could copy the movement, "Punch. One of your basic attacks. The other is the kick." With that, she struck out with a forward kick, foot snapping out and then back, "Try a few of each, try not to lose your balance."
Kallisto laughed as she considered letting him take photos and after a moment, agreed, "I don't see why not. It will be useful for both of us." Stepping back, she waited for him mimic her moves with a critical eye.
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 8:56 pm
Abacus shook his head in amazement. "There's more to it than I thought," he admitted, grinning and watching her carefully as she performed the first move. Those two moves seemed easy enough! He curled his right hand into a fist and brought it back, then threw it forward while sliding his right foot forward at the same time to maintain his balance. That's what she did... right? "Is there any difference in throwing a punch or kick with your left or right?" He asked, turning his left hand into a fist and throwing a punch with that and nearly falling over as he forgot to slide his foot for balance.
He shook his left arm and gave a rueful grin, then moved onto trying a kick. Making sure that Kallisto wasn't going to approach him (he tripped her already -- he didn't want to add kicking his teacher to the list!), he took a deep breath. How did she do it again? In his mind's eye he pictured Kallisto's kick, then strove to duplicate it.
He ended up with a kick that wasn't as high as her's, complete with a slight wobble on his other leg unprepared for the sudden shift of his center of gravity.
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 9:32 pm
"Not too bad." She laughed softly, reaching out to steady him. Kallisto pondered his form for a moment before gesturing for him to repeat the move, placing her hand on his back and grasping his fist, "Like this. Feel how you move? Thumb outside your fingers, wrist and hand level - you'll break your wrist otherwise. Try again." Letting go, she crossed her arms and watched him once more.
"And imagine your energy flowing into your legs when you kick, ground you...." She illustrated what she meant by placing a hand on her center of gravity then kicking out, moving that hand to show the shift of energy settling lower down and making it harder for her to be unbalanced.
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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 9:42 pm
"Ah! Good thing we're not working on training dummies, then," Abacus replied, quickly moving his thumbs and trying again. This time the punch went smoothly. "Er, with my other arm... Is there something I should be doing with it?" Currently, said arm was tucked up against his side, and having it there made Abacus feel a bit silly.
He shifted his attention to the kick, looking at her when she spoke and demonstrated. "Energy... Like our Essence?" He asked, curious. He took a deep breath and tried again, the height of his kick remaining the same but with less wobble this time.
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 5:59 pm
Kallisto nodded and wiggled the arm he had tucked up against her side, "Keep it up like this so you're ready to defend or attack as needed. It's a shorter arc if your fist is up here versus down here, where it will take longer to do anything." She dropped her arm to her side as she spoke, slowly showing the arc of movements between the two positions.
"Yep! You want power to flow into your foot and down into your leg. That's better!" She clapped, grinning, "Don't worry about height, reach, or power just yet - get used to the motion. Understand how your body moves first before trying to damage anything. Once you get a hang of thing, we can spar a little, kay?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:56 pm
"Like this?" He asked, mimicking her movements until he was comfortable. "So the unused arm acts like a shield," he mused, alternating between punching and defending with both arms. "Are there any other defensive forms like this?"
Abacus grinned with pride when he received applause, breaking from kicking to give her a brief bow before returning to kicking. He switched to his other leg and frowned -- that kick was lower than his other foot! Ah, well. He gave her a nod showing that he understood about getting used to the motion. "Are there any exercises that can help boost those?" Abacus asked, pausing in his kicks. "I have the feeling that I'd probably accidentally kick something in my room when practicing and end up hopping around clutching my foot as a result," he laughed, offering a shrug before resuming his kicks.
"A... spar? I think I'm ready," the last kick shot out before he set his foot on the ground, giving himself a moment to catch his breath. "Ready as in I know enough to stay on the other end of my punches and kicks, and enough to not look like a flailing novice. I hope."
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Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 2:32 pm
"Mhmm! There's lots of defensive forms but they vary in your posture and the type of defense they offer so it's a good idea to learn a few." She blinked as he asked about exercises to help with the kick and then laughed, "There's plenty! Try getting limbre enough to do the splits or try this..." Coming around to stand before the other, Kallisto held her hands out to Abacus, "Kick your foot up and rest it in my hands then lean forward while reaching up your leg." Flapping her hands, she motioned for him to do as instructed.
A soft chuckle, "Not yet. You still haven't gone over blocks, don't get a head of yourself, hrm?" Winking, the sanguine waited patiently for Abacus to try the stretch.
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