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Post by Daidoji Satoru on Jan 12, 2018 20:09:52 GMT -5
As promised, Daidoji Satoru returned to the dojo for another round of practice with Akodo Ichiro. He was rather nervous about the whole deal, especially with how lousy the last bout went. He was sure the other student was simply more competent than he was, and that's fine. You're never going to be the best at something. But to be taken down by the very first and only opponent he's had within these walls? It was pretty demoralizing. It only made him wonder how many students would turn out to be better than he was at this sort of thing. It was one of the few practices that brought on a sense of purpose to him. This is the sort of art his ancestors mastered in order to best serve the empire--not in trying to raise some major firm that accumulates all this unnecessary wealth. They are supposed to be bushi, not businessmen. This time he had gotten all the proper gear together; out of respect for sensei Mirumoto and out of respect for the dojo. He had brought a small box of lunch that he kept stashed away for later. No eating before practice. He wasn't sure when Ichiro would show up exactly, so he sat cross-legged on the sidelines and meditated in silence with a pair of earbuds on, listening to a modern cover of an older song. Akodo Ichiro |
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Post by Akodo Ichiro on Jan 12, 2018 21:23:17 GMT -5
The young Akodo stretched as he walked his body starting to feel the strain of this morning's training and the later football practice he put himself through. He was on his way to meet the crane boy from earlier and practice a bit more. "If I keep going at this rate I'll be as strong as a thunder by the end of the semester." The boy jokingly thought. The sun felt good on his skin when the clouds weren't blocking it and the wind blew his hair back while chilling the heads of sweat that still clung to his face. He hasn't even bothered to change from his football practice and was still sporting the workout pants and top he was earlier. He would definitely need a dip in the hot spring after this kind of day. He entered the dojo and saw the crane boy had beaten him here. Not a particularly challenging feat as Ichiro was constantly late places but he hoped he had not been waiting long. Ichiro entered the dojo and observed the respectful practices involved with that honoring his ancestors and those of the clans represented here. Then he approached the boy and gave him a genial smile. "Hey there Daidoji-san, you ready for a rematch?" Daidoji Satoru |
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Post by Daidoji Satoru on Jan 12, 2018 21:34:03 GMT -5
Satoru had his eyes closed, relaxed to the bone. He only just managed to catch a glimpse of the Akodo through half-opened eyes before he reached for his phone and paused his playlist.
"Hey--yeah. As ready as one could be," he responds, not fluidly. He never seems to speak like he's sure of the words he is saying, not until he grows more comfortable with his present company. Social etiquette in general always threw him right off. Some people took massive offense to being spoken at casually, while others gave him funny looks for trying to be formal.
He takes his earbuds out and sets the phone on the bench, getting to his feet.
"You are clearly more skilled than I," he admit. "I'm ashamed I could not prove to be more of an equal to your skill."
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Post by Akodo Ichiro on Jan 13, 2018 2:50:00 GMT -5
Ichiro laughs at the boy's words. "What a ridiculous statement Daidoji-san, there are different skill levels and styles. My style overcame your style, maybe I'm a bit more skilled than you but who knows? Like Miroumoto-sensei said I could easily have lost to a hida who is trained to endure my assault where you may see a crack in his defenses. It's why we train and why we train against different styles to increase our knowledge of how to beat different opponents." He smiles and gives the kid a thumbs up "don't doubt yourself so much man just practice, I believe you can get better with hard work and determination. No one picked up a blade and was instantly a master."
Ichiro then moves to get his stuff ready arranging his bogu and training weapon.
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Post by Daidoji Satoru on Jan 13, 2018 22:30:18 GMT -5
The Daidoji slackened a bit, perhaps finding the Akodo’s nature reassuring enough to relax in his presence.
“Fair points.” He’s already dressed with the proper practicing gear this time, all he needs is the shinai and they’ll both be good to go. He’s left it by the spot where he had been sitting. Once he had it in hand, he faced the Akodo with a tired, though friendlier expression.
“I’m always hard on myself, for better or for worse. I know I’ll never be the best, but it’d be nice to be good at something I enjoy doing.” He gives a shrug that morphs into a bit of a stretch of his shoulders. “There’s always room for improvement, right? Or at least that’s what our teachers tell us.”
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Post by Akodo Ichiro on Jan 14, 2018 1:22:43 GMT -5
Ichiro nods "yeah thats right there is always room for improvement. Perfection doesn't really exist and no one is the best, everyone is always one moment away from failing but hey man we can learn from failure almost more than success. My teachers back home tell me that success teaches us very little while failure teaches us much." Ichiro bows to Daidoji Satoru and assumes his stance prepared for the bout, his mind slowly falling into that place where thought and reflexes muddle. Dulling his mind and sharpening his reactions, allowing his body and hours of practice take over his movements. |
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Post by Daidoji Satoru on Jan 14, 2018 22:17:53 GMT -5
Satoru returns the bow. This time he is a lot less stressed than he was with a Dragon sensei breathing down his neck and the feeling he would end up offending or disappointing the shit out of either one of them. He tried to find that peace from earlier, that moment’s respite, and then he began the spar with far less stiffness to his joints than before.
He was definitely still Ichiro’s inferior when it came to speed and power, but the Crane never once seemed to take a defensive position. He either attempted strikes or evaded, but instead of parrying, he would take hits like a damned masochist. Instead of demoralizing him this time, he actually seemed to get more fired up with every failure, assuming he’s found some new way to get around Ichiro that he hadn’t thought of before.
His form had its imperfections, but it was more to do with his impromptu improvisation rather than poor teaching. Eventually he would have no choice but to try and defend, if only because he had been hit on the same sore spot twice. But the discouragement that plagued him before seemed to vanish.
(Not sure if you wanna roll it but I’m pretty sure my odds are the same as before. XD)
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Post by Akodo Ichiro on Jan 15, 2018 1:51:26 GMT -5
Ichiro's arms move thoughtlessly strike, strike, strike he brings the sword down again and again. He presses hard his sword darting in and out of Satoru's guard striking his blade more often then naught. But Ichiro's fighting style was an onslaught he pressed the attack relentlessly one studying his form would note the many of his strikes were fast and powerful but if deflected properly would leave him severely open to counter attack. The boy was tough though he took his licks and he was quicker than last time had better movement must be more focused. while Ichiro still bested the daidoji the boys strikes came closer and closer and he even managed to land a solid point on Ichiro.
Ichiro's breath heaved as he let his blade down "wow Satoru-san that was much better than our first duel!" He removed his headgear and bowed to the crane boy "its easier to fight without an audience I imagine, lets you relax and focus I assume. but seriously man that was pretty great if you keep at you will be amazing one day man don't give up on it."
((Nah its fine we can just role play it out no need for the numbers.))
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Post by Daidoji Satoru on Jan 15, 2018 9:45:38 GMT -5
Though he's been in longer matches before, Satoru is panting harder than usual for something that lasted as long as it did. He didn't realize how hard he had been exerting himself to keep up with Ichiro. It felt like he had been out of practice for the entire summer, as opposed to training his focus every morning before breakfast.
"Thank you, Ichiro-san," he manages, beginning to catch his breath again. He flips the mask up, his hair a right mess underneath it. "I'm intrigued by your style. Matsu-trained, if I remember correctly? It's ruthless!" He lets out a small laugh, then cracks his back with a brief arch before trying to fix his hair out of his eyes.
"Our school was big into getting the first strike. It's great if you can keep pulling it off long enough to pick at the other duelist's defenses, but without he power to go behind it, it's relatively useless, y'know?"
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Post by Akodo Ichiro on Jan 15, 2018 11:49:14 GMT -5
Ichiro nods "yeah it's not really meant to be a style for dueling, as Aiko-sensei said I'll need to shore up my ability to defend myself because there will be opponents that catch me every time if I don't. Its really a fighting style meant for the battlefield where my first strike can kill my opponent and I have allies to protect my exposed defenses. Your style is actually probably better suited for this kind of thing, I'll need to watch my back if I want to keep ahead of you."
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