Reformation (Training, Open)

( Kujira-buro 0/20 )

Finding himself once more in the Gouken no Kamae, Shouhei reasoned that the best way to conduct the second trial would be to operate under the assumption that the contest had already been in full swing, pushing back and forth, neither side giving much quarter to the other, and while the situation would make the timing of the technique all the more crucial it gave way to a kick targeted toward the outside of the knee. While a bit more difficult to pull off, harder to prevent telegraphing and a bit easier to dodge, if contact was indeed made, the impact was a great deal more devastating than the kick aimed towards the inside knee, it was also harder to check the kick without suffering additional damage to knee. Also, since the point of origin for the initial strike was the trailing for in any situation, the amount of travel time and the twisting off his hip would add to the amount of force which would be exerted upon impact. Calming himself and voiding all thoughts aside from the initial strike, Shouhei readied himself. Once more he imagined the opponent before him; well trained, ready for most anything.

Taking in a shallow breath Shouhei plunged himself into the mid battle mind set, finding himself just having recovered from a well timed counter from his opponent, his stance naturally lowered, his lead hand; the left, found itself closer towards his body, palm facing towards the enemy. There was no choice but to push forward, the only thing that could come from a continued retreat would be a swift invitation into the pace of his assailant, a bad situation by anyone's measure, even an amateurs. Taking a quick, small step forward Shouhei began twisting his hips as he brought his supporting leg; in this case his right, around for the attack. Lifting it higher above the ground than he had with the kick from the first trial, the ideal measure in mind, he adjusted the angle which his knee had assumed, pointing it slightly towards the ground, dictating the path of the kick which made contact with the phantoms knee, causing a very violent buckling to occur while at the same time, the unintended dropping of the guard on both sides.

Allowing his striking leg to briefly follow the contour of the opponents, Shouhei brought his foot to rest slightly behind the opponent, a very different invasion of the guard, but at the same time very affective, bringing him in in such a manner that it would make even an aptly recovering opponents escape route for all intents and purposes cut off, while at the same time providing a suitable base to attack with the upper cut. As his foot settled quickly upon the grass, Shouhei lowered his left hand to a few inches above his waist, drawing his arm back at the same time, mere split seconds before he fired off the upper cut. Unlike the first trial which utilized not only the lead leg but the lead arm, due to the kick, his right had become the lead and the left had manifested into the striking arm, giving it more power than it would have had otherwise due in part to the fact that the opponent was more or less leaning into the blow from the opposing direction. As like with the first Shouhei twisted not only his hips, but his torso as he threw the punch, adding to the over all power of the blow, yielding a very similar ultimate reaction as the first trial.

Settling back into a neutral stance after his follow through, he began to consider the pros and cons of this variation on that very same technique. The largest thing that stuck out in his mind was speed; unlike the first variation, this one held within it an inherent amount of travel time greater than the first. On it's own, that wasn't bad considering the amount of power added to both blows was quite a bit greater, however he knew just as well as anyone, if it was only power that mattered, then there wouldn't be such techniques in the first place, they'd give way to much simpler means by which to exert ones strength. It troubled him slightly, the fact that even though there were many ways to do this attack, there seemed to be a draw back to every single one of them, and while he knew that there was no way to do away with them all and create a image of perfection, he wanted to do away with as many issues as he could. Yet the more he thought about it, and the more he tumbled over the possibilities in his mind, the problems that he was finding were less problems as they were unavoidable draw backs.

Sighing softly he reset his position, throwing the same styled kick a few times, alternating between his right and his left as he continued to consider just what else he could possibly do to increase the effectiveness of the attack. Surely the creator of it had done the very same thing, and probably came up with no real solution to the dilemma and just settled on what he found worked best, and the results evidently had enough staying power to remain in the training regiment of many who came after him. But for some reason it simply did not sit well with the young man, he just found himself continuously wondering just whether or not the kicks were good enough, he could feel the power behind them, he could feel the speed behind them, the breaking of the guard, the re-establishing of a base, but in the end it felt as if something was missing. Pausing for a moment he realized that he very well could have been looking at things the wrong way, what if it was not the best thing to try and figure a way to fix the kick to ensure the upper cut, but instead to ensure the upper cut as to allow the kick to flow naturally dependent upon situation.

Pausing for a moment Shouhei looked down at his hands, closing them into fists and imagining the varying ways to actually throw a successful upper cut following the kick. Due to the nature of the attack, it seemed to him, at least from what he had seen up until this point, that the goal was to send the opponent flying into the air, however did that actually mean he was limited in his range of movement. He shook his head, smiling to himself; of course it didn't, just because there was one goal in mind, didn't mean there was only one path available, in fact it was quite the opposite. The one thing however that was needed to be in common with any if all changes that he made was the power, the power to break through a guard and hit just under the chin completely. But what was it that would add that aspect to the punch, sure the twisting of the body was a sure fire method, it added motion and strength to any blow, but what if that wasn't enough?

A few ideas came to mind, though two of which stuck out. One of which was inspired from an old fashioned style of hand to hand combat; boxing. If there was any martial art out there which was proud of it's punching power it was boxing, and there were few punches that when gotten off cleanly had more power than the upper cut, or the hook, there was however one which held the middle ground between the two, a marriage of the hook and the upper cut, the smash. There was however one issue with the smash that he could think of, and that was the amount of movement which would be dedicated to the move, if countered it wasn't exactly the easiest thing to recover from, however if it hit, the power was undeniable. The other option was a technique borrowed from some of the fundamentals of Eastern martial arts, that being if there simply wasn't enough force behind a blow, one should just add more. To do this, it called for the free hand to be placed at the base of the elbow, lifting upwards as the blow was being delivered, thus pushing through any resistance, and if done properly it would add a great deal of force. And while both were interesting additions, they had to be tested, otherwise they would remain as simple speculation.

( Kujira-buro 20/20 )

Shouhei found himself at a crossroads, while both ideas had great value, he couldn't seem to part with the realization that he hadn't actually been doing all that much to part ways with the flaws of his various methods, but instead figuring out various situations with which he'd without doubt come to grapple with in the future, and the ways with which he could still use the same technique, but put a twist on it which would give way to a most favorable outcome. Yet despite this he still wanted to try out his two new variations on the upper cut. Crossing his arms, Shouhei began to contemplate which initial strike would best compliment the blow that would follow. The issue which presented itself first was which attack would benefit from either stance he would find himself in after the first and crucial kick. Closing his eyes for a moment he allowed his minds eye to focus upon the trials of the day, and even though he had only done one of them, it was the first that stuck out in his mind the most, it was a rather closed movement and had been in fact the reason he'd begun entertaining other methods to begin with. The advantages of it still held strong in his mind, it was faster, more concise and harder to predict, however, it was not the best thing perhaps for the boxing styled uppercut, it was too narrow in the set up, the true power of the smash could never possibly be realized, however, the Eastern styled seemed to almost be catered to it. Not bothered by the confined nature of the stance, but instead relishing the position.

Taking his time to re-establish his base stance, Shouhei once more pictured the opponent standing before him at the ready. Unlike the first trial, the picture was much clearer to him, and instead of it being one attack somewhat complimenting, the first attack seemed much more integral into the establishment of the second, laying a firm foundation and increasing the potency of the second, even if it were perhaps not as successful as the ideal situation would have it. In one swift movement he lifted his foot off the ground, adjusting the angle of his knee as he turned his hips, giving the kick a well aimed trajectory before further turning his hips and throwing the kick towards the inside knee of the invisible opponent. The contact was solid, buckling the knee and causing the opponent to lean forward slightly, the guard releasing up just a bit, the opening at the elbows the pathway for the newly conceived uppercut to travel. As he brought his foot down within the broken stance, Shouhei brought his left arm more towards his center forming not a fist but instead a palm, while at the same time placing his right hand underneath the left elbow, holding firmly as his foot settled into the ground. Then shifting his weight ever so subtly to gain a more secure base he thrust his palm upward, aided by his right arm, pressing through the remains of the loose guard, finishing the technique with a modified uppercut.

It wasn't bad, not for an on the spot modification to the technique, in fact the closed stance felt like the most natural way to use the technique, and the stepping into the guard allowed for an aligning of his core to make the exertion upon the arms even more fruitful. Pausing for a moment he smiled to himself, taking a few moments to admire his accomplishment even though there was still yet another test to be run, for while this uppercut fit with this kick, he knew that the smash would not. And while he already suspected it would work wonderfully with the broader stance; product of the outer knee strike, if he didn't test it, in the end it would be nothing more than groundless theory. Looking up towards the sky he began to imagine the technique from start to finish using the smash instead of the typical uppercut which so many that he'd seen used before him. From the start the attack was a bit wider and a little bit easier to path out for t opponent, however it was not something that was to be used during the opening moments of a match, or when the opponent was well within his abilities to predict a much larger attack. The frenetic pacing of the bout up until then would help to mask the target of the first blow, leading the victim to believe that it would be aimed towards the ribs or another critical local, however the target would always remain the same, the outer knee, then once settled into the new, wider stance, the smash was free to gain all the power it could without interruption.

Settling once more into the Gouken no Kamae, he centered himself, focusing on the mindset of someone thrust headlong into a contest, punches and kicks of varying style and flavor being matched if not avoided by encompassing counter measures, and then there it was, the opening that he had been waiting for. Taking a small step forward he twisted his hips as he began to bring his support leg around for the kick. Adjusting the angle as had been done in the previous trials, the target for the strike was well decided and aimed for, the blow thundered around it's travel path before connecting solidly with the target, forcing the opponents knee to buckle violently, almost as if it had been broken by the single strike. Then allowing the striking leg to briefly follow the contours of the opponents, Shouhei quickly settled into his much wider stance, all the while having brought his left hand; now his striking hand down by his waist, closing it into a fist, ready to strike. As soon as his foot was secure in the grass, Shouhei threw the modified uppercut, the marriage between the hook and the upper cut, turning his torso as well as his hips as the punch rocketed towards the phantoms chin, breaking through the remnants of the guard and making solid contact.

After following through Shouhei took a breath and sat down upon the grass, leaning back, his hands resting behind him, supporting his weight as he took a few breaths. The results of the second trial were just as satisfactory as the first, both gave him the assurance that even if the kick was perhaps not as successful as he would like in a situation the upper cut still had the potential make up for it. Smiling to himself he sighed contently, the fact that he'd not even considered using any sort of chakra build up to make up for any shortcomings of the original attack not even entering his mind, nor did they come to press the idea of using that very same chakra build up in order to further his own innovations upon the technique which had long stood the test of time. And while he was indeed confident and content with what he had accomplished there was still so much to learn, so much to do, many mistakes to be made, many victories to be had. But all those things were in the future, some of which more immediate than others. The only thing he found himself asking for was a training partner, the best sort of trial and error was with a living breathing companion whose feedback was often just as or if not more valuable than his own inner thought process, especially with taijutsu. Shrugging to himself he muttered,

"It would be nice wouldn't it, but sometimes even the best had only themselves and the elements around them and were forced to make do with what was, not what could be. Then again it would be quite difficult to find someone willing to take a few hits for the sake of experimenting, not even sure I'd weather such a storm."

(Konoha Daisenkou 0/30)

The shinobi world had long since been filled with mysterious development, and further than that grand results far exceeding most's expectations, while ninjutsu and genjutsu had always been the arts producing the most fantastic results, creating breath taking visions of power both physical and mental, it was the art of taijutsu which always seemed to surprise Shouhei the most. There was simply something about the shinobi art of hand to hand combat that flew directly in the face of so many well defined arts that it beg to question exactly where they had been first inspired. It made sense all to a certain degree when he brought all of the shinobi advantages into consideration, for one they had been the only ones able to harness not only stamina but chakra, something that had lay dormant in the human potential for so long that it had been long thought to be a mere tool of religion; a mere explanation as to how ones mood might change, or if someone was more apt to do one task over another depending on how his or her chakra may have been flowing that day. The shinobi on the other hand had found a way to harness it, provoke it, invoke it and transform it into something the world had never seen before. And yet it did not stop there, even physically, those who were born into these Shinobi clans held within them strengths and agility far beyond that of the every day man, which only further transformed taijutsu into it's unique form that it was today; often high flying, death defying power, that when mastered was not to be trifled with. And while he was still establishing a foundation for himself in this particular style, he could not but help himself to a smile when he considered this next technique, for it was a shining example as to how taijutsu had progressed.

Bringing himself to stand, Shouhei brushed off his clothes and thought about the best way to figuring out the technique. From what he'd observed it seemed fairly simple, but experience had taught him, that even the most simple things had hidden difficulties which made techniques difficult to master. Though unlike his efforts earlier that day, there were very few variations on the technique, the only ones he had noticed differed simply because the range of motion in which the shinobi utilizing the technique had found themselves in prior. Now that alone presented a few options to the young mans mind, as well as a broad smile on his features as he began imagining himself attempting the semi high flying maneuver, if anything it would be fun to try out, and to a certain degree it adhered to some of his own sensibilities about how to throw a truly devastating kick, the only thing that truly worried him about it was accuracy. No matter how anyone could look at the technique, the issue was constantly accuracy, the head being a small target is easily moved if movements become to apparent to the victim, but there were always ways to fix that, first off he had to at least get the basics down.

Settling down into the Gouken no Kamae, Shouhei once again called upon the imaginary opponent, at the ready as per the usual. The technique itself seemed so simple, and for the most effective measure of strength he was going to have to utilize his steadying leg, the lead would not gain enough power from the kicking motion seeing that it simply did not have enough time to travel to become a full on round house styled kick, the best he could do with the lead leg would be a turning kick which for all intents and purposes would be a good deal faster, but a great deal weaker. Confident in his choice, Shouhei quickly took stock of just how tall the opponent was and decided that the best possible option to him, even against a phantasmal opponent was the lower part of the head, towards the jawline, if his aim was true, it would be even more difficult to dodge. Taking a breath he centered himself, clearing all thoughts aside from the task at hand from his mind. Bending his knees slightly, Shouhei dug into the soil just enough to establish a base before launching himself forward a short distance towards the phantom, twisting his hips as he did so, Shouhei bent his striking leg, adjusting the angle of his knee so that even without additional height the target of the strike was clear to his body, and the additional twisting motion was to only compound the force of the blow. To his mild surprise, the blow tore through the air at greater speed than he had anticipated, making full contact with the phantom whom was promptly rocketed towards the ground after Shouhei's follow through.

Landing upon his striking foot, Shouhei shifted his weight, turning a quick 180 degrees before finding himself in his orthodox Gouken no Kamae stance. The attack itself wasn't bad, not for a first try at least, but he couldn't help but wonder what sort of contingencies the phantom target had not allowed him to bring into consideration. It always seemed to simply stand there dutifully, or simply just react a lot slower than he could have wanted in a test subject, problematic for variation; yes without doubt, but at the same time, this time now was just about getting the basics down. He'd already begun considering an alternative means of execution as he'd thrown the first kick, but that would by all means come in it's own time. For now the one thing that was truly troubling him was the needed height for the kick to be truly as effective as it could be. Though it was merely a first try, he'd already began picking apart the aspects of the initialization that were flawed in his own attempt. It seemed to him from what he'd noticed, that most shinobi preferred kicks of this nature to come right across the table top, as some round houses were apt to do, and while in many cases the flight time was negligible, Shouhei knew a few people who would be all over him if he were to try it. The preventative arts always stirred him to deep thought, considering every angle with which the attack could be stopped before it could even begin. And while many shinobi did not use such tactics, it was worth putting into consideration for his own peace of mind.

Turning over the idea in his thoughts he dismissed the phantom in favor of attempting a few different jumps and transferring into the form of the kick, however not throwing it just yet. It would allow him a sense of exactly which route was best to take before trying the whole thing all over again. He smiled to himself as he bent his knees a few times before straightening up again and wondered briefly just what was it that drove him to examine every nook and cranny of a technique before being satisfied with it. Sure he could easily attribute it to his fathers iron will and increasing demand for perfection, but that would have been the easy way out, and besides, he was getting a little to old to pull the daddy card whenever convenient. Maybe it was just his own need to continue to grow in every sense of the word, not just by leaning new techniques, but learning the faults of the techniques, and through that figure out the faults that were within himself and his execution, forcing himself to be his own critic. Though the more he thought about it, the more apparent that it was simply a staple of martial arts, to only measure up oneself, to him or herself, for the self was the only consistent opponent and measuring tool to ensure consistent growth and non vain desire.

Tossing the thought from his consciousness, Shouhei attempted the first jump, while a bit shallower than the first he compensated for this by leaning back, and turning his knee a bit more before landing upon his now balancing; left leg. Holding the position for a moment he realized that if the strike didn't hit, he would be in an even worse position if his follow through was not perfect, even as he returned his right leg to the soft grass below he knew that only against a truly battered opponent would this sort of jump produce any worth while results. Turning back to his cognitive drawing board, Shouhei once more assumed the Gouken no Kamae and decided that it was best to simply just try it, at least once, the way he'd seen it performed by all those before him. Bending his knees slightly he suddenly lept with a good deal more force behind it than he had previously, turning his body and carefully aiming the kick as he did, before softly landing in the grass, his kicking leg still raised, his body still turned. It wasn't bad if the situation had truly lent to it, and what was anything in this world of his if not simply a product of situation, timing and opportunity?

Deciding that he would loose absolutely nothing by simply giving it a try, Shouhei allowed the striking leg to return to earth before making a short semi-circular path to return to it's point of origin and allow the young man to take the Gouken no Kamae stance once more. Closing his eyes for a second, there was a sense of still and calm now, the focus that he'd always sought to maintain whenever attempting a technique. As he opened his eyes once more there was that same phantasm, standing at the ready, willing to take the full brunt of the blow if the aim was true enough. Bending his knees slightly, Shouhei jumped into the air just as he had with the previous test, bending his striking leg as he did so, Shouhei began to twist his body as the striking leg whipped around, performing a clean across the counter top round house kick, the power was undeniable as the air around it acknowledged it audibly, and the phantom did so physically, being knocked to the side and to the ground well before Shouhei followed through and landed upon the grass.

"Not bad...but still, I want to try something else..."

(Konoha Daisenkou 10/30)

The strike he’d been considering since the passing of the first trial, was much like the other blows that he had begun to impliment to find a comfort zone with the new attacks he was learning, in the sense that it’s initial design was to bypass the guarding limbs of the opponent, even when the guard was unusually closed or tight, the pathing of the kick made it difficult to read and thus hard to defend against, ending up with an unusually high rate of success, while many other kicks could simply be ducked under, especially when targted towards the head. Fortunately the very design of the kick lent to the very compensation of the natural tendencies of blocking or evasion, in the fact that instead of coming strictly in one path, whether it be diagonally up towards the facce of the blocker, or across the table towards the blocker, this one pathed upwards as if it were the former, but then with a sharp turning of both the hips an the knee it transformed into a downwards kick, still retaining a good amount of power, and in many cases being a more more effective use of energy and movement. Shouhei smiled to himself as he contemplated the strategy he was about to imploy to make the kick even better than it had been previously. The fact that he would be in the air while performing it made the prospect of putting it to use an even more satisfying one, the added momentum and directionality of the jump would give him even more to work with, in addition to this, upon he follow through, the landing would allow him to follow up the first attack with another kick if the situation called for it. A simple thrust kick to follow and arial assault, if only he had something more solid to test it on. Pushing the thought away he decided the best thing to do was to get the trial underway, and just like the first he made sure that he was going to make use of his dominant leg, just to see how comfortable it would feel to do this altered kick which he’d never actually done off of the ground.

Setting himself down into the growingly familiar Gouken no Kamae, Shouhei began preparing himself mentally for the undertaking he was about to thrust himself head long into. It was true that for the standard martial artist it would be difficult to preform this particular kick without a solid base to work with, however Shouhei had long since been one of the typical martial artists, he like all the other taijutsu practitioners been blessed with the natural agility of being a shinobi, and though he had long since trained to increase this to the best of his abilities, he knew that not even with a life time of practice could a martial artist of old could imagine doing half of the things that he had done. Centering himself once more he focused his gaze, visualizing the opponent which stood before him, a high guard now adopted to add the touch Shouhei was looking for whaen considering an opponent for this attack, it was a strong guard, as it should have been, there was no way an attack like this would go unnoticed, and instead of avoiding it, the phantom was opting to block it, save a bit of energy and remain in the pocket in order to best execute a counter attack. A sound plan, had Shouhei not already took such a counter measure into account, like many kicks of similar nature, it would crush right through the guard. Taking in a small breath Shouhei bent his knees and jumped towards the phantom, one which was between the full on jump of the a-typical technique, and the shallow jump of the first one, just enough to gain him the proper flight time, as well as the lift to preform the kick properly, reaching the height of his jump as it traveled around and started the downwards arch, and make full contact as he would barely touch upon the soft grass. As he bent his knee and started to throw the kick, it felt like a dream, it tore through the air magnificently, and just at the height of the knees position he turned his hips and torso sharply as well as turning the knee so it was nearly pointing towards the ground below, the sudden change in directionality brought the kick crashing down through the guard of the phantom, making full and solid contact with the jaw before slamming into the kneck and collar. The follow through sending the image crashing to the ground violently, far more violently than before as Shouhei followed through with his movement, landing first on his striking foot, then pivoting quickly so that his left was once more in the lead, the Gouken no Kamae reformed.

And yet he was not yet done with what lay before him, there was still room to improve, there was still so much to do that he didn’t want to stop until he found just the right amount of speed and power with the technique that he could truly consider it being done, after all he had only tried it once and even though the trial was rather successful he still desired to persist, there was just something within him that wanted to experience it again and again, and not being one to go lightly on his own training he gave into his desires and began to perform the very same kick over and over again. Experimenting with the amount of initial power he put into the lead in before the sudden change in direction and the inevitable crashing downwards of the limb upon the target area. The landings were always soft and always let him return to the starting position without much trouble, even the more violent kicks only tripped him up minorly and those incidents were few and far between, becoming fewer and fewer as he conitnued with the motion, determined to perfect it, or at least attain some resemblance to satisfaction that he felt at the end of every training day, but even with the last kick, he knew that his day was not over, and in fact far from that, in fact he was just getting started, he still had other tests to do, other kicks and punches to try, he smiled,

“Any harder and it would have broken something, I would certainly be surprised if I saw something like that, set up for one things and then given another. It works well if simply considering my right side, it’s naturally stronger than my left, no matter how much I train with the left, approaching true ambidexterity is something that someone can work on for a life time, but in the end never quite grasp at days end…so then, what’s next?”

Even though he posed the question as if there was truly more than one option, he knew that he was going to have to try the very same thing with his left side. He knew that the left was not as powerful when he had used the very same kick in the past, but perhaps there was something about the technique that he could use to his advantage, the fact that he was in the air surely gave rise to the opportunity to use one thing that he would have otherwise been unable to use; his body weight. Turning it over in his mind a few times he began to figure just how he could best use this new factor. For one it would no longer be as easy to transfer into a mid section directed blow after the first strike, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing considering he would instead be offered the ability to throw out a low kick which was interestingly enough the next thing on his list of things to do. But one thing at a time; the timing was crucial for this to work out just the way he’d invisioned it, the added force would have to come as the kick began it’s decent onto the target, the twisting he had used in the first trial with his right would have to be a lot more dedicated and almost be a full on turn for the added affect, almost as if he’d taken the idea of the attack and turned it ninety degrees so that it came perpindicular to the victims collar. The landing was the next thing that he had to take into account, instead of it just being the striking leg, he was going to have to make use of his arms so that he could find a solid base in order to transfer into the sweep and thus afterwards return to a solidly based stance.

Not bad, not bad at all in theory. But now was for the practice run, and for one of the first times during the training session he switched his Gouken no Kamae from an orthodox stance to a southpaw stance, his right dominant hand now taking the place of the lead from his left and in the same instance his right foot taking the lead as opposed to his right. Ideally the southpaw stance was good for lefties, however at the same time it could lend to a very nice straight jab, but in this case it was going to help out his kick a great deal. As before the phantom opponent appeared before his minds eye, at the ready, the same high guard as was used previously, but this time it would be treated to an even greater surprise. Shouhei focused his thoughts and calm and jumped towards the guarding phantom, the height remaining the same as the previous attack, but the change was definite, the left portion of his body leaning back partially as he traveled the short distance, only coming forward as the kick began to path upwardly to it’s intended destination before the decent. As he began to twist his body and his knee, the kick suddenly came crashing down, in that very same instance Shouhei turned his body even more than he had before, increasing the momentum of the kick as it traveled downwards at an increased rate, crashing down through the guard, forcing the phantoms head away upon impact, and causing the guard to crumble even further as it came through into the collar before finally traveling down towards the earth. A nice solid hit, all thanks to innovation.

+20, quote the entire technique next time.

(Konoha Reppu 0/20)

He laughed to himself, the sense of accomplishment washing over him like a cool breeze upon a hot summers day while the sun sat it’s highest in the sky, painting it various hues. Yet this feeling was short lived, the knowledge that the day was long from being over made it’s reappearance in his mind. The next thing on this list, maybe he should have done it first, it may have very well saved him some time when dealing with the technique he’d just practiced to his satisfaction. So far as this one went, it was just about as straight forward as they came aside from that of a simple kick to the midsection or a punch to the chest. And while at it’s core there was nothing altogether complex, the ability to react towards the action made it all that much more complicated. With all such basic moves, it gave the opponent a lot of freedom to react, to counter, to basically take what was intended to gain a higher ground, into the shovel with which to dig ones own grave; something he sought to avoid at all costs. From what he had seen the attack had a mild success rate, though it was against those who either had not much experience dealing with such a method of attack, or those who were not expecting it and thus had not the time to react appropriately, ending up swept, laying upon their back and eyes to the sky, completely unsure of how to continue, if indeed allowed to do so. The issue then became, what if he was indeed confronted by someone who was so use to an attack like this, surely it would not have the ability to stand on it’s own, but instead have to be linked in a string of attacks, the ebb and flow of kicks changing levels one after the other, just like the previous trials had shown, the sweep came after the high kick, the extreme level change making one but not both completely defensible while retaining a still standing position.

The question however then became where to start, as it had been demonstrated, the lead foot in the Gouken no Kamae stance tended to be used in this quick sweep, the emphasis on the inherent speed of the technique to take full advantage of those caught off guard. Bringing himself to stand in the Gouken no Kamae, Shouhei further considered the options with which he was presented as well as the execution of this initial and crucial test. There was no doubt in his mind that he could perform the task ahead, but the effectiveness of it all was in question. It would not be a regular occurrence that he would be able to get away with the straight forward and dry technique, in this world that kept on growing and developing, there were so many shinobi who trained relentlessly, did drill after drill and put themselves in life or death situations, putting faith in everything they had thus far worked so hard on to carry them through, to lead them to the next set of missions, to lead them back home, back to what they knew and what they cherished. And while at this moment he had nothing like that upon the line, he felt a solemn feeling creep into his heart and his mind, with every solid fundamental technique, there came with it a price, he wondered how many had turned to the technique and had failed because of it’s implementation, or how many had turned to it and found amazing success with it. Of course there were far many more colors in the spectrum, but in this moment the young man did not wish to acknowledge them, there was no sense in compromise in this world, to either do it to the best of your abilities and prevail, or to do things half heartedly and fall. Exhaling he expunged the thoughts which clouded his mind, his judgment, there was only one thing that mattered now, and that was performing this attack, what he would do with it after wards would come to him naturally, as it always had.

Closing his eyes for just a moment, he opened them once more and saw the phantasmal opponent, standing at the ready, his guard normal for a shinobi, protecting the vitals, stance medium wide, just enough for the technique to take effect. The only decision left to make was whether or not to take both legs with one sweep, or to simply take the one, he’d seen both done, but with his left leg alone it was not certain that without a great deal of additional momentum and force that he would be able to take both legs without issue. Thus the decision had been made, focusing himself once more Shouhei decided upon his target, just above the ankle, the strike strong enough to break bone if the stance was too ridgid, and with that the first trial was well underway. Dropping suddenly out of the phantoms line of sight Shouhei drew his right hand out from behind him, preparing to use it as support as his left leg was drawn bag, his foot gliding across the grass easily, coming to rest for just a moment positioned slightly behind him before he brought it around like a whip, his right foot acting as a pivoting nexus, raised up onto the ball while his right hand remained behind providing the much needed support to adequately draw out the power and speed of the technique as his left foot swept around first, guiding the leg as it traveled, he could feel his muscles in his thigh expanding appropriately as the ones in his calf tightened just enough upon impact before releasing that very same tension as it passed through the stance, the targets rightleg jerking violently away from it’s base, causing the phantom to stumble back a few steps before falling down. It wasn’t bad, but it still required a lot of retooling and examination.

After following through Shouhei slowly stood up, placing his hands upon his hips. For a basic technique using his non dominant side, he couldn’t say that it was a bad result, but at the same time he knew that for what he really wanted he was going to have to be able to take both legs at once, and if not that be able to at least take one leg with him, further upsetting the targets balance and bring them down with him into a level at which he had the advantage. However with this still being his first try he as still open to the idea that his execution had not been as good as those whom he had seen use it before them, even those who had caught one leg had managed to make the opponent fall to the ground. Perhaps there was something that he was still missing, something that only repetition could fix , but at the same time his mind was working towards alternatives, improvements, things that would give him at least some peace of mind that what he was doing would at least give him something better to work with than a stumble with the subsequent fall. He wanted the result that the others had, if not better. Thus for the moment he conceded to repetition, to try it again and again until he could find a place that was good enough to branch off of, to figure out alternative methods by which to perform this technique.

Assuming the Gouken no Kamae he began performing the sweep over and over again. Differing where he brought his lead leg back to, where upon the leg he targeted, altering the pervasiveness of his follow through, if the kick wasn’t enough would it simply suffice to have a quick recovery. Everything he tried seemed to bring him closer to the desired effectiveness of the blow, yet even with the more fluid the kicks became he felt that there was something indeed lacking, that personal touch that he had added to techniques previously. Pausing for a moment he shook the thought from his head, knowing full well that there was a reason this technique was still around, it was not simply because it was a good base from which to continue the learning process, but because it had a strong effect, it was a worthy tool in the arsenal of those who came to use this style, all that needed to happen, was that he needed to find what it was that he was looking for. What was it about the technique that he was still missing, what was it about it that made his attempts different from the polished versions that he’d seen work so well? Then it dawned upon him, at least with this version of the technique it was all about where the follow through began, and while he was unsure that the amount of power that he could exert with his left foot would be enough in most situations, he was prepared to give it a try, to adopt this new philosophy at least once before he moved on to the next thing. He had to, he had to drive through both legs before relenting in the path of the strike itself. Gathering himself once more he closed his eyes and smiled to himself, opening them once more to see his faithful, ghostly training partner. And in a moment the ghost was upon it’s back, it had worked, so long as he was devoted to the kick, to the force that he had initially put forth so that it carried on even further than the first leg, the eventual follow through would take care of itself as the remaining energy was done away with after the second leg was swept. And yet, there was still more to it all, now he was free to add his own personal touch.

“And who said a little bit of faith wouldn’t carry you a long ways?”

You still didn't post the full tech. +20 (You need 30 to learn a C rank)

Copy and paste the ENTIRE thing next time.

First, post the ENTIRE technique just like you did in your last post next time, put it into a spoiler tag if you want.

Second, a D rank technique is 10TP only, so your Reppu is 10TP only, it's your fault because you put "0/20" on there, which make people assumed that it's a C rank technique since 20TP is the base TP requirement of a C rank, normally we will think that you put 20 instead of 30 and assume the Reppu is C rank. Seriously, if we are going to remember the rank of each of the 1000 techniques in NFRP, our brain will die.

To prevent confusion, please put the correct TP counter next time. =.=

E rank = 0/5
D rank = 0/10
C rank = 0/30
B rank = 0/80

for a D rank character.