Training in the mountains of Kumogakure

[Koji Amaukojiro]

The Stance 0/5 TP
Rank: "E"
Skill: TaiJutsu/Supplementary
Effect: Stance is a crucial part of using any weapon. This is the basic stance technique.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Begin with the feet in a 90° comfortably separated at about half a shoulder's width apart. Center the weight on the rear leg. When throwing the user shifts their weight to the front. This causes the hips and shoulders to twist into the throw forcing the body's power into the throwing arm. After the throw is complete recover by returning to the original stance to ready the next throw.
Limit: Must be a Throwing Specialist.

Koji sat atop a mountain ridge overlooking Kumogakure, and as he stared out over the village he began to plan out his training regimen. Koji knew he had a lot of work to do if he was going to become a strong and splendid shinobi. First things first, he wanted to work on his throwing, particularly his stance. Back in his academy days, Koji's shurikenjutsu set him apart, but he'd let himself get sloppy, very sloppy. So back to the basics then; first he needed to fix his stance.

First, Koji decided to head to the training grounds and watch some of the more experienced shinobi practice their throwing/shurikenjutsu. He made sure to pay special attention to their stance as they let the shuriken fly. He watched their footwork and saw how their weight shifted from one foot to the other as they turned their bodies. Their motions were much more fluid and natural then Koji's had been of late, but it was coming back to him now. He moved to his favorite training location, a large clearing atop a cliff on the side of the mountains surrounding the Hidden Cloud Village. There were several trees in the clearing, and there was a bench near the edge of the cliff overlooking the farmland terraces below.

The terrain was mostly flat but a bit rocky in some areas. Koji stood in the middle of the clearing with his feet perpendicular and shoulder width apart. He found his center of mass and shifted his weight from his back foot to his front foot a few times and felt the way his hips and shoulders moved with his weight. Once Koji got a feel for it, he began to practice throwing shuriken at a target he had nailed to a tree. His accuracy was slightly worse than usual because he wasn’t used to throwing with the proper stance anymore. It had been so long since Koji had practiced his throwing and even longer since he had seen any sort of combat. He figured with persistence it would get there, so Koji kept at it.

With every thunk of a shuriken hitting its mark, Koji’s accuracy and speed was steadily increasing. Koji kept practicing, throwing shuriken after shuriken, slowly becoming more and more consistent. It felt good to see himself make progress in his training again. Spending time improving his skills made Koji feel good. It was definitely better than moping around like he has been lately, at least. The amount of shuriken Koji could throw per minute had increased dramatically, and finally, Koji settled on a result he could be happy with. Koji was tired, but he wasn’t ready to stop training for the day. He was determined to make progress very quickly so that he could achieve his goals. “Right, on to something else then”, Koji said to himself.

[Father 'Suke]

Grading one moment

+5, learned

[Koji Amaukojiro]

The Grips 0/5 TP
Rank: "E"
Skill: TaiJutsu/Supplementary
Effect: The user learns how to grip their weapons through two types of Grips, the Handle Grip, and the Blade Grip.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: Handle Grip: While throwing a weapon from the handle keep it centered if center of balance is possible. If not then hold it at the end of the handle. Balance is key. The thumb should be resting against the inside of the handle while the remaining fingers curl around it. When you throw the item travels vertically leading to the best speed and hitting power for long distances. When throwing by the blade, grip the item at the end of the blade with the thumb parallel with the blade. The rest of the fingers curl against the opposite side.
Limit: Must be a Throwing Specialist.

Koji wanted to continue practicing his throwing techniques. He switched to using kunai for his training. Koji preferred shuriken over kunai in terms of throwing weapons but he figured that it would be useful to have more options available to him. It took some adjusting to, considering he’d just spent the last few hours throwing over 100 shuriken.

Koji thought back to when he was watching the other cloud Shinobi practice their throwing techniques. When throwing kunai some held them at the center of balance while others held them by the end of the handle. Koji decided to try both. He gripped the handle and steadied his hand, shifting around until he’d found the center of balance. Koji practiced throwing all eight of his kunai this way; he aimed for a tree in the clearing roughly nine meters away. All of the kunai hit their mark, however none of them dead center.

Koji retrieved his kunai and then tried again, this time gripping the kunai at the end of the handle. He found this more difficult and less effective. He even managed to miss the tree completely with one of the knives. Still, Koji endeavored to practice both methods just in case. “Ugh”, Koji thought. “This is going to take a while”. Nevertheless he collected his knives and persevered. He continued throwing the kunai, switching between both methods until there was noticeable improvement.

Koji was beginning to feel very tired, he took a break and sat on the bench at the edge of the cliff and stared out of the terrace farms below. There was another way to throw the knives that Koji knew of, and that was by gripping the weapon by the end, thumb parallel to the blade, and throwing it with a bit of a spin. Koji wasn’t very experienced with this method so he decided to practice after his short rest. Again he threw his knives and again he retrieved them over and over. His hard work was definitely paying off as he was able to hit his target almost dead on pretty consistently now.

Koji switched back to his shuriken and practiced throwing them using the blade grip method in an attempt to further master the art of throwing. He also practiced with his senbon, getting the feel of them and finding the center of mass. He made sure that he could apply all he’d learned about gripping to all of his throwing weapons. Koji kept training until he was exhausted. He lay in a small patch of grass in the clearing and stared at the sky. He felt very good about his training today, and decided to call it a night.

Koji headed home and upon entering his small one story house in the residential district of Kumogakure, he found his father passed out in the living room, his head on a sitting pillow. There was an empty bottle of sake lying close to his outstretched hand. Koji was planning on telling his father about his training but no luck. He put a blanket over his father and then headed off to bed.

[Shallistera]

+5, learned

[Koji Amaukojiro]

The Overhand Throw
Rank: "E"
Skill: TaiJutsu/Supplementary
Effect: The basic throw stance while using an overhand throw.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: The user first establishes their stance, and their grip type. The user brings the throwing arm up as it is adjacent to the ear while shifting their weight. Then release the weapon just before the end of the throwing motion.
Limit: Must be a Throwing Specialist. Must know The Stance. Must know The Grips.

Koji sat on the bench at the edge of the clearing. He had spent the previous day training in the Gintsuki no Seikou Mai Dojo. It was productive training but Koji felt happy to be back in his own little clearing atop a cliff, as he wasn’t the most social Shinobi. Today Koji was going to work more on his throwing form, starting with throwing overhand. Had set up targets and training dummies in various spots around the clearing and he was ready to begin his training.

Koji moved to the center of the clearing and assumed his stance. He drew a shuriken and pinched it between his thumb and index finger so that they lined up with the point. Koji figured he could get more power and speed, and perhaps better accuracy by throwing overhand. He lined up with one of the targets, his left foot pointed directly toward it, and then he shifted his weight to the front, bringing his throwing arm up adjacent to his ear, twisting his body and releasing the shuriken at the end of the throw.

He frowned. His aim wasn’t great with this method and it seemed like the shuriken traveled slower than average. He would have to keep practicing, he’d decided. Koji practiced throwing shuriken overhand at the same target over and over. He found that he had much better results when keeping his arm perfectly straight. He kept throwing, being sure to bring his hand up past his ear as he did so. Finally, Koji managed to throw the shuriken with better speed after releasing the weapon at the apex of the throw.

Now that Koji had an effective method in mind, he continued practicing so he could master it. He stood in the center of the clearing, turning and throwing shuriken at every target. He shifted around, drawing and throwing as fast as he could, using the overhand technique. Next he switched to kunai, and later his senbon so as to make sure he was proficient performing the technique with all of his weapons. He trained like that for a while until he was ready for a break. He sat down in the middle of the clearing, thrown weapons were strewn about all around him.

[Skulking Shinzu]

+5 TP. Learned!

[Koji Amaukojiro]

Quick Draw
Rank: "C"
Skill: TaiJutsu/Supplementary
Effect: User has learned how to draw their weapon without taking up a movement.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: The user can draw a weapon without a movement. The user can draw a hidden weapon (With Sleight of Hand) without taking a movement. A user who has this technique may draw a throwing weapon and hurl the weapon within 1 movement. Without this technique, the user may draw a weapon as a movement.
Limit: Must be a Throwing Specialist.

At present, Koji could draw and throw two of his throwing weapons over the course of six seconds. He considered everything he’s learned so far and his options for applying his techniques in the heat of battle. He decided the best course of action would be to train until he could throw at a faster rate. All he’d learned would be useless if his opponent could react before he could even launch a projectile. He would have to practice his dexterity and finesse in order to be able to quickly retrieve a weapon and throw it in one fluid motion.

First, Koji practiced drawing weapons from all of his various pouches and packs stitched onto different areas of his clothing. He’d have to get used to drawing from all of them in order to quickly react in any situation. First he practiced drawing kunai from the pouch he used as a holster, attached to his hip, as he stood in his throwing stance. He kept drawing his weapon over and over, attempting to raise his drawing speed with every try. Next he practiced drawing shuriken from his butt pack and a pouch stitched to his pants and then again with senbon from a pouch stitched to his vest.

Now that he was used to drawing from each area, he switched between them, drawing from one area and throwing his weapon at the target in front of him then quickly drawing from another area. He did this repeatedly so that he could make sure that he could fluidly draw from any area, leaving his options for attack quite open. After he felt as if he could draw from any area quickly and efficiently he went back to just trying to draw and throw shuriken as fast as possible at one target. Koji’s speed was improving but he could tell he still had a decent amount of work ahead of him.

[Koji Amaukojiro]

Quick Draw
Rank: "C"
Skill: TaiJutsu/Supplementary
Effect: User has learned how to draw their weapon without taking up a movement.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: The user can draw a weapon without a movement. The user can draw a hidden weapon (With Sleight of Hand) without taking a movement. A user who has this technique may draw a throwing weapon and hurl the weapon within 1 movement. Without this technique, the user may draw a weapon as a movement.
Limit: Must be a Throwing Specialist.

“Hyah!” Koji shouted as he launched another shuriken, his training still well underway. Progress was slow, but Koji definitely wasn’t giving up anytime soon. He knew that he just had to keep at it, so that’s what he did. He set up a training course of sorts that had targets in various places and angles around the clearing. Koji ran around the clearing tossing his weapons at the targets, drawing them as quickly as he could. If only he could somehow create a moving target, he thought. That would certainly enable him to better test his throwing skills. He would have to think of something later, for now he continued drawing and throwing his shuriken.

Koji was certainly getting faster, but he still wasn’t satisfied. His personnel goal was to be able to throw twice as many weapons, in the same period of time, as when he started. Koji was determined to keep at it until he could draw and throw 4 weapons over the course of six seconds with deadly accuracy. That was certainly an important aspect, and Koji found that when he went too fast then his accuracy would suffer immensely. There was no choice but to just work his way up. So Koji continued throwing, increasing his speed little by little with every throw. Boy was his arm sore

At this point Koji was becoming incredibly fatigued. It did impact his performance slightly, but still, he kept training, determined to meet his goals before he finished for the day. Despite his fatigue, Koji was still steadily improving. “This is the worst.” He thought, His muscles aching. His aim and speed had improved considerably since he started. He was so close, he could feel it. Koji just had to push himself a bit harder and then all of his hard work would pay off. Finally, Koji again found himself lying in the field surrounded by a multitude of his violently discarded weapons. He was exhausted. Koji wasn’t sure if he had improved enough to reach his goal, but regardless he was past his limit for today. Koji sighed. “More training tomorrow.” He thought, as he headed home.

[Shallistera]

+20, very good 3 paragraphs of pure training

[Koji Amaukojiro]

OOC: Did you see the second post?

[Shallistera]

Yes, thats a grade for 2 posts, u got at least 1 more posts to learn this tech

[Koji Amaukojiro]

OOC: Got it, thanks

[Koji Amaukojiro]

Quick Draw 20/30 TP
Rank: "C"
Skill: TaiJutsu/Supplementary
Effect: User has learned how to draw their weapon without taking up a movement.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: The user can draw a weapon without a movement. The user can draw a hidden weapon (With Sleight of Hand) without taking a movement. A user who has this technique may draw a throwing weapon and hurl the weapon within 1 movement. Without this technique, the user may draw a weapon as a movement.
Limit: Must be a Throwing Specialist.

Koji returned to the clearing the following morning, now well rested and ready for another day of training. He set up his targets and readied his weapons. Koji began practicing his throwing again. His speed had dropped slightly since yesterday, but after a little practice he was able to gain it back and more. He still hadn't quite reached his goal, but Koji was pretty certain that he could knock it out with just a bit more training. Then he could move on to another technique.

So again Koji practiced his speed and aim with his his throwing weapons, really focusing on drawing and throwing in a single motion, using the least amount of movement possible. He drew and threw and drew and threw in a robotic fashion, with increasingly deadly efficiency. Thunk.. Thunk.. A thunk less than every two seconds. "Just a little more, come one." Koji said to himself. He concentrated very hard, using up all of his focus.He was tiring quickly due to his relentless assault, his throwing arm still sore from yesterday, and becoming increasingly more so.

Still, Koji kept on training. He wanted to reach his goal as quickly as possible so he could begin working on something else. Koji ran out of shuriken and kunai. He had stopped using the senbon because he often lost them and the other weapons were easier to retrieve. After Koji gather all of his weapons he returned to his increasingly monotonous task of drawing and throwing. Monotony or not, progress was being made, and Koji was proud. He poured everything he had into his training and then once he was satisfied with his results, he took a break to eat and rest for a bit

[Skulking Shinzu]

+10 TP. Learned!

[Koji Amaukojiro]

The Underhand Throw
Rank: "E"
Skill: TaiJutsu/Supplementary
Effect: The basic throw stance while using an underhand throw.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: The user first establishes their stance, and their grip type. The user brings their throwing arm adjacent to the hip. The user then thrusts their arm forward, propelling and releasing the weapon just before the end of the throwing motion.
Limit: Must be a Throwing Specialist. Must know The Stance. Must know The Grips.

Koji finished eating and got back to work. He had succeeded in his goal and had doubled his throwing rate. Koji was very pleased. Now it was back to working on his form, he had decided. Koji had already mastered throwing overhand but now it was time to master throwing underhanded. He started by assuming his throwing stance as he held a kunai in his dominant hand, at around hip level. He figured that all he had to do was quickly raise his arm and release the kunai. He'd pull it off easy with the correct timing. Koji visualized his target, thrust his arm forward, and released the kunai. It flew high over the target sticking somewhere higher up in the tree

"Hmm. I may have to rethink this a little." Koji thought. He practiced until he got the timing down a bit better. Koji found it effective to release the weapon as he raised his arm, before it reached its state of rest, thrust in front of him. He'd let the momentum carry the kunai up and into its target. After he figured this out, the technique became quite simple. He practiced this way over and over, ingraining the technique into his body and mind, willing it to become second nature. Koji could tell that this was going to be his preferred method of quickly drawing and throwing weapons placed at his waist and below.

Koji practiced using the the underhanded throw in conjunction with the quickdraw. He really wanted to to make sure he could apply everything that he had learned thus far, and switch between all of his techniques effortlessly. He practiced the underhanded throw with all of his weapons, using all of the grips, and using the correct stance. He switched between using the under and overhanded throws and practiced all of his skills while running around the clearing launching projectiles in every direction. Koji came to a panting halt at the end of his makeshift target range. He couldn't believe how much stronger he had gotten. He could only go up from here

[Shallistera]

+5, learned

[Koji Amaukojiro]

Koji made a lot of progress in the art of throwing, but it was time to improve in some areas that he was lacking in, namely ninjutsu. As much as Koji hated to leave his clearing, there was a better place to train his lightning release techniques, so Koji cleaned up and then set out.

[Exit Koji]