Training in the Gintsuki no Seikou Mai Dojo [open]

[Koji Amaukojiro]

Tentou (To Invert) 0/10 TP
Rank: D
Skill: Taijutsu
Effect: The user inverts their stance, gently dodging a straight thrust or strike.
Special: --
Drawback: Cannot evade wide-radius attacks.
Description: The user steps forward with their off-foot, twisting it to face forward. As they do so, they turn their main foot perpendicular and away, creating a mirrored version of the normal stance. As they do this, the user rocks their body backwards slightly, allowing any attacks coming from the front to simply ghost past them. Learning the Tentou teaches one to be equally skilled with their main-side and off-side.
Limit: Must learn from a Gintsuki no Seikou Mai Master. Must know Hyouuryuu Yuki (Drifting Snow).

Koji stared down at the kanji (moon) 月 that was tattooed on his right hand as he stood outside the Gintsuki no Seikou Mai Dojo in Kumogakure. The same Kanji was painted on the front of the dojo, along with a few others. Technically, Koji is a student of Gintsuki no Seikou Mai, and it’s true that he does know much of its history and teachings, however, he hadn’t trained in the style since he first graduated the academy. His father was proficient in the style and trained him in its teachings while he was in the academy. Koji’s father rarely kept his promises to train him, but he did teach Koji the basics of Hyouuryuu Yuki no You, and Koji’s senses were heightened from his training. It was time to become more skilled in his preferred fighting style, he had decided, and so he has come here to train under Utamaru Sumitimo, a master of Gintsuki no Seikou, and a friend of his fathers.

Koji entered the Dojo. The Dojo was very much what you’d imagine a dojo would be like. There were two hallways at the other end of the room that led to bathroom/training rooms, supply closets, administrative rooms, etc. The room that Koji had entered was large. There were areas cleared out for sparring and there were areas to sit with tables. To Koji’s right and left were doorways that he knew led to smaller training rooms. Benches and various equipment lined the walls. There were several pairs sparring, one of which included Utamaru Sensei. Koji watched from the entrance.

The man he was sparring with, a generic Kumogakure chunin looking guy in just sparring clothes, threw a hard and fast punch which Utamaru easily avoided merely by adjusting his stance, which Koji recognized as the Tentou. His opponent quickly recovered and reared back as Utamaru seemed to hesitate for a moment. The student spun around and attempted a roundhouse kick, however Utamaru sensei leaned back onto his left foot and the kick flew over him. Then as his opponent resumed his stance Utamaru’s kick hit him square in the chest, which sent him to the ground. “Whoa” Koji thought. “I want to learn how to do that”.

Utamaru helped his opponent up and they shook hands, displaying their Kanji tattoos. After exchanging some words, the Chunin looking guy went off to train or something. Koji approached his sensei. “Hey there Koji.” He said. “It’s good to see you. How is Masao?” Utamaru was a tall man, though not as tall as Koji, with a strong frame and some other features. He had his brown hair in a bun and wore sparring clothes. “Dad’s okay,” said Koji. “Same as always” Koji’s smile faded for a moment. “Are you ready to start our training sensei?” he said.

Utamaru Sensei led him to one of the training rooms. He began walking to the center of the room and Koji followed. “First things first,” said Utamaru, still walking. “Show me what you know.” Suddenly he reeled around and threw a shuriken straight at Koji. “Was he just keeping that in his clothes?” Koji thought, as he sensed the shuriken and sidestepped it. “Good, you’re applying the principle of avoiding the attack with little movement, However there are ways that use even less.

“Like the Tentou?” Koji asked.

“Precisely!” Shouted Utamaru as he ran at Koji. Koji tried to picture when Utamaru used the Tentou against his opponent. It was almost as if his body became a mirror image of itself. Utamaru threw a fast punch at Koji as he shifted his stance and put his left foot forward, turning his body. Utamaru’s fist sailed past him. With his stance mirrored, Koji’s left hand was forward but he attempted to counterattack with his dominant right hand. “Too slow!” Utamaru shouted as he kicked Koji’s legs out from under him. He helped him up.

“That was good. However when one performs the Tentou it is imperative that they are proficient at fighting in a stance opposite of their dominant one. Koji understood. He drew a kunai with his left hand and entered the Hyouuryuu Yuki (Drifting Snow), this time with his main foot forward. He struck the air a few times until it felt a little more natural using his off-hand, then he charged at Utamaru. He slashed at him several times, Utamaru dodged and counterattacked with another swift punch which Koji avoided using the Tentou. Koji then struck with his main hand as his Sensei blocked it and then smiled. “Very Good” he said

[Shallistera]

+10, learned but barely, too much fluff

Belay that, you need to ask permission from Masakuni or Ayame. And if they arent active ask head mods or admin.

[Koji Amaukojiro]

Edited

[Shallistera]

Again can't grade this. Need permission 1st to train this and the other technique isn't done. You can't train another technique when the last one hasn't been learned yet.

[Koji Amaukojiro]

I'll ask permission. Also, I didn't see that you had edited your post, sorry about that. will my second post still count if I get permission?

[Shallistera]

I'll be lenient since you're new and didn't know these things so I'll say, edit the last post and re-post it after I give you a grade on the 1st technique.

[Koji Amaukojiro]

Alright I've got permission

[Shallistera]

Could you quote it here? Or screenshot it.

[Koji Amaukojiro]

Dec 8, 2016 8:29:36 GMT -7 admin said:

Just follow the restrictions and you'll be fine in going into anything with the exception of pulverem and venator

[Shallistera]

+10, learned Tentou (To Invert)

[Koji Amaukojiro]

Bouseki Yuki (Spinning Snow)
Rank: D
Skill: Taijutsu
Effect: The user delivers a surprise kick with their off foot.
Special: --
Drawback: --
Description: The user steps forward with their off-foot and points it forward, as though performing the Tentou. Rather than shifting their main-foot backwards, however, the user lifts their main-foot off the ground and spins gracefully to deliver a powerful heel kick to the opponent. They then resume the stance.
Limit: Must learn from a Gintsuki no Seikou Mai Master. Must know Tentou (To Invert).

Koji kept practicing the Tentou. He practiced in the off stance until he was nearly as proficient as he was in the dominant stance. He also practiced his footwork so he could execute the technique more quickly. He continued sparring with Utamaru and got better at using the Tentou in combat and he became better at dodging without changing position. Koji felt the rhythm of the combat, the pair danced around each other, trading blows, and moving gracefully. Koji’s combat and skill in the Gintsuki no Seikou Mai was growing he could tell. Koji feigned a lunge, in anticipation of a Tentou, he attempted to perform a sudden horizontal slash, however, Utamaru’s Tentou quickly became a surprise heel kick into Kojis side, toppling him over.

Utamaru helped him up. “The first move I will teach you is the Bouseki Yuki (Spinning Snow).” Koji presumed he meant the move that he just painfully demonstrated. Utamaru showed Koji the move a few more times, and he explained how it follows the idea of fighting with a rhythm, making combat more fluid. He then explained how the technique is performed by starting to perform the Tentou and then following through with the momentum. “The goal is to spin around and unpredictably deliver a heel kick.” He said.

Koji first tried getting the hang of the momentum. He performed the Tentou a few times and felt how his body moved as he changed his stance. Once he got the feel of the momentum caused by shifting his foot backwards, he lifted it a bit and continued with the momentum, balancing on is off foot and spinning around. Koji lost his rhythm and fell back into an improper stance, his feet pointed in the wrong directions. He tried a few more times with only slightly better results. He tried again, this time being sure to stop himself with his right foot, horizontal, after making a full rotation. He then put his left foot forward so he was back in his original stance

Next, Koji tried raising his leg higher as he spun, to about the height of his abdomen. He found it difficult to spin fast enough with his leg raised and outstretched. “Lift your knee to the correct height and then extend your leg.” Utamaru stated. “Practice the timing until the momentum works with you.” So Koji did just that. He shifted his stance, spun, lifted his knee and extended his leg, making sure to land in the correct stance every time. His kick was improving and the whole execution was becoming faster. Then Koji practiced lifting his leg higher and higher until he could reach shoulder height.

Koji practiced on a dummy and found that it was more difficult to get back into the Drifting Snow after actually connecting with the target. He tried many times with difficulty until he attempted to spin back around, pushing off from the target and landing back in his original stance. This was effective so Koji continued practicing that way. Next Koji had to try it while sparring with Utamaru Sensei. Again the two performed Gintsuki no Seikou Mai. Koji tried his kick and Utamaru leaned back slightly so that he was out of range.

The pair continued exchanging blows until Koji delivered the Spinning Snow into his masters raised arms, resuming his stance a moment after. “Very good!” said Utamaru. They continued sparring until finally Utamaru told him to take a break. Koji lay on a bench. He was excited that he was getting stronger; he could feel the results of his training. Utamaru Sensei was a good teacher and he was learning quickly he thought. “Alright, back to it”

[Shallistera]

+10, learned

[Koji Amaukojiro]

Nameru (To Taste)
Rank: E, D, C, B, A, S
Skill: Taijutsu
Effect: The user, through the sharpening of their five senses and an instinctual knowledge of flow, becomes aware of their surroundings and capable of defending against attacks.
Special: --
Drawback: Can only be learned up to your current Character Rank.
Description: The user strives to expand their senses, taking in data from all five senses and treating each of them as equally important. Through a combination of peripheral vision, hearing, and measurement of air pressure changes, the user becomes capable of perceiving threats around them and reacting accordingly. At E rank, the user can only perceive such threats as traps or projectiles. However, at the following levels, the user becomes capable of perceiving strikes from a foe of an equal level to the rank they have learned. Therefore, a B rank ninja could strike a C rank user of this technique and the user would not be able to perceive them via this technique and lose the majority of the benefits, though their dodging would benefit from the heightened awareness nonetheless. The user may only learn this technique up to their character’s rank. Thus, a C rank character could only learn up to the C rank version of Nameru. Nameru is limited to threats within twenty meters of the foe, as anything that doesn’t enter that radius is beyond the senses of a human to perceive. However, threats are perceivable once they enter that range.
Limit: Must learn from a Gintsuki no Seikou Mai Master. Must know Hyouuryuu Yuki (Drifting Snow).

As Koji and his sensei continued sparring, he was getting better at anticipating his sensei’s attacks and evading them, utilizing the Tentou and performing his moves fluidly. However, as Utamaru sensei began to pick up the pace, Koji found that he could no longer keep up with his attacks. Koji’s senses were sharp; having trained in the Nameru technique in the past, but they weren’t good enough to help him dodge attacks in melee combat. “We must begin to further develop your senses.” Said Utamaru sensei after the pair finished sparring. “First practice focusing on all of your senses, and using the information they give you to discern what’s happening around you.” He said. “Take it all in. Train you r senses to be automatic so that you can instantly react to any threats.”

Koji sat down cross legged and closed his eyes. He remained in this state for a while, focusing on his hearing and other senses sans eyesight. Koji realized that everything in the physical world gave off this sort of presence. He could almost feel the general distance and location of some of the objects he knew to be close to him. Koji tried to attune his senses to better feel the objects presence, focusing hard on every bit of information is body could provide for him. He felt the pressure in the air around him and how it changed as his sensei began to move around the room. Koji opened his eyes.

His master stood in front of him. He spoke. “Make sure you are using your eyes to their full extent. Take in the whole picture.” Koji tried looking around and focusing on his peripherals as well as the subject of his gaze. It was difficult to take it all in at once, but Koji kept at it for a while, making sure to incorporate all of his senses, and he became good at determining his sensei’s position even with his eyes clothes. Koji continued his meditative training as Utamaru left the room. He came back with a bag of small kunai used for training.

“Now we move on to a more hands on approach.” He said. Utamaru explained that he would begin moving around the room and throwing the kunai at Koji. It was his job to avoid or block as many thrown kunai as possible without changing his general position or breaking stance. Koji Stood in the center of the room, eyes open, facing his sensei. Utamaru threw the first kunai which Koji easily avoided using the Tentou. Next he threw two more kunai in quick succession. Koji avoided the first one by inverting again and then he struck the other one with his own Kunai, knocking it aside.

Utamaru began running around Koji and throwing kunai at random intervals. Koji performed the dance of the silver moon, gracefully avoiding and blocking kunai. Occasionally he would slip up and one of the dull kunai would bounce of him painfully, but he tried hard not to falter. The pair continued training like that for a while. Koji was getting faster and he was letting fewer and fewer of the kunai get through his defenses. He was proud of himself for achieving so much in his training lately, he already felt a great deal more adept. He had been training with Utamaru sensei all afternoon.

Utamaru had other matters to attend to so Koji returned to the main room of the dojo to train with other students. He sparred with some academy kid whose clan practiced the art. He practiced using his newly acquired experience to sense his opponent’s attacks, managing to avoid all of them seamlessly. He then used the Bouseki Yuki to catch his opponent of guard and defeat him. Koji sparred with some other stronger partners, using what he’d learned and practicing dodging their attacks. He still had trouble but he’d improved quite a bit.

[Shallistera]

+10, learned

[Koji Amaukojiro]

Koji felt satisfied with his progress thus far. He decided to call it a day and go get something to eat.

Koji Exits the Dojo

[Koji Amaukojiro]

Kibikikaze (Brisk Wind)
Rank: D
Skill: Taijutsu
Effect: The user delivers a short, direct punch with their main hand.
Special: --
Drawback: --
Description: The user leans forward slightly, throwing a strong, straight-forward punch with their main-hand, aiming for the head or solar plexus. They then resume the stance.
Limit: Must learn from a Gintsuki no Seikou Mai Master. Must know Tentou (To Invert).

Koji entered the dojo and upon finding Utamaru sensei, the two returned to the practice room that they used for the previous training session. "Today I'm going to teach you a few basic moves" Utamaru said. The first  is the Kibikikaze, it's just a simple punch, but performing it well will yield very desirable results. "First lean your body forward forward and use the momentum gained from your movement and stance to throw a short and striaght punch with your main hand." He said. "After resuming your stance you may attempt to throw out more Kibikikazes in quick succession by inverting your stance and alternating performing them with each hand."

Utamaru demonstrated the technique a few times and then had Koji try. He headed over to a training dummy, assumed the Drifting Snow, leaned forward and struck the dummy with his fist. The punch wasn't nearly as fast as Utamaru senseis demonstration, he noticed. "You'll have to get closer to your target and throw a shorter punch if you want it to be faster." Said his sensei. Koji understood. He took a step forward, leaned in, and threw a strong straight punch as fast as he could, hitting the dummy directly in the chin. Koji practiced a few more times, increasing his speed and power.

Next Koji practiced punching the dummy both in the head and solar plexus, so that he was proficient in hitting both areas. After that he did what Utamaru explained earlier and inverted his stance which each punch so that he was ready to quickly throw another one with the opposite hand. He pummeled the dummy for a while and then when he was ready, Koji sparred with his sensei. The two traded blows, Koji letting out a flurry of Kibikikazes. Utamaru dodged or block every one of course, but he seemed pleased with Kojis results.

[Shallistera]

+10, learned

[Koji Amaukojiro]

Kitakaze (North Wind)
Rank: C
Skill: Taijutsu
Effect: The user, following a sucessful Kibikibikaze, leans back to avoid a counter-attack and strikes in a wide kick with their off-foot.
Special: --
Drawback: --
Description: After completing a Kibikibikaze, the user then rolls their torso backwards, leaning backwards and to the side gracefully to avoid a counter-attack and let it pass above them. While doing so, they deliver a wide, roundhouse kick with their off-foot. They then resume the stance.
Limit: Must learn from a Gintsuki no Seikou Mai Master. Must know Kibikikaze (Brisk Wind).

Now it was on to something a little more advanced. This technique was effectively a combination of a Kibikibikaze and a Bouseki Yuki. Utamaru explained that the goal was to land a Kibikibikaze and then in anticipation of a counter attack, lean back to dodge. Then to perform a roundhouse kick in a similar vein to the Bouseki Yuki. "You should always set up a kick, otherwise it will be too slow and telegraphed." Utamaru explained. "With this technique, your first strike will weaken the opponent while the dodge will make a nice setup to quickly perform your kick"

Koji thought he understood. He watched his sensei demonstrate the move a few times. He noted the difference between the roundhouse kick peformed in this technique and the heel kick that comprised the Spinning Snow. This will take some practice, he thought. Koji asuumed the Dirifting Snow and fired off his punch into the empty air, then he rolled back and attempted a roundhouse kick. The result was that Koji basically just kneed the air, turned himself around and lost his footing. Not off to a great start it would seem.

"Open up your hips and step to the side with your front foot in preparation for the kick." Kojis sensei explained to him patiently. "This will allow you to pivot and twist faster, allowing you to swing your leg with increased power." Koji performed another Kibikibikaze and then stepped to the side with his left foot This shifted his weight causing his torso to naturally lean back, and as it did so Koji pivoted on his foot and brought his right leg up and forward with the momentum. He was getting the hang of this

[Shallistera]

Reading

+10, learned but beef up the paragraphs a bit next time

[Koji Amaukojiro]

Kitakaze (North Wind)
Rank: C
Skill: Taijutsu
Effect: The user, following a sucessful Kibikibikaze, leans back to avoid a counter-attack and strikes in a wide kick with their off-foot.
Special: --
Drawback: --
Description: After completing a Kibikibikaze, the user then rolls their torso backwards, leaning backwards and to the side gracefully to avoid a counter-attack and let it pass above them. While doing so, they deliver a wide, roundhouse kick with their off-foot. They then resume the stance.
Limit: Must learn from a Gintsuki no Seikou Mai Master. Must know Kibikikaze (Brisk Wind).

"Very good." Said Utamaru Sensei. "That's definitely an improvement' He explained that Koji should bring his knew up higher and keep his hips straight so that his body formed a perfectly straight line from his knee all the way up to his shoulder. Then he would have to extend his knee at the end of the kick so that his leg is forced to go through the target. "Basically you want to spin so fast the your leg turns into a club that will plow through your opponent" Utamaru said."Also make sure to strike with your shin as your foot can easily be damaged by the opposite force of the blow" Utamaru left Koji to his training and attended to other matters for a bit

Koji tried the technique again, keeping his senseis instructions in mind as he did so. This time when he pivoted he brought his knee up higher creating the line to his shoulder and he extended his leg at the end of the kick. Koji practiced the whole thing a few more times before he moved to the dummy. Upon peforming the technique on his new target Koji struck the dummy in the chest with his ankle. Ouch, that hurt. It seems he would have to extend his leg to be a bit longer and make sure he hit with his shin. He tried again with better results and significantly less pain

Koji continued to train using the dummy, repeating the technique over and over. Koji worked on keeping his balance upon landing the kick and returning straight to his stance. Then he practiced the same thing except without the dummy so that he was proficient at returning to his stance even if he didn't hit his mark. Koji used a combination of all oh his taijutsu techniques, fluidly switching between them in quick succession, striking the dummy constantly and consistently. His body and skills were growing and he was becoming stronger, he could tell. His vigorous training was paying off and it felt exhilarating