[Open] Observing Growth

Nakata fought every reflex all of his training had given. The attack was too linear, it was something he should have been able to easily avoid, but it was a marked improvement and he wasn't about to spit upon the lessons he was giving.Thus he let the hit, taking the blow and assessing it.
<"It was a marked improvement. There is much to learn to be a fighter, if that's the path you want to take. It's long, difficult, and requires hard work. As it stands, lesson two is kicking. Women particularly hold more power in their legs than men given the same amount of training on average. Attacks toward the knees can be particularly devastating. The next lesson will be a three step process. First, I want you to kick as quickly as you can towards my knee."> He explained in Japanese. It was less sparring with him and more about progress. Already she would have an edge over opponents with no training. Though he sensed a problem in her pattern, something that made her feel somewhat ominous, she was young yet and despite her mistakes he could only hope that she would make better decisions someday, or at least use the training to control herself. Only time would tell.

((You're doing fine :) combat rps are kind of my forte, with other things lacking so I understand the trepidation of new topics lol))

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Zachary was colored surprised as his attack was foiled in a manner he hadn't expected at all. It would seem that his opponent had taken more from his advice than he had originally anticipated, or maybe it was a fluke. Whatever the case, he would have had the edge in combat against another opponent, anyone without extensive training, but Zachary took the shot from the leg, rolling to the side with the fall and gripping an arm as he rolled to the side, one arm braced against his chest with his forearm keeping the grappled appendage from raising higher, while the arm that Mr. Cunningham had grabbed latched onto his throat. It wasn't hard enough to actually cause any damage, but the point should still have made itself apparent.

He was tempted to praise Mr. Cunningham's efforts, but his own training had taught him otherwise. Despite the fact that his opponent was doing exceptionally well, he had been trained to keep praise down to something used only when the student had truly mastered some aspect. He wasn't sure how someone else would respond to his method of teaching, but he decided to trust Nakata's judgement in assigning the sparring partners.He evaluated the fall as accidental, though that could have been a cover. Despite his experience, Zachary understood it was nearly impossible to positively identify every facet of a fight no matter what.
"If you pull an opponent to the ground you should plan to continue the fight there. Most fights end up on the ground, a fall doesn't end combat." He explained, moving to stand up and more or less reset the board.He was starting to see something of a pattern in his opponent's movements.
"I think we may benefit from some technique training since my example didn't work out." He added. Though Zachary wasn't completely familiar with Savate, he was fairly familiar with a few of the styles that made up Sambo.

He took a Judo stance, one hand low and open with another hand in front of his body, half extended at about chest level with an open hand.
"Try to mimic the attack I was attempting to use earlier. I will demonstrate how to improve based on your natural reaction from a moment ago. After that we'll move to Ukemi, or 'break falls'" He added, assuming Jacob wanted to learn more.

Konishi wasn't sure if the path of the fighter was something she was planning to take. Her mother would have encouraged it. Martial arts honed one's discipline and resolve. The sense of control would have been good for someone like Konishi, who prided herself on perfection and control in harnessing her powers to the highest limits. Kicking; she knew her legs had strength, more so than her arms.

"<I'll give it a shot.>" Konishi said. She gave a quick, sharp blow to Kuromaku's knee. She withheld power for now, aiming to be as accurate and as fast as possible for now. Every time she did something, Kuromaku remained as unmoving as the mountains. No pain, no flinching, no nothing. It was to be expected, he perhaps mastered many styles of martial arts.

"<I was reluctant before, Mr. Ishikawa,>" Konishi said. "<But maybe I feel that martial arts is something I'd like to continue in. Perhaps not the path of a fighter. Just something to supplement my own lack of power.>"

Nakata smiled at Konishi's reply. At least she was honest. Her leg flashed, and it was exactly what he had told her to do. It was quick... too fast. The damage would have dislocated his knee cap, but by the time he made that assessment it was too late. Despite his discipline he was not able to remain completely devoid of reaction from it. As his knee dislocated his face contorted in pain. Reflexively his body activated his rote, Ho Tien Chi, restoring his leg to normal, albeit somewhat slowly. Blood flow restored to normal as his body began to return to the state it belonged in, though it was still going to be sore in the morning.
"<That was excellent form. Now, after my knee heals which-"> A loud pop interrupted his speech as he once again grimaced and his knee reset itself.[/color=purple]"<Should be any time now. I want you to combine everything you've learned so far and come again. Try to combine your knowledge to make it applicable.>"[/color] He finished.

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Zachary waited for the impeding strike, grabbing it with both arms as Jacob had done, and pulling him backwards. As they fell, he used the fall to add momentum to a strike. As the fell, he controlled the roll. In an actual fight, if he had been in this position he would have turned his opponent and thrown him into the floor and landed with an elbow on a collarbone. In this case he simply fell back, aiming his elbow upright so that jacob's body would have smashed into it sternum first, at least he would have if Zachary hadn't held his left forearm up so that he could stop him before it got to that point.

"Forethought is the easiest method of making sure you have a plan when the fight goes to the ground. Think of it like chess. However, I think you may benefit from some weapons tactics. Usually it is done in reverse."[/color He started as he walked over to the pile of wooden weaponry, picking up two of his wooden swords.
"But in this case, I think you may be the type that learns faster from the outside working in. Killing with a weapon is always easier than killing with one's fists, the same can be said of learning to fight in the first place in some cases." He smiled as he tossed a wooden sword to the math teacher of hidden talents.

Ishikawa actually showed some sign of pain when she struck his knee with her foot. She was surprised at this – was her kick actually that powerful? She tried not to use so much force because she thought there was a focus on speed, but perhaps she got it down right, or it was a fluke.

Nonetheless, Konishi smiled, pleased with her result. It was the first time Ishikawa reacted to any of her strikes. She glanced at how Mr. Cunningham was doing. There were wooden practice swords, and Zachary talked about killing. Her eyes held a curiosity about them when she gazed to the two men, but she returned her focus back to the situation.

Already? She thought she only learned two or three techniques but she suppose that learning how to fight for oneself was part of the instruction. She stepped back once to ready herself.

"<Here I come.>"

Her feet moved first. As expected, she would come to rely on the strength of her legs to deal a second strike to the knee – the other one. She wondered if legs were like arms, if there was a dominant one that performed better than the other.

Naka had expected a second knee strike. Given the advice he had told her and the fact that it was the newest thing she had learned, he hadn't expected it to be from a different side, but he wasn't testing that at this point.

As the strike came, he brought his knee to his chest, lifting his leg up to clear the sweep. This was the part where it got interesting. He hadn't taught her what to do when her attack failed for a reason. He was curious to see how she would A.) Improvise when faced with situations that he hadn't covered and B.) String things that she had been taught together with things that she knew or that came intuitively. Once the leg cleared he stood with his knee still at his chest, his elbow resting on his knee and his free hand lowered to block in case of a low strike. It was a defensive stance, but few remained who truly knew how to use it.

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Zachary smiled and held his own sword up. Watching Jacob and listening before he spoke up.
"When you can block a bullet with that let me know, I'll have to get you to teach me." He said as he stepped forward. He hadn't really prepared to be teaching anyone today, but he was making his curriculum on the fly. His mind flickered briefly to a time when he stood in Jacob's shoes.

"I'll be a bit more instructive this time, but before that, just as you did before, I would like you to show me what you can do with that as it stands." He said.

Just as she was about to make a clean follow through with her knee strike, Mr. Cunningham called out to her, swinging the sword in his hand and thinking he was samurai material. Deflecting bullets? This was a new one for her in thinking about samurai movies and literature.

"The only samurai you will be is Kikuchiyo if you are going to be like that, Mr. Cunningham." He definitely was off-the-wall like that. What put that wild idea in his head?

She realized her strike completely missed when he distracted her like that. She only had some time to register that Kurosawa had shifted into a more defensive stance waiting to strike when her eyebrows furrowed slightly, glancing back at Mr. Cunningham, who seemed to be having far too much fun. She called out to him

"Look, you made me miss with all your grand talk!" She feigned anger and huffed her cheeks, turning her head back to her sparring opponent in mild annoyance.

"<This is certainly a challenge, though.>"

Now what did she want to do? She never saw a defensive position like this. It was simultaneously neutral but also imbued with some sort of active force. If she aimed for the knee and hand at the chest she felt like he would use his free hand to block her attack easily.

"<Don't be too rough on me,>" she said with a sweet smile.

Still, she decided to go in for a low sweep, if he was resting his weight on one leg, using her petite size to her advantage.

Zachary, Katsuo, and Damien stopped where they were, at least as best they could. Zachary was forced to deal with the blast that had emanated from Jacob's practice sword. It had been a strange surprise and he was forced to take several steps back to keep himself from losing balance. Still, he was also forced to pay attention. Someone very important back at the firm had called them back to Nevada, and there was obviously a reason for it. For them to be called mid mission to go back to the place that had sent them only meant an emergency all-hands-on-deck situation. Respectfully Zack bowed.
"That... was actually unique. Unfortunately I have to leave now, but feel free to keep that. Practice with it and you might actually be able to block bullets." He said clasping his hand on Jacobs shoulder as he turned to leave the gym.

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As the girl went for the attack Nakata felt the same call as the others. Still this would mean that he would have to leave his teaching position. During that call he had forgotten where he was, and had stopped paying attention. The low sweep knocked him to the ground, and a short range teleport picked him back up and placed him next to the girl.
"Very good, keep practicing and I'm sure you'll be a great fighter one day. Just a word of advice though, be very careful about how you use your skills. There is no need to give in to darkness, or to stay there should you find yourself suddenly engulfed." He whispered just for her as he abruptly left the gym with Zack and the others. Whatever was going on was a very big deal.


[EXIT]