littleladylord (littleladylord) wrote,
@ 2012-05-29 16:29:00

Practice Makes Perfect.
They had the gym to themselves. Cindy was trying to put forth the effort to keep getting better. She'd been in the biz for a little while, but she knew she was far from a natural.

"Okay. Suggestions?"

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godownswinging
2012-05-29 07:36 pm UTC (link)

Saishu learned things the hard way - and thus, she teaches the same way. When in combat mode, she's all business.

"Move your feet as little as possible. Make use of your body's movements to evade all you can, and when you do shift, resume your stance as quickly as possible. As a female warrior, the primary advantage you have is superior balance from stance and quicker adjustment because of it - use it." she adds. "Now, we begin." she starts, taking a swing at Cindy. Relatively slow and easy - if she's paying attention, she should be able to dodge, but she's also not playing kids' games with this. If it connects, it will sting.

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	littleladylord 2012-05-29 07:40 pm UTC (link)
	Cindy listens, and then she sees it coming; attention she can do, and she has worked hard to get even the little skill she's got. It's a bit unsteady as she avoids it without scrambling her feet, but she manages. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	godownswinging 2012-05-29 07:43 pm UTC (link)
	"Good, now, when I move around you, small steps, slide your feet, do not get off balance, do not get flat footed." she instructs, starting to pace around, every now and then taking another of those telegraphed swings - entirely dodgeable, just enough force behind them to threaten to knock her out of the circle if they connect. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	littleladylord 2012-05-29 07:56 pm UTC (link)
	And Cindy does her best, sliding hand turning her feet just a little, appropriately with Saishu's movements around her. The first two swings, the little shifts are enough to avoid. The third, she can't quite manages and just ducks to a crouch, trying to still listen by staying on the balls of her feet. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	godownswinging 2012-05-29 08:05 pm UTC (link)
	"Good, very good. Your teachers so far have done well." she begins - and as a 'reward', starts moving and swinging a little faster, still intentionally telegraphing, but not quite as much as before - and on occasion, alters the pacing of her steps, or moves back the other way, trying to catch the little redhead off balance. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	littleladylord 2012-05-29 08:16 pm UTC (link)
	"Thanks," Cindy says, smiling, and then it's getting a bit more level 2 of Tetris, and she's sliding and managing at first, but as the pattern keeps changing, lose her balance Cindy does, and she knows she's in trouble as she ends up with a foot out of the circle steadying herself. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	godownswinging 2012-05-29 08:30 pm UTC (link)
	Saishu shakes her head. "Not good. Thirty crunches and fifteen push ups, now. And do them correctly or you begin again. Then we start over." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	littleladylord 2012-05-29 08:48 pm UTC (link)
	Cindy despairs slightly, but gets down and gets started. She is no doubt, by any warrior's standards, extremely slow at getting through it all. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	godownswinging 2012-05-29 08:58 pm UTC (link)
	Saishu pats her stomach. "Your muscles here... too weak. We need to build you up to be a better fighter. There will be a lot of crunches until your center is strong enough." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	littleladylord 2012-05-29 09:03 pm UTC (link)
	"'kay," Cindy says breathlessly as she continues until they're done. The pushups go a little better, but once more slow in order to do it right. She's been working on getting her arms a little more adequate, though it's still obviously nothing on what Saishu's used to seeing. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	godownswinging 2012-05-29 09:05 pm UTC (link)
	Saishu nods. "That is a warm up, it should not tire you. We have a lot of work to do. Now get back in your circle and take your stance." she instructs, ready to start over again. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	littleladylord 2012-05-29 09:11 pm UTC (link)
	"...right," Cindy says, embarrassed, and she gets back into position. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

godownswinging
2012-05-29 09:27 pm UTC (link)

She'll have to forgive Saishu - her mother was a taskmaster - so its the only way Saishu knows. Really, from her perspective, she's being tolerant, gentle and patient. By comparison, she is.

She begins circling again, treating the first several punches like warm ups, telegraphed, easy to dodge as long as Cindy doesn't wear down, then gradually, gets faster, bit by tiny bit.

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littleladylord
2012-05-29 09:39 pm UTC (link)

It's not that Cindy can't understand the different perspectives and circumstances. She's just not always the best at having her inferiority driven home.

The warm-up shots, Cindy handles okay, her balance and contained footwork going just fine. She even handles it as things gradually step up -- mostly. Until one's a bit too much, and she braces herself to keep from falling out the circle, but doesn't quite avoid the hit. Even a glancing hit from the sissy version from Saishu punches hurts like anything, but Cindy just bites her lip and tries to keep her footing.

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	godownswinging 2012-05-29 09:43 pm UTC (link)
	"Much better." Saishu responds to the last. "Much better this time... stayed in the circle. Would you like to learn how to make it hurt less?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	littleladylord 2012-05-29 09:46 pm UTC (link)
	"Thanks. Yeah, that'd be good if you can explain it." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	godownswinging 2012-05-29 09:49 pm UTC (link)
	Saishu nods. "Get in your stance, but stay loose. Keep your weight on the balls of your feet. When I push you, do not dodge... just turn at the waist and let the shoulder I am pushing be pushed. Understand?" she asks, a hand moving out to give one of Cindy's shoulders a fairly firm little push. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	littleladylord 2012-05-29 09:52 pm UTC (link)
	Cindy nods her head and follows directions, doing her best to turn her upper body with the push. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	godownswinging 2012-05-29 09:54 pm UTC (link)
	Saishu nods, giving her a few tips, pausing to have her stretch a little, then goes back to it, until she's turning properly to keep her footing and let the pushes slide off. "Punches... same way. Roll with the momentum, and it will hurt less, if you cannot avoid it entirely." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	littleladylord 2012-05-29 10:00 pm UTC (link)
	And Cindy listens, and stays focused, and works at it. "Okay. Thank you." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	godownswinging 2012-05-29 10:11 pm UTC (link)
	Saishu nods firmly, noting the work at it, at least. Finally, she starts circling again. "Now, combine everything you know. One more hour... twenty crunches and ten push ups every time you step out of the circle... but if you do well... I'll 'punish' you the way you like when we are done." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	littleladylord 2012-05-29 10:19 pm UTC (link)
	And Cindy turns red and smiles, but does her best to keep focused. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	godownswinging 2012-05-29 10:23 pm UTC (link)
	That focus is /good/, because once Saishu teaches something,s he expects her students to use it, so she's swinging just a little harder, trusting Cindy will figure out rolling with it - and otherwise tests her balance and ability to stay in the circle - not bothering to scold anymore, as long as any failure leads to the expected exercises happening. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

littleladylord
2012-05-29 10:42 pm UTC (link)

And Cindy does. Understanding isn't her weak point.

...Endurance, however, is one. After managing okay for most of the hour, standing steady and rolling with it even when hit, she eventually gets so worn down she slips up, loses her footing, and falls with a whumph.

And Saishu doesn't even need to scold. Cindy gets to work the prescribed exercises, close to exhausted by the end but back on her feet.

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	godownswinging 2012-05-29 10:51 pm UTC (link)
	Working to exhaustion is part of the point. It helps build endurance, along with everything else. Thankfully, after that fall, when the exercises are done, Saishu finally shows some mercy - but only once Cindy gets back in her stance to show she's at least willing to try and continue. "Shower time." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)