OOCAgain, I have received permission from Alice to use Kariha in threads. 7 Spring, 511 AV Blythe had just walked through the open door of the suvai pavilion. Today, she was wearing a short white dress, with thin straps upon her shoulders. The cotton cloth ended approximately two inches above her knee, which would provide for greater mobility than the dress she had worn for her first lesson. Blythe's hair was tied up in a loose bun, and she was wearing her gladiator sandals. Not wanting to practice in them however, she pulled them off and left them by the door. When she had finished, she crossed to the center of the reed matts and found her teacher sitting on the floor in the lotus position. Kariha's eyes were closed, and her hands were resting atop each of her knees. Her palms were facing upwards, and towards the ceiling. She seemed rather relaxed. Blythe took another cautious step toward her. Kariha smiled and opened her right eye, the left remained closed. "Good to see you again Blythe," she said as she opened her left eye as well. "Good to see you again too," Blythe replied, as her teacher slowly got to her feet. Two katanas in black scabbards lay on the matt to the right of Kariha's feet. Kariha bent at the waist, and picked each of them up before straightening herself out. She handed one of the scabbards to Blythe. Blythe extended her right hand and took the blade from her teacher. "Thank you," Blythe said, as she gave a slight bow with her head. Blythe then tied the rope that dangled from the top of her scabbard around her waist, and secured it in place. The sword was resting on her left side. When Blythe looked up again, she found her teacher had already done the same. Kariha was smiling at her. "Today, I shall teach you how to defend yourself with the blade." Blythe nodded. "Draw your sword," Kariha instructed. Blythe reached her right hand across her body, and grabbed the hilt of her sword. She wrapped her fingers around it, and curled them into her hand. Her thumb was pointing into the wooden katana, as she slowly drew it from its sheath, and twisted her body into the starting position Kariha had shown her the day before. "Now there are several ways for someone to avoid being hit by a blade," Kariha explained. "The first is simply to dodge it by moving out of the way. Whether that means to duck, or jump, or move to the left or the right, or even backwards, depends on the fight. The second, is to block the attack with your own blade. This, although simple in concept, and in theory, takes a great deal of practice to master. Today, I shall show you the basics, and you can then begin practicing your blocks. Alright?" Kariha asked. "Sounds good," Blythe replied. "Good," Kariha said as she assumed the starting position. "The first thing you can do, is simply knock the blade out of the way. To demonstrate, I shall ask you to try and hit me with your blade." "Ok," Blythe said, as she stepped forward and sliced her wooden katana through the air. It made a low whooshing sound as it went, headed directly for Kariha's right side. Kariha, twisted her body around by twirling on her toes, and bringing her katana up to meet Blythe's. The force of her spin, coupled with her arm allowed her to knock Blythe's blade away upon making impact. Clack, was all Blythe had heard before she felt a sudden tug on the blade. The hilt seemed to be rocking lightly back and forth in Blythe's right hand, as though the impact had been too much for the blade to handle. Or perhaps it merely signaled the extent of Blythe's awe at the fluidity of her teacher's movements. Blythe tightened the grip on her blade and got the sword to stop moving, as her teacher returned to the starting position. "Now that you know what I meant, why don't I teach you how to do the same?" Kariha said. Blythe nodded, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. But Kariha didn't say anything about it, if she did notice. "Usually, this block is utilized when the tip of the blade is pointing directly at you, like when someone is lunging for you. However, it can be used effectively at other times as well." Blythe nodded. "Now, I am going to lunge at you repeatedly. Each time I do, I want you to not only try to dodge, if you can, but I want you to knock my sword away. Alright?" Kariha asked. Blythe gave a curt nod as her teacher took a few deep breaths to ready herself. "We'll start off slow and then pick up the pace. Ready?" Kariha asked. "Ready," Blythe replied as she held the hilt of her wooden sword a little more tightly, and took a deep breath in through the nose, and out through the mouth. All she had to do was concentrate, and she would get through the exercise without making too much of a fool out of herself. Blythe is definitely not ready. She is only saying that so as not to bother her teacher into doing her job, teaching! She'll be fine! You shouldn't underestimate her. Well the killer ballerina over there is going to kick her butt. Blythe only had a few minutes of practice, so unless Kariha goes easy on her, Blythe doesn't stand a chance. The other half of Blythe's brain sighed heavily. You really must learn not to be so negative. Kariha stepped forward slowly, and extended her arm out towards Blythe. The wooden sword she was wielding was pointed directly at the center of Blythe's chest, just above her belly button. Blythe took a half step to the right, and then whacked her sword against Kariha's. They made a clacking noise, before they were followed by the sound of Kariha's voice, "good, now keep it up," she said. OOCI know these moves probably have names, but I don't know them, so I'm simply going to describe them to the best of my ability. The stuff in bold is Blythe thinking. If the thoughts are spaced out, then it signifies one portion of the brain replying to another. |