[Flashback] Practice Makes Perfect (solo)

[Ishkaral's Home] Eri's teacher has to run an errand early in the morning, allowing him full use of his facilities and equipment to revise what he had been taught the previous day.

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Considered one of the most mysterious cities in Mizahar, Alvadas is called The City of Illusions. It is the home of Ionu and the notorious Inverted. This city sits on one of the main crossroads through The Region of Kalea.

[Flashback] Practice Makes Perfect (solo)

Postby Eridanus on November 4th, 2011, 3:49 am

Day 64, Spring of 510 AV
19 Chimes after the 8th Bell
Ishkaral's Home / Training Facility


Eridanus found himself in the center of the training dojo, all alone in his unarmed master's house. He still could not get to this petching city which seemed to change the directions and its orientation at whim. He could swear that the city was alive, intentionally misdirecting him and deriving amusement from his agonized face when he realized that he somehow ended up at the same cross-junction he left even though he was pretty sure he walked in a straight line. After more than a bell's time he finally reached his friend's house from the local lodging apartment, even though the previous day he merely took half a bell with the speed of a leisurely stroll. He was not sure he could withstand this annoying habit of the city if he had to face this everyday and made a note to ask Ishkaral about it; he should know more having lived in this city for quite a while. Perhaps there was some sort of secret path or short cut, and he'll be damned if he did not figure this out by the end his stint in Alvadas ends.

Ishkaral had to run some errands or procure grocery in the morning, whatever it was he did not know nor did he wish to pry, offering his friend some privacy. His friend had seemed slightly apologetic at not being able to accommodate him, but trusted him enough not to rob his house blind and allowed him use of the facilities to revise some of the forms and techniques that the Vantha learned the day before, for it was pretty obvious that the technical aspects of the martial art had not been fully inducted into his muscle memory yet.

Still, practice makes perfect, and it was a concept Eridanus fully believed in. It was not really about talent, but single minded diligence and perseverance that would decide the victor at the end of the day. For with only talent one is stuck with whatever one was born with or had affinity for, but with hard work the sky's the limit.
NOTICE: I am currently mostly inactive til August. As such, guild activities are temporarily halted (watch out for major revamps, changes and organizations when I'm back in full force). Any activity with Eri will be rather slow as well, but I am slowly readjusting back to "Mizahar life", so to speak, so do PM me if we have a thread that I left hanging and we'll talk.



"You must be one hardcore scholar, Eri." (Laszlo)
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[Flashback] Practice Makes Perfect (solo)

Postby Eridanus on November 4th, 2011, 6:39 am

Eridanus quickly went through a shortened version of his acrobatic stretching exercises, excited to start practicing and so after about fifteen chimes he got his body up and running, warm enough to prevent unnecessary muscle straining. Standing up, he consciously shifted his legs and raised his arms in the general Sanctus Peccator stance that Ishkaral taught him yesterday, but slightly modified to fit his fighting style. After all, unarmed combat was a fluid art and the ability to triumph over an opponent lay not only in mastery of the art, but also on one's open-minded thinking in constantly innovating and adapting on the fly.

His friend had reminded him that unlike certain martial arts, Sanctus Peccator was precisely what he imagined; an art that was fluid and adaptive, and one in which prior background would be beneficial and could not incorporated rather than an obstacle that would hamper his learning.

First, he had to be comfortable in assuming his stance. It was the most basic of basic, but after being corrected on certain inefficiencies in his previous stance, he needed to assimilate this new posture into his muscle memory and overwrite whatever his body was accustomed to, and thus it was with a grim determination that he snapped into this pose, recovered and instantly snapped into it again, taking time to move an inch here, shift a little there, to get the optimal stance.

After a while, his body began to warm up to the idea and he spent lesser time in adjusting his stance whenever he snapped into it. He decided to up the ante, and this time, he went through the 'confrontation drill' that Ishkaral taught him.

Strolling ahead, trying to keep his body as relaxed and carefree as he could, he reached a small white mark painted on the floor and instantly whipping into the stance. After taking a moment to grade himself, he noted with dissatisfaction that although the posture was as optimal as it could get with the little practice he had, his muscles were tensed very intensely, and this was bad. If he had to throw a punch or immediately defend himself, the stiff arms would slow him down and put him at a disadvantage, for a relaxed arm could swing faster than a tensed up one. Paying extra attention to this, he walked back to his starting point and strolled forward again.

Upon reaching the designated point, he snapped into the position again, this time his form suffering a bit but his muscles being less stiff. The idea was not to completely loosen one's body upon confrontation, but actually to keep it in a half relaxed but half prepared state, ready to transit to full strength if required whether it was to dodge or to strike. He noted his form mentally, and headed back to his initial position to try again.

Strolling ahead once more, he whipped into the stance at the position marked with the white paint, his form still not as good as it was earlier but at least he felt that his body was sufficiently relaxed. Repeating the drill a few more times, he went back and stretched his body once more to encourage blood circulation to avoid muscle cramps. He repeated the drill several more times, but this time with the other three directions - left, right and backwards - spending more time with these directions.

It was harder than he expected to achieve the same results as he did facing the front, and he tried hard not to be disappointed by reminding himself that rarely would one face an initial attack from the front unless it was an honorable duel. It would be to his benefit that he familiarized himself with different orientations of attacks and he drilled the philosophy of being fluid and open minded in order to adapt into his mind.

Twenty five chimes have passed with him focusing on the confrontation drills, and he felt that his response to a sneak attack from the rear or a flanking strike from the sides was visibly better than before, and it was with this thought that cheered the diligent Vantha up, and he went to grab a drink from the water bag from the travelling backpack he brought along to Ishkaral's house, hydrating himself and at the same time sitting with his legs outstretched to continue improving his flexibility.

The Vantha liked to multi task and his favourite activity while drinking water or taking a break from such exercises was to stretch. He aimed one day to be flexible enough to execute a high kick comfortably, and as they say, "Practice makes perfect".
NOTICE: I am currently mostly inactive til August. As such, guild activities are temporarily halted (watch out for major revamps, changes and organizations when I'm back in full force). Any activity with Eri will be rather slow as well, but I am slowly readjusting back to "Mizahar life", so to speak, so do PM me if we have a thread that I left hanging and we'll talk.



"You must be one hardcore scholar, Eri." (Laszlo)
First winner of the prestigious Mirage's No Kill Medal.
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It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!
 
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[Flashback] Practice Makes Perfect (solo)

Postby Eridanus on November 5th, 2011, 6:15 am

After the short break, Eridanus went back to the center of the mat, trying to recall how his lesson the day before was structured so he could revise it systematically. Ishkaral had went through with the various orientation drills, and... right. Eridanus groaned, more combat stances. Well, learning a new skill was usually like this, and as he was not particularly well trained in unarmed combat, he grudgingly agreed that it was important to master the foundations or risk screwing up advance techniques in future lessons. After all, if a building was built on shaky ground it was bound to collapse if the mound shook.

The next 'course of the day' would be learning how to fall, and being able to recover in the same combat stance facing whoever that threw one or caused one to fall. The Vantha noted with appreciation that even though it was insanely boring, the curriculum was well structured, for this next drill combined the elements in the previous orientation-focused stances, but adding a disorienting roll to it. He felt glad that he had at least committed some of the reflexes needed for the confrontation drill to muscle memory, and so some of the pain of mindless repetition needed for his body to familiarize itself with the technique completely would be removed due to his earlier effort.

Sighing, he cracked his neck sideways and settled into a relaxed posture. He imagined that he was thrown by someone in front of him, and he instinctive settled into a roll to break the fall, rolling away from the imagined combatant and when he felt his feet touch the mat, break free from the rolling and stood up quickly, his limbs already moving to assume the stance he was practising dozens of times earlier. It took longer than he expected it to, for he was slightly disoriented from the roll and had to wrap his mind around the present for a bit to stabilize himself. Still, it was encouraging for an initial try, and he turned around to his original posi-

Wait. A Leth-damned. Chime.

It was then that Eridanus realized that he would have executed his first try pretty well, if not for the fact that he ended up facing the perfectly opposite direction from his imaginary attacker. If that really happened he deserved to have a blade in between his shoulders, for showing one's own back to a sparring partner in an honourable duel was disrespect, while showing it to an enemy in a no-holds-barred combat situation meant certain death.

Oookaaaay. This means the mechanics of my rolling and recovering need some tweaking.

The Vantha then rolled again, this time in slow motion as he analyzed every small motion and taking note how his limbs moved in conjunction with each other, and he found that he had the tendency to end up facing the opposite way if he rolled in what he thought was a straight line, as compared to twisting his body while on the floor to end up facing a completely different direction, depending on how much he twisted and travelled on the floor before recovering. Deciding to first get his angles right, he stood up, then dropped and rolled on the mat, twisting his body sideways such that he was not rolling straight like a barrel, or like a bunny running in its wheel. When he felt his feet touch the floor, he stood up, whipping into the combat stance and he found himself facing not the attacker, but at least within the general direction, which was much better than completely baring one’s back.

This time, he ran again, but fell and rolled without stopping, twisting his body more as he rolled and recovered, now finally facing the attacker. He could not be complacent, for success once did not automatically mean success for all the times in the future, and in combat one mistake was all it took to remove one from the land of the living. Mistakes should be meant to be made during practice, for in actual combat there was no second chance unless one happened to be exceedingly lucky. Eridanus repeated the drill several times, running then dropping into the roll, making sure to be careful of how he broke his fall to prevent hurting his back or hips by smashing them onto the floor, and he recovered quickly, each time getting faster and more accurate. It was the repetition that would properly bang this lesson into his body’s reflexes, and after dozens of repetitions he had to stop. Walking back to his backpack, the world swirled around him as he tried to recover from his dizziness that naturally occurred as a result of rolling suddenly too many times. He put a hand on the side of the wall and clenched shut his eyes until he stopped feeling giddy and could continue without tripping over his own feet.
NOTICE: I am currently mostly inactive til August. As such, guild activities are temporarily halted (watch out for major revamps, changes and organizations when I'm back in full force). Any activity with Eri will be rather slow as well, but I am slowly readjusting back to "Mizahar life", so to speak, so do PM me if we have a thread that I left hanging and we'll talk.



"You must be one hardcore scholar, Eri." (Laszlo)
First winner of the prestigious Mirage's No Kill Medal.
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Eridanus
It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!
 
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[Flashback] Practice Makes Perfect (solo)

Postby Eridanus on November 9th, 2011, 3:19 pm

Eridanus closed his eyes and focused his thoughts once again as he usually did when the physical world proved to be too much for his sense to handle, and he imagined himself still, willing the disorienting and nauseating swirling around him to stop and be still along with him. It did not, of course, but his stab at meditation did help him to avoid depositing the contents of his stomach on his friend's floor, which he doubt would impress the Akalak very much. Not to mention the embarrassment and awkwardness that would bring. He reminded himself to keep this lesson in mind and not overdo such techniques in real combat, for emptying your guts in front of your opponent just before getting decapitated would not be a very fine tale to regale Lhex with. Getting laughed again just before death, then getting laughed again after death was one scenario that the Vantha did not wish to be involved in in any way or another. Still, the world began to stop swirling, and he peeked an eye open to see if he was still suffering from the giddiness. When he was assured that he could walk straight without looking like a drunk again, he walked up to the center of the dojo once more to finish up with the more fun part of the training.

Poses and combat stances were important to a martial arts, that was for sure, but a martial art would not fare very well if it did not have any actual attacks, and this was exactly what Eridanus was planning to practice. As he settled into a neutral stance, he casually jabbed forward with his outward (and thus, non-master hand) the limb striking out quickly but with no commitments in energy or body weight, returning to its original position as fast as it had taken for it to come out. He made sure to maintain his stance even as he continued on practising punches, strikes, jabs, uppercuts, crosses and the myriad of upper torso attacks he had learned by himself throughout the years and with variations of those attacks taught by Ishkaral. Being able to go into a stance was one thing, holding that stance was another, for the formation of a stance was designed for optimality in positioning and this was an advantage he would loathe to give up easily.

Eridanus began with a series of strikes that flowed from one form to another, specifically designed in such a manner so as to facilitate better understanding of how one type of attack can efficiently be followed up with another type, and he marvelled at how well his body was adapting to it. The prior experience he already had with the attacks, combined with his open-minded nature and the painful conditioning he had done earlier on proved to be useful now as his body responded almost automatically, though it sometimes lagged in certain forms and Eri made sure to stop, restart several forms earlier and try to flow pass it as smoothly as he could, sometimes re-doing it several times until he was satisfied that the improvement was enough for the day.

After half a bell's time of flowing through the different upper body offensive techniques, Eri finally decided that his body had reached the limit of its ability to absorb knowledge, after realizing that towards the end of the session he was beginning to slur and make careless mistakes that he should not normally make. That was usually a sign that his body was beginning to reject anything new being taught to it and he respected that omen. He stretched on the floor, improving the blood circulation throughout his body so that he would not get unnecessary muscle cramps or strains but doing it in short bursts to prevent his body from cooling down. He was not totally done yet.

When his body was sufficiently stretched, he hunkered down on the floor, supporting his body with his arms in a push-up position. This was a common exercise many use as a form of improvement as well as a form for punishment, the latter he knew very well the militaristic Denvali tend to use on errant adolescents who failed to to see the importance of discipline and respect. He lowered himself, controlling his breathing as he did so, and carried on twenty times in rapid-fire succession. Still on his hands, he kept his body up, taking a short while to reorganize his strength and he carried on another set of twenty. When he finished his third set, his muscles were already burning from the rigorous exercise and his face was beginning to flush red, but he took another deep breath, knowing that only by pushing one's muscles beyond one's comfort zone would one improve. He carried on for another set, and finally when he was done with his fifth set, he had a sliver of strength to raise himself for a few seconds before collapsing quite unceremoniously on the floor, his chest heaving from the energy expenditure.

As he lay on the floor, his eyes on the ceiling, he organized his thoughts around him and focused on stabilizing his breathing first, then mentally reducing any importance he placed on the muscles aching in his arm, a way of distracting himself from his arms that would surely ache more the next day. As his breathing grew more stable, Eri slowly stood up, careful not to let the blood rush into his head by standing up too suddenly, and he walked over to his bag to get a few gulps of water. He still had his last exercise to do, which was that of stamina, for strength and stamina were equally important in martial arts, along with the skilled aspects of technique and understanding.

This was probably going to be either a challenge or a cake in the walk, and the best thing that he would probably not know which for such was the unpredictability of the City of Illusions. He was planning to go for a run and hopefully reach back his location in a bell's time, but unlike other more normal cities where he could plan his route and thus vary his speed accordingly, he had no idea knowing where the next turn would take him, and he could very well possibly find himself back at Ishkaral's house in 5 chimes' time or 5 bell's time. It was a gamble he would have to take, and this unpredictability would probably force his physical shape to improve for his body would not be able to compensate with speed not knowing the distance it would have to travel. This would have more relevance in real life as well, for reality was often unpredictable. He took a deep breath, and began running off in a random direction, not bothering to take his bearings or adjust for landmarks as everything could change in the City of Illusions.
NOTICE: I am currently mostly inactive til August. As such, guild activities are temporarily halted (watch out for major revamps, changes and organizations when I'm back in full force). Any activity with Eri will be rather slow as well, but I am slowly readjusting back to "Mizahar life", so to speak, so do PM me if we have a thread that I left hanging and we'll talk.



"You must be one hardcore scholar, Eri." (Laszlo)
First winner of the prestigious Mirage's No Kill Medal.
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Eridanus
It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!
 
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[Flashback] Practice Makes Perfect (solo)

Postby Eridanus on November 9th, 2011, 3:29 pm

It was after three bell's time that the poor Vantha still found himself running. He had possibly passed through all known public facilities of Alvadas, and maybe every other citizens' residential estates (though he might possibly be exaggerating regarding that) but Ishkaral's home remained out of sight. The city was being quite devious today and he refused to yield to its mischievous ploy. His running pace had since slowed down into a jog but he refused to slow down any further, keeping up a jogging pace that continued to draw pained air from his burning lungs, his fatigued legs already feeling numb and just automatically doing responding to his thoughts. It was a curious sensation of sorts, like floating from his midsection, but he was vaguely aware of the little sensation his legs gave him as it probably had long ago surrendered to his stubbornness as if to say, "Sigh, just do whatever the hell you want. Me? I'm just going to run until you decide to stop." His lungs, however, was a feisty one and reminded him of his exhaustion every time with every breath he took.

It was only after three bells that he accidentally met Ishkaral, though whether by true coincidence or by the city's engineering he would never know, for the reasoning behind its various pranks and illusions could not be hoped to be understood by mere mortals. The astonished Akalak had caught up with him, having coincidentally ("coincidental my foog") finished the business he was attending to, and guided the Vantha back to his abode using the weak attraction that he could feel from his key. Eri realized then how much more important a resident's key would be, for besides granting access to it it also had the more important function of bringing one home, for what use is a key that could open all doors if one could not even find the door in question?

Even as it began to rain, Eri did not care if it was form of illusion or actually the real thing, and he whistled good-naturedly and even attempted a jiggle, which was probably a sign of the adrenaline high that usually hit one's body when one was extremely fatigued. Ishkaral had given him a weird look but did not say a word as the Akalak silently walked alongside the Vantha.

Finally, the friends arrived back at the abode, and after Ishkaral turned to close the doors behind them as they entered the abode did the Vantha collapse in exhaustion, t hough with a smile on his face. His body would not appreciate being so rigorously worked that day, but it would appreciate it in the future when it could feel the results of its workout.
NOTICE: I am currently mostly inactive til August. As such, guild activities are temporarily halted (watch out for major revamps, changes and organizations when I'm back in full force). Any activity with Eri will be rather slow as well, but I am slowly readjusting back to "Mizahar life", so to speak, so do PM me if we have a thread that I left hanging and we'll talk.



"You must be one hardcore scholar, Eri." (Laszlo)
First winner of the prestigious Mirage's No Kill Medal.
User avatar
Eridanus
It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!
 
Posts: 1893
Words: 1312082
Joined roleplay: October 24th, 2011, 2:03 am
Location: Sylira
Race: Ethaefal
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Scrapbook
Plotnotes
Medals: 8
Featured Character (1) Overlored (1)
One Thousand Posts! (1) One Million Words! (1)
Extreme Scrapbooker (1) 2012 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)
2011 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1) 2011 Top NaNo Word Count (1)

[Flashback] Practice Makes Perfect (solo)

Postby Macabre on January 7th, 2012, 6:31 am

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Thread Complete!
“Unbelievable. You, [subject name here], must be the pride of [subject hometown here].”

Eridanus
XP: Body Building 4, Acrobatics 2, Unarmed 2, Meditation 2, Running 1, Dancing 1
Lore: Sanctus Peccator Stance, Taking A Fall, Pushing One’s Limits

Notes: Guest modding for Fallacy. It was a pretty straightforward training thread and I hope my grade was just as straightforward. I thought running for three hours straight after a rigorous training regiment was a little much for someone with a 2 in body building, so please keep your character’s stamina in mind when doing training threads such as these. If you have any concerns or questions, please PM me.
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