Completed [Anthonius Fighter Pits] Eye of the Tiger {Sei Tendo}

[Ethan Ironhorse]

5th bell on 14th of Fall, 513 AV Anthonius Fighter Pits The Anthonius Fighter's Pit can be found in Winthrop Alley, outside of Stormhold Citadel. It is set in the courtyard of one of the old buildings that were destroyed in Spring 512. It was once a manufacturing plant, owned by a retired Syliran Knight named Wade Anthonius. After his death, and the destruction from the storm in Spring 512, it was left and forgotten as it had run out it's usefulness even before Wade died. That was until his son, Gerard Athonius took interest in the grounds and decided to use it. Like his father, Gerard had looked to become a Syliran Knight but it wasn't meant to be. His selfish nature and problem with authority posed a problem during his squire-hood, and after his father died he wasn't deemed fit to continue. Now he looks to protect the city in his own way, to fight and train in his own style by starting the Fighter's Pit. Gerard is a egotistical and selfish man, who looks to prove that he can protect the city on his own merits without the shield of the Knights. He can usually be found day or night on the training ground teaching the people of the city and or travelers the way of his blades. The Fighter's pit is still very new to the city and since it is run entirely by Gerard, and the coin his father left him, there aren't a large variety of weapons to use. The courtyard is set up with two wheel-able weapon's racks stationed close to the right wall, and a third single to the left wall. The ground is dirt covered with little grass growing around the terrain. Mats are set out on occasion for people attempting to learn wrestling or unarmed combat. The Anthonius Fighter's Pit doesn't house wooden weapons for practice, all weapons are real, dull though some may be from prolonged use, but all are real. The Pit is also free to use, but if you want a lesson from Gerard himself it will cost you 5gm. Ethan started running the circuit around the Pits as the rain came down softly. Ethan had started to feel like the early morning circuit was as soul crushing as the first time he had done it. Of course, Ethan also realized that if he wasn’t pushing himself than he would never get better. At the first station Ethan began to do five extra pushups before getting up and heading to the next station. Ethan’s shirt began to stick to his skin as he did sit ups in the rain. The gravel under his buttocks and back kept Ethan moving quickly even though he added an additional ten sit ups to the routine. Running the crunch of gravel under his boots fell in with the sound of the rain. Ethan got to the wall with a small hanging stone and gripped it with his fingertips as he began to do pull ups. Ethan completed his morning run within two bells and stood in the middle of the pit with his hands on his knees trying to get breath. Ethan walked over to the wooden hitting posts for punching and began the long agonizing punching that would eventually toughen up his knuckles.Gerald had setup several training posts, and this one was considered the beginners. Leather padding over rope was placed around the post so that a fighter could strength their knuckles, elbows, shins and knees by hitting the padding. Eventually, after the skin and bones toughen would graduate to leather on wood and then wood. Ethan had a long time before that, so instead Ethan worked on the combinations that Ser Titus had taught him. Hitting the padding, he felt a small flash of pain. Left jab, right cross, knee, kick with the shin for block, switch. Ethan worked on speed and endurance for a bell, hitting the post over and over again. He knew how much force it took to feel a slight impact and toughen him up, while not bruising or breaking bones. The rain began to lessen and finally stop after Ethan had completed his workout routine on the training post. Ethan had removed his shirt during the training and hung it up on one of the weapon racks. His shirt was soaked as well as his pants, but as far as Ethan could tell he would have another couple of bells before the rain started back up. So he started once again on the circuit of running and exercises. Ethan had been working on trying to do the running circuit at least twice a day, but the last few days he had completed it three times, and though his body would take a while to harden and toughen, his dedication was paying off. It was a little later then noon bell when Ethan completed he laps. He took the moment to sit down on a bench and slowly allowed himself to unwind.

[Sei Tendo]

Sei was running. He zipped through the busy crowds, and made his way to the pit. He had overslept, and by now, his opponent was probably leaving. He pushed on someones shoulders, and jumped clean over their head. He was still running, but he was going to be later if he didn't hurry. Sei listened to the clank of the short sword against his back, and made sure his dagger was still strapped to his leg. He had worn his leather armor and boots, but decided to leave his gauntlets at home. He stepped into the pit, and ran steadily through it, until he saw the man he was looking for. A few yards away, a man named Ethan was running up and down the pavement, and would occasionally stop to toughen his knuckles on a training post. Sei walked beside him, and struck a leather post. He felt the sting in his knuckles, but continued to punch the post. Left, right, then left again. He evened out his movement, and gave Ethan a smile. "'Ello." He said cheerfully, punching the post a bit harder. His hands stung, and he wanted to stop, but he continued to punch anyway. He could feel the burn in his knuckles, and decided to stop before he wasted the energy he wanted to use on Ethan. The day before, he and Ethan had decided to train together, and afterwards they might have a little spar. He had thought Ethan would say "no" and walk away, but Ethan had agreed. He decided he would use full force, and test the limits of his new sparing partner. He was ready to take on anyone, but looking at Ethan now, he wasn't sure. He looked exhausted, and Sei couldn't tell how long he'd been here, but he did know he was late. He chewed his lip, and began to speak. "Ready when you are."

[Ethan Ironhorse]

Ethan continued to hit the training post with his fists, elbows, shins and feet, until he heard his sparring opponent step up to the post next to him. The dull thuds of the leather padding provided a natural rhythm as Ethan worked on his speed and strength. Though Ethan wasn’t hitting it hard enough to causing overwhelming pain, when Sei said hello, he thought he heard the training post have stronger impact, and in a grim thought Ethan wondered if Sei would hurt his knuckles before they had the chance to spar. Ethan looked over that the man, his upper body covered in different bruises all aging to slight degrees. The Krolar Poultice that Ethan applied to himself ever few days to allow for faster healing still took time to work, so some of the bruises were a fresh purple, while others were an impressive yellow green to brown. For Ethan, he had been a farrier and being kicked by a horse was part of the job, but to make sure you didn’t break a leg or arm, you made sure the horse’s kick had no force behind it. For Ethan’s training, he had slimed down the little fat that he had on his body and now looked to be hard muscle. Ethan took a moment to stretch his arms before motioning to Set to join him in the pit. “If I remember correctly, we didn’t state any rules for the spar. Shall, we keep it civilized and make sure that we don’t break each other’s bones or create an injury that stops us from working? Additionally, do you want to spar with armor on? I would protect the body, but it’s going to limit a great deal of your movement.” Ethan moved to a decent location in the pit. The hard packed dirt and sand floor of the ground making sure that his feet had purchase on the ground. Ethan had been working a great deal on trying to perfect his technique, the bruises on his arms showed that he had been improving on deflecting blows with is arms. While, the yellow and greenish bruises on his chest showed that the lesson’s in defense weren’t perfect, but he was improving. Ethan’s legs looked even worst, but at least he had pants to cover the bruising on his shins. Ser Titus had taught him the basics and had forced a training regime on Ethan so that endurance would always be available, it seemed like the man lived for fighting and training. Yet, the knight had a good heart compared to his battle lust, and Ethan had to admit the training would come into use if he had to travel to different cities.

OOCJust as a heads up, Ethan hasn’t trained with a sword yet in his timeline, not till the 23rd. So he probably wouldn’t have agreed to a duel/spar with swords.

[Sei Tendo]

Sei watched as the man stood and walked into the pit. Ethan spoke, and Sei shook his head. "I can't fight naked, so the armor stays." He joked. He dropped his equipment, and waited for a moment before adjusting his armor. It wouldn't hurt anything since the armor was easy to twist and such, but his opponent was worried about it. Most likely he would be a worthy partner, and hopefully he'd be able to hold his own. Without further need, he stretched his arms and legs, and rolled his shoulders. Twisting his torso, Sei gave Ethan a glance. He was standing there. Most likely waiting for me, He thought, turning to face his opponent. "I'd say we just have a friendly spar. No broken bones and such are necessary." He said calmly. He took up a stance, and drew in a deep breath. Alright, here goes! He charged Ethan, and brought back his left arm for a ready punch, and thrust it forward after closing the distance between he and Ethan. He aimed for the face, and moved in for a headbutt. "I take it your new to all this fighting, eh?" He asked. He was paying attention to the fight, but he wanted to know about his opponents.

[Ethan Ironhorse]

Ethan shrugged as Sei wanted to keep his armor on, to him it seemed like a waste of time. Though you could have armor on as you walked down the street in a city, it didn’t seem to make sense that you wouldn’t have a dagger or other weapon on you if you had armor on. Yet Ethan shrugged, but taking his time to watch the man and his movement in the armor. Leather was good for blunting brute force so trying to work the body wouldn’t do anything but damage his fists and wear him out even further. No, if Ethan had any hope of winning this fight he was going to have to focus on the head or a submission hold, and since Ser Titus never had taught him any of the holds or devastating pressure point hits. So it was up to Ethan to try and attack Sei’s head in which case Ethan watched Sei as he stretched and moved, taking the time to relax slightly. The leather armor allowed Sei movement of his arms and upper torso, but the breast plate restricted the twisting motion of his upper body. Ethan remembered the brutal training that Ser Titus had put him through and he knew that the twisting the torso was important in strength of a blow. However, a person could work against their leather and have the ability to provide a decent blow. Ethan took up a defensive stance as Sei told him that it would be a friendly spar. As Ethan wondered how it would be friendly, the man took his stance and charged. The quick steps sent small puffs of sand and gravel as Sei moved forward. Ethan saw the shift in his shoulders as the leather clasps moved over his shirt bunching up the material. Ethan stepped back with his left foot and brought up his right arm in defense of the blow. The punch came forward and Ethan swung his right arm so that the bone in his forearm would contact with Sei inner arm and throw it to the side. Ethan was relatively new to fighting in the pits, a perfect deflection would have been a strike to Sei wrist throwing the punch wide and leaving Sei’s head exposed. However, Ethan reaction wasn’t perfect and the forearm contacted the middle of Sei forearm, allowing the punch to slightly glance off of Ethan’s shoulder. Once again the bruises in Ethan’s arm gave the soft tingling of pain as he made contact, the poultice was doing a decent job with healing Ethan’s flesh and muscle, but everyday Ethan did his best to push himself. Ethan saw Sei’s arm swing wide and brought back his right arm to ready for a jab to Sei face. However, Sei had moved his upper back and head away from Ethan. Ethan had seen this move before in the pits, a head butt, so Ethan moved backwards allowing Sei’s head to come forward and miss him. True power for a head butt came from one’s lower back, and the leather breast plate that Sei wore would limit his ability to provide any real force. Of course, if Ethan had been a better fighter he wouldn’t have step back, instead he would have finished the fight by a hard uppercut to Sei’s face. The combine power of Sei’s attack and Ethan’s would have knocked the man out. Instead, Ethan had made due with dodging the attack, and was grateful because a head butt could have broken his nose. When Sei recovered they went into the circling dance that consisted of eyeballing one another. Many fighters wanted to talk in combat, use it as a tool of distraction. For Ethan, he was slowly getting used to it. However, he would have preferred to concentrate on the fight and his own moves. Talking always seemed… strange, when you were trying to hurt the other person. So Ethan kept his stance but adjust to his better hand the right. It was going to be a different experience if Sei was a left handed fighter. “Aye, I am new, but you don’t earn these bruises without learning a thing or two. Of course, I still question why, anyone would want to talk to during a fight? Seems like one’s focus should be in beating their opponent.” Ethan made sure that he watched Sei as he talked. He didn’t want to be blindsided while making his reply. Ethan waited for Sei reply and then lashed out with a kicked aimed for the side of Sei’s shin on his front leg. Ethan had been working at the training posts and had toughen up his shin’s enough to provide a stinging blow. But in reality is was to focus Sei’s attention on his leg, while he moved in to punch his face with a jab. Overall the tactic was provide to quick hits, neither of them damaging but allowing the opportunity to open up his opponent to do further damage. Ethan knew if he would miss with the kick, he could drop it down inside of Sei’s feet and follow up with the jab. Otherwise if he hit with it his footing would end up outside of Sei’s feet, but the follow up jab was to prevent Sei from kneeing him in the groin.

[Sei Tendo]

Sei watched the man carefully as he dodged of dulled his attacks. Ethan was doing well, and he didn't think there would be any problems. Sei Circled the man, eye contact his main priority, and listened to his words. "Talking isn't just a distraction as most people think," He began as he observed the lift in Ethans leg, and lifted his knee to block, causing a slight sting just below his knee cap. He winced and continued to speak, watching ethan move to protect his groin. "It's a good way to seek your opponents motives." He finished up and threw a lighter punch at Ethan aimed for his exposed chest. He stepped closer for another punch, and tried to add more power by twisting, and noticed the limits of his armor. No wonder Ethan had suggested removing it. It was limiting the force of his punches. He noticed that Ethan had recoiled when Sei's fist had grazed his shoulder, and decided to aim his next punch there. Hopefully it wasn't a wound, and it wouldn't cause to much pain if it were hit. He sent his fist toward Ethan shoulder, and returned his arms to block his face. "Why do you practice anyway?"

[Ethan Ironhorse]

Ethan felt the hard sting of his shin as the kick landed close to Sei knee. He was still trying to toughen up the skin so that basic attacks like the one he had done wouldn’t leave him with a soft ache. At least now he had learned to make sure that he hit with the hard edge of the bone. During practice he had sometimes used adjusted his shin upward or down and hit the nerve as he completed a kick. His leg would burn like it was on fire for quite some time, while he couldn’t even stand on it. Ethan, however, was grateful for the small things and it was showing that his practice was starting to help him. Ethan countered by throwing a forearm to block Sei’s punch. He had been practicing to better judge the speed of his opponents attack and using the bone on the outside of his forearm to block. Neither really happened properly, ideally Ethan’s forearm should have hit Sei’s wrist throwing his lighter punch away from Ethan and exposing his ribcage to him. Instead, Ethan had misjudge the blow late, and his forearm hit the middle of Sei’s. Ethan felt the light punch graze off of his shoulder and he went back into his guard position. As Sei stepped closer Ethan performed a small shutter step backwards. He felt the rough gravel under his boots tumble about, while fine puffs of sand blew upward from his step. The punch hit Ethan square on the shoulder and pain flared briefly. Like a star burst of hot fire, the punch hit once again the bruised muscles and skin. However, Ethan had practiced enough to know how to accept the pain for what it was. Finally, his own reactions kicked in and he twisted outward to deflect some of the energy of the blow as it continue on past him. It was when Sei pulled up his hand to block his face that Ethan saw his chance. Ethan pulled up his leg and did his best to aim a hard kick with the heel of his foot to Sei exposed hip. Ser Titus Maximus had taught him that the knuckle should never be higher than ones cheekbone. Otherwise, one’s own defense would hinder their sight to kicks. Ethan didn’t have a lot of practice aiming with his feet, but at least he could get in the general area of a body part. Granted the kick did little more then probably annoy, Sei, after all even with Ser Titus Maximus kicking with his full strength, it was nothing more than bruises and several steps back. To Ethan frame of mind it was just returning the favor for the shoulder punch. “I train, because I want to travel and I just realized how defenseless I am. What good is it learning a bunch of money to travel, if I never see the city alive? What about you Sei, what inspires you to train?” Ethan quickly pulled back and circled the man, making sure he was on alert to block the next strike at him.

[Sei Tendo]

Sei whipped his knee up to block Ethans kick, and watched his movements carefully. Ethan was a great sparring partner so far, especially since he was able to use his forearm to slightly redirect Sei's first punch. Not bad. He watched his opponent shift back into his defensive stance. Jumping back, Sei waited for Ethan to make a move and decided to charge him. He drew back his left arm, balling his hand in to a fist and built as much momentum as he possibly could to throw a heavy, but hardly controlled punch. Ethan stepped back, and was hit square in the shoulder. Sei smirked, but felt the pain in his knuckles as they collided with the bone in Ethan's shoulder. He quickly withdrew the fist, took a step back, and threw another. As Sei withdrew however, his opponent finally decided to fight back, taking an opportunity to kick his hip. He hadn't even had enough time to see it, let alone block, but as soon as Ethan's foot made contact, he knew he'd been kicked. A surge of pain shot up from his hip to his underarm, and he took a full step back. Shyke! He's pretty petchin' good. He saw an opening and took it before I could close it. Sei gave Ethan a smug smirk, and shifted slowly back into an offensive position. He studied his opponent, and waited for him to make his move as he listened to Ethan's response. Ethan began to circle him, and he made sure to keep his eye on him. "I just want to be strong you know? I want to be able to protect the people I care about. Most importantly, I just want to be the toughest Kelvic the world has ever seen." He responded casually, charging when Ethan had made a full circle to face him again. He twisted his torso the best he could through his armor, and whipped his leg around to slam his heel into his opponent's left shoulder, before withdrawing it to aim his fist for Ethan's stomach.

[Ethan Ironhorse]

Ethan felt the jarring impact of his kick as it hit Sei’s hip. Sei’s armor was hard enough that kick had only done a glancing slap. Yet Ethan was proud at his progress, he had roughly connected where he wanted to and with the majority of his heel. Ethan quickly brought his foot back down, almost fearful that Sei would try and capture his leg. As Ethan’s boot touched the ground, he began to feel the unevenness of the ground itself. Sand and gravel had began to pool into piles as Ethan’s feet almost slid to their new position. A few of Ethan’s sparring partners had spoken how footwork could save a man’s life. Feeling the ground and letting the weight fall on the balls of his feet made sure that Ethan was flexible enough to shift his weight back and forth. The only time his heel rested on the ground was he was trying to add more power behind a punch or kick. Sei answer left Ethan a bit stunned for a moment. He hadn’t known that Sei was a Kelvic. Granted it really didn’t matter to Ethan what he was, after all Ethan needed to train against bandits and thieves, some of them could be Kelvics as well. However, Ethan didn’t really like Sei’s answer to the question, strength didn’t always mean one could protect. There were many things that Ethan couldn’t protect himself against and it had nothing to do with how strong he was or was not. Besides age robbed one of strength, wouldn’t it be much more efficient to have money to pay someone to protect oneself? Ethan was deep in his thoughts that when Sei began his turn for a spinning kick, Ethan was a bit surprised. Doing his best Ethan wildly ducked and jumped back feeling Sei kick miss his shoulder by no more than half an inch. The problem was that from Ethan’s uncontrolled dodge the follow up punch to Ethan’s stomach landed solidly. A small escape of air came from Ethan, as he felt his stomach muscle tighten in response to the blow. Ethan felt the red sore spot where Sei’s blow landed, it would likely bruise. The drilling that Ethan had been doing kicked in, and instead of letting the blow phase him, Ethan sent a hard short kick towards the side of Sei’s knee. The kick was almost like a small jab, which used his shin to deliver the hard edge of the blow. Currently, Sei, seemed to be immune to Ethan’s kicks, but the plan was for the kick to setup Ethan in taking a step forward and using an elbow strike to Sei’s head or shoulder. That way depending on Sei’s own defense he could be set up for a trip or a quick retreat back to guard position.

[Sei Tendo]

Sei began to feel a sharp sting in his knuckles as he found that the blow to Ethan's stomach had connected where his kick had not. Sei withdrtew his hand slower than usual, and watched Ethan's reaction to his words. What was with his face? Then it registered that Ethan had never known that he was kelvic, but there would be another time for that later. But Sei knew better than to stand there and think about it. Soon after he withdrew, Ethan made a swing of his leg, and hit the side of his armor. Sei took a step back, and blew out a sigh of relief. Sei could tell Ethan was good, but he noticed that his moves were more controlled than his own. Sei decided to throw out some attacks of his own, and threw a lazy punch for Ethan's shoulder. It was slow, but Sei didn't care as much as he should have. He withdrew his fist at the last moment as a feint, and changed his arm from lft to right to stike his opponents side.