Now that they had learned the basic maneuvers, Greco moved her into a pair of defensive techniques. The first one he called the two-handed upward flower. He stood before her and demonstrated, explaining that her hands needed to stay close together throughout the technique or it would not work properly.
Using a yin-yan grip in the center of the staff, he turned the staff towards his left shoulder first, directed it downwards towards his knee and calf, and then brought it back up. She noticed that his wrists had twisted slightly during this before moving into the opposite direction. The staff went past his right shoulder, down, and then back up, thus creating a flower. Throughout the demonstration, Vira paid close attention to how he positioned his arms, his feet, his shoulders and legs, how he held the staff and even how it angled.
After the various corrections he'd given already, she had observed that he often wanted her to keep the weapon relatively closer to her body, affording more protection. He completed it in slow motion a few more times before picking up the speed, speaking through it as he did so. "Make sure the staff swings close against your body, almost brushing your clothes. With time and practice, you'll be able to do this just as easily and as quickly. Now-" the staff stopped its swing. "Let me see you do it."
Nodding, Vira checked her hands and placed them in the yin-yan as he had held his with the fists right above the other. "Over the shoulder..." She murmured, rotating the weapon towards her left shoulder first, following it with her eyes. It rotated around towards her knee, her hands still holding tight. "-back up..." It twisted past and returned to an upright position and then continued over her right shoulder, following through to the knee and then back up again.
"Excellent." Greco said. "Now, faster."
The young Endal obeyed, swinging it over her right shoulder, past her knee, up, over left shoulder, past her knee, up, and again. He told her to go faster and she did, rotating the weapon with great concentration in the flower pattern. It was a relatively easy technique though from a glance it had seemed challenging. Her face had taken on a deep frown as she concentrated on keeping the rotation going at the pace he demanded of her.
"Faster, Lavira, faster!" Her called, clapping a beat with his own staff. She picked up the pace, over the shoulder, down, back up, over the next shoulder, down, back up, again past the original shoulder. "Come on, faster. Can you hear it whistling in your ears?" He picked the beat up, watching proudly as she spun the staff in the pattern until he could see the twitch of her muscles in her jaw as she focused.
She was really too tense and he now needed to break her focus to teach her relaxation so that she could better anticipate attacks without worrying about losing focus on the strikes she did. He slowed the pace for her until they were going slowly. With it, her face relaxed. "You are too tense. Relax, but keep the staff moving. Over, around, down, up, over, around, down, up. Follow me."
He took up the rhythm before her, following her moves like a mirror but keeping his face calm and smooth. "Tell me about your bird, Endal. What is your eagles name?"
Using a yin-yan grip in the center of the staff, he turned the staff towards his left shoulder first, directed it downwards towards his knee and calf, and then brought it back up. She noticed that his wrists had twisted slightly during this before moving into the opposite direction. The staff went past his right shoulder, down, and then back up, thus creating a flower. Throughout the demonstration, Vira paid close attention to how he positioned his arms, his feet, his shoulders and legs, how he held the staff and even how it angled.
After the various corrections he'd given already, she had observed that he often wanted her to keep the weapon relatively closer to her body, affording more protection. He completed it in slow motion a few more times before picking up the speed, speaking through it as he did so. "Make sure the staff swings close against your body, almost brushing your clothes. With time and practice, you'll be able to do this just as easily and as quickly. Now-" the staff stopped its swing. "Let me see you do it."
Nodding, Vira checked her hands and placed them in the yin-yan as he had held his with the fists right above the other. "Over the shoulder..." She murmured, rotating the weapon towards her left shoulder first, following it with her eyes. It rotated around towards her knee, her hands still holding tight. "-back up..." It twisted past and returned to an upright position and then continued over her right shoulder, following through to the knee and then back up again.
"Excellent." Greco said. "Now, faster."
The young Endal obeyed, swinging it over her right shoulder, past her knee, up, over left shoulder, past her knee, up, and again. He told her to go faster and she did, rotating the weapon with great concentration in the flower pattern. It was a relatively easy technique though from a glance it had seemed challenging. Her face had taken on a deep frown as she concentrated on keeping the rotation going at the pace he demanded of her.
"Faster, Lavira, faster!" Her called, clapping a beat with his own staff. She picked up the pace, over the shoulder, down, back up, over the next shoulder, down, back up, again past the original shoulder. "Come on, faster. Can you hear it whistling in your ears?" He picked the beat up, watching proudly as she spun the staff in the pattern until he could see the twitch of her muscles in her jaw as she focused.
She was really too tense and he now needed to break her focus to teach her relaxation so that she could better anticipate attacks without worrying about losing focus on the strikes she did. He slowed the pace for her until they were going slowly. With it, her face relaxed. "You are too tense. Relax, but keep the staff moving. Over, around, down, up, over, around, down, up. Follow me."
He took up the rhythm before her, following her moves like a mirror but keeping his face calm and smooth. "Tell me about your bird, Endal. What is your eagles name?"
