Closed [Tuvya Sasaran] The Path of Unifying Force (Rinya)

[Jorin Ertihan]

Day 17, Season Winter, 513 AV

The Tuvya Sasaran was a lot different from the Kendoka. Though the two were sister schools in Riverfall, both training the warriors of the city to be the best defenders they could be, the Tuvya was much more... compartmentalized. In comparison, the Kendoka was almost chaotic, with the giant central room where students trained in their weapons of choice, and breaking out into duels whenever they collided which occurred more often then one might expect.

The Tuvya was significantly more quiet. Through the large sliding doors, Jorin and Rinya were greeted with the sight of the interior of the building; the smaller practice rooms cordoned off with hemp and paper dividers, and the large central practice chamber just ahead where the shouts of sparring could be heard.

Jorin for himself had never really been to the place. Despite having gone to the Kendoka quite regularly he never attended its sister, which some might find odd but the truth was Jorin never felt a need to. He was quite satisfied learning just the quarterstaff and up until his wife had suggested she wanted to learn he never really gave much thought to learning unarmed combat himself.

Noticing the plethora of shoes at the entrance of the school, Jorin realized the implications immediately, taking off his own and laying them gently near the end of the floor mat apparently set aside for such footwear, watching as his wife followed suit.

When his wife had first proposed this, Jorin honestly felt a bit of trepidation. It wasn't so much the fact that he was learning a combat art; after all, he was learning the quarterstaff at the Kendoka, and archery with Rinya, so what was unarmed combat on top of that? Still, that wasn't what bothered him.

As he held out his hand for his wife to take, he mused on the reason he'd finally decided to do this. The simple fact was, he simply didn't trust anyone else with his wife. He didn't know what their intentions were, or how hard they would hit her during spar. He remembered the Akalak that had nearly killed him during sparring at the Kendoka. He did not wish to see something similar happen to Rinya.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Rinya to be able to pick up unarmed combat. Nor was it that he was underestimating her skill, or that he thought she was a delicate wallflower, made of glass and needing to be protected. His wife was a very strong, very independent woman, but sparring was rather like rolling the dice. Sometimes you got a good partner, sometimes you got a partner like that Akalak. And when it came to his wife's safety, Jorin really didn't like taking any risks.

Jorin knew that even if Rinya injured him here at the Tuvya to the point that he could not continue, that she didn't mean to. And he knew that she was equally aware that if he did the same, he also did not mean to. And that made all the difference. When that Akalak attacked him and put him in the hospital, Jorin had no idea why he'd done that. Did he simply not know how novice Jorin was? Or was there a personal vendetta of some sort?

But with Rinya, Jorin knew she would never deliberately cause any sort of permanent or crippling injury to him. Nor would he do that to her. So when a large green Akalak approached them, greeting them with "Welcome to the Tuvya Sasaran, Riverfall's school for unarmed combat. My name is Utheran Jorikas. I am a junior trainer here in the Tuvya. How can I help you?"

Jorin was not hesitant to say, "My wife and I are here to learn hand-to-hand combat. We would appreciate any assistance you could offer." The man looked Jorin and Rinya over for a few moments, taking in their form and body structure. After a few brief ticks, he spoke, voice like the low rumble of thunder.

"Is there any particular style you are interested in?" he asked. Jorin looked over at Rinya and gave a light shrug. He wasn't sure what styles existed, to be honest. And it had been Rinya's idea to come here, he rather hoped she could answer this question. But it seemed she wasn't any more familiar with the various unarmed styles than he was.

"We aren't sure..." Jorin noted, a slight blush creeping up on his face. "Is there any style that is less... direct?" Jorin didn't really know how to word the request without sounding like a wimp. The truth was, he was quite sure he and his wife were not very interested in combat arts that were overly aggressive. They were probably mostly interested in a martial art that was mostly passive, that focused primarily on defense.

Utheran made a noise in the back of his throat, though Jorin couldn't tell if it was a grunt or a cough. After peering some more at the both of them, he stated mildy, "We train in hand-to-hand here. All martial arts are combat arts. However, it is true that some focus on hard power, while others on soft power. If it's a less direct style you wish to learn, there are a few that are taught here. One in particular is an art that focuses on redirecting an opponent's force against them."

Giving Rinya a brief look, he added, "It is especially popular among women of shorter stature, since it is particularly effective when used on an opponent larger than oneself."

Jorin didn't know if that statement was intended as an insult to himself, given that he essentially implied he wanted to take whatever martial art his wife took. Regardless, he kept a carefully neutral face, making sure to project at all times at least a neutral if not a cheerful disposition and keeping his ire under wraps.

He knew his wife could feel his annoyance through the bond, but at least it did not show on his face. Not for the first time, Jorin was glad for his acting background. Jorin turned to Rinya, his mask slipping slightly as he gave her a small smile. He could never maintain any sort of mask for very long when communicating with her, regardless of what form that communication took.

"What do you think, Rinya?" he asked. Utheran coughed slightly as Rinya replied, which drew Jorin's attention back to the large green man.

"If you do choose to learn the softer martial arts, classes begin in about ten chimes. Second door on your left. The class should not be very large, and the instructor will be Seleya," he commented. "She is a Konti. And though she is short of stature and fairly advanced in years, do not be fooled. She is quite skilled in that particular form of hand-to-hand."

In matter of fact, Seleya was approaching her 152nd year of age. She was quite old, but very experienced and those who underestimated the elderly Konti no longer did so when they were gazing up at her from the flat of their backs. For her size and apparent frailty, the woman had an almost uncanny ability to redirect nearly any blow, and it sometimes seemed like attacks just flowed away from her like water around a stone.

"Thank you," Jorin replied, and turning to Rinya, he squeezed her hand a bit. "Couldn't hurt to check it out, right?" he asked.

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[Rinya]

Day 17, Season Winter, 513 AV

Honestly Rinya had no idea what had possessed her to ask Jorin to accompany her in the first place. He wasn’t a violent sort of guy, and part of her wondered if he had said yes for one reason - to simply spend time with her. It honestly wasn't something that would be terribly surprising on his part, considering Jorin was always willing to try and find ways to spend time with her. Most of the it tended to be at home though, after the long hours of work and neither of them really had the energy to try and find more to do. As it was Jorin’s schedule was full and she had no idea how he managed to work in time for this.

Rinya supposed it was going to be something they both would have to find time to work into their schedules. All things considered they didn’t actually plan together often… even their long bow lessons tended to be impromptu. Either way however it didn’t matter, Jorin was here and obviously willing to try and learn some form of unarmed combat with her. The trip to the Tuvya was fairly quiet on both their parts, but not one that rang of uncomfortable feelings, rather quite the opposite. They had grown into their bond enough that emotions flowing between them tended to be more than enough, and words were just sound by that point.

As they entered the building however, Rinya took in the sight of it all. She had never been to one of these training centers - partly because she rather preferred not to be told how to train with her own weapon. She knew enough of her long bow to handle it without someone barking orders at her. Her dagger… well she would eventually need training with that little weapon, but she was rather putting that off as long as possible. She was still trying to grow comfortable with it’s presence attached to her side as it was. Not to mention how uncomfortable Jorin seemed to be around it.

Jorin pulled his shoes from his feet, and placed them with the others lined up. It didn’t entirely make sense to Rinya as to why they would do that, but she shrugged and pulled her own from her feet, trying to avoid the wobble of unbalance she knew she had. Jorin held out his hand however as she finished and Rinya didn’t even take a moment to consider it. Her hand fit into his and she - oddly enough - let him lead her inwards. His emotions had flared slightly, though it was nothing she could actually make out… it would be something to question him about later when they were alone. If he was uncomfortable with taking classes with her, he most certainly did not have to.

They didn’t make it far into Tuvya before a large Akalak approached them. He introduced himself - friendlier than she expected actually - before inquiring if there was something he could help them with. Jorin beat her to the punch, stating that they would like to learn hand to hand combat. Now that she thought about it, they hadn’t actually decided what kind of combat they would take… she had just been worried about inviting him in the first place. The Akalak caught on to the missing information too, asking if they had something in mind. Jorin glanced at her in question and Rinya gaped at him a moment. She didn’t actually know of any types of unarmed combat. She always just… threw a punch and hoped it landed and didn’t break anything in process.

So her mate took the lead, asking if there was anything more… indirect. That didn’t surprise her actually, but for once she completely agreed. If she was going to use hand to hand combat it was likely because she couldn’t reach her bow. She wasn’t generally interested in causing large amounts of damage with her hands, just something to avoid oncoming damage. The Akalak seemed to read her mind too, because he offered up a choice that could possibly cater to both of their needs. The Akalak added after a glance to her, that it was actually popular among women because size didn’t mean a straight up loss.

She could feel Jorin’s ire however and she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Was something wrong? Perhaps she had missed an insult or indirect conflict… either way Jorin obviously wasn’t going to let on about it. Jorin glanced at her, questioning what she thought and she hesitated for a moment. ”Uhm… sounds good?” Honestly she had no idea if that was the ‘correct’ answer, but the Akalak muttered if they wished to take the softer version of martial arts, that the classes would actually begin shortly. A Konti apparently taught the lessons on top of it and Rinya was starting to realize what the Akalak might have said to annoy Jorin so much.

”Let’s go then.” Rinya wasn’t sure if it was rude to ignore the Akalak before anything else was said, or that if Jorin could be looked down upon because he was letting his wife choose for him… but she wanted to get away from the Akalak before things got out of hand and something else was said. She gently tugged Jorin’s hand as Utheran pointed them to a room that Rinya presumed the class would be held in. As they stopped at the door, Rinya tugged on Jorin’s hand again, tilting her head to look up at him. ”Are you ok? You don’t have to do this you know… I don’t mind.” Rinya kept her voice intentionally low. She wasn’t so afraid of Jorin’s ‘ego’ being bruised, but rather of him being uncomfortable.

[Jorin Ertihan]

Time was a funny thing. One of the things Jorin's father Rosik had often said was that one always had enough time for the things one thought was actually important. Because one would make time for such things, if necessary stealing time from activities one deemed less important. It was not that Jorin thought that unarmed combat was of critical importance to him. Truth be told, had Rinya not made the suggestion, he'd have never come to the Tuvya.

But spending time with his wife was of paramount importance to Jorin. He loved her, and would find any excuse to be with her more often. And so even though it perhaps was not necessarily the venue Jorin would have chosen, he nonetheless was quite glad for the chance to spend a few bells with Rinya, even in a training setting.

Jorin had no idea how the classes would work in the Tuvya. Whether it would be similar to with the Kendoka - the master providing instruction on movements and techniques and essentially permitted free-style practice with it - requiring the student to use the techniques they'd learn thus far as effectively as possible in as realistic a combat situation as the Kendoka could create.

But its sister school seemed much more regimented and structured in how it taught its students. Rinya for her part followed Jorin's example and took off her shoes when he did, taking his hand without comment or hesitation. It was endearing to Jorin how easily they did this now, this silent communication. The bond was all they needed - they didn't need words to communicate the most important pieces of information anymore.

Rinya seemed mostly calm, and a bit curious which Jorin suspected was due to her wanting to know what exactly he was thinking about. He had no issues telling her about his own reservations, and why he chose to come to the Tuvya with her. In the end it all boiled down to the fact that the only person he truly trusted was Rinya - he just didn't know what any other sparring partner might do.

When Utheran had informed them of the softer martial arts, Jorin could feel Rinya's questioning emotions. She wanted to know what had upset him, and he wanted to tell her, but not in front of the large Akalak. Instead he just squeezed her hand gently to let her know he was aware that she was aware, though the bond undoubtedly told her as well. He'd tell her later - when they were alone.

Jorin was grateful when Rinya had gently suggested they go where Utheran had pointed them to, and he followed the gentle tug of her hand without question, not even caring if the Akalak judged him on the fact that he was allowing his wife to lead. Utheran, for his part, didn't seem to care; as soon as Rinya indicated she'd follow his direction he seemingly lost all interest in them. Truth be told, Jorin knew Rinya loved it when he took control, and he often did. But just as often he allowed her to lead - in the end, there was no permanent leader between the two of them.

Jorin was still thinking about their upcoming lesson when Rinya's soft voice caught his attention. He hadn't even noticed that she'd led them to the door the Akalak had indicated. She asked him if he was OK, telling him he did not have to do it if he didn't want to. He just turned and smiled at Rinya, gently laying his other hand over hers, sandwiching her hand between his. "I'm fine, my love," he insisted. "I was just worried about the sparring, is all. You... you remember that time you came to visit me at the hospital, after my abortive spar at the Kendoka." Jorin sighed and shrugged with an apologetic shrug.

"I know we won't go nearly so far with each other, but still..." Another sigh. "I'm fine though. I love spending time with you, Rinya. As long as I'm with you, I don't mind learning a few techniques to defend myself."

The door to the classroom in which Jorin and Rinya was to receive their first lesson in this mysterious new form of unarmed combat was plain and nondescript. After Jorin had assured his wife that he was fine, he quietly slid the door open and led them both inside. The class was relatively small - only a handful of students occupied the room. It was an interesting assortment of people but as the Akalak had indicated - mostly women.

There was a smattering of human males of average height, but the majority were Konti, human women, and presumably Kelvics though Jorin still was not certain what physical characteristics would necessarily separate a Kelvic from a human while the Kelvic was in her human form. In any case, the only Kelvic Jorin was interested in was standing right beside him, and he unconsciously drew a little closer to her.

The woman at the head of the class was an elderly-looking Konti, as Utheran promised. Her face was lined with age and her once-golden hair was now flecked with white. Nonetheless, despite the lines and wrinkles that came with her advancing years, it was clear even despite the loose-fitting clothes she wore that she was in fantastic shape. Her sleeveless uniform exposed arms that displayed a wiry strength that was not immediately apparent.

"You're late," Seleya announced without preamble, blue eyes focused directly on Jorin and Rinya. Her voice was surprisingly clear, it seemed loud in the silence of the room. She did not say it with accusation or judgement - she simply stated it, as readily as if she was announcing the weather. Nonetheless, her gaze while not accusatory was focused and direct, and did not waver.

Jorin seemed to remember the Akalak from before mentioning that the class was to begin in ten chimes. Had he been lying? Had he simply been mistaken? Or did they actually take longer than ten chimes to reach here... perhaps he'd spent too much time simply talking and being with his wife. He'd be the first to admit she was as much a distraction to him as he was to her. Still...

"Nevermind," the elderly Konti commented, waving them to the side. "Take your positions there-" she pointed at the far corner "-and please close the door behind you."

Jorin did so, quickly closing the door. After which he and Rinya slipped quietly over to the corner indicated while Seleya started her lesson. The Konti woman began with an introduction to the martial art in general, introducing it as the "Path of Unifying Force". Apparently it was a technique created and perfected on the Konti isle of Mura, and brought to Riverfall due to the fact that the two cities are quite heavily interrelated.

"The Path of Unifying Force is ultimately a form of martial art that uses your enemy's strength against them," Seleya announced, blue eyes scanning her audience to ensure they understood her meaning. "It is not about stopping a blow but redirecting it. Changing its flow until it is either harmlessly dissipated in a safe direction, or reflected back onto your attacker. It is for this reason that the Path of Unifying Force is so effective even against opponents of a far larger size."

This concept Jorin could understand. It was something Sohryn over at the Kendoka had mentioned as well - a weapon was a fantastic equalizer. A huge Akalak and a small Konti would have equal problems with a sword stuck in their gut. But with hand-to-hand, that might not be true. A larger size would automatically grant an advantage. So this fighting style, it seemed, turned that advantage into a disadvantage - providing an equalizing balance.

There was some more introductory material, mostly on how the technique was developed, before Seleya announced that the first lesson would be a technique known as "breakfall". Jorin felt a twinge of nervousness at hearing this - breakfall, after all, sounded like it would be painful. There were mats on the floor, of course, and he was quite sure Seleya would be teaching them techniques that wouldn't cause injury but still. The word was made up of the words "break" and "fall", neither of which engendered pleasant scenarios in the mind.

"Alright, I want you to find a partner and practice this breakfall technique," Seleya was saying, indicating a nearby human woman to stand next to her. "I will first demonstrate the technique several times and then I want you to try with your partner."

Seleya indicated that the woman should approach her with a downward blade-hand chop, taking her arm and gently demonstrating how she wanted the attack to proceed. Then, when she was satisfied with the attack, she stepped back, indicating that the attack should proceed as demonstrated. When the chop was halfway down, Seleya seemed to flow to the right, grasping the woman's wrist on the way down and dipping her hip just so to flip her gently but inexorably over her shoulder. The human woman gave a startled yelp of surprise as she found herself rolling gracefully over the elderly Konti's shoulder, before landing back-first onto the mat.

"The key to this technique is moving with your opponent, not against her," Seleya mentioned without missing a beat, offering the fallen woman a hand to help her to stand. After a few more demonstrations, the Konti instructor indicated to the class that they should find a partner to practice the technique with, implying that they should first decide which one would be the attacker and which one would be the one doing the throwing, then reverse positions later.

Jorin, for his part, being larger than Rinya, figured he should be the attacker first. After all, that was the primary goal of this - to give Rinya techniques to defend herself in the event that she had to fight off larger opponents. Granted Jorin wasn't that much bigger than his wife, but regardless... he turned to her and smiled. Obviously, he wanted her as his partner for this. There was no other person he'd want to spar with - it was why he'd come here in the first place after all.

"So what do you think, my love? Should I be the attacker first?" he asked. When Rinya indicated her agreement to his suggestion, Jorin nodded and released her hand, taking a few steps back and trying to remember what Seleya had demonstrated. It seemed simple enough, and he raised his arm and brought his hand down in the same chopping motion that he'd seen.

Around them, the paired-up students were also attempting the same technique - to varying degrees of success. Seleya was wandering the room, observing the practicing students and occasionally stepping in to provide assistance when one of the practitioners was not doing something correctly. At the moment, she was on the far side of the room, leaving Jorin and Rinya mostly uninterrupted to attempt to replicate what they'd seen.

Jorin was well-aware that given the fact that Rinya was essentially using his arm as a lever to attempt to flip him over her shoulder, that there was a real risk of injury. Still, he trusted his wife completely. She would never hurt him deliberately. Even as his arm came down and she went to grab his wrist, he knew he would always trust her, just as he would always love her.

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[Rinya]

Rinya felt her eyebrow lift at Jorin’s admission that he was untrusting of someone else sparring with her. Honestly she hated the reminder of Jorin and his time in the medical center, not that it was entirely her fault that he ended up there, but because she hadn’t known. But the Akalak that had put Jorin there… well she didn’t actually know why he had done it. Her husband didn’t really seem to know either, but she could understand his hesitance about the whole idea. Landing back in the medical center was not something she ever looked forward to. "Hmm, I doubt most would go so far as that one Akalak did with you, but I won’t argue."

Rinya shrugged one shoulder slightly. After all she had been the one who asked him to come with, and she realized that it might entail some of his more protective instincts. Really she didn’t enjoy being coddled, but she certainly understood where Jorin got it… after all she tended to lash out as Farline even though Jorin was perfectly capable of handling the woman himself. Then again, Jorin was much softer hearted than she was. He let people wash over him, and while she loved him—she was incapable of really letting someone walk all over her. Though it was becoming increasingly easier to ignore someone rather than lash out herself.

But she supposed that was half the reason they were here—to avoid situations that could land them in the medical center. As they entered the classroom, she instinctively let her eyes scan the room, taking in the other participants. The woman at the head of the classroom however spoke up the moment they entered. Apparently they were late… Rinya twitched her nose and stared right back at the woman. There was no sizing up the woman because Rinya already knew she would lose that fight, but it came with ease to her to match someone’s gaze. The woman herself didn’t seem fazed, instructing Jorin to close the door and take their spots. They had spots?

Rinya took her position as directed. It had been a long time since she actually had a lesson in anything—and she was used to her father’s direct vision of ‘do it or die’. The Konti woman however seemed in no rush to get to the lesson, instead giving them a basic idea of what the course was. Completely ideal actually, given the fact that she herself was not all that large; she had decent muscle development from archery, but that was about it. Even Jorin for all his training at the Kendoka was not heavily muscled.

She could not help but tilt her head slightly in a very birdlike fashion as Seleya informed them that the first thing they would learn was a breakfall. Rinya felt her muscles twitch at the twinge of emotions flowing from Jorin. Taking a deep breath, she did her best to try and focus on more calming emotions for him. There was no reason to worry—at least not yet. Rinya had little doubt there would be times when one of them would get hurt while learning, and Jorin really should save that worry for then. Besides if he was so focused on not hurting her, they would get nowhere and she would be forced to take a separate partner anyways.

Rinya locked her eyes on the technique Seleya introduced. Her opponent opened her hand flat, fingers together and her hand twisted vertically towards the floor. It seemed like a fairly simple gesture, but Rinya knew from what little Kata she had learned earlier in the season that it almost was never as easy as it looked. Especially as Seleya twisted fluidly to catch the woman by the wrist; there was no hesitance as she moved from the grip to flipping the woman rather elegantly over her shoulder and releasing her wrist just in time to let the woman hit the mat back first. This was going to be harder than she thought. Rinya did her best to watch the further demonstrations, trying to lock in the position of Seleya’s feet, to the grip on the wrist, to the bend in her waist.

The only problem Rinya really had was she was nowhere nearly as graceful as a human as she was a bird. Tail feathers tended to help with balance, and here she had none. Jorin smiled at her, and she did her best to shoot him a weak smile back. While watching someone else being thrown over shoulder looked difficult, Rinya had no idea how tight of a hold she should have on his wrist… or when to let go of it for that matter. She supposed in the long run the only way to really learn was to try. "Yes why don’t you attack first." Rinya mumbled in agreement as she mustered the courage to try this technique for the first time.

Jorin wasted no time really. His hand game at her and she moved quickly to catch his wrist… maybe a little too quickly actually. Her fingers that meant to come up and grip his wrist actually missed completely—which was kind of disappointing in the fact that they were nowhere near moving at a real attack speed. And because of that fact his chop pretty much bounced off her shoulder without any pain or risk of bruising. Later on that would probably become an issue, but regardless she felt her face flush slightly. "You’d think my hand eye coordination would be better than this." Shaking her head slightly, Rinya motioned for Jorin to try again.

This time as his hand came down at her shoulder, she managed to lift her hand faster, wrapping her fingers gently around his wrist, before realizing she’d have to hold on tighter if she was going to move with him and get him over her shoulder. By the time she realized this fact however, it was too late. The momentum was lost, and by the time Rinya bent her knee to shift her weight the balance was already lost. Rinya was forced to release Jorin’s wrist mid pull—throwing herself off and causing her to twist her weight to one side so she ended up on her rear end rather than on her side. Jorin it seemed was having more luck—he managed to barely keep his balance from her awkward attempt.

"Much harder than it looks." Rinya grumbled under her breath and pushed herself to stand, repositioning herself once again in front of her husband. "You’ll probably have better luck with this than me. I take it training at the Kendoka probably has your balance better than mine." It wasn’t meant as an insult, though she couldn’t help the irritation in her voice. None of it was directed at him, but it was there none the less. "Again." She insisted, motioning at her mate to come at her a third time.

Jorin’s hand once again made it towards her shoulder, and like before she managed to lift her right hand in a small half circle to catch his wrist. This time she applied more pressure—dearly hoping she wasn’t applying too much—and bent her left knee towards the mat while she tugged Jorin’s wrist out past his own reach to throw him off balance. This time it moved much smoother, as she was able to at least get her shoulder up under his stomach just enough to push upwards with her left knee to knock her husband up and over her shoulder as she released his wrist so as not to break it. Jorin’s back finally hit the mat, though she wasn’t entirely sure she hadn’t hurt him. Her shoulder in his stomach must not have been entirely nice.

"Are you ok?" Rinya winced slightly as she stood over him, offering her hand to help him up.

[Jorin Ertihan]

Jorin felt as well as saw Rinya's quirked eyebrow when he mentioned that he did not trust someone else sparring with her. He didn't bother explaining, mainly because he figured he did not really need to. He was sure she understood. Jorin was no fool - he knew his wife was perfectly capable of handling herself in a fight. Petch, she was likely a better fighter than he was - several seasons at the Kendoka and he could barely call himself a halfway decent with his quarterstaff.

But he was absolutely sure Rinya understood that the real reason he didn't trust someone else to spar with her was because he didn't believe that anyone else would know her like he did. Jorin supposed the Kelvic bond helped, though he suspected that even without it, he'd still know his wife better than anyone else in the world. He would know how far was too far, and when to hold back and when not to.

It was true that in a real fight, if Rinya was in actual danger, her opponent would not be nearly as reasonable, but then this wasn't a real fight, it was practice. Jorin figured that after today, Rinya was likely to spar with other people as well as himself. After all, it was unlikely they'd be able to always be one another's sparring partners, no matter how much they'd like to, though he was sure they'd find a way to spar together as often as they could.

Nonetheless, Jorin wanted at least their first spar to be with one another. Jorin smiled gently at Rinya and nodded when she mentioned that she doubted someone would go as far as the Akalak did with him, but that she wouldn't argue the point. He shrugged. "Thank you," he replied. Off her reaction, Jorin just smiled. "For being understanding," he tried to explain. Perhaps he didn't have to, but the fact that Rinya was always so understanding with him was something he loved so very dearly about her. And the one thing Jorin absolutely wanted to avoid doing was take Rinya for granted.

Jorin turned his attention back to the lesson when his wife did. Despite the fact that he felt a bit worried when the instructor mentioned breakfalls, he couldn't help notice the birdlike tilt of Rinya's head at the words. For some reason he thought the motion to be very appropriate for her, and that in addition to the emotions she was sending across the bond to him calmed him considerably.

Rinya was trying her best to assure him, the calming emotions floating across the bond, and Jorin knew she was trying to tell him it would be alright. He supposed it would be. After all, he was fairly certain the trainer wouldn't have them begin with the technique if it had a significant chance of causing injury. Jorin took a breath and tried to calm down. Everything would be alright. Didn't his mother always say that half of ensuring an outcome was believing that it could happen?

Jorin could feel both their nervousness and trepidation when they faced each other, and Rinya agreed with him that he should try attacking first. The first attack, however, didn't seem to work very well. Jorin did his best to mirror what he'd seen the other student do and sent his hand down in a chopping motion, but Rinya had missed the wrist-grab entirely and the "attack" ended up bouncing off her shoulder. They both flushed at the mistake - maybe he'd attacked too quickly? Rinya just mumbled about how her hand-eye coordination should be better. He wasn't sure if she meant that because of her archery training or because as a Kelvic osprey she had far superior vision than the average human, but nonetheless he shrugged.

"I'm sure you'll get it, my love," he replied encouragingly. Jorin almost wanted to ask if he'd hurt her with the missed attack, but did not because he already knew he hadn't. Their bond was very strong now, and he would feel it if he'd injured her. More to the point, he knew his wife absolutely hated being coddled and treated like a glass doll. She was strong, much stronger than her slight body would imply, and the least he could do as her husband was trust in her.

"Alright, here I come again," Jorin warned as he got back into position and tried the chop a second time. This time, Rinya managed to snag his wrist and Jorin tried to copy what the other student had done. He'd tried to pay close attention to the motion of the body - how the student relaxed his arm and did not hold any of his limbs too rigidly. It was different from when he'd learned archery from his wife. There, setting the bow arm was key to success. Here, he was sure setting the arm rigidly would only lead to injury and pain.

But halfway through the breakfall, Jorin could sense something was wrong. The balance was off and the momentum carried him sideways rather than over. Rinya's grip on his wrist was not strong enough and she did not bend her knee in time, and Jorin had to hop on his foot a few times and nearly fell over, making for a rather comical sight as he attempted to regain his balance from the botched attempt. Rinya was not so lucky - she'd released his wrist when she realized she couldn't maintain the throw, and the result was that she fell backwards onto her rear end, landing with a soft plop onto the mat beneath her.

As Jorin finally steadied himself, he immediately rushed over to Rinya's side to offer her a hand up. She commented that it was indeed much more difficult than she'd anticipated. To her comment that he'd probably have better luck because of his Kendoka training, Jorin just grinned and shook his head. "Well, I can say for sure that I get knocked down much more often there than I'd care to admit," he confessed. It was one of the most frustrating things, really. Given that Sohryn had repeatedly admonished him that losing one's footing in battle was a death sentence, though the intimidating Akalak said that about a lot of things.

Rinya insisted that they try yet a third time, motioning for him to come at her again. Jorin complied, his hand reaching her shoulder before she snagged his wrist and twisted, bending her knee and pulled him off balance and onto her shoulder. Jorin felt the air whoosh out of his lungs as her shoulder impacted his solar plexus. It certainly wasn't the most pleasant of experiences, though at least his daily ritual of going to the Kendoka had improved his ability to take a few hits at least. There was a bit of strain on his shoulder as Rinya tumbled him over, but thankfully she released his wrist in time to prevent it from being tweaked or sprained.

All in all, it was over too quickly for any of those things to fully register in his head before his back hit the mat and it was his turn to produce the little plopping sound as he landed. Jorin looked over to where his wife was, and he could feel the concern across the bond as she asked him if he was alright. He took her hand gratefully and smiled up at her. Like she'd done for him before, he tried to send calming emotions to her through the bond. "I'm fine," he assured her. And he really was. He'd been struck by wooden weapons repeatedly for the last two seasons; sometimes on the head, often in the chest or shoulders. He'd chosen to view such hits his opponents scored on him as incentive to be a better fighter and not get hit so much.

Standing up and dusting himself off slightly, Jorin took a few ticks to catch his breath before looking at Rinya. "Alright! Well, I think..." he began, before the gentle voice of Seleya from behind him cut him off.

"Excellent work young lady," she nodded at Rinya, and Jorin whirled to find him face-to-face with the instructor. Well... more like her face to his chest as he stood a full head and shoulders higher than she did. Nonetheless, he looked down and tried to give her the space he thought she needed, but she seized his wrist before he could do so and fairly dragged him over to his wife. Jorin couldn't help thinking that all the women he'd known thus far were a lot stronger than they looked. And when had Seleya come over? He didn't even notice her approach. He really needed to work on his awareness, it was yet another thing that Sohryn stressed was crucial to a successful warrior.

"Your attack was sloppy, young man," she criticized, as she gently nudged his armpit and his knees so that he was in a more correct position of attack. "You're fortunate in the extreme this young lady was such an observant student. Are you aware you'd twisted your waist to the right as she was throwing you?" Jorin shook his head. In truth he wasn't aware of much, as it'd been over so fast. Had he done that? He must have or Seleya wouldn't be giving him that disapproving look.

"You mustn't do that," she sighed. "I'm sure you noticed how her shoulder impacted your solar plexus when she threw you. You need to keep your body relaxed and try to avoid any unnecessary twists, or you could end up seriously injured." Jorin could only nod, chagrined. It seemed no matter which school he attended, he'd get chastised for something. Well, at least his luck was consistent.

Seleya adjusted Jorin's position a bit further before nodding. "Alright, try it again. And young lady," she addressed Rinya. "When you catch his wrist, make sure to bend the knee directly afterwards. If you wait too long, the momentum will carry you along with him." Not that she really needed to explain it, as they'd experienced it first-hand earlier.

Jorin just nodded at their instructor and turned to his wife again. He dearly hated messing up - more so in front of his wife - so he did his best to do exactly as Seleya had instructed. This time he took a few ticks to make sure his muscles were nice and loosened, and then chopped downward. Seleya hadn't mentioned the speed with which he was intended to do it, so he maintained the same speed he'd been doing. She made no comment so he assumed he was doing that correctly at least.

As before, Rinya snagged his wrist, and as per instruction had bent her knee immediately as she tugged him forward. He could feel the momentum of his attack shift, the force of the attack being redirected into the throw as his balance was lost and she used his arm as a pivot point to throw him over her shoulder. He was very aware of his waist this time, making sure not to repeat his mistake from before, but the angle of the throw made it difficult. His body wanted to twist to avoid the impact with the ground and he was only partially successful this time, her shoulder impacting higher but still pushing the air out of his lungs as he struck the mat.

Seleya said nothing as he picked himself up off the floor, her face a blank canvas as she observed him. Jorin gave both women a sheepish look. "I... suppose I just need more practice?" he tried, to which Seleya stared at him for a few more ticks before moving on to assist other students. He had no idea what the instructor was thinking or feeling. Once again, his bond with Rinya spoiled him in many ways - with her, he always knew what she was feeling given how open their bond was. It made him lazy in terms of analyzing other people's emotional states, and he was utterly uncertain what Seleya thought of him.

Deciding it didn't matter, as he only cared about Rinya's opinion anyway, Jorin turned back to her and gave her an encouraging smile. "Well, want to try attacking me this time?" he offered. Jorin wondered how it would go. After all, Rinya was smaller and lighter than he was. While that may make her easier to throw, he was worried it would also mean a greater chance of him accidentally injuring her. Nonetheless, this was sparring, and a few bruises were inevitable. Jorin just hoped that there wouldn't be too many of them before the day was done.

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