[Flashback] A Lesson in Posture (Solo)

[Eridanus]

Day 20, Spring of 503 AV 30 Chimes after the 9th Bell The Academy It was spring, and the smell of grass and nature awakening afresh from a three-month slumber hung in the air. In a little city named Denval, lay the Academy, an educational establishment that prided itself on training its citizens well in matters of both body and mind. Most of its intake tended to be its locals, but it wasn't unusual to see a foreign 'student' or two, usually people who took the trouble to specifically be under the tutelage of certain instructors, or maybe those who chose to come here instead of the more famous Zeltiva University, whether out of financial or personal reasons. It was at the courtyard that a Vantha youth stood, surveying an older man cautiously, his hands unsure to clench or not. He could be stereotyped as the typical rebellious teenager, young unlined face together with the messy black and aurora-streaked hair conveying a sense of chaos and general anti-establishment. He thought for a moment, before raising his hands in a sort of posture that most people took when they wanted to throw a punch, and the older man responded by shifting his legs slightly apart, his hands raising up in front of him to form a loose parallel angle with the floor. All in an single, fluid and relaxed motion. This 'youth' was Eridanus, and he was no Vantha. Well, technically he was when he was chosen by Leth for some unknown reason to reside in His celestial realm, but after the Valterrian his immortal soul slipped through the cracks of the world, and he found himself once again in the land of the living. The other mortals have a name for beings like him, and it was The Ethaefal. He was no youth either, for he had lived on Mizahar for more than two centuries, having watched as the races began to rebuild from the apocalypse. Many decades before news about this city did not exist, for it was one of the places that were separated from the rest of the world by the Valterrian, but as it began to re-establish ties with other cities, fame of its tiny academy began spreading, and once the curiosity for knowledge began to gnaw at the Ethaefal's heart, he could not resist and finally decided to set out to quench his thirst. And this was why he found himself in a courtyard, facing off against an unarmed combat instructor whose job was both to teach him a little in the art as well as to gauge his actual proficiency in order to plan an effective syllabus for further lessons.

[Eridanus]

"Are you going to begin? Time is valuable, and I have another appointment after this, student Eridanus", the instructor barked, startling the Vantha. "Fine fine! Just needed a moment to... concentrate", the student replied, for his mind was already considering the various methods he would try to best the instructor, for he wanted to get the highest assessment he could and impress the martial department of the school. The older man raised an eyebrow, and the Vantha sighed, continuing his sentence with a "Master". He mentally rolled his eyes, but the school was big on discipline, which was no surprise for a tiny town like this needed extreme discipline and co-operation from its citizens in order to survive - be it in military, knowledge or commerce - compared to the other larger cities around. He clenched his fist and edged towards the instructor, his arms raised warily in a boxing stance that was intended to cover his face and chest. The instructor stood there, making no movement, his eyes observing the student craftily. He came to a distance just out-of-reach of the older man, and without warning, he feinted to the left, but unleashing a kick from his right leg towards the man's midriff. Unfazed, the teacher took a small step in the direction of the kick and used his hands to chop Eri's thigh, essentially dissipating most of the energy from the kick until the power was negligible by the time it landed on his midriff. He continued by placing in arms in certain positions, making small movements but placing them in highly strategic positions as he blocked and redirected the flurry of blows that followed immediately after the kick. Eridanus was beginning to get annoyed, for it seemed to him like he was bashing a statue. Except that the statue had some kind of invisible force-shield. Or that the statue could read his mind and somehow place its arms at exactly the point where it could prevent his arms from reaching further and hitting its face. Either way, Eri found that it was like hitting an impenetrable wall, and he decided that this was not the way to go. He feinted a punch and instead, crouched planning to give the man's stomach a jab. The instructor did not respond to the punch, but instead drove his elbow downwards immediately when Eri crouched, forcing the Vantha to abandon his plans and sidestep to avoid the jab, only to blink immediately from reflex when the instructor raised his knee - which somehow was not there before - stopping it only inches from Eri's face. "Recover, youngling", the instructor intoned, an unimpressed and somewhat bored expression beginning to form on his face. Okay, this is totally not the way to go. "Do not rely on flashy methods and instead go straight to the point", the older man continued. "Feint only when the opponent may over-extend, and do not over-extend yourself when doing so." Yeah well thanks, genius. If I knew when my opponent will over-extend I would be giving classes already. That was what the Vantha thought, but instead he replied, "How will I know?" "Experience and knowledge. That will be my job to teach you. But not now. Now I will assess." He re-adjusted his position imperceptibly to his initial pose, and motioned at the student. "Again."

[Eridanus]

Eridanus considered a more conservative approach, and he remembered the fighting styles of various martial artists he sparred with in the past. Deciding to adopt a traditional stance, he opened up his legs to about shoulder width, angling his body about fourty-five degrees to the right and raised his hands in a similar posture to that of the instructor, his non-master left hand reaching further out and his master hand tucked closer to his body. He edged forward, looking at the instructor warily, wondering how he would be able to break through his defence. When he approached instructor again, he feinted a punch, leaning foward suddenly and pretending to strike his face, then quickly recovering to his original position. The instructor did not move at all. He raised an eyebrow at Eridanus, looking at him with a half-amused expression. Oookaaay... so it seems he has some kind of supernatural sense. He feinted once more, eliciting no response from the instructor except maybe an impatient harrumph. The Vantha then attempted a double-feint - feinting that he was going to feint. He reached forward like he did for the last two times, but this time he stepped forward at the last moment, giving him the reach to properly strike the man. Without missing a beat, the instructor merely raised the raised hand further away from his body and thus nearest to Eridanus and caught the Vantha's punch at the wrist, gently tapping it. The sudden impediment to that movement slightly changed the angle of the attack, causing it to continue on with almost full force but sailing pass the instructor's face. Taking advantage of this over-extension, he moved forward, one hand guiding the mis-direction of Eri's striking hand, and the other hand guarding Eri's free hand, and he used his legs to trip the Vantha. Eri lost his sense of balance and fell, the instructor stretching his arms to grab the Vantha before he fell and helped him up, causing no injury except that to his pride and ego. "Like I said, do not over-extend unnecessarily", the instructor repeated. "How did you...?", Eri's began, wondering how the instructor knew the truth behind the feints. The Denvali raised a hand to signify halting, interrupting the student. "First, your posture needs work." The instructor recovered his position to the original pose, his legs shifted slightly apart and his hands raised at between chest to neck level, one hand further from the chest than the other. "Your hands needs to be more relaxed, for tensed muscles make it difficult to move and react quickly. Try clenching your fists and waving it about, compared to flinging your hands in a carefree manner." Eridanus did so, realizing with wonder that it was true that stiff arms equate to slower and, well, stiffer movements. "Do not raise your hands so high. It may be more effective in blocking your face, but you need to distribute you guard across your chest and neck as well. Lower your arms and do not keep them so closely together. If they are at the center of your vital regions they will be able to optimally reach all of them, instead of reaching one very quickly and taking longer to reach the other." Eridanus saw reason and he nodded, lowering his hands and increasing the distance between them to better distribute the guard across his head, neck and chest. The Instructor pointed at Eri's legs, noting, "I see that you've imitated the standard leg posture pretty well. Unfortunately, that's the only thing you did well in." "When you move, make sure the distance between them stays the same. For now, we will start with single-sided movement, meaning your orientation stays the same - you do not switch your master and non-master hands." The instructor demonstrated, moving back and forth. His legs stepped one after the other, maintaining the distance and still looking pretty cool doing it. Eri did the same, awkwardly reaching out one leg, then the other. He coughed softly, and re-adjusted the later-moving leg to keep the distance similar to his initial distance. His Ethaefal personality noted with sardonic interest that he probably looked like a humanoid crab rather than a martial artist. The instructor, however, was encouraging despite his earlier display of boredom. "Yes, you need practice regarding legwork. I'll take note of it." He stepped backwards, creating more space between master and student. "Now remember what I taught you, and come again. Remember that in the initial stages posture and form is paramount. I'd rather you look like an idiot and completely miss your hits while maintaining form than coming at me wildly and maybe land a hit." He paused, then added, "Or maybe not, considering your previous attempts." He motioned at the student, and repeated, "Again".

[Eridanus]

The student nodded, determined to maintain his form. It was uncomfortable at first, and probably pretty not very fulfilling in the short run, but he trusted the expertise of the instructors of this martial town and he expected that he would improve in the long term. It was all a matter of getting used to, after all. He tried not to imagine himself as a crab, but could not help making the mental reference as he edged forward again, focusing on the steps of his legs to maintain the distance between them. He wondered if he was imagining it, if it were some kind of placebo effect, but he kind of felt his stability actually improving and he felt a deeper connection to the earth, as if he had sort of grown roots into the earth. Roots that move, that is. Connected to a crab-tree. Great, now he had a more disturbingly comical image in his mind. He struggled not to laugh and tried to maintain his serious expression. This is not good, he must not be distracted. Upon reaching the instructor, he gave a tentative strike, but almost lost balance when he discovered that he had to move his legs together as well. It was then he realized that fact and suddenly struck forward his outer leg moving in tandem with his outer hands. The instructor had been observing the student, and was caught by surprise when he expected the student to be testing out more posture movements. His hands reflexively caught the first and he was pushed back slightly in the earth, still maintaining his strong and solid posture. He nodded appreciatively, for this child had potential. Usually his students do not come to this realization as fast as this one did, not with this mediocre level of unarmed expertise that is. The instructor smiled at the Vantha, indicating for him to release his punch and recover. "I have enough data for your assessment", he began, taking out a notepad and frowning as he squinted into it. "I believe you have another appointment as well. With... Oliver." Eridanus opened his mouth to thank the instructor, but he was cut short once again by his sharp remark, "Who is Master Camlach to you." Sigh. He merely nodded in resignation as the no-nonsense instructor walked off for his next appointment, and he stretched more for his next assessment by the resident long swords teacher, Master Oliver Camlach. This was going to be a long day.

[Eridanus]

Thus ends the very first solo thread in the Academy! There is so much Eri needs to learn from the martial town and as Yoda intones, 'Willing to learn, he is' xD

[Legion]

Thread Award Eridanus: Acrobatics 3, Unarmed Combat 4 Comments This was wonderfully done. Training threads have a habit of boring me to tears. I didn’t even yawn once. Further, your writing was eloquent without being overly laden and concise without being cold. You maintained a good pace and I am particularly happy with your accurate descriptions of the Denval Academy as well as Denvali mentality. You’ve done your homework and it shows. We are pleased. Feel free to PM me with any questions or concerns.