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ouroboros: ikuo ryuuzaki

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WHO: Tatsuo Kihara and OTA
WHERE: Utsuki Dojo, Tisse
WHEN: Various evenings throughout the week
WHAT: Tatsuo teaches the beginners adult classes on Tuesday/Thursday (7-8:30), and assists with the Self Defense class on Friday (7-9). He attends the advanced adult class himself on Monday nights (7-8:30) Take a class! Or chat with Tatsuo after class! Or maybe you're there to spar with him.
WARNINGS: Violence? But like, friendly violence. It's full-contact karate.

From the outside, the Utsuki Dojo is a rather plain looking building. A tan concrete one-story buidling. The doors open to a small lobby, with the locker rooms on the left and a long hallway leading to the training room itself straight ahead. On the right side of the hallway are offices and storage rooms, and on the left, about halfway down, are the doors to the training hall. The hall itself is about the size of a small gymnasium, with bamboo wood floors. One of the short walls is covered with mirror from floor to ceiling. If you keep going down the hallway, you'll pass the storage rooms where they keep the mats and equipment. And out the back door is a Japanese style garden, with several spots suitable for meditation.

A - Tuesday (or Thursday): Beginner Adult class
There are about two dozen people in the class, mostly teenagers 15+ and college aged. About a third of the class is middle-aged or older. It's about split evenly gender-wise. Tatsuo teaches this class. So even if you call him Tatsuo most of the time, in this setting he's Kihara-sensei. In this class you'll learn the basics. How to properly warm up your body. How to punch and kick. How to block those punches and kicks. And then how to link everything together in a kata. The last portion of class is either devoted to weapons (bo and tanbo) or sparring.

B - Friday: Self-Defense class
There are about a dozen people in the class. The majority are female, mostly high school and college aged, though there are a couple middle-aged women as well. But a third of the class are male, of varying age. Two are middle-aged and two are teenagers. Tatsuo leads the class through warm-up exercises, before instruction is taken over by Ogawa-sensei, a silver-haired woman in her seventies who comes up to Tatuo's shoulder. She might look like someone's grandma (and she is), but one grip from her iron hands assures most people she can administer a whupping if necessary. This class mostly consists of breakaway techniques in order to escape an aggressor.

C - Other! Are you here to have a friendly spar with Tatsuo after classes end? Are you also in the advanged adult class on Monday night? Or is it something else entirely?

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[Cleo, by now, has moved up to the advanced adult class, gi tightened around her and ready, as she approaches Tatsuo. She hasn't been to the class in a couple of weeks- not since her ears appeared. So now that she's finally back, she's itching to make up for lost time.]

Would you care for a light spar?

[Her ears twitch in anticipation.]

[Tatsuo is glad to see Cleo out and about again, and he nods in reply to her question.]

Of course.

[He tilts his head toward a corner of the training hall that hasn't been occupied yet.]

That spot's still free.

[She's been... less than pleased about going out, of course. And the class had no shortage of surprised stares and hushed whispers, which is why Cleo went out of her way to find Tatsuo. A bastion of normality, friendliness, who wouldn't think less of her, and won't pry.

She heads towards that open spot, turning and bowing.]

Shall we begin?

[Chloe didn't simply walk into the Advanced courses. Privately, she had a small feeling that the kind of practice she needed wasn't basic in the slightest, but when she stopped by on Thursday, it was with every intention of being absolutely sure of that.

So, she could pay for a simple lesson and sign up to start with, see what the sensei said. When she arrived, it was at least an hour early, and she was dressed in her cloak, along with a black body suit underneath it. She didn't exactly own a gi, after all. Waiting by the registration while she asked if the sensei was in.]

[ Noah heard about this dojo through some fliers at the physical therapy center he went to for his arm. There really was something appealing about learning how to fight properly (especially when Retrospec seemed half driven to one day kill them all), so he used some money he earned from his part time job to sign up.

He was surprised to see that Kihara-sensei was someone he played paintball with. But that doesn't stop him from actually trying to participate in the class, working extremely hard to learn the different kick and punches- and refusing to let his arm with limited mobility get in his way.]

[Tatsuo bows in return.]

Begin.

[He settles into a ready position, allowing Cleo to take the lead.]

[well, then. She'll take the lead gladly, immediately stepping forward with a straight kick for his chest. it's quick more than forceful, just to test his defenses more than anything else.]

[Tatsuo had arrived a few minutes before. He heads to the dojo after work on the nights he teaches, with only a brief stop at a deli for some dinner. He'd just stepped into one of the offices to greet Utsuki and is heading to the locker rooms when he spots Chloe.]

Oh, hey, Chloe! How are you doing?

[She waved to him and smiled when he approached, putting her hands behind her back. It had the effect of making her almost like a long green tube with a head poking out of the top of her high collar.]

I'm doing quite well. I wanted to inquire about the classes taught here, and how to know which I most likely belonged in.

[It's pretty easy to spot the redhead from paintball in his class. It's also easy to spot the limited mobility of his left arm. But Tatsuo can tell Noah is putting a lot of effort into the class.

He walks around the students, checking their form and giving advice where needed.]

Noah, turn your back foot out just a little more. It'll give you more stability.

[Tatsuo has pretty good defenses, and his reaction is swift as he slides to the side while blocking Cleo's kick. He follows up with a punch toward her abdomen.]

Well, I can help with that.

[he slings his gym back up onto his shoulder]

There are two types of classes. There are the traditional classes and the self-defense classes. The traditional classes focus on form and technique, gradually building on your knowledge the longer you study. The self-defense classes have a set collection of moves useful for when you're being assaulted, but are primarily defense focused.

I have a feeling you're more interested in the former rather than the later?

[Cleo went with a high kick to start, so she can't just simply back away while all her momentum is forward. So she instead lowers her arms, sweeping his punch away as she pulls her leg back to ground herself once more.]

I am definitely more interested in the traditional classes, as I am sure that you can guess. [A careful nod before she glanced over at him more fully.] What I am having difficulty with is whether I belong in the basic courses or advanced. I am not even truly sure where my skills lie just yet, and I don't know how to go about this.

Before I started to know her skills, the most I ever did was some Tae Bo.

[!!!]

Oh- okay.

[He'll try turning his foot back, how he thinks he's supposed to go]

Like this?

[And as Cleo regains her stance, Tatsuo presses in, trying to keep her off balance. High, mid, high punches in quick succession.]

[Tatsuo is much taller than her. That means he has a much longer reach, and with that reach, Cleo's kept on the ropes. High, mid, high- She's defending herself well, but she has no chance to regain her balance or take an offensive.]

With the traditional classes, you do have to adhere to our style to a certain extent. There will likely be some overlap in the basics. The physics of punching, kicking, and blocking don't really change much from style to style. And there are often overlaps in the forms as well, the choreographed pattern sequences.

Advancement is dependent on both knowledge of the basics and the forms, as well as being able to use things in sparring. So if you find you're recognizing the forms and can show proficiency in them, we can start working on the material for the next belt level. The beginner classes cover several belt levels, so you'll see students of varying proficiency in the class. Adults in general can advance through the first few belt levels in less than a year. It all depends on how much overlap we can find.

I think in your case, you're going to find you have to reshape things mentally. Taking what you've got in your head from her in a new direction.

Just a little more.

[Tatsuo reaches out his foot and nudges Noah's another centimeter into the right position.]

Now try that kick again.

[Tatsuo knows better than to pull his punches or go easy on Cleo. She would not appreciate it. He switches to high then low open-hand strikes, then follows up with a low kick to the left.]

[She would not. The high strike, the low strike, she can manage, but the kick is the game change, and she can't block in time, freezing. She lets out a deep breath, relaxing her stance and dropping her guard.]

Point to you.

[She thought about that for a moment before nodding to herself. No, that made sense. Hers was a killing art, designed to murder things as quickly as possible and avoid getting hit. There were going to be very similar motions, but there were also going to be different ones...

And she wanted to know those different ones. A petty defiance to her other self.] The beginner's class sounds right for me in that case. I may advance certain belts quickly, but I should know the basics.

Okay.

[He'll try that high kick again, accompanied by a "hyah!" sound because of course you do that]

Oh hey, it was easier.

[He has a free day on Thursday, so here he is. Maybe he looks a little lost for the first day, but he quite honestly has never needed to throw a real punch or kick in his life.

Even if he is fairly fit for the kinds of roles he ends up taking for work. He sinks into the pose that Kihara-sensei displays and wonders if it's quite right. It doesn't feel as stable as he thinks this kind of pose should be.]

... Am I doing this right?

[Tatsuo motions for Cleo to attack again.]

Come on. Again. Your defense is good. Use that knowledge to get inside of mine.

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