The odd Girls Dojo (open)

Zaku Was cleaning her shop, she still couldn't believe she had gotten the place. the Lot had once been a Dojo, but it had been abandoned, it had the room required for training of many different types of things and as soon as she seen it she knew she had to have the place, she had always wanted to own a Dojo, and now she did, but only now was it starting to dawn on her that having a Dojo that was open for business meant that people might actually come in for training, Luckily she had no classes due for the moment, but people had come in to look around before as she had spent the better part of the last year fixing the place up.

Now the gates were open and she was sweeping the floors to keep the place clean, She knew she could train people, she had enough training for herself, she could train people in a lot of different things, all she needed to do was get people that wanted to learn...It probably helped the usually shy girl that she thought of her Dojo Gi as Cosplaying...she acted quite a bit different and held herself different when wearing it, thought he ever present cowlick was making it's presence known, the rest of her hair was tied back in a massive braid to keep it out of the way. Mean while the cowlick seemed to be looking around as she cleaned, as if it was keeping an eye out for potential trainees.

Hmmm, damnit, now that I think about it, I need to go someplace to train in combat. Being a psyche terrorist is a dangerous occupation, and I have to be able to protect myself and others. Being as fit as I am definently helps, but it won't help that much if I'm swinging around my soulbounds like an amateur. Seriously, training in combat is the best, and I won't have much of any time to PRACTICE using my weapons, so i'll have to do the next best thing and learn how to handle some actual swords and learn some CQC tactics. I'll have to go at least that far to be able to protect those I care for. Hmmm, maybe I should ask for duels from some of the other guys, so that we can get our shit together. But I have to find somewhere that is decently out of public eye. If I attend some famous dojo and my technique becomes recognizable to some cadets going there or something, I could possibly be tracked down. It's best to go to some area that is just out of public eye, like a newly made dojo of some sort.

That is why I have come to The Backlight to find a good place to train, and honestly I am absolutely astonished on how good this place looks and how much it seems to fit my requirements. It honestly looks like it was only recently opened for business, and it looks like no one much is going here. Since it's in the backlight it could also be used to spend my time training before going to the Platinum Playhouse. I think it is time to sign up to a dojo. I quickly enter the establishment and attempt to find the Sensei of the dojo. "Excuse me, is anyone here? I would like to apply to this dojo." I say calling out to anyone who might be out and about here.

Zaku hears someone calling as she was in the back making sure the main room was well cleaned, getting up she walked to the front, her Gi wasn't as loose as the normal clothing she would wear so the small girls figure was more noticeable as she stepped to the front, her bare arms allowing the newcomer to see the toned muscle there, as she looked at him and nodded a bit, her cowlick seeming to bow as she addressed him. "Hello there...Zaku's Name is Zaku Zamides, I am the Sensei of this Dojo/ Zaku" she said walking up to the taller male, though if you counted the cowlick she towered over him.

As she got closer to him her height, or lack of it, was apparent as she looked up at him, her cowlick making a motion like it was sniffing at him as she studied him "What are you applying for? Zaku has a list of things Zaku can train people in here. Zaku" she said handing him a sheet of paper with the list on it, and the list was truly expansive, swords, axes, maces, martial arts in several styles, European, Japanese, Mongolian, every type of fighting style was listed, as well as weapons he probably never heard of, hell even firearms were listed. "Zaku tries to make sure she has everything covered. Zaku".

One thing he would notice about the girl, was that her cowlick seemed to snap to attention whenever she said the word Zaku, other wise it seemed to continue sniffing at him until it seemed to nod as if finally deciding on what he was and it started to seem like it was looking around for more people or to see if there was more customers coming.

I honestly could say that I wasn't expecting the sensei of this dojo to look anything like they are.... like she is. She is small, very small, about 4"4-4'6", she seems to have quite a few curves....why did I just think that? Anyway she also appears to be quite muscular and toned, and holy shit what is that enourmous cowlick? I quickly recover from my apparent confusion. "Greetings Zaku-Sensei." I say bowing to her. Jeez, her cowlick is so tall! Also, she seems to have quite the speech, quirk. Saying her own name right before introducing herself, and saying her name at the end of sentences. What is this even? Hmm? She has a list of things to apply for? I take the sheet of paper she gave me. Hmm, wait, 'swords'? She deals in weapon training? There are even some weapons I don't know anything about, and all those combat styles.... Wait WHAT!? She even does firearm training!? "Looks like you really do have everything covered." I say in awe of this small girl. Hmm? I think I just noticed something. Her cowlick seems to straighten whenever she says her name...... what even is this? Also is it... sniffing me? WTF? Now it's just.... looking around? ????? "Ahem, well, I think I would definently want to take up Firearms training along with sword training. Though I wonder, which of these fighting styles would be best suited for wielding two one-handed swords? Also, I think I would wish to learn Some Japanese and European martial arts." I say professionally to the small sensei. I hope she can really enlighten me in the ways of fighting.

The small girl seemed to be oblivious to her own cowlicks antics as she listened to the boy, listening to his comment and then later to his request for training, she nodded a bit the cowlick seeming to just keep watch on the place as he thought on his request, she then looked back up to him "Zaku can teach you...however what are the type of swords in question? are they both arming swords? short swords? Falchion? Falcata? Zaku?" she asked as she took the paper and made a note on it as she nodded to his other requests she could train him in all those, it would be hard going, she would first need to set a base line of skill on him, and then she would need to decided which to start him out on...or better yet it would be best if he prioritize his own training, he would get more out of it that way.

"Also which would you like to focus on first? Zaku also needs to know your current Level of training in any of these skills. Zaku" she said as she started to walk around the room getting things ready as she waited for him to answer, this time the cowlick seemed to be looking at him as it's owner was moving things in the room and setting things up for the basics, she also had the large lot in the back to train with as well, so that was what she would use for the firearms training later. Thankfully the building was large, almost a compound in it's own right, she had been lucky to get all this so close to the mall, before it was torn down to just add to the mall.

"Ah, well, they would both be arming swords." I almost thought her own name was one of the types of swords. Also, I'm surprised that she would be able to teach such a thing at such a young age. I wonder what she is currently considering. Is she thinking about how to be able to train me? Ah well, best not to worry about such things, sensei knows best.... I'm already thinking of her as a sensei. Also, how will she be able to effectively teach me the techniques of using arming swords with our height difference? Height is quite the large(Heh) factor in Close Quarters Combat. "Well, I would want to focus on training with arming swords first. And my current level of training is..... next to none." I say disappointed in myself. It isn't hard to hurt a demon if it only takes your soulbound hitting them, and not actual good strikes. Also, I don't know if any of the Psyche Terrorist, aside from Selenus, have any actual combat training. Also, I need to get better at shooting my gun, it's decently simple if the enemy is point-blank range, large, and your faster than them, but aside from that, nothing is in my favor concerning that. "Also my level in Close Quarters Combat and Firearms is next to none." I just hope that she isn't completely exasperated in my lack of current fighting prowess.

she nodded a bit, honestly she wasn't expecting him to have any, from what she could tell he didn't have the body of someone that trained at all in any combat form, "Zaku understands, not many people train to use weapons, but Zaku thinks it helps to focus the mind. Zaku" she said as she finished setting a few things up and she took out Training swords, they were made of wood, and they were twice the weight of real ones, after all he needed to learn to lift the weights and get used to them, this way he would learn stances and moves and then once he got used to the weight of the training swords, any real ones he used would feel lighter.

Though she was a bit surprised he used two arming swords, most would normally pair an arming sword with a dagger, a buckler, a sword catcher, or something similar, she could only assume he was watching anime, some movies, or something, that got this Idea in his head, however she did know of a few two arming sword stances, that could work, but first he needed to learn the weights and the motions for the basics. So walking over to him she held up the two swords, two already set aside for herself "Here...Zaku thinks your choice is an odd one, but Zaku knows a few styles that may work with it. Zaku" she said as she walked over to a training dummy.

Picking up her own swords she looked over her shoulder at him, she seemed to be able to carry the heavy weapons with a confident ease and as she walked to the dummy she pointed at it with one sword "first Zaku will teach you the basics...walk to your dummy and follow the motions Zaku makes. Zaku" she said as she raised her weapon and came around with a simple right to left chop, but she kept the other paired blade up and to the ready, to make sure there was no gap in her defense "Using two blades is rather odd, however there are some styles that makes use of it, one is to simply treat your off-hand sword as a shield, used only for defense and deflection unless an opportunity presents itself. Zaku" she started.

Huh, so Zaku thinks that wielding weapons helps to focus the mind. I have heard that some people think of their weapons as extensions of themselves, but that is literally the case for me. I mean, my soulbound comes out of my mind. Hmm, so those are the training swords, huh? "Uhm, thank you." I say accepting the two practice swords. Ugh! They are decently heavy. Wait, aren't actual swords supposed to be somewhat lighter than this? Is this like to train myself with higher weights? But, she thinks that my choice is odd? What does she mean by that? But anyway, it's not like I have a choice in the weapon I want to base my combat around. Well, there's the training dummy. Wait, she's carrying the same thing I'm carrying with complete ease? My arms are somewhat struggling with this, and are likely to struggle much more as this goes on, and it's a walk in the park to her? Hmm, now I will be taught the basics of this technique, huh? Okay, now i'm at the dummy, what is she going to do? Huh, looks like she just did a simple right-side chop, but she didn't lower the other one. Is that like, to guard against being hit? "Hmm, that is definently quite interesting. And you could also switch which side you are blocking or deflection and attacking immediately in response to an attack." I say appreciating the possibility of this. And there are some styles that make use of having two weapons of equal length. "Alright, let me try." I say to Zaku-sensei. I proceed to hold up my left sword at a somewhat slanted guarding stance, and force myself to keep said guard while slashing at the right side of the dummy. I failed miserably. When trying to slash while guarding, I managed to hit my own arm against my left practice sword. The momentum was still going, and I managed to hit my own leg. "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF" GOD FUCKING DAMNIT THAT HURTS. REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. This is what I get for just trying it so carelessly.

Zaku watched as Tatsui walked to the dummy, though she already seen him having an issue with the weighted training swords, and his stance wasn't that good, he was holding them the wrong way as well, his grip to loose and not sure, she only continued to watch as he took a swing and as he did she predicted the path his arm would take and she knew exactly what would happen. Sure enough he ended up hitting his own arm then his leg, if the sword had been real he would have badly injured himself, as he was nursing the impact zone she walked up and took a small break and shake ice pack and handed it to him "Here for the swelling. Zaku".

she then looked at the issues with his stance before, or rather took them into consideration "You would have cut into your own arm, and then your leg, with that mistake if these were real...Zaku thinks you need to better learn the stances first. though this will be difficult to do with two Arming swords...the weighting is awkward if one has a dominant hand..Zaku" she said as her cowlick seemed to be looking at the weapons then to the dummies, before looking back to Tatsui and apparently nodding to agree with it's owner.

She took a step forward to her training dummy and set her legs into a stance "Keep your stance wide...the weight of the weapons will try to throw you off balance, especially while trying to defend with one...Watch what Zaku does okay? Zaku" she said as she moved her stance a bit as she moved the swords, keeping her stance wide to give herself a steady base before moving one weapon up in a guard position, the other she moved back, this was to have it act as a back guard while it was at rest, then as she moved forward she didn't just swing her arm, she moved with the blade, keeping the one up in defense but making sure she was basically using it as a pivot point.

The training blade swept through the air and struck the dummy, and in a motion that was smooth as silk, Zaku followed through by side stepping and bringing the second weapon up as the first moved to a defensive position, her foot work was almost like a dance as she continued to strike and move around the dummy, she figured a demonstration would help his study the foot work and maybe help him get it in his mind how to move, she used the weight of the weapons to help her movements, but her wide stance allowed her the control to suddenly stop or change that movement, and as she moved in ways like a dancer, the light would catch on her eyes or hair and make them seem like she was glowing, even the weapons tended to as well as she ended her dace/demonstration, with a strong over hand strike from one weapon before carrying through with a spin to gain distance and a backhanded swing from the second before resting in the stance she had first started in and in exactly the same place she had started in.

She bowed a moment then turned to Tatsui, she wasn't even breathing hard from the fast movement and the strikes, showing she was very used to doing this, "did you watch Zaku? and see her movements? the way she countered the momentum and used it at times? Zaku?" she asked her new student to see if he was indeed paying attention and willing to learn.

Rrrrrghhh, how the hell did I think that I would just be able to do it easily on the first go!? I mean, I seem to be doing okay with using my soulbounds, but still, these are actual practice swords. My soulbounds don't weigh much of anything, yet these weigh quite a bit and will only get harder to wield as a fight progresses, so why did I think it would be as easy as my soulbounds? "Rrgghh, oh, thank you Sensei." I say to Zaku-sensei. Haaah, it burns somewhat, but the ice is making it feel better. "Yeah, I can definently see that. This mistake would have costed me an arm and a leg." I say grimacing without realizing the joke I made because OWW THE PAIN. "Yeah, that would likely be the best option. Oh, you don't have to worry about that, I'm Ambidextrous." Also, is that cowlick of hers going through the same thought process? Can cowlicks even think? What even. I get up after recovering. Hmm, wide stance so that the weight of my weapons won't be able to throw me off....  it is especially important when defending.... "Yes Zaku-Sensei" I say acknowledging her. Hmm, she's taking a wide and steady stance and moving one weapon up into a guard position. She's moved the other one back, is that to rest it? Huh? When she moved forward, she moved her whole body to swing the blade. She's kept the other one up for defense. Ok, so that hit the dummy, wait, she's continuing? Wait, she just side-stepped and is reversing how she was using the swords, using the one she attacked with to guard and vice versa. Her footwork is incredible, and she's constantly switching guard. Huh, so that's how I should move about when I'm using my soulbounds, huh? Also, is she using her weapons to aid her movement? Also, that stance.... it allows you to be able to quickly stop and change direction. I wonder if she trained as a dancer before.... also for some reason it looks like she is glowing. So I should treat combat with these as if I'm dancing? That is weird, but it makes sense. Looks like she ended it with an overhand slice, a spin for distance and a backhanded slash with the other one. And now she's in the same resting stance as when she just started this demonstration and.... the same position? Wow, she doesn't seem fatigued at all with this. "Uhm, yes I did, Zaku-Sensei." Hmm, so much momentum and elegance with her movements.... maybe I should find a place to practice dancing.

Zaku looked to Tatsui and nodded a bit as he let her know that he had been watching, it was good hopefully he was good at learning from watching, but showing him what might be possible if he trained well would hopefully make him more determined in his training. she walked over to him and bent down a bit to look at him, her cowlick wriggling about a bit as it seemed to be looking to see if anyone else was going to join them, in the mean time Zaku smiled a bit at Tatsui "Okay Zaku wants you to try one more time...Remember to keep balance and to hold the weapons wide, once is defense the other is offense at all times okay? Zaku?".

She held out her hand to help him up, not quite aware that her gi had loosened a bit from her demonstration, it wasn't showing anything indecent, but it was letting the sitting Tatsui see a bit more skin them before as she smiled and waited for him to take her hand so she could help him. Her cowlick seemingly distracted by looking at the other weapons and apparently a training list that was on the floor next to Tatsui as if planing out what stances and techniques Zaku would teach him.

It looks like she acknowledged that I was watching her do the maneuvers. I will make sure that I get onto her level, if not for self-defense, then to help protect everyone else. Hmm, looks like her cowlick is looking around for other people. "Got it, Zaku-Sensei." I say acknowledging what I need to try once more. I accept her hand to get up and notice something. Her gi loosened up. I blush a tad. "Excuse me, Zaku-Sensei. You might need to tighten your gi a bit." I say politefully averting my eyes. I notice that her cowlick is now looking at the weapons and a training list next to me.... Does it legitimately have a mind of it's own? Anyway, now to get to the stance. I spread my legs wide to give myself support, then attempt to hold the swords as Zaku did when she was beginning the demonstration. "Ok, so what am I doing wrong currently?" I ask her. I just hope that it isn't too much on the first bit.

Zaku smiled as she helped him up, though he mentioned her Gi was in need of tightening and she looked down, and then simply tightened the Gi not really thinking much of it at the time, the Girl oblivious to the fact that she was nearly on display had she not fixed it and continued to train him, though she did makes sure it was more secure this time, before she looked back at him and nodded a bit.

He seemed eager to learn still and that was always good news, and as he took up the stance she had shown him he seemed to ask what he was doing wrong with the stance and she looked him over, before dropping down and gently placing both hands on one of his legs "You need to open your stance more...and to spread your weight a bit more evenly. Zaku" she said as her hands moved up his leg to adjusts his stance better before moving to the other and doing the same.

After making sure his base was good she moved up his body and placed her hands on his arm "Your holding your Striking arm to high, it will throw you off when you bring your arm around to attack. Zaku" once more her hands moved along his arm to straiten it and lower it a bit to make sure he wasn't holding it to high, and to make sure he was bending it the right way. Then her hands moved across to his other arm.

"this arm is to low..it will make changing positions to hard and will throw you off when you try it. also it will get in the way if you move it to high, you are trying to balance the weight of the weapons with each other, like a scale. Zaku" she finished as she took a step back and nodded before taking up the stance herself, though as she did so her cowlick seemed to double check Tatsui's stance and gently poked his back to make him stand up strait.

"Now Watch Zaku and Follow the motions okay? Watch how Zaku Shifts her weight with her hips, and counter balances with the other sword while keeping it ready Zaku" she said as she started to swing the weapon around, to get him used to attacking with one weapon first while balancing the other. she struck at the Dummy at the neck, then the waist, then the knee, then she repeated it and waited to see if Tatsui would get it right, hopefully he was keeping an eye on how she shifted her weight.

It doesn't look like she gave much thought to her Gi being loosened. If the loosening had progressed further, that would be bad for both of us. Well, at least she tightened it better. "Ok, so wider and spread my weight better?" I say as she is moving me into the proper position. Wow, I can really feel the difference. She really is amazing at this sort of thing. "Lower the striking arm." I murmur to myself. Wow, she really knows how to bend a person into the right positions. "Rise the other, balance them like a scale..." I murmur once again to myself. Yeah, moving it would help with balance, and changing positions. Wow, this honestly feels completely different. Now, I need to watch Zaku-sensei and follow her movements. So she's going to shift the weight around with her hips, and counterbalance while keeping ready. Ok, so we are swinging the practice swords around now.... It's still heavy, but I'm feeling it now. Now for the moment of truth. I strike the dummy with a rough neck-blow, likely not hitting it exactly correct, then follow it up with with what would be a shallowly sliced waist, and finally managing a strike that would likely shatter the knee bones. I breathe heavily, yet in a controlled manner, it's best to control your breath so that you aren't completely wiped out, I learned that much on my own before. "Ok, so how did I do this time?" I ask my teacher. Hopefully it will be much better than previously.

Her cowlick seemed to be studying Tatsui as he went through his motions and seemed to shake it's head at the first two weak and imprecise strikes, the third one made it droop like it had just dropped it's head in resignation of the fact that the boy had no skill. Zaku on the other hand watched him go through the motions and nodded a bit but she did have a few things to say, he seemed to have a lot of issue with handling the weapons, though he did mention he never used one before so she assumed it was due to that.

"The first strike was rather shaky, you hit more the collarbone then the neck but that's fine at least you hit the general area, the second strike was..shallow..to shallow, it would probably be at the very least a flesh wound, at worst they would be out of action for a while, you would have to follow up with a kill strike if you wanted them out for good...the last strike...you didn't hit with the edge of the blade you hit with the flat...Zaku thinks you are having a difficult time with blade alignment..Zaku" she said as she walked over to him.

Taking the weapon gently she rolled it in his palm so he could feel it was a bit oval shaped or egg shaped rather then a circle like most games and some films showed swords to be "The section that sticks out a bit more is meant to fill your palm and help you keep the edge aligned to the target so that your weapon will cut rather then Bash...also you need to remember to alter your strike angle when going for lower and higher targets, the stance was okay but Zaku can see you are focusing to much on keeping the weapons balanced, this is good for now, but later we will need to change focus, You need to learn to counterbalance while striking, try the strikes again and remember to keep the blade aligned with each strike. Zaku" she knew this was going to take a while and a lot of training but she would have him landing at least the three basic strikes before he left, at least she hoped so.