Self Defense and Kickassery for Dummies; Thursday Fifth Period [1st. Class]

[notagoodslayer.livejournal.com]

The students had been noticed handwavily that the class would take place in the Danger Shop. Once they arrived they would see the place looked pretty much like a dojo, and nothing else. Leaning on one of the pillars was the teacher, who didn't acknowledge or react to the students arriving until the time for her class started; for some Faith was probably just another student.

Once the time had come, Faith parted from the pillar, placing herself in front of the class.
"So, this is the deal."

She was wearing some casual clothes; comfortable enough to move freely, but nothing too excersise-oriented like, as it didn't go with her. The more perceptive students would notice she was probably as tense as them, but for the others she was just overly silent, and a little creepy. The first thing Faith did was motion everyone to sit down in the middle of the tatami. "My name is Faith; Faith Lehane. You will refer to me as Faith, and if I ever hear you calling me teacher or Ms. Lehane, I'll make your life a living hell. Where I come from, supernatural creatures like to lurk in the dark, and it's my job of sorts to hunt them down. The term for people like me is Slayer...and that's all you need to know." There, she was properly introduced now ."This is a course of self defense, as it's name tells. On every class we'll see different aspects of self defense and fighting techniques, from simple stuff to some other more complicated, but don't expect me to teach you how to kill a dude with your thumb only, or some secret martial arts shit; if you are here you probably feel like your strength isn't what you would want it to be, and so you need to learn some tricks to get your ass into gear if you need it." At that point she clapped once, rubbing her hands together.

"Well then, you came to the right place. Since this is the first class, we'll just go with the very basics, but before..." And this is when she smirked at them. "I want you all to stand up, say your name, reason to be here, and who do you want to beat the crap out some day."

And once they were done with it, Faith moved on to the actual course.

"Kihon is a Japanese term meaning "basics" or "fundamentals." The term is used to refer to the basic techniques that are taught and practiced as the foundation of most Japanese martial arts.

The practice and mastery of kihon is essential to all advanced training,　and includes the practice of correct body form and breathing, while practicing basics such as stances, punches, kicks, blocks, and thrusts, but it also includes basic representative kata. You want to learn your kata pretty damn well.

Kihon techniques tend to be practiced often, in many cases during each practice session; these will work as our warm-up. They are considered fundamental to mastery and improvement of all movements of greater complexity. Kihon in martial arts can be seen as analogous to basic skills in, for example, basketball. Professional NBA players continue to practice dribbling, passing, free throws, jump shots, etc. in an effort to maintain and perfect the more complex skills used during a basketball game. Practice makes the master."

Comments

The class' excersise

[notagoodslayer.livejournal.com]

The kata. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dglPKOcBs8w)

Do it. Over and over.

Re: The class' excersise

[brat-intraining.livejournal.com]

Aw, this one was seriously kids' stuff; Kennedy had learned it when she was seven.

Which meant she was totally showing off, going through it. Because dude, and did we mention holy crap?

Re: The class' excersise

[notagoodslayer.livejournal.com]

Faith was moderately proud of this girl; she could tell from where the bossy, resolute Kennedy she knew had come from.

"Alright, you have some skills; I get it." It was said in a good natured way though.

Re: The class' excersise

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Again. And again. And again. And again...

And God, Scully hated that this was hard for her, her balance and center of gravity off by losing two inches and twenty pounds, but it had to be done.

Again. And Again. And AGAIN. And watch that clenching jaw, that doesn't help when you stumble, Scully.

Re: The class' excersise

[brat-intraining.livejournal.com]

Know what else doesn't help?

Getting a slightly smug look from Kennedy on the stumble.

Re: The class' excersise

[ostianbelle.livejournal.com]

Asuna was enjoying the kata but she could see other people were not enjoying it as much as she was.

She tilted her head, the bells on her pigtails ringing "Hey, need any help?"

Re: The class' excersise

[notagoodslayer.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, slow down girl." She had the idea clear, Faith could tell, but her balance was...non-existent. "You look like someone who hasn't used her legs in a good while. Any particular accident you had hda recently?" She was trying to be a teacher here!

Re: The class' excersise

[abetterthief.livejournal.com]

Parker had an excellent sense of balance and just general body control, so she picked up the kata pretty quickly and was soon doing it smoothly and at speed.

Re: The class' excersise

[notagoodslayer.livejournal.com]

Oh, Faith was starting to pick favorites in her mind. Which was totally wrong, but she couldn't help it.

"Picking up fast, I see? You look like the nimble type to me."

Re: The class' excersise

[hasthegirlballs.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Denise preferred just shouldering someone really hard during hockey or something.

Still, if this meant ass-kicking moves, she was going to try it. And try it again. And try it again.

And possibly curse a lot, by try #3.

Re: The class' excersise

[notagoodslayer.livejournal.com]

"You have the raw power, but you need to put it when it counts. If not, you are going to get tired pretty soon and become useless." Which was what she had done for most of her own life, so hey, listen to the expert.

Re: The class' excersise

[ostianbelle.livejournal.com]

Asuna followed the kata, she's familiar with it. Anything that doesn't require her to think hard, she aced!

Also, it helped Setsuna was a big believer on teaching her about the basics but she wished the class would fast forward to the really cool stuff! Like jumping higher than a building thing Setsuna was teaching her before she left for Fandom.

Re: The class' excersise

[vanillajello]

Kate had pretty good body control and balance after keeping up her dancing for months and months here in Fandom, but she wasn't familiar with the kata, so this was going to take some time.

Still, at least she didn't feel like she'd never get it right, even if it was frustrating that she couldn't just do it right straight off the bat.

Re: The class' excersise

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

Claire picked up the kata pretty quickly - it wasn't that much different from learning a cheer routine - and she slid over to stand near Kate.

"Surprised to see you in this class," she said, keeping her voice pitched low.

Re: The class' excersise

[awakestheghosts]

Even with as much tension as she was feeling right now, Chloe did her best to focus on learning the kata and being able to do it the right way. It was taking her awhile, but she was starting to be able to do it pretty well.

Now, she just needed to do it faster.

Re: The class' excersise

[notagoodslayer.livejournal.com]

But Faith wouldn't be Faith if she were just going to let her do whatever she wanted!

"Keep it slow", said as she stopped next to her. "You are going to repeat this kata on every warming up session we have, alright? When you feel you can do it fast enough with your eyes closed and singing a pretty damn awful song at the same time, we'll move on to another more complicated." Because yes, there was more complicated stuff.

Re: The class' excersise

[svetocha-blooms.livejournal.com]

The exact kata might be new, but components were what she'd been studying for the last five years. It would just take Dru a little while to memorize them in the proper order.

That's what practice was for.

Re: The class' excersise

[notmyownage]

Claudia picked up the basic movements of the kata easily enough, but it was definitely lacking the focus and precision the type of movement generally called for.

Re: The class' excersise

[notagoodslayer.livejournal.com]

"Do it slowly. Step by step. Maybe...overly mechanic, if you want to put it in a way. You don't have to be fast and flashy; you have to learn the movements." There, that sounded very teacher-like.

Re: The class' excersise

[stylin-wizard.livejournal.com]

Alex took her time going through the kata, over and over. Thankfully, she had good balance but it was taking her a while to get the moves down. Her brother was the one with the martial arts training, not her.

Re: The class' excersise

[notagoodslayer.livejournal.com]

"It looks alright",c commented Faith as she observed. "Finally someone who isn't trying to rush it; keep it like that and you'll get the hand of it sooner or later."

Re: The class' excersise

[awesomebigsis.livejournal.com]

Ellie had a pretty decent memory, so it didn't take her too many tries to at least figure out the movements.

While she wasn't tripping over her own feet, she did lack the grace. She figured she'd get better at that with time.

Re: The class' excersise

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa wasn't sure she was doing this right, at all. She kept stopping to check if she'd messed up again, worrying that her elbow was too high or her knee extended too far.

Re: The class' excersise

[exspeedydotcom]

Roy didn't do a lot of kata under normal circumstances, but he was a quick learner and picked it up pretty quickly. His movements might not be precisely right the first couple of times through, but he was working on it, and he showed no hesitance or doubt.

Re: The class' excersise

[anarchist-queen.livejournal.com]

Leda thanked the Gods for her natural Elven grace. It helped her not look like a tool even when she messed up. Which happened less the more she went through the kata of course.