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An Old Life Anew; Open
Topic Started: Oct 5 2017, 03:09 AM (1,004 Views)
bonniecanuck
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Bonnie Bushi
Edie retracted back into shizentai herself, facing four metres from him. She eased her breath and felt her muscles relax as she contemplated what he said.

"You sound a look like someone I know who held on to a lot of the same sort of result-driven philosophy. I figured that I might want to tell him why I had to think otherwise of it, but I never could really articulate it until now."

She stood firm. "I've never been the most orthodox person when it comes to strictly adhering to fighting styles, schools and techniques. I do a lot of adaptation pertinent to a situation, though I've never been able to put that to use in an outstanding way with a situation that truly calls for it. But there's a particular aspect to martial arts that I'm afraid gets diminished in the face of desires for self-improvement and results."

"There are fundamental differences between a martial art and a true combatant technique. The way, the method, do, is a cornerstone of martial art teaching, that highlights spiritual and mental development in order to achieve a better sense of humanity and self-appraisal that jutsu does not. It's what distinguishes the spiritual and mental exercise of restraint and control in kendo from the free-form physical aspects of kenjutsu. It's what makes iaido be a philosophical ideal of reflection in the ways of the warrior that battojutsu and iaijutsu don't follow as well. It's a meditative aspect of control that enables us martial artists to find ourselves in control of our selves and our minds as we partake in an exercise that is just as much an exercise in spiritual and mental preservation as it is physical development."

"If we were fighting on the field of battle, I would have no qualm looking aside to find the utilitarian means of bringing the fight to you. But under the roof of the dojo, that sacred shared space of finding our way in our craft, I am bound to follow the way in which I was trained. While I know you may not have any desire to do the same, I hope that you will accept that fact."


And with that she bowed, then took a step back and bowed again. "Arigatou gozaimasu. Thank you for the match."
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Corruption
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Tony bowed to her, and told her "You are welcome. You seek the master the battle of the mind with this, not the battle of the body. I understand, and respect it. There is one way I can think of this helping with what you seek: to master your thoughts, emotions and mind when things follow what is expected is much easier then when you face the unexpected.
"To master the mind can be a tougher battle then to master the ways of fighting, but a battle all warriors must face in their own ways. To quote a line from the movie Thelmia and Louise 'Nobody loses their head, nobody loses their head.'
"If you seek to talk of such things, I am willing to listen."


Smiling, he added "I was also evaluating you while you were fighting. You are overtrained in fighting those with Naginatas, which results in you not adapting well to deal with those who use other styles. You are proud and driven, which can, and here did, cause problems for you. You know parts of other schools of fighting, but have not learned to adapt them to make them part of your fighting style. That leaves them unable to fully seal gaps in your own fighting method."

He paused for bit to let it sink in, before adding "All of which can be fixed. You are not stupid, lazy, physically unfit, mentally disturbed or lacking the attention span of a goldfish as too many people are these days.
"You just need to accept in your heart that you will be fighting things your style was not trained to deal with. Once you do, you can learn to adapt more readily. When you learn other moves, see how they can fit in with your style of fighting, and mental state. Once you do, you seal the gaps, are able to use those moves without breaking your style, which would cause more gaps, and you maintain your focus.
"I am telling you this because I have seen enough of you to know you do not seek to learn fighting for the power it can give you over others. If I thought you were like that, I would have publicly humiliated you so none would fear you."


He left the sparing area, bowed to it and put the naginata back before going over to Kaede "How are you holding up?"
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GrimRPer
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For a good time, she was apparently sleeping, but in truth she was not. Kaede was trying to talk with her other self, to hear the other voice in her mind, but failing. At the very least, she was relieved, that the silence within her mind contained only a snoring from some being. Apparently, her other self still rested. Gone, not dead, not lost.

"Waking" once talked to, she looked towards Tony, giving a low yawn, her mouth covering it. "Sorry, must have relaxed a little too much.", rubbing her neck briefly she felt her own pulse for a moment, before saying "Yeah, I'm fine."
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bonniecanuck
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Bonnie Bushi
Edie found some relief seeing Kaede stirring again. Though she had paid no heed to what the girl was doing, seeing her watching them as she placed the naginata down brought to her some relief knowing that she probably wasn't doing badly at all.

She looked at the clock on the wall, and as she did she could, for the first time, take note of the red shade from the setting sun that indicated the steady passing of the hour. Though she didn't let that wear her down too much, she acknowledged that given the way things had gone, this had been more than what she could have expected for her time here, now.

She walked over to the pair. "Were you meditating?" she asked Kaede. "It's always a good way of feeling relaxed and of unwinding after the stresses of fighting, and it seems that the pain from earlier isn't much worse from before, which is good."
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Corruption
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Tony got to the point and asked her "Listen, can you walk as you are, or do you need help? If you do, I think I can help you to the nurse's office."
Smiling a bit, and adding amusement to his voice, "Were we really boring enough to send you to sleep? When you recover it may be interesting to see how styles with the naginata compare. I mean, you used yours as a lance at first, and I used it as a staff."

Addressing Edie, "If you wish for me to test you in different ways latter, it would be my pleasure and an honor. The pleasure in the thrill of competition, and the honor in you holding not just the desire for it, but respect for the challenge I can bring.
"I would also not mind learning the philosophy behind your style."

A slight grin showed his eagerness. "It is too rare that those who learn a style of weapons these days learn the philosophy behind it, and I would be a fool to pass up a chance to learn such a thing."
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GrimRPer
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"Nah, I'm perfectly fine. It's as Edie has said, I was just meditating a little, in a sense. A light sleep for those who haven't slept much can be quite too much.", Kaede jumped to her feet, "Philosophy, huh... I wasn't given any. Actually, I was: to use certain techniques to frighten or surprise the opponent, as you have seen when I pretended to enjoy pain."

Hopping on a foot and then on another, she looked disappointed at herself a little. "I won't be able to move much in a spar for a few hours. I can hold ground, if anything, but I could twist my ankle a little if I get a little too carried. And I don't wanna twist my ankle, that happened thrice when I was a few years younger and needless to say I was grumpy for the next days."
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bonniecanuck
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Bonnie Bushi
Edie sighed. "Yeah, I guess sparring is somewhat out of the question right now. I guess we can do other work, like forms and engi, but usually we do that before the sparring, not after. And I really don't feel like someone else getting hurt on my watch, so might be best that we just stop here for now."

She looked to Tony and the grin on his face. She looked back at the naginata. She looked at Kaede. In her mind, she was indecisive as to what to do. "Or we could try to use and work on something different," she suggested, "though what of I'm not sure of." She looked back at the red and orange light streaming through the rice paper windows.
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Corruption
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Tony reassured Kaede, "I did not mean now, but when you are fully recovered."

To Edie "It is getting late, and you have nothing planned, so why not think about it? You would have been used to learning, not teaching, and the difference can make you see things in new light. I suggest with the idea behind it."

Tony had 3 aims with this. He was actually James, assigned to help teach Nova (who he believed Kaede was), and this would teach her both fighting and some meditation. It would teach Edie to look at her training differently, and possibly grow a deeper understanding of it. He also wanted to learn it.
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GrimRPer
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"Might take a little while for me to recover however. And even then, well... Edie said it, could be good to cut the sparring here for now, though I do plan on staying a little longer in the dojo, it's the only place with enough silence and serenity for me.", she lied? Indeed, Kaede did lie. This wasn't the only place, no... There was that other one that she did not mention.

"I suppose I'll clean up the Dojo and put away the equipment. Don't worry, it's fine. I'm used to chores, even being the one to care for the garden and my own room when mom could do for me.", as she explained she would begin to put away what belonged to the school.
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bonniecanuck
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Bonnie Bushi
Edie nodded. "I think that's fair. The dojo has just as much a meditative quality to it, and there's lots of space to find some peace. And meditation is just as much a component of finding the way in martial arts." She adjusted her hakama as she sat down in seiza, and felt her bones and muscles relax and loosen up.

"I can help to clean up as well," she offered. "But I think we should take the time to meditate and find some contemplation first. It's also a great way to let off the steam and frustrations from the training and fighting. Plus, it's a formality to perform mokuso before and after training, so I guess it's a redundancy, though it's not quite as long or as contemplative."
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Corruption
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Tony nodded. "All fights can teach us, if even only about how we react to them. We all have much to contemplate."
Addressing Kaede, "Kaede, I'd like to talk to you about your style latter, in private. There is something familiar about it."
Tony helped clean up, but there was not much to clean up. He sat on a bench against a wall, leaned back, closed his eyes and ran through the fights again, and the words, paying attention toaction, but with naginatas, and emotional responses. His own were included.
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GrimRPer
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"Mokuso?", she repeated, slightly puzzled, while letting them help, and as soon as she came back, Tony addressed her. "He must be James... And might be suspecting I'm Nova. ... He's both wrong and right at once, but let's pretend to not be Nova anymore.", eyeing him for a moment in thought, Kaede didn't respond right away, but eventually she did: "Hm, sure. Though I wonder what is familiar."
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bonniecanuck
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Bonnie Bushi
"Ah, I guess you don't know about it," said Edie. "Here, let me show you."

She remained in seiza as she shuffled opposite Kaede, as a distance of around five metres in front of her. "So, just sit in seiza like this," she said as she let Kaede get into the same posture, "and put your hands on your knees. It probably might hurt a little, especially given your injuries, so you don't have to get into the position so rigidly if you can't."

Once she was done, Edie continued. "Then, we can begin our mokuso. Normally, when you're training with more people, especially in a class, there'll be someone calling it, usually a senpai. But, since it's just us, we can go at our own pace. So, depending on who's teaching you, you might be asked to either keep your hands at rest, or to place them in your lap and form a round shape like so," she explained as she demonstrated. "I don't have any real expectations, but forming that circle helps you maintain a sense of connection with your body as you relax and release whatever might be swimming in your mind at any point."

"And then...you just close your eyes, you relax, and you use that moment to spiritually prepare or unwind from the training." She gradually fell silent as she steadied her breathing and expression, as she felt herself relieving herself of the pressure, pain and emotion of the prior moments.
Edited by bonniecanuck, Nov 2 2017, 03:06 AM.
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Corruption
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After running through the fight and all the interactions a few times, Tony let himself relax, focusing on his heart beat.
He focused on being relaxed in different muscle groups, progressively. This way he would not be too tense in some areas while relaxed in others. That could actually help throw you off your game in a fight, or any sudden quick reaction.
At the end he would give himself a going over of every muscle group, except the ones controlling his bowls and bladder. Those were not getting relaxed away from a toilet!
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GrimRPer
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Kaede simply observe in silence, nodding in agreement at most and questioning nothing in any way. The truth was she didn't really know, and preferred to observe the meditation rather than join them. Maybe she could learn something from that, and perhaps something to strengthen her methods of deception on those she wanted to keep her truth from.

And at the moment, playing dumb about Mokuso was a way to hopefully lead "Tony" away from the truth.
Edited by GrimRPer, Nov 2 2017, 10:22 PM.
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bonniecanuck
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Bonnie Bushi
Edie paid no heed to the others around her. Mokuso was a process that involved isolating her mind and body from everything else around her, even if it was one that never lasted any more than a full minute. Still, she had internalised the process long enough to know how long to meditate, so she just let herself relax and didn't bother herself. She didn't open her eyes to observe, or even try to feel anything.

And for what may have seemed as soon as it begun for the others, she opened her eyes and put her hands palm-down back on her thighs. "Yame," she said to indicate that it was over. Only now did she afford herself the ability to open her eyes and see how the others were doing.

"Do you feel better now?" she asked the other two. "It's not an easy process to get a hang of when you go in it for the first times, but meditation of any sort can be very relieving when you really immerse yourself it."
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Corruption
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Tony smiled a bit as he opened his eyes.
"Meditation has different paths to it, and different uses. It's a good thing to learn. I learned my method in bits and pieces from varied sources, but I won't just change methods suddenly, only slowly."

Facing Kaede, he examined her a bit. She was in a way like, but not like Nova. That was what he found worrying, for a few different reasons. If she was Nova, she was trying to hide it, leaving the question of why?
If she wasn't Nova, he had to find out the reason for their similarities.
He was not decieved about her not knowing Mokuso for a very simple reason: he did not know Nova knew it.

"Kaede, would you mind if we went some where private to talk?"
If Edie listened in, even accidentally, or saw them, what Tony had in mind would shock her! What Tony planned required no interferance, and at best no witness.
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GrimRPer
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"That is very true, Edie. A moment when we truly relax is perfect for both body and mind, easing the ache and clearing doubts.", Kaede agreed, before being approached by Tony. What he asked made her think and look at Edie for a moment. "Mmhmm, sure. I'm about to be going though, having finished the clean-up. So, follow me...", the redhead told Tony, leading him outside the Dojo.

She were to make sure no one would watch them, no one were to hear them, before directing her attention to him again once outside. She seemed to be overcautious, but was not paranoid. No nervousness at all... "Seems we can talk now. What doubts crosses your mind?", Kaede addressed Tony, keeping the same unreadable expression.
Edited by GrimRPer, Nov 4 2017, 10:01 PM.
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bonniecanuck
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Bonnie Bushi
Edie left the other two to their own devices. Nonetheless, she still deigned to give them a bow on their way out. "Arigato gozaimashita." Quickly, she then turned and pivoted on the mat to face the front of the dojo and the shrine to shoumen, and bowed to it as well.

She was done here. There wasn't much to do in the dojo now that the time for practice and working out had passed, and being on her own after that, there wasn't much of a point to keep going. On top of that, she was starting to feel hungry and tired, and she didn't want to exhaust herself too much.

She wondered what the other two might be talking about. She didn't feel like dropping in, but by the way they had been interacting with each other, it seemed like they seemed to have some business with each other. Still, where have I seen them before? They definitely remind me of some people I'm sure I know from around here...

She picked up a rag from the storeroom, got down on all fours and began sweeping across the dojo, counting ones and twos with each step. In treating the dojo with the reverence it deserved, it needed to be clean and organised, and she would be damned if she failed to straighten it out on her watch.
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Corruption
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Tony followed Kaede away and in a secluded area he asked her "You live in the same room as someone I know: Nova. Where is she and why hasn't she been around? I have asked around and not found answers anywhere."
He had a worried and serious expression on his face, but inside he realized she knew he suspected she was Nova. He wanted to scare her.

"I'm a friend of her family and I take such responsibilities seriously."

Kaede/ Nova, you do NOT want to know what happens when he decides to stop being polite to ask questions.
. . . . Then again, she is a mashocist, so she just might.
Edited by Corruption, Nov 5 2017, 06:56 PM.
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