[The Sunn Monastery] The Deadliest Dance (Ronan)

[Gossamer]

TS: First Cycle of Winter, Kalendryas, Era VX (pf)
The Courtyard of Faith

He loved to dance. SunnFather Su'aka had noticed that right away. He jigged in the garden. He sash-ayed in the dining hall. He waltzed cutting wood. The SunnRiser Ronan was infectious in his ability to either be merry or sleep. Astonishing, really, the SunnFather thought... the lad had two modes, complete and utter flat out running or collapsed and comatose in rest.

There seemed to be no happy medium. It was exhausting and invigorating all at the same time. And so it was that at one of their numerous 'What are we going to do with SunnRiser Ronan' Meetings... it had been suggested that Ataa be explored for the lad. SunnFather Su'aka had volunteered for the task. Now, everyone hoped it'd help.

[Ronan Stoutfoot]

It was a brisk day, and Ronan was wearing the standard issue robes of the Monastary. Not know for thier comfort, nor thier ability to keep the chill out, he thought to himself. The Sunn's lone cether would have liked to be meditating in his cell, but he was informed that he would be learning practices from SunnFather Su'aka. The thought being the exercise would keep the cether busy, and Ronan hoped that what ever it was would help keep his bones warm through out the winter.

His breath puffed a light mist, as he joked to himself about not being allowed to smoke in the Monastary. The scoldings have finally sunk in, and Ronan did want to impress his fellow Monks. He just felt them to be a tad uptight at times.

Lost in his thoughts his large feet found the way to the dining hall on it's own. He paused outside to kick any dust off, and smooth his robes before entering to find SunnFather Su'aka.

Ahh there you are SunnFather Su'aka, I have been looking all around for ya,' he said with a smile on his face. His cheeks glowing red, as usual and due to the chilled air. The young cether looked around the hall, wondering for a moment what they would be preparing in the back.

He snapped his attention back at the SunnFather, hoping he did not notice. But Ronan had noticed that most if not all SunnFathers had a pesky habit of noticing everything. One corner of his mouth frowned as he thought of that, before grinning once more.

'Sooo... what is it you wanted to see me for? A class?' On eating, he had that down already, but he felt this would be a little more arduous. He was up to it, he was sure of it.

[Gossamer]

SunnFather Su'aka smiled when his overeager student appeared. It wasn't that he was smiling in pleasure. No... to him this was an exercise in patience sent straight from Torek because the God knew he didn't have enough of it. "Greetings, SunnSon Ronan. It's good to see you've managed to make your class today on time. That's a wonderful start. I've some tea for us, and then we will begin." Sure, he wasn't above dousing the Cethar with a little calming herbals, but no one ever said a SunnFather shouldn't be one step ahead of the game.

While he poured the tea, the SunnFather gestured out over the white marble tiles of the room. "Today, under the Suns, we learn to dance. And its a very special dance we will learn at that. Its a dance of precision and combat... one that will protect you and protect those you oversee. It's called Ataa, and its something you will need so you can help focus and channel your body into a precise weapon of precise control." He said, letting Ronan sip at his tea, hoping the herbs cleared his head enough to allow the little Cethar to focus. "Now, I want you to do me a favor and tell me all the ways dancing could help you... both physically, mentally, and especially combative dance." The SunnFather said, wanting the Cethar to really think about his training, and what would perhaps manifest from it if he wanted results badly enough. While they talked, they enjoyed the tea, giving Ronan a chance to respond and ask any questions he might have. Once that was done, the SunnFather rose and gestured to Ronan to join him.

SunnFather Su'aka lead Ronan out onto the center of the room. "Now, first we will discuss breath. I want you to breath from the bottom of your stomach to the top of your head.... in... and out.... in and out... if you don't have breath, you cannot dance. Its just as simple as that." Su'aka said softly, smiling. Then he steppe dback and let Ronan try.

"Now, once thats set in your mind, lets get started on the stances. There are five stances... they equate to the four directions and the rest position. Ready to give them a try?" The SunnFather smiled, and then Su'aka finally moved to the center of the room.

"The first position is 'rest'... its standing still, standing tall....still.... from there we move forward or north... push your body forward, hands out, arms up like your pushing against a wall... move from rest into north two steps, then back.... go on give it a try." He said gently, demonstrating the 'push' technique.

[Ronan Stoutfoot]

The golden haired cether nodded in respect to the SunnFather. He smiled and took the offered tea.'Hmm... The smell is delicious, I will have to get the blend from you.' He took a test sip, to judge the temperature, and flavour. Once he found it palatable he took a longer sip, once that made much more noise. He looked sheepishly over the lip of the mug to the SunnFather.

'I was told that the slurping helps airrate the tea and enhances the flavour,' He said as he set the half finished mug down. His bright grey eyes watched the elder monk as he spoke. He sipped again with a nod and tried to hold back a shy smile when the SunnFather spoke of turning his body into a weapon. It was what he desperately wanted, but was bashful at learning for some reason. For he did love to dance, many a starry nights he spun in playful circles with other cethers, skipped and hoped to the bet of drummers. Never did he then think that would have anything to do with defending oneself, or friends.

With his fingers over the rim of his mug, he stared at the floor in contemplation. He spoke more into the mug than the the elder Sunn Father, the herbs must have had a quick reaction for he was more thoughtful than he had been in quite a while. 'I believe that dance frees oneself, mentally physically, and emotionally. For you are not thinking of what will happen, you are jsut in the moment. It is freeing for the soul and the body...' He said thinking back to those nights when it was just ectasy of moving his body.

He slowly noticed that he was not showing the elder monk the respect he deserved and had earned. He lowered his mug and striaghtened his shoulders, and addressed the monk, 'Sorry SunnFather, I meant no disrespect. It was just the thoughts seemed to whell up and come out of my mouth. But yes dancing allows you to free your mind, not to worry about what you are wearing, what others are thinking, just being who you are at that moment. The moves are fun and releasing but also they can be complex, where you must learn to be presice without thinking about being precise...

If that made any sense?' He said looking up at the monk with a quizical look. Ronan did wonder how dancing could be combatitive, but did not voice it for that was the point of the lesson and if he did not see by the end of the class then he would have plenty of questions for the SunnFather.

Following SunnFather Su'aka, Ronan walked across the white marble tiles of the room. The smooth and cool of the stone was nice against his feet. He looked up at the SunnFather as he spoke of breathing. Of course the cether knew how to breath, he had been doing it since he was born. It then began to sink in that it was another type of breathing, like the breaths he learned while he was meditating. As directed he took a deep breath in and let one out, his chest rising and falling with each inhale. He looked up at the monk and saw that he was not quite getting it. So he tried a few more times, each time it felt like he was taking in less breath. Finally he relaxed his stomach and he belly inflated, and he exhalled. A light rush filled his body, but it felt like he almost had it. So he continued... It took a few more tries, but he began to feel like he was breathing in where the air sunk all the way to his belly button. And when he exhaled he brought in his belly, where it felt flat as a pancake and all the air had emptied from his lungs.

He looked to SunnFather Su'aka to see if he was performing correctly. Just as he felt when he first learned to meditate, there was slight rush, a finger of a tickle inside him. It felt good but he needed the master to acknowledge what he did and how he felt.

He smiled once as SunnFather Su'aka spoke of the five stance. These were to be his first Zinn'ka moves, he would be more than just a funny little cether, but he was one more step closer to being a true Sunn Monk. As SunnFather Su'aka took to the center of the room, Ronan moved to the side to see how the man moved as he talked. The smaller figure of Ronan spoke to himself, mirroring the words of SunnFather Su'aka. There are five stances... they equate to the four directions and the rest position.

The first was Rest. It was simply standing still which Ronan had learned to do with much ease, it was the tall part he missed out on. But he stood there head up shoulders back his best attempt at being tall, then as directed Ronan raised his hands and pressed forward. His hands were at shoulder height, elbows down relaxed as he stepped forward. His hands moved forward as if he was pushing a wooden door open. Then the grey eyes of the cether looked to the SunnFather for feedback. Attmepting to correct what was noticed.

[Gossamer]

OOCBelieve it or not I had to do an incredible amount of research for this thread since the writeup is really poor. But wheee! I'm all ready, now we can whip through it.

The SunnFather Su'aka smiled. "Stances form the foundation of Ataa. Low stances are very stable and powerful. High upright stances are less stable but allow for quick movements. In Ataa we use both kinds, while other forms do not. Hence it is that we learn the four pointed star or the compass rose as part of Ataa. Remember, in a stance, we refer to the lower part of the body's position. Maximum power and mobility are obtained when the center of balance is as low as practically possible. If the center of balance is too high, then the body is unstable and leg movement is limited... so power and mobility are reduced. If conversely you get too low, it is difficult to use the inner thigh muscles for leg movement which limits both power and mobility again." He said, then continued on. "In most forms of Zinn'ka, beginning students learn stances that are stationary. In Ataa, we only learn one... the rest.. the compass rose's center. The rest of our beginning stances are fluid, transitory positions that change dynamically as the circumstances demand. That makes Ataa harder to learn, but far more rewarding as a practice." The SunnFather affirmed.

Then, he was back to the compass rose. "The rest.. the rose's center ... our solo solitary stance. You stand with the body vertical and straight. Face forward with your head erect. Feed should be side by side with heels and toes touching. arms and hands straight down to the side of the body. Your fingers straight down with palms against the legs. This is the basic standard reset position." Su'aka said gently, and smiled as he watched Ronan move through it.

Next, they moved into north. "This stance is the workhorse of Ataa. It has two variations... when the left leg is forward, its the left north stance. When the right leg is forward, its the right north stance. This stance isn't done standing idle either.. its part of a forward motion always. Stand with feet parallel, 1 and 1/2 shoulder widths apart. Step one foot forward and 1 and 1/2 shoulder widths deep into the north stance while maintaining the width of 1 and 1/2 shoulder widths. The easiest way to imagine this is to visualize a square drawn on the floor with each side equal to a shoulder width. You stand on the corners of the square. For a proper northern stance, one foot moves up its side of the square to the top corner. If the stance is too long, you will not be able to move quickly. If the stance is too short, you will not have proper stability. It is often claimed that longer stances strength the muscles that work through the knee joint and so help protect the knee joint from damages caused by unloaded kicking, however... its far better to protect the knee joint from damage caused by avoiding that behavior all together." The SunnFather said. Then he demonstrated, showing Ronan how to hold his hands aloft... thus pushing an opponent backwards and off the engagement. Then they were off to the south stance.

"The south stance is used in practically every form or pattern and by many ataa artists as their primary fighting stance. The stance does not expose much of hte body to frontal assaults and permits a wide range of attacks by both hands and feet but limits the amount of body mass that might be applied to the technique." The Sunnfather said, before demonstrating.

He moved to the Cether, helped him position his body, and ticked off the points of the stance and moving into and out of it fluidly.

• "When the left leg is forward, the stance a left southstance. When the right leg is forward, it is a right southstance.
• Stand with feet parallel, 1 shoulder width apart. Step left foot forward 1/2 shoulder width deep into a southstance with the heel aligned with rear foot's heel. Imagine a "L" shape drawn on the floor. The right foot will align with the bottom of the "L" with the heel at the corner and the front foot will align along the long side of the "L."
• The shoulders angle 45 degrees toward the right. Keep hips parallel with the shoulders so upper body is angled toward the right. Narrow profile and strongly turned hips limit an opponent's direct access to body targets. The hips are pulled back 45 degrees from forward facing. Any more seriously restricts movement and power in techniques. Do not pull the trailing shoulder back too far because it opens you to counter attack and delays response time.
• Keep body erect, do not hunch the shoulders.
• Front foot is pointed toward the opponent.
• Bend the front leg at the knee, with the shin vertical. Front foot merely rests on the floor.
• Distance between feet varies between styles. Longer stances allow you to pull back further whereas shorter stances permit faster movement. Longer stances curtail quick movements while short stances prevent you from bracing effectively in the face of a determined attack.
• Rear leg is bent so 70 % of the weight is on the back foot (hence the name southstance) and 30 percent of the weight is on the front foot.
• The center of mass is centered nearly over the rear foot. The weight is settled mostly over the rear leg."

He took a breath and continued. "The Southstance cannot effectively resist off balancing forces, due to its uneven weight distribution and narrow base. A good push from the front will cause the lead foot to rise from the floor. This may be minimized by keeping at least 25% of the body weight over the lead foot. The stance is also weak against lateral forces." The SunnFather said softly, and then had Ronan move from the center to the north to the south. Next it would be time to move into the east and west stances.

[Ronan Stoutfoot]

The pleasent taste and effects of the tea still flowed through the young Cether. He was mellow and relaxed, yet focused on what the SunnFather was saying. Though Ronan had never seen a compass, he had heard of them and perhaps would search out one once he was finished training. Not to keep but just to see first hand what the instructor was speaking of. To be the center of the circle, the origin of the the further four stances. That he yound boy was able to understand.

As the older man continued to speak Ronan wondered if he should have brought his new journal to take notes on the lessons of self defense. Though the SunnFather was sure to make him repeat more and more till they were ingrained into the muscles of his body. It would take much practice, and training for the moves to come. But if it was a dance as the SunnFather had described then he felt he would master it in no time...

Rose's center, also known as the reset postion was simple. Though to normally fidgety Cether it was not so. Luckily the tea had calmed his normally boisterous non stop energy. He stood beside SunnFather Su'aka, and mimicked his motions. Standing as if her were a puppet his head was stright up and his spine fell in line under him. The tips of his fingers were slightly curved, resting beside his thighs, while his feet were parallel toes barely touching.

North Stance was next. He found himself assuming the traditional North Stance first, his hair covered left foot stepping foreward. Just as the SunnFather discribed, Ronan envisioned a square on the floor and he lowered his hips slightly. Attempting to find that perfect middle ground that his instructor had alluded to moments earlier, he moved his other foot foreward to find himself in what was called Right North Stance. His feet were a shoulder length apart, and the same distance at an angle. He felt like he was slightly squating, with his feet out further than would be normal in a traditional dance. But he did feel as if he was holding a solid base as he moved to the corners of the 'box'. He looked up and nodded as SunnFather discussed the dangers of longer exagerated movements.

The young Cether was trangely quite as he mimicked the movements taught him. Both of thier hand rose towards thier middle, where from the slightly squating postion one would move thier 'dancing partner'. From there Ronan found himself in what the SunnFather called South Stance, the primary attacking posture of almost all of Zinn'kas various arts.

In the Left South Stance, Ronan felt SunnFather Su'aka turn his rear right leg. His left leg was foreward, toes point ahead of him, with his right rear foot forming an 'L' in contrast to the left about half a shoulder length away. His chest and shoulders were then adjusted to be at a 45 degree angle between his two feet. Feeling that he had the stance correct, he lsitened as teh details were explained to him.

• Keep hips parallel with the shoulders
• Narrow profile and strongly turned hips limit an opponent's access
• Do not pull the trailing shoulder, opens you to counter attack.
• Keep body erect, do not hunch the shoulders
• Front foot is pointed toward the opponent. Keep wieght on rear foot, jsut balance slightly with the front foot pad. Center mass balanced at center of rear foot.

His golden curls bounced as he nodded, attempting to absorb all that was discussed. The martial aspects of the dance were strange to the young Cether, but it was one of the secondary goals of the training. First was to condition the body, so to condition the mind. Once he had all that SunnFather had shared absorbed, be began to practice the moves.

First he found the Rose's Center, before rocking foreward into the North stances, then ebbing back into the South stance. It was a sort of dance he felt as the moves became more organic, and less forced. It was a slower tune that played in his mind as he switched between the various stances, but it was a tune none the less.

ooc It does look like you did alot of looking into this. It feels sorta like a 'push hands' class. Is this style based on Hsing-I, or Bagua?

[Gossamer]

OOCActually I borrowed from both! How did you know? Ataa is a tricky one to pin down. I'm just learning how to teach it as a mod.

The SunnFather Su'aka nodded to himself. This was doing it.. this was getting the Cether excited about something and causing his boundless energy to be distracted into something positive. Su'aka smiled. Spiking his tea never hurt either. Su'aka was pretty proud of himself, truth be told. He'd be hard to top this for certain.

"Now, we are going to move into a guard position, this is the gateway position to your blocks, Ronan. A guard is a positioning of the hands and arms that is used to protect yoru upper body and midsection." The sunn monk demonstrated the pose. " The basic guard has both fists held high with the palms facing the face with the middle knuckles just in front of the respective cheekbones. The forearms are vertical with the elbows pulled together as much as possible to protect the midsection. Shoulders are rounded and your chin should be tucked down. From the basic guard, all vital areas on the front and sides of the head and torso maybe protected while still allowing the hands to quickly attack."
While Ronan assumed the position, the SunnFather nodded, enjoying his form. "Good form." And then he moved on in his lesson.

"Blocks come in two forms. Hard and Soft. Hard blocks use force against the attacking force. Soft blocks use grabs or relatively gentle force to delay or deflect the attacking force. All the following forms of blocks can come in soft or hard, and are used as needed. Always reply with the least amount of energy... thats the basic rule in Ataa." Su'aka said firmly.

"We'll learn three blocks... forearm block, wrist block, and palm block. Each are fairly simple. The foremarm block impacts with either the top, bottom, inside or outside fo the foearm. The wrist block impacts with either the top, bottom, inside or outside of the wrist. The palm block impacts with the palm and makes it easy for a grab after a block." Su'aka said, giving Ronan a chance to practice as he stepped forward and swung some gentle strikes at the cether. Before he could teach good form for strikes, Su'aka wanted his students to know how to block them.

[Ronan Stoutfoot]

The moves went together as a stream flowing, but Ronan would have to have many many sessions before his transitions were as smooth as the SunnFathers. But to him they seemed to be coming easily, which made him proud. If he had any hint the relaxing substance, he did not let on. He just went through the motions that were taught to him. From Rose Center, to North Stance, then to South, the small Cether went slowly to get the moves just as he was instructed.

With a seriousness that was unusual for Ronan, well for Cether's in general, he paused to focus on SunnFather Su'aka's words. The position of the monk seemed awkward to the young Cether, but he moved to mimic Su'aka. His smaller arms pulled tight to his body, with his knuckles right under his soft cheekbones. Though it seemed like he was holding them too close, he was rewarded with a nod of approval from his teacher. It was part of the learning progress to teach the body to become used to something that it was not.

For the moment Ronan was feeling at ease and his usual nervous energy seemed to be dissipated through these exercises. He watched the instructor as he spoke of the one rule that would resonated with any Cether.

• Always reply with the least amount of energy

His steely gray eyes looked up to met the SunnFathers' eyes as he spoke. The relaxed determination marked him as an open student, and he made the mental notes of the three blocks. Nodding his head as each was spoken of and shown how to use them.

Forearm Block was the first that was described and the first he used. As the SunnFather stepped forward Ronan rolled his right arm out away from him. It was like waving with a closed fist, as the fleshy portion of his arm blocked the blow. The next punch came and Ronan twisted to the left as his arm swung in perpendicular to the ground, the arm catching the other and diverting it to the left. The next blow he attempted to divert was much higher, and he lifted his fist and forearm above his head, diverting the blows energy over head. From there he returned to center in time to attempt to block a lower punch. With his fists under his cheekbones he dropped his right hand much like a gnomish clock work mechanism. The knuckle went from below his cheek, circling down to end at his knee before drawing it back to his starting stance.

The Wrist Block was next, and it was much more difficult. It was not the move itself, for it did lend itself slightly to other forearm block. The Wrist block was much more specialized for it used the harder point of the wrist bone, as defense and to a degree a weapon.

The young Cether moved first as if he was back in the Shire painting the old barns. He was regulated that duty many times, after finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. His parents never seemed to truly understand his reasoning, they always stated he was trying to get away with things. It was sometimes hard to get his folks to understand his reasoning all the time, much like the SunnFathers. Sometimes.

Using the Wrist Block, he moved his arm up. With his fingertips pointing towards the floor, it caused his wrist to catch his instructor's blow. The point hit the inside of the others wrist, diverting the blow and with practice could cause injury to the attacking force. Going with the instructor's blows he attempted the blocks in the rest of the directions that came at him. Once more he thought of how simple the move was and was surprised that he was beginning to feel beads of sweat across his forehead.

The Palm Block was attempted next. He kept in mind the hint about a grab, as he went through the motions. Though he did not know the throws of ATAA, he could see that after the block it would be a transition to throw. Much like a dance, with a change of tempo or beat, you moved along with the music. Only now Ronan was dancing a much more complicated and secret dance.

ooc It has been a few years, but I trained in Sholin Gung-Fu, Yoga and Tai Chi. We touched on those during some of our classes, I didn't learn as much as I wished. My current schedule does not allow much training.

[Gossamer]

Ronan was doing very well with the Zinn'ka. So much so, in fact, that Su'aka was starting to warm to the Cether's presence. He was actually starting to feel relieved that he had volunteered to teach the boy, though the truth was he'd lost the draw and pulled the short length of bamboo. Oh well, though. It wasn't so much of a lost afternoon at all.

Ronan would be off a bit thinking Su'aka was going to teach him throws next. He normally saved those for last, because he liked his students to know punches, strikes, kicks, a basic sweep, and then how to fall. Once they knew that, he'd teach them throws... and let them throw each other around. It seemed to work well, and no one got truly hurt at the basic level. "Now, the next thing we need to learn is about how to punch. Punches are hand attacks that utilized a closed fist in a linera manner. Some punches travel upwards or downwards, but the basic ones you will learn are straight across because they provide the most power. All the punches we learn are started from a basic guard position, so don't forget that stance. But, now before I get that far, I want to teach you how to make a proper fist." The monk indicated, gesturing for Ronan to give him his hand.

SunnFather Su'aka explained himself, then moved forward, closing the distance between them. He pulled Ronan's arm out straight, grasped his palm, and slowly worked his way through the instructions, telling the cether the how of it as he made the small hand into a deadly instrument of force. "Starting with the little finger, tighgly roll all the fingers inward until they are tightly curled. Fold the thumb firmly down over hte fist and second fingers, and tighten the entire fist by squeezing all the fingers and thumb inward, into the curland by squeezing the thumb and index finger and little finger horizontally toward each other. keep a fist in a straight line with the forearm with the wrist locked. Tighten fist, wrist, and forearm until they becom an integral unite." He instructed, then turned and tapped Ronan's fist. "Individual fingers and your wrist cannot withstand much force, but when they act as one unite, they can withstand a huge amount of pressure. Do not let yoru thumb snag on something and don't give your opponent something to grab." He explained as he released the cether's hand, and then started curling the other one into a proper fist as well.

Once the how of a proper fist was established, several punches were then needed to be explained. The first he decided on was the straight Front Punch. "Now, let me go over this step by step." Su'aka said, and carefully launched into his explanation. "The front punch is straight punch with the hand held in a clenched fist. The non-punching fist is held straight out in front of the body (knuckles upward) arm extended with a slight bend in the elbow. The punching fist is pulled to its corresponding hip (knuckles downward) with elbow directly behind the fist. Keep your elbows in tight, chicken arms are very dangerous in Ataa.
The punching fist is punched straight ahead to the full extension of the arm with a slight bend in the elbow.
As the punch is thrown, the fist moves first with the elbow driving directly behind it. The fist is kept with the knuckles down until a split second before impact when the fist and forearm snap inward until the knuckles are facing upward. Thats the surprise! The point of impact of the fist is the base knuckles of the first two fingers. All power in the arm and body is concentrated on the moment of impact. At the moment of impact, the fist is immediately retracted back to the hip." The Sunnfather instructed, then urged Ronan to give it a try.

The SunnFather smiled, and explained the next type of punch. "Now, a reverse punch is simple. It is a straight fore fist punch using the trailing hand. It is the most powerful punch because maximum duration of force, hip twist, and weight transfer can be fully applied to the punching fist. As you go up in levels in your zinn'ka, you will learn more about hip twisting and how to maximize your power." Su'aka promised.

Su'aka smiled and then went on with his next explanation. "The jab is a short, quick, straight punch. The fist travels straight to the target with no extra motion at all. From your guard position, with elbows tight to your ribs, hands up, and elbows down, turn the hip and extend your lead arm, while rotating fist a quarter turn so palm is facing downward at impact. Do not poke the jab or paw it like a playful animal. Instead, fire it out and back like a snake striking." He advised.

[Ronan Stoutfoot]

The instruction that SunnFather was sharing with him had touched who Roana was at the core. It would allow him to dance and and be in tune with the world, yet also be able to be strong and defend himself and those in need. Using the gifts that Lord Cetheron gave his people and his more robust cousins, he could fight and battle as a warrior. Yes this was a class he could finally get into.

Next Roana had begun to learn about punches, to use his fist as a weapon. Looking at his hand he watched as the instructor slowly moved his fingers into the correct position. He squeezed his fist tight, and imagined knocking an orc square in the jaw. Forgetting his was a few feet too short for that. He pulled his thumb in close and released and formed it again as his other hand was molded into a weapon.

After SunnFather Su'aka finished showing him how to hold his hands, Roana looked down in amazement. These would be his weapons... These, would be he weapons! A grin grew on his face as he looked back up at the man.

He followed along with everything that his teacher went over, hi mind open for all that the older man could stand to share. Ronan was a playful carefree creature, but he had goal. Learning to defend himself, and to heal others were two of the main ones. For they would lead him to his ultimate goal of being a true Sunn Monk.

[left] The voice of the instructor also got Roana to focus, for he seemed just as excited to teach the art as Ronan was to learn it. Front Punch, using his fist he punched straight out from his body. Being in his basic stance it allowed him to sink into the slight bent knee position, as he punched. He fist twisting as he threw the punch, it was quite an awkward feeling. He was turning and twisting his arm and his hips, and trying not to extend all the way with his arm. Several time he did this, turning to far then punching too far our, and he elbow hurt. Only after carefully watching his Master perform it several time did he begin to catch on.

It was still awkward, but he felt with practice it could become the weapon that it should be. He imagined an orc again, this time a short one, and began to punch, pulling back his arm quickly. Then he began to practice the next punch. The Reverse Punch, which he used his lowered hand, and threw it twisting at the waist, using his hips for strength. Once more he turned his fist, focusing on his two main knuckles as the primary attack point.

Whew... he sighed, his breath growing heavy. But he did not want to stop, he would continue until the SunnFather stopped him.

He next practiced his Jab, the quick punch. One that would surprise his foe, and distract him for the stronger reverse punch. He held his arms close to his side, and punched out with his front hand, a quick jab...

The first few did look like a baby pawing, weak and not so surprising. After he was told to act like a snake, he thrust his fist out, making a hissing sound with his mouth.

Jab

jab

jab...

He then stepped forward, and attempted to use all three weapons. Front, reverse, jab... he was a fighter now! If the SunnFather did not stop him, he would speed up as he got more confidant. With sweat dripping off his head, his golden hair clumping on the back of his neck, he looked to see if everything was correct.

[Gossamer]

SunnFather Su'aka smiled. Ronan's technique wasn't perfect, in fact the SunnFather had to stop the enthusiastic Cether quite a few times to correct his posture, stance, or the way he was using the muscles in his arms to throw his punches. But overall, after the Cether absorbed the knowledge, he seemed to be doing well with the Ataa. It gave his boundless energy direction and an outlet. Yes, Ataa had been a good idea.

Once the punches were worked out, Su'aka smiled and decided that kicks were next in order. "Now, I want you to listen carefully. Kicks are really important and they are the next thing I'm going to teach you. But first, I think we are going to have to call it a day. I don't want too much information packed into your head too soon." He said gently, smiling. "Meet me back here at daybreak, well rested, and we'll go into Kicks, alright?" He said gently, gesturing towards the exit. "And Ronan? You're doing a good job. This is a good skill for you to pursue, I think you have real talent." He said, nodding thoughtfully. In truth he wasn't surprised, but its always good to have suspicions upheld in the end.

The next morning, as dawn broke, SunnFather Su'aka was there to meet Ronan.

"Kicks.... todays theme are kicks." He chuckled and then settled in to give Ronan something of a lecture. He launched off immediately in his usual fashion. "Kicks are dangerous not because they are the most powerful of Ataa's art, punches are. Rather kicks are dangerous because most people tend to use their arms to kick as well, for balance, thus letting down their guard. Never let your guard down when kicking. Arms are used for guarding, blocking and attacking, not for balance. Balance is always maintained through the subtle adjustment of your body's movements and muscle tension. If you have a strong, well muscled body, balance will never be a problem. If you are trying to kick with a weak body, a pot belly, and poor conditioning you will need to trash your arms like an ostrich trying to fly! If you find yourself doing this, STOP! Go back and condition, then come back to kicks. I think physically your in a good place to begin kicks, but maintain that place and watch your balance." He advised, mimicing the ostrich trying to fly with a bit of comic relief.

"Now, you'll need a breakdown of what constitutes a kick before we actually start kicking." The SunnFather advised.

"Kicks start from a solid stance wi