Beauty's Mind Over Beast's Body...Maybe [Beginning Shaasskah]

[Viskyia Crow]

TS: Early Morning, 10th day of Melora, Winter, Era XIII (pf)

Viskyia slipped into the City Gardens, searching for the familiar figure of the half orc, her notes clutched eagerly in her delicate hand. She'd just been to the city library of Nexus Prime and wrote down as many notes as she could on the martial art of Shaasskah. She was hoping the big half-orc would agree to learn with her. She needed a sparring partner or else none of this would work.

She knew he frequented the garden, so she burst into a light effortless jog, moving easily on the now familiar pathways of the garden. Viskyia had covered most of the groomed garden before she actually came across him. He was… feeding ducks? She halted in her tracks, and watched the big half-orc squatting easily by a pond holding what appeared to be a very sane conversation with half a dozen colorful squawking ducks. She watched a few moments as he crumbled bread and tossed them to the ducks, chastising one for being so greedy, and making sure another more shy one had extra. She smiled to herself and thought quietly. “I bet he will help.”

Viskyia walked quietly up beside him and squatted down in companionable silence, not willing to interrupt the ducks lunch. She waited for him to acknowledge her presence, then smiled at him.

“Greetings, Nydardomond. How are you and the ducks today? I went to the library and looked into some different techniques to fight and defend yourself with, and found one that seemed perfect. No weapons involved. Would you like to look at my notes and maybe practice it with me?” She grinned, patted her overflowing pouch, and awaited his answer

[Nydardomond]

Shortly after his early morning meditation, Nyd went for one of his daily walks in the gardens. Passing by a small pond filled with ducks, he got the notion to stop and enjoy a bit of the 'wildlife' of the gardens. He took a piece of travel rations and began breaking off small pieces; tossing them to the ducks. He squatted down on the edge of the pond as to not frighten the ducks away and without realizing what he was doing, began talking to the birds as if they would respond. Gradually he became lost in his own thoughts, still talking to the birds, and lost track of what was going on around him.

When Viskyia approached and sat down next to him, he did not notice until she spoke. Her words brought him out of his little trance and he chuckled to himself; wondering how long she had been there while he was talking to the birds.

He juggled her words around in his head for a moment and said, "Good morning, Viskyia. The ducks and I are doing just fine." He smiled from beneath his hood. "Unarmed fighting and defense you say? You must have really taken our past conversation to heart." Nyd tossed the rest of the crumbs to the birds, brushed his hands together and stood up. "It would be a pleasure to practice with you."

[Viskyia Crow]

Pleased with him, Viskyia laid out all her notes on a nearby bench and smiled at Nydardomond. “I’m really glad I found you. I can’t imagine learning this with anyone but you.” She laughed, making it evident that she was embarrassed to be seen kicking thin air. “I mean, there are only so many statues you can attack before someone makes a comment. Its far better to have a live body. And the best part is I can’t hurt you, even accidentlally.” She grinned to soften the blow and patted his arm.

“Okay our first thing is learning the stances. There are three. Lets look at the first one.” She tapped the diagram and showed him the sketch she’d made for the FORWARD STANCE. Then, she moved aside, and assumed the stance, evenly spacing her feet out and placing her right foot slightly in front of her left one, gaining more balance and ability to move in a more fluid motion with her upper body.

“Does this look about right?” She asked, holding the pose while giving him a chance to look. She then relaxed and gestured for him. “You try.”

[Nydardomond]

It never ceased to amaze Nyd how open and friendly Viskyia was. She had never once treated him badly for what he was nor had she truly acknowledge him as different in an unflattering way. And now she wanted to train with him in how to fight? He thought it rather odd at first but her light hearted way of approaching it eased his uncertainty. Then the way she just jumped into things offered him little chance to refuse.

Looking down at the notes she had laid out. The diagram that was sketched out he thought looked rather ridiculous but he humored her. When she took the stance and asked him if it looked right, he looked at the diagram again and then looked back at her and said, "Um, Viskyia, I have nev..." He could tell by the excited look on her face that it was no use telling her that asking him if it looked right was like asking the illiterate to read. Best he could tell from the diagram, she had gotten it pretty right. "Looks like you got that one right." He felt himself slowly getting more into it as she told him to give it a shot. He stood across from her and tried to mirror what he saw in the diagram.

He crouched down slightly and spread his feet apart at an even distance. He placed his right foot in front of his left. As he did this he thought about what Viskyia had said about not being able to hurt him. Though probably true, he was concerned since it wasn't something that would easily work vice versa. Deciding it would best to cross that bridge when came to it so to speak, he said lightheartedly, "I am not sure I have the leg stance down quite as well as you but it feels ok. So what is next? Upper body position?" Nyd bounced around a bit while remaining in the stance; getting a better feel for the position of his legs.

[Viskyia Crow]

Viskyia moved forward, shifted Nydardomond’s foot forward a bit more, and nodded. “There…” then she moved to stand beside him and assume the same pose. She shifted back and forth on the balls of her feet, getting used to her balance and what it took to find her body’s center. She related this information to the half-orc.

“The idea is to get the flow of your bodies energy going correctly. You get your muscle groupings all working in unison, then move yourself in such a way as to direct the force of energy inside you into a concentrated blow with either your fist or your heel of your foot. The books indicate that the basic stances are the key to this….”

She smiled, starting to get a feel for the forward stance. Then she glanced at her notes, and read what she’d written quickly.

“The second stance is the backwards stance, where your weight is shifted backwards, freeing the front part of your body to move more freely and connect solidly with objects.”

Viskyia adjusted her feet, so she was standing slightly leaning back, weight on the back foot, not so much on the front leading foot. This obviously left her room to kick with her free leg.

“Come on Nyd.. try it. Move your heel back… further… yes… that’s it.”

Viskyia bounced around, getting a feel for it, then moved on to the squat stance.

“The squat stance is designed to get all your energy collected and ready to spring so you can use tremendous upwelling to spring into the air and lash out with one or both of your legs either together or subsequently. That’s taught later, but the squat stance is important to learn with these others.”

She moved, so she was slightly squatting. She tried it a few times, springing into the air to see which position her legs held allowed her to gain the most height. She seemed pleased as she turned to see if Nydardomond was fairing as well.

[Nydardomond]

Nyd felt sort of oafish at first as he tried to get the beginning stance right. With help from Viskyia though and watching her model it for him, he felt as though he was starting to get the hang of it. He shifted back and forth on the balls of his feet as she did. He stumbled once but got back in place and kept going.

Nyd listened to Viskyia as she spoke about the flow of energy in the body and directing the force of blows. He realized that this was similar to his meditations in that the whole idea of body position was to made the energy of the body flow in such a way that a relaxed physical state could be attained. Thus as he got a better feel for the basic beginning stance, he tried to clear his mind as well and control his breathing as he did in meditation.

He noted, "You seem as though you have done this sort of thing before? It is either that or your just a quick learner." He smiled and returned to listening and concentrating on what Viskyia was saying and doing.

He mirrored her stance as they both leaned backward, taking the weight of the lead foot. It took him a moment or two but with coaching from Viskyia, he figured it out. He had not been much of a kicker but from the feel of it, the stance offered the possibility.

Nyd looked at the squatting stance somewhat hesitantly. He couldn't imagine himself leaping into the air and kicking anything. Nevertheless he didn't want to disappoint Viskyia and took a squatting position. While he squatted, he returned to his controlled breathing and tried to focus his thoughts on just his body and how it felt as he moved. When he felt he was ready, he sprung into the air. His powerful legs lifted him a good four feet into the air before landing back on the ground. He didn't exactly land as well as he took off and stumbled a step or two. Uttering a slight curse he again took the stance and waited for Viskyia to continue.

"I think this is a slight person's style but I can feel the potential even with my size. Maybe my size would give me an advantage in the power of the strikes..."

[Viskyia Crow]

Viskyia watched Nydardomond carefully and noticed something. He was breathing really rather controlled. “Can you tell me what your doing with your breath?” She asked him curiously. She noticed immediately that he held it just before he jumped out of the squat then exhaled with a hiss as he sprang into the air. It seemed to give him more energy. She looked thoughtful.

“Well, according to my notes, there are three basic blocks and two basic punches. I think we should teach ourselves the punches first though, so we can have something to block when we go over the section about blocking. How’s that sound?” Viskyia walked over and picked up her notes. She reviewed them carefully.

“The first type of punch is a jab. The second type is a reversal punch. The jab is straight forward. You lash out at your target with your fist, but the difference is in this technique your entire body is behind the punch, especially your energy. So you take your leg stance, you bring your fist up, and you lash out like a scorpion stinging, knuckles forward, fingers down, thumb on the outside of your fist. The fist lashes out, and then comes back to rest against your body.” Viskyia gave it a few practices, using both hands. When she was learning basic dagger, she realized immediately the benefit of being able to use both hands. She nodded, and glanced over at Nydardomond. She couldn’t wait for them both to have enough basic knowledge to spar.

“The second punch is a reversal punch. It involves a twist in your wrist as your punching. You hand starts out just the opposite of what a jab would, but you twist your wrist at the last minute and bring your knuckles into the correct position at the last second before contact. This gives added force to the punch and can damage more internal tissue than just a hard jab.”

She practiced this for a while, watching Nydardomond carefully. She wasn’t a teacher in this, all the people in the books she’d looked up was. Right now, they were just giving each other the basics. The real learning would come when they sparred.

“Try the punches…”

[Nydardomond]

Nyd looked to Viskyia after he landed. To her question he replied, "I have spent almost every morning since I arrived in Nexus Prime in meditation." He recited Gri'Tai's writing from memory. "My mentor spoke in his journal of various techniques he used to clear his mind and body so that he could become more in tuned with his own inner being. The basics of meditation include learning to control ones breathing and posture so as align them in a way that best promotes free energy flow. I once tried exercising and stretching during meditation but it was rather difficult. I figured I would give it a shot with this though after your notes mentioned getting the body's energy flowing correctly. It seemed only natural."

He watched as Viskyia went through the punches that the notes and diagrams described. He had never thought that punching had much technique to it before. From what he was seeing and hearing though, he had originally missed an important element.

Taking his basic stance, he held his fist out in front of him. He focused once more on his breathing, taking a few extra moments to do so before lashing out with a power jab. His muscles creaked and his bones popped as the air around his fist parted violently with a rush of wind. If someone had been on the other end of his jab, they most surely would have had bones crushed. He brought his fist right back to his chest with a slight thud.

After watching Viskyia attempt the reversal punch, he also tried his hand at it. He took a few deep breaths, again taking his time and then threw his fist outward, twisting his wrist at the last second. This time however he twisted ever so slightly in the wrong way and his wrist popped and the muscles on his shoulder pulled. He felt the punch go wrong but other than that, any pain there might have been was little more than a dull tug, his orcish resilience keeping him from doing any real damage to himself at all. Frowning and biting his lip, he took the stance again with a moment of concentration and breathing and threw the punch again, twisting his wrist at what he felt was the right moment. This time he could feel it come together.

"Viskyia, if you will, try concentrating on how your body feels right before, during, and after you strike. Inhale as you prepare to lash out and then exhale as you do. I think that you will find better control over your movements not to mention if you make a mistake, your body will be more relaxed and you will do less damage to yourself than you would if you are tense."

[Viskyia Crow]

Viskyia nodded as Nydardomond spoke. Something about the breath did indeed seem important to her. She resigned herself to watching him carefully and breathing when he did as he practiced. “So the breath controls the energy flow?” She asked, curious as she altered her breathing and went through her punches again. She learned from Nyd’s mistake and didn’t twist her wrist incorrectly, the sound of the popping in her sparring partners wrist very audible. She flinched. “You alright? That was loud. It almost sounds like if we don’t learn this carefully and correctly, we are going to have some trouble and injure ourselves…”

She moved, trying to picture energy flow, trying to breathe, trying to punch and take the correct stances. It was a lot to remember and it really came clear how much time they’d have to do practicing together to make it all really flow neatly together.

Nydardomond spoke again about the breathing, coaching her with his knowledge of basic meditation on how to inhale in preparation, exhaling in the act. She automatically reassigned the names in her mind…. Inhale/prepare… exhale/act… so breathe in was focusing, breathe out was striking… It made sense. It helped her technique almost immediately. She smiled, then took a quick breather to check her notes…

“We need to know the blocks. There are three… Upper Block, Lower Block, and Middle Block. The upper block takes the force of your arm, energy from your spine through your wrist, and you slip your hand upwards, fingers outstretched and slightly cupped, palm down, in a fluid motion… like your stroking a tree up its length with your fingertips, or using a paint brush to brush on a smooth upward stroke of paint. This is great for down swings, attacks from the front, and taking out a potential threat from over someone’s shoulder that’s blocking you in the front.” She looked thoughtful and demonstrated. She waited for him to try, then showed him the notes on Lower Block and Middle block.

“Lower Block looks to be about the same, though the palm us turned upwards, and the author of the book that I copied the material from seems to think its like cupping water from the surface of a lake and flinging the handful upwards while standing in the lake… This block is good for downstrokes, and attacks from behind.” She also demonstrated this one, using the basic forward stance and imagining herself standing in chest deep water flinging it upwards. She watched as Nyd demonstrated that one too.

“What about the Middle Block. What do you think the notes are saying exactly here?”

[Nydardomond]

Nyd smiled at Viskyia's concern over his possible injury. "No, I am alright. It's nothing. But yes, it is important for us not to make too many harsh mistakes else we will definitely pay for it." He absently rubbed his wrist, more to emphasize his point than to comfort himself. He watched Viskyia move and thought absently that he wish he had her grace.

He looked over her notes on blocking and thought about it a moment while she spoke. It seemed to make sense to him but he felt he could add a little something more personal to it. After noting Viskyia's demonstration of the upper block, his twisted his hand when he performed it so that he could add a slight slash with his claws at the same time. Although not enough to seriously harm an opponent, enough of these types of blocks could cause sufficient bleeding and wounds to weaken them.

Nyd attempted the lower block in a similar way. His hands were cupped as he brought them upward to block but allowed his claws to add a bit of a slaws as well. He winked at Viskyia as he did this. "You could do the same if wearing some form of artificial claws."

He looked over the notes and when he felt he understood what was being said, he demonstrated the middle block. Swiping downward, his palm cupped in the same direction, he made a vertical sweeping motion down as if to slap away an opposing strike, redirecting it to the side. He was sure to add in a slight slashing with his claws as he did. "In this, you force the opponents momentum to the ground. It is a combination of slapping and pushing as you redirect their strike so that it has little to no effect upon you. Again, I add the claw slash which you may consider either growing your nails out or investing in some tailored ones. It may seem minor but I every little advantage I think counts." He tried each block again and again.

"Hmmm, so what's next?"

[Viskyia Crow]

She nodded at Nydardomond, quietly watching his demonstration of the vertical sweep slightly downward. Viskyia nodded as he spoke, understanding his explaination. However, she stopped what she was doing as he suggested she get some artificial claws. Viskyia couldn’t help it. She dissolved almost instantly into laughter, looking at her hands and then at Nydardomonds. “Artificial claws? You have got to be kidding? Do I look like an artificial claws person? I mean, Nydardomond look at how your joints are built. You have claws because you can support them! My fingers…? Long, slim, completely built the wrong way for claws… but it is a fun idea.” She shaped her hands into claws and mimicked slicing at him, still laughing at her odd friend’s observation and grinning widely.

Viskyia went back to practicing the middle block Nydardomond demonstrated, adding it into the punches and stances she was already practicing. She copied Nydardomond’s movements and moved slowly through the exercise. “What if we use the middle block to force blows to glance off our forearms as well? Sweep our arms outward in a circular motion to either side to redirect their energy away from us?” She asked, demonstrating the move… “Oh wait, that’s the circular block.. It’s in the notes.” She grinned, demonstrated again, and then added that block in.

They continued practicing for a while before she added in another comment. “Lets put in the kicks now, shall we?” She added, pausing to catch her breath and check the notes she had on kicks. She read quietly then set them down. “The first one is the Forward kick. The first thing you do is take a backwards stance, which frees up your front leg to kick forward. You plant your back leg, twist your hip, and kick forward, using the ball of your foot or heel to connect when you thrust your leg forward. I think the idea is to imagine the target in the air in front of you, lean you weight back, and strike forward…” She demonstrated with two quick light kicks, striking the air about her chest level. “If we can get stretched out more, the higher the kick the better I would imagine, aiming straight for the head.”

She turned to face him, and set her stance correctly, and demonstrated again, trying to get higher. She inched higher slightly, had her back leg to forward, and slipped, landing in a heap on her rump. Her face flamed red instantly, and she clambered embarrassingly to her feet. Dusting off her bruised posterior, she laughed at herself and tried again. “You just didn’t witness that, okay?” She said mischievously, her face still red.

[Nydardomond]

Nyd chuckled at Viskyia's slicing at the air with her fingers and then in a light-hearted, half-serious tone he said, "You know, it doesn't have to be claws exactly. You could wear spiked or bladed bracers that would do the same thing." He shrugged. "Maybe even light gauntlets."

After practicing the middle block and taking a look at Viskyia's notes and demonstration of the circular block; making sweeping, circular motions to knock a blow to the side. He thought about the block a moment and said, "If you can put enough force into the block and make contact as close to the bottom of the attackers foot or hand, you could potentially throw them off balance enough to counter with one of those punches we tried. A thought for the future perhaps."

Nyd nodded as he listened to Viskyia read the notes on the kicks. He didn't feel comfortable with the idea of kicks but resolved himself to work through it. He hoped he wouldn't land on his hind end. Just then, irony's shadow crept in and Viskyia kicked upward and fell back, landing flat on her backside. Nyd stifled a laugh and grinned widely. "Saw what exactly?"

He took the backward stance and leaned on his back foot just as Viskyia had done. He brought his breathing in line and twisted his hip, kicking outward at roughly chest level; eye level for Viskyia. He felt himself almost lose balance and stumble yet he kept his footing. Then he returned to the stance and tried to kick even higher. This he managed however he was unable to keep from stumbling backward. Although he hadn't fallen, he was still slightly frustrated. Nevertheless he chuckled and said, "Perhaps that one we will both need to practice a bit more. Unless we want to work in stumbling and falling as part of the whole technique." He chuckled lightly.

[Viskyia Crow]

Viskyia nodded at Nydardomond’s suggestions, though she doubted she’d ever have a set of gloves or bracers made with claws. Perhaps it was the way of his people, and she didn’t begrudge him that at all. So instead, she moved on from the subject, still practicing, as Nydardomond made a suggestion that seemed to make a lot of sense. “Yes, I think if you could contact and throw them off balance, and were quick enough, you could throw in a punch… maybe even a kick.” She added, excited by the idea.

She liked how Nyd instantly forgot her fall, even though her rear now sported a rather large embarrassing muddy snow stain. Viskyia smiled at him, liking his attitude even though it was strange learning a martial art with a large greenish grey-skinned man that looked more like an orc than a human.

Viskyia saw the problem with the kicks immediately. “Nydardomond, don’t try to kick harder and higher. Just try to kick at your comfort level. The important part is the stance and the planting of your foot, and the rest will come with time. I mean, as your body learns how to move with this, things will come easier, muscles will stretch, your kicks and punches will get stronger and faster.”

She moved through the basics they’d learned once more, taking her own advice and slowing down, focusing more on her stances, her form, her body position. She moved through the forms, again and again, concentrating. This time she paid a great deal of attention to her breathing, remembering what Nydardomond had said. It was an artform, that was for sure… a dance she was doing with herself. She thought about what the form means translated to common, and she smiled at Nydardomond and said “Do you know this form means ‘Things Learned From Wild Animals?’ No wonder the use of claws seems so natural to you.”

Viskyia stopped for a breather and then looked intently at Nydardomond. “Ready to spar?” She wasn't sure she was indeed ready too. He was awfully big and as strong as an ox. She took a deep breath, told herself many foes would be superior phyiscally, and awaited his answer.