Post by Ryuji on Jul 9, 2007 12:07:54 GMT -5
Ryuji Susumo was a short and muscular man, despite his age. His – mostly grey – grey and black flecked hair flowed to his ears after a year of growth, and Hitler-reminiscent moustache had gathered more grey. He liked to say that he’d aged early because of all of his cares and worries, but he knew his family just greyed early. But, at 55, Ryuji was an impressive sight. His body was taut with muscles, such that one might assume he could break a bone as soon as twitch – but he was broken. Concealed under his well-worn gi were knee braces – after three knee surgeries and much pain, he was no longer the supple young lad he’d been – and he laughed to think that he’d once been so lithe. But Ryuji was not so broken as to not be able to fight or to teach – and his disadvantages were covered by decades of experience that could stop most attacks. But, anyway, today was his first day of class since classes had resumed this last month. The summer was long and hard and he was glad that the school was back in session. He couldn’t wait to meet his new students and greet his old ones. He’d hoped that they’d all stayed in shape during holiday, but he knew he could whip them into shape if they hadn’t.
He walked into the dojo, breathing deep the smell of sweat and hard wood. Souls had been made in here. His class had already assembled, waiting and warming up inside the training hall, the new students looking mostly shy and uncertain, with a few exceptions.
During the break the school had been redesigned slightly. The floor’s hard wood was worn and creaky – that hadn’t changed – but it sparkled with a fresh cleaning and the smell of cleaner lingered in the air. A blue line of tape stretched length-wise across the room in the back, and other pieces of tape marked different spots here and there. The floor-to-ceiling mirrors that covered one wall were no longer smudged and foggy, but a small section in the corner had been removed and now held a dry erase board for any traditional type lessons, and a makiwara stood in the corner. One wall held an array of weapons – a collection of bos lay one above another in racks from the floor to the ceiling. Buckets held a collection of tonfa, nunckaku, sai, and kama, their heads sticking unceremoniously out of the top. Next to this hung Ryuji’s weapons, artfully displayed on the wall – and off limits to students – including, as well as versions of the previously mentioned tools, several boken swords – decorative as well as one for practice and one for real life. A chain hung from the ceiling in the heart of the room, the heavy bag leaning against one corner for select lessons. With that was an array of hand held targets and bags of different sizes and shapes. Opposite the mirror was the kamiza, a shelf hung in the center of the room above their heads, holding many different insignificant – but significant to Ryuji – things. A Japanese flag hung discretely on one wall, as well as many paintings and pictures to be used from time to time to help demonstrate a technique or attack or to tell a story.
But the room felt welcoming, as it always had, and the students were waiting.
Ryuji stepped into the doorway, bowed to the kamiza while uttering a guttural “OSS!” then walked all the way in. He gestured for the students to continue talking and stretched briefly, observing everyone in the room. Finally, Ryuji stood and said, loudly, “Line up!”
The older students, knowing what to expect, lined up on the blue line facing the kamiza, the top ranked student (MeiMei) at the far right and the other students falling in to her left in order of rank. The younger students rushed to fall in line.
“Welcome back!” Ryuji said, smiling enthusiastically. “I’m so glad to see so many happy and eager faces looking back at me! I’m glad none of you got yourself killed,” he glanced humorously at Aaralyn, “or killed anyone,” here he glanced at MeiMei, laughing openly, “on accident, and had to leave the school.” He looked at the new students. “There is no killing allowed here. School rules. Annoying, I know, but we prefer not to have anyone die here – we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves, now do we?” He clasped his hands in front of him and said, “Well, today is a brand new day! There are going to be some changes taking place in the way the lessons are run – only the older students will really know – but I just want you to know that this is new to me as well as you , so bear with me on this journey.” He turned to the kamiza, bowed in the traditional way (*Shinzen Ni Rei, Sensei Ni Rei, OSS, Dozo Onagai Shimas*, etc), then gestured the students to stagger the line.
“Okay, today I want to teach you all some interesting things. Pressure points. Well, pressure points and other similar defences. MeiMei?” He beckoned MeiMei forward and turned them both so that the class could see. “Now, MeiMei, I’m not going to hurt you – you’re going to hurt me.” He grabbed her arm and explained. “Pressure points are typically places where muscle and bone meet – indentations or hollows in the skin.” He took MeiMei’s hand and placed her thumb and forefinger around the web between his thumb and first finger, where bone met bone, and told her to press. He grimaced. “This, is one. This is another.” He told her to dig her fingernail into the hollow between the bones on the underside of his wrist, holding his breath but not flinching.
“Ouch!” He grinned at MeiMei. “This is only a demonstration!” He laughed. “It’s fine. Anyway, class, these attacks – twists, grabs, and jabs such as these – can be used to dissuade an attacker. These are defensive, usually, rather than offensive, but some can be used in either case. For example;” He took MeiMei’s hand again and placed her fingers in the space behind his collarbone, “this is a very, very painful spot, when pressed with enough force. Also, this,” he moved her fingers to a spot somewhere behind the ear, where jaw met neck. “Either one of these would do great damage if used correctly.” Ryuji dropped MeiMei’s hand and told the class, “most of these points of attack can be found where muscle and bone meet. Bare bone is also very painful. I think one of the worst attacks, personally, is a kick to the shin bone – this exposed, thinly protected bone,” he ran his hand down the hard bone in his lower leg, “hurts like a motherfajeeza when hit. It doesn’t even take very much to hurt it.” He took a step back.
“Now, I want you all to think about what I’ve told you and try something. Pair up and I want you guys to see what spots you can find. I don’t want anyone seriously hurt, but I want you all to see how this is done – and what it feels like. Press only to the point of pain – not beyond – and if your partner tells you to stop or slaps out (claps their hand to their leg or floor or whatever), you stop. See if you can find some spots that I haven’t mentioned or showed. Have fun, be safe, and I’ll be walking around.”
edited to correct minor flaws in wording
He walked into the dojo, breathing deep the smell of sweat and hard wood. Souls had been made in here. His class had already assembled, waiting and warming up inside the training hall, the new students looking mostly shy and uncertain, with a few exceptions.
During the break the school had been redesigned slightly. The floor’s hard wood was worn and creaky – that hadn’t changed – but it sparkled with a fresh cleaning and the smell of cleaner lingered in the air. A blue line of tape stretched length-wise across the room in the back, and other pieces of tape marked different spots here and there. The floor-to-ceiling mirrors that covered one wall were no longer smudged and foggy, but a small section in the corner had been removed and now held a dry erase board for any traditional type lessons, and a makiwara stood in the corner. One wall held an array of weapons – a collection of bos lay one above another in racks from the floor to the ceiling. Buckets held a collection of tonfa, nunckaku, sai, and kama, their heads sticking unceremoniously out of the top. Next to this hung Ryuji’s weapons, artfully displayed on the wall – and off limits to students – including, as well as versions of the previously mentioned tools, several boken swords – decorative as well as one for practice and one for real life. A chain hung from the ceiling in the heart of the room, the heavy bag leaning against one corner for select lessons. With that was an array of hand held targets and bags of different sizes and shapes. Opposite the mirror was the kamiza, a shelf hung in the center of the room above their heads, holding many different insignificant – but significant to Ryuji – things. A Japanese flag hung discretely on one wall, as well as many paintings and pictures to be used from time to time to help demonstrate a technique or attack or to tell a story.
But the room felt welcoming, as it always had, and the students were waiting.
Ryuji stepped into the doorway, bowed to the kamiza while uttering a guttural “OSS!” then walked all the way in. He gestured for the students to continue talking and stretched briefly, observing everyone in the room. Finally, Ryuji stood and said, loudly, “Line up!”
The older students, knowing what to expect, lined up on the blue line facing the kamiza, the top ranked student (MeiMei) at the far right and the other students falling in to her left in order of rank. The younger students rushed to fall in line.
“Welcome back!” Ryuji said, smiling enthusiastically. “I’m so glad to see so many happy and eager faces looking back at me! I’m glad none of you got yourself killed,” he glanced humorously at Aaralyn, “or killed anyone,” here he glanced at MeiMei, laughing openly, “on accident, and had to leave the school.” He looked at the new students. “There is no killing allowed here. School rules. Annoying, I know, but we prefer not to have anyone die here – we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves, now do we?” He clasped his hands in front of him and said, “Well, today is a brand new day! There are going to be some changes taking place in the way the lessons are run – only the older students will really know – but I just want you to know that this is new to me as well as you , so bear with me on this journey.” He turned to the kamiza, bowed in the traditional way (*Shinzen Ni Rei, Sensei Ni Rei, OSS, Dozo Onagai Shimas*, etc), then gestured the students to stagger the line.
“Okay, today I want to teach you all some interesting things. Pressure points. Well, pressure points and other similar defences. MeiMei?” He beckoned MeiMei forward and turned them both so that the class could see. “Now, MeiMei, I’m not going to hurt you – you’re going to hurt me.” He grabbed her arm and explained. “Pressure points are typically places where muscle and bone meet – indentations or hollows in the skin.” He took MeiMei’s hand and placed her thumb and forefinger around the web between his thumb and first finger, where bone met bone, and told her to press. He grimaced. “This, is one. This is another.” He told her to dig her fingernail into the hollow between the bones on the underside of his wrist, holding his breath but not flinching.
“Ouch!” He grinned at MeiMei. “This is only a demonstration!” He laughed. “It’s fine. Anyway, class, these attacks – twists, grabs, and jabs such as these – can be used to dissuade an attacker. These are defensive, usually, rather than offensive, but some can be used in either case. For example;” He took MeiMei’s hand again and placed her fingers in the space behind his collarbone, “this is a very, very painful spot, when pressed with enough force. Also, this,” he moved her fingers to a spot somewhere behind the ear, where jaw met neck. “Either one of these would do great damage if used correctly.” Ryuji dropped MeiMei’s hand and told the class, “most of these points of attack can be found where muscle and bone meet. Bare bone is also very painful. I think one of the worst attacks, personally, is a kick to the shin bone – this exposed, thinly protected bone,” he ran his hand down the hard bone in his lower leg, “hurts like a motherfajeeza when hit. It doesn’t even take very much to hurt it.” He took a step back.
“Now, I want you all to think about what I’ve told you and try something. Pair up and I want you guys to see what spots you can find. I don’t want anyone seriously hurt, but I want you all to see how this is done – and what it feels like. Press only to the point of pain – not beyond – and if your partner tells you to stop or slaps out (claps their hand to their leg or floor or whatever), you stop. See if you can find some spots that I haven’t mentioned or showed. Have fun, be safe, and I’ll be walking around.”
edited to correct minor flaws in wording
