Magic Man Taien (Academy Thread) [R, NDE]

[Taien Hadohou]

More excersize! Well, there was no such thing as a martial artist with a stiff body now was there. . . Anyways, it seemed he had to do these "leg lifts" to. Taien put one leg out slowly, and then started to raise it. However, since he wasn't used to it yet, he could barely get his leg past his other knee. At that point he couldn't get it any higher without it hurting his muscles to badly. This sort of thing took time though. He kept at it, despite the pain, grunting while sweat was coming off of him. He didn't know the meaning of the word "give up". Actually he didn't know the emotion either. . .

[Manabu Brock]

As Taien was struggling to keep his leg up, the crane suddenly moved forward and stuck her head under his calf. She held it at that height for a bit, then she raised her head and the leg with it. Taien's leg began to tremble. She held it as the trembling increased, and when it was almost ready to rumble off, she lowered it a bit. The muscles calmed down and the trembling subsided. She let Taien rest a little, then raised the leg again even higher than before. This cycle continued until the leg was finally parallel with the floor. After that, she lowered it slowly back to the ground. When his leg came down, Taien nearly fell over. One leg was now stretched out more than ever before, and the other was its old self and had just been sitting there. Now that was done, the crane thrust her head twice at his other foot.

[Taien Hadohou]

Taien struggled to keep back the tears that were associated with training flexability and balance. What could he say? Stretching muscles to the limit and then some hurt like heck! Of course Crane-Sensei was helping this process along, but still! After a short while, he got his leg paralell to the ground and was able to hold it there on his own! Taien was even more happy, the sheer happiness allowing him to force through the pain and making an even bigger smile! And then his leg came down. It hurt even more than when it was up!!

And now, Crane-Sensei wanted him to do the process with his left leg! Ahh well, better get started. Taien once again began the ardious process of enhancing the flexability of hie leg. . . The only consolation was Taien was getting somewhat better at holding back the pain from this.

[Manabu Brock]

The two of them went through the same process with the other leg. The crane helped the leg up in stages as Taien leaked from his eyes and glands. He sure was out of shape. Well, many students started out of shape. The Academy was there to shape them in every aspect. By the end of this class, Taien would be quite a bit more limber, and by graduation, he would be a competent physical combatant. For now though, he was stiff as a board and tight as a drum. Even if he could manage powerful kido, his body would remain a target.

When the stretching was finally complete, the crane went back to her original position. There were surely problems with Taien's arms, but the cranes who instructed kick boxing focused on the legs. Students got plenty of arm work in boxing and kendo. Not to mention, people were wont to neglect leg stretches and exercises and focus on arms. Everyone thinks about bench pressing and weight lifting and having impressive biceps while the legs go unnoticed. That would not be the case in this class.

The crane stood on one leg and raised her wings once again. She stood stalk still and waited for Taien. It would be his move next.

[Taien Hadohou]

After another round of rigorus, and painfull, flexability training, Taien's other leg was finally permited to come back down to earth! Taien winced as it touched down, the pain from having his muscles stretched to their maximum limit (and then some) was much more noticable on the ground than in the air. Ayaaaa, at least it was done now. He would have to train more with flexability in this class obviously, but for now it was stopped. Which meant it was time to move on to the next part of training!

The next part of training seemed to be sparring, well, at least it looked like sparring. Taien's communication with his Crane-Sensei was woefully lacking at this point. Perhaps it would grow with time. Back to the "spar". Taien's legs hurt still from the workout, however, they were more flexable than before. Since it was a kickboxing class, it was probably a fight with legs. Though the Crane-Sensei had him doubly beat in this catagory, Taien was never one to stop because of a little handycap like that. Taien bowed first, before launching a quick kick, the new flexability in his legs adding a little more snap and power behind it, though he winced at the pain still. Ahh well, he would find out if this was a spar soon enough.

[Manabu Brock]

The crane lowered her head in a sort of slump brought on by disappointment. She shook it back forth, lowered her wings and leg, and looked at Taien for a moment. She really was disappointed. Taien had forgotten something important apparently. Now she resumed her stance and kicked. She jabbed twice with her head.

[Taien Hadohou]

Ohh. Right. Taien messed up big time there. Well, he was not one to let a setback stop him.

"Oya oya, I am sorry I did not listen to you Crane-Sensei. I humbly ask for your forgiveness, and ask for a second try. I know what I did wrong now."

Taien said with his head bowed. Then Crane-Sensei got back into position. All right, do it right this time. Taien got into the position which his Sensei had helped him get back into before. He shifted his weight back to where it was, and then kicked. If he remembered correctly, this was the high kick from before, and that stance was for him to preform a few kicks. Not surprisingly they came a little bit easier than before.

[Manabu Brock]

The crane nodded her head now. Taien was already improving. That's to be expected though. There's a huge difference between nothing and something. They spent the rest of the time practicing different kicks and blocks. The blocking part of the lesson consisted entirely of her kicking and his being kicked. She took it easy and was careful not to hurt Taien... permanently. His arms and legs would be hurt now and sore later.

My how cranes fly! Time. How cranes time. No... In any event, class was now over. The bell rang, and the majestic creature lowered her wings. Students all over bid their crane teachers good bye and filed out of the room. The cranes all looked at each other and began comparing students. Taien had better move it.

[Taien Hadohou]

"Oya oya! Thank you very much, Crane-Sensei! I hope training under you in future classes will be just as exciting as it was today!"

Taien said with a wide grin. He bowed to his sensei and exited the room. Now, what class was next? Ohh! Right! Speed class! Taien deffinately needed more speed for combat. He vaugely wondered if he would run into Michi in that class. It seemed sutied for someone like him. Anyways, Taien had to hurry!

Taien finally found the classroom after a minute or so, and opened the door and went it. He made sure he wasn't gonna be late this time!!

[Manabu Brock]

OOC: courtesy of the great Ad-Gin

Upon entering his class, it became evident that there were no seats. Of course, there would be constant movement after all. The class itself was an enormous room, easily large enough to hold hundreds of people, though only around thirty or so were present at that moment. It was filled with blue mats. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all covered in those same blue mats. Most likely, it was to prevent people from hurting themselves.

The teacher was a tall, but skinny man wearing black shinigami's robes. A zanpakuto was sheathed on his back, and he had long, flowing white hair, which was silky, perfectly straight. His eyes were green, and his physical appearance was middle aged. He clapped once. "Enough with introductions! My name is Fukukina Madrugal! You will call me Madrugal-Sensei from now on! For our first exercise, we will jog around the classroom. We've got an hour here, so I want you to jog three miles, which should take half the class period. You must build endurance! No one stops! If you stop, then when this exercise is over, for every time you stop, I will strike you on the bottom with a kendo blade!" No doubt, no one would be able to run the 3 miles without stopping at least once or twice. Everyone was going to get punished today. The pain today would help pave the way for future runs that didn't require stopping or punishment, though.

[Taien Hadohou]

Woooow! Another huge room! This place was seemlingly built on gigantic rooms, it actually was surprising that the building could hold all of these rooms even if it was a huge building in the first place. Taien saw that there were no desks or chairs to sit down on. Only the movement of people doing various excersizes. The gigantic blue mats were hard to miss to, but why were they on the ceiling? Did the students at one point do something that caused it to be nessecary to put them on the ceiling? Who knew. By this point, Taien had figured that this was basicly like. . . the Physical Education class in normal schools. The Sensei introduced himself, and then stated his instructions.

Thr. . . three miles of jogging!? The man was. . . thorough to say in the most underexpressed way possible. . . Still, there was no doubt this would help him greatly when he left the Acadamy. So, jogging it was. . . despite the fact that his legs still hurt a bit from last period, it was also benificial. Taien had gotten his stretching done already, which would help him in running to avoid things like cramps and other muscle related injuries. That said, Taien wasn't the fastest of people. Some students at the start would probably be ahead of him. However, this kind of running wasn't just a test of speed. It was also one of endurance and stamina. Therefore, a good running form would be key to getting this done. Everyone seemed to be getting ready to go, so Taien got into position. Good breathing would be helpful as well. Now all the Sensei had to do was say the magic word. . .

[Manabu Brock]

Madrugal began to shout again and pointed to a long blue line on the floor that ran perpendicular to the wall. "Let's go! Stand on this line! Move it! When I give the signal, you will begin! The perimeter of this room is 1 mile. Figure out the rest. Now for some inspiration. Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!"

KRAKOOSH!

Everyone fled from the red explosion behind them in a state of almost panic. A moment later came the cry, "You're welcome!"

[Taien Hadohou]

All right! Starting time! Taien got into position and planned out his breathing technique and thought out how fast he would need to set his jog at so that he could maximize the amount of time he could get before resting, while minimizing the amount of times he needed to stop. The teacher said to wait until he gave the signal to go however. What that signal was, Taien did not know. However, the. . . poem it seemed to sound like. . . something seemed familiar about it. Now Taien didn't really have good energy sensory, but these words. . . something stirred inside of him. It was as if that flowing poem was etched into his very being!

However, all that sense of discovery was abruptly cut short by a large explosion of red light. For a very brief moment, Taien made the connection to the red light and Reti-Sensei's earlier Shakkaho. Which would in turn mean that was the incantation, for that is what Taien assumed it was, for Shakkaho. However, that was brushed aside quickly. There was running to be done!!

Everyone kind of fled from the site of the explosion like a tidal wave. This included Taien, however he kept his wit about him even though the loud exolosion had startled him. Taien got into a good, even pace that would let him go farther for a longer period of time before resting instead of an all out dash, which some people were doing. Taien settled his breathing and started to get a rhythm going. He knew he would have to rest some time, but he would push himself to the very brink to stop as few times as possible! He would give this his all, no matter what! He was happy, very happy, and that same happiness drove him to go as far as he could, even to the point of exhaustion if that was what it took!

[Manabu Brock]

Taien was off to a good start. Slow and steady wins the race, they say. Taien would never be able to sustain a fast pace. Off he went, chugging along at a calculated pace and falling behind most of the students. About 3 minutes later, a familiar voice came from behind.

"Hadohou! Good to see you! Looking good! LET'S MOVE!" Though he'd starting talking from behind, by the end of the "conversation" he was ahead and gaining distance. What was he doing behind in the first place? It had only been three minutes, but it seems Michi had gone all the way around. He was a speed demon all right. Meanwhile, Taien started catching up to people who weren't pacing themselves and were now losing speed big time. Soon he would find himself not at the back of everything but at the back of the middle.

Somewhere closer to the 7 minute mark, that familiar voice caught up to him again shouting encouragement. A few minutes later, he was there again. What was he doing, though? If he had caught up to Taien three times, that means he'd already done three laps, while Taien was only nearly done with his first!

"Great run, eh!? I thought after finishing my laps I'd keep you some company. How's it going?"

[Taien Hadohou]

Ohh! Taien was right, Michi was in this class! And he was passing Taien by like the bullet train. Wait, what? How was he behind Taien in the first place!? Ahh never mind. It would be rude not to return the greetings.

"Oya oya! There you are Michi-san, I knew you were here!"

Taien called out as Michi was passing him by. As Michi shouted out his words of encouragement, Taien responded with

"Oya oya! Yes! Lets push ourselves to our limits!"

Of course, it was kind of obvious that Michi far outstriped Taien in the running department. Was it even huma- er, spiritually? Yes, spirtually possible to run that fast!? That guy made the others seem like they were going in reverse!

A few minutes later after Michi passed by him, he got back beside Taien! Again!!! He had just freaking lapped just about everyone! And it didn't even look like he was trying!! Michi shouted more of his words of encouragement before, again, lapping everyone. How in the Seireitei did anyone get that fast!? There sure were some wonderous people out there. . .

Michi was probably even finished with his laps by now. In what, nine, ten minutes tops? That was three miles in that little of time!? What was the record for running three miles anyways? Suddenly, Taien heard Michi come from behind him. AGAIN. What the heck was he doing!? He was done already!

"Great run, eh!? I thought after finishing my laps I'd keep you some company. How's it going?"

Ohhhhh so that was why he came back! How thoughtful of him. Taien was just starting to get fatigued to. It would be nice to have a good running mater.

"Oya oya! Michi-San! How nice of you! Im doing good so far. . . I can go for a while longer before my body forces me to stop."

Taien said as the sensation of burning was going through his legs. Running might not be Taien's specialty, but endurance was another matter entirely.

"Oya oya! Michi-San, do you think you can help keep me motivated to run longer? Like if I start to slow down and drag behind."

Taien asked Michi.