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Tweak says, "Ted, you look fabulous."

zaria (bravely) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2008-07-04 10:30:00

Entry tags:

complete, day 6, katara, xena

Day 6
Who: Xena & Katara
What: Training
When: Morning
Where: Training Room
Rating: PG
Status: Complete

Xena had risen early, as was her habit. She showered and dressed, grabbed some light breakfast from the kitchen and headed for a room she had seen during her exploration of the resort. It was a big room, with several weapons on racks along the walls. There was a thick pad on the floor, and she assumed it was for sparring. If someone fell, they wouldn't get hurt too badly.

She entered the room and shut the door behind her. It was mirrored, as well, so that you could watch yourself as you trained. She looked around her for a moment, noting that the room was void of any other persons. She unstrapped her scabbard from her back and leaned her sword against the wall. She also unhooked her whip and chakram and set them next to the sword on the ground. She wanted to warm up before she started practicing with her sword.

While she and Gabrielle had been in India, they had discovered yoga. Gabrielle had been more into it than Xena had been, but Xena still did it sometimes to appease her friend. She was doing it now because some of the positions were good stretches and she had to admit, however reluctantly, that it was kind of relaxing.

She went through a few positions, watching herself in the mirrors. She'd grown used to mirrors. They hadn't existed in her time. The only thing she could rely on for a good reflection was some highly polished metal, or a still pond. When she felt sufficiently loose, she returned to the wall and pulled her sword from its scabbard. She turned and found a sparring dummy in the middle of the room. It hadn't been there before and it was slightly eerie. But, since no one else was still in the room, and she would know if there was, she chalked it up to a quirk of the planet.

She began her dance, because that's what it was. It was an elegant display of her skill. She slammed her sword into the dummy time and time again, stabbing and sweeping the blade through the air. The dummy never seemed to display any damage, but a thin red line would appear each time she struck it somewhere. By the time she finished, she was slightly out of breath and the dummy was covered in thin red lines.

She smiled, satisfied. But her smile vanished when she heard the door creak open.

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bravely
2008-07-05 09:53 pm UTC (link)

Xena stopped twirling the staff and rested the butt end on the mat, she nodded when the girl said she hadn't had any training with the staff. "Do you have experience using any kind of weapon?" It was sometimes easier to teach someone to use a particular type of weapon when they were already used to using another one.

She nodded again to the mention of her friend using the staff for a weapon. "It's Gabrielle you want teaching you, not me. But, since she's not here at the moment, I suppose I will have to do." She smiled slightly and gestured her onto the mat. "Sure, I could probably teach you a thing or two. C'mon, it's no trouble at all." She stepped back as she stepped forward.

"First thing's first. You'll want to be able to hold it properly, as well as get the stance down. It's no use if you get your staff knocked out of your hands, or get knocked over yourself." She put one hand on one end of the staff almost a foot from the end, and her other hand closer to the middle. "This is how you'll want to hold it. This gives you the space to use the open end for defending yourself, or for disabling your opponent, and still keep a good grip on it. It also keeps your opponents a good distance away."

She stepped forward slightly and whipped the staff down, causing it to waver, and make a whipping sound in the air. "Do you see how flexible it is? This is not a weapon generally used to kill. But it hurts if you're struck by it." She swung it down and slammed it on the mat to demonstrate. It made a loud thwack and a temporary dent in the soft mat.

She stepped back. Holding the smaller end with her left hand, the middle of the staff with her right. She put her right leg forward. Her foot pointed forward, along with her torso. Her left leg was back, foot pointed away from her body. "This is how you'll want to stand, at least, when you can. It keeps you balanced, centered. It is harder to knock someone over when they are standing this way." She then moved to put both feet together, facing forward. "As opposed to this way. Got it?"

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