Ejumacation: Learning the lightsaber (Hina Amaterasu)

[Wei Wu Wei]

Now this was something Wei had not done in a while. Lightsaber training. Wei had drawn his own lightsaber and placed it on the practice setting. Wei swung it once or twice and practiced some parries and blocks.

"All about the circles," Wei said, stepping to his left and creating a wide arc with his saber.

Wei preferred the practice setting on his lightsaber. It generated a forcefield instead of the usual cutting blade. It was like training with an incredibly light wooden sword. The hilt was a lot longer to house the force field generator, but it was a price worth paying in Wei's eyes.

"Hina, today you learn swordsmanship. Or more like swordswomanship, because you are in fact a woman."

Wei chuckled. He had another practice saber on his belt for her when she arrived.

[Hina Amaterasu]

*She had walked through the door quietly, before Wei had finished his practice swings, and had stood there, watching him.. She was going to be trained to do that? Almost mesmerized, she watched the man's movements, and had hardly realized he'd stop, when she heard her name in the man's words, spoken softly as if to himself..*

I.. Am looking forward to it..

*With a quick bow as Wei looked over, Hina walked up to meet him in the middle of the dojo..*

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Ha ha! Good stuff. Exactly what I wanted to hear."

Wei shut down his lightsaber and reached over to the far corner of the room towards some poles. They were about the size of lightsabers, and were made of a sturdy, light metal. Suddenly the poles seemed to jump out of the corner and fly towards Wei.

Wei caught the first one in his left hand and the second one in his right hand. "Here Hina," Wei said, handing her the pole in his right hand. "I want to show you something with these first. Take it and grip it like it were a sword. You can use one or two hands, but I recommend you use only one hand."

Wei held his pole near the bottom, leaving about enough room for one more hand span and a little more.

[Hina Amaterasu]

*Taking the pole in her own right hand, she shook it softly in her grip, her fingers only closed over top of the training weapon lightly at best.. Adjusting her position until she found a good point of balance for herself - unknowingly leaving her hand in the same spot as Wei's, she then swung the pole around a few times, showing a surprising fluidity with her motions, even if the technique and experience were not there to refine them..*

[Wei Wu Wei]

"Good stuff. Now that you've gotten a feel for this, there's something that I want us to do before we move on to the actual sabers we will be using. This drill is called 'Push Hands' and is both a weapons and a bare-hand exercise. We start with our weapons touching, and then we try to create an opening and strike while keeping our weapons close together."

Wei started by pushing Hina's weapon down and to the outside to try to create an opening close to her upper body.

[Hina Amaterasu]

*Drawing her hand quickly in a circling-motion around Wei's pipe, her own followed, and quickly was on the inside of the two, pointed down, pushing out and forwards..*

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei let her push his metal pipe farther out. When it looked like she had let her arm stray far enough away from her body, Wei whipped the pipe around hers and aimed a soft, accurate attack to her ribs.

[Hina Amaterasu]

*Reflex kicking in, she bent at the hips, ducking down under the incoming pipe, while sidestepping to the right.. As she moved away in the opposite direction as Wei's weapon was traveling, she brought her own pipe in towards her instructor's hips..*

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei flicked his wrist and moved outwards, catching his Padawan's weapon on his own. Wei spun his pipe around hers and the two found themselves at the starting position.

"You're very fast, Hina. Bear in mind that this drill is about opening and closing 'gates.' You have to find a way to open the gate to your opponent's weak areas. You've done a fair job of it so far."

Wei began to step around her now. "It's all about circles, Padawan. We make circles with our weapons, and in our footwork there are also circles. Keep your circles controlled, and find a way to control your opponent."

Wei continued his circle, and also continued to keep his piped touching Hina's.

[Hina Amaterasu]

So I'm to try and bring you and your weapon into a position where I could easily strike, or otherwise take advantage, of a weak spot?

*Unsure of what weak spots Wei could have that she would possibly be able to take advantage of, Hina kept pace with her Master's circling, trying to find something..*

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei chuckled. "I'll talk you through my motions, ok?"

The paternal grin crossed Wei's face as he made his next move. "See, I move your weapon outward, so I can fold up your arm and pin it to you. Then I push on you. After that, I strike while you're off balance."

Wei watched for Hina's reactions. There was always a way out. She just had to find it. "And don't be afraid to take a small hit. Scratches and cuts are not a problem here."

[Hina Amaterasu]

*Using the push as added momentum to her attempt at sidestepping horizontally away from Wei's pole, seemed to work.. It didn't bring her completely out of striking distance, but it gave her room enough to unfold her arm, and step back in with a twist of her wrist that brought her Master's weapon back on the inside of the two.. She rolled her stick around and down, leaving the two of them with the two pole's locked pointing down towards the floor between Hina's right foot, and Wei's left..*

Is that right? I would strike now?

[Wei Wu Wei]

"That was good. You can attempt a strike if you would like."

Wei looked himself over to look for any open spots. "Do you see a vulnerable area?"

[Hina Amaterasu]

*Looking him over, Hina nodded softly, and looked up, preferring to speak than strike.*

If I were to strike, I could punch at your right shoulder with my left hand, kick at your right shin with my left foot..

*She then pivoted on her left foot, her right arm keeping Wei's pole at bay as she moved her right foot in.*

Or I could try and trip up your right foot, with my own.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Wei watched her kick at his shin and then move her foot in for a tripping maneuver.

"Not bad," Wei said, stepping over her foot.

Then with one swift arcing motion, angled her pole and his pole down so that both poles contacted the other person's calf.

"Let's look at this for a minute, Hina," Wei said, pointing at the predicatment Wei had caused. "Who's winning right now?"

[Hina Amaterasu]

*Feeling Wei's weapon against her leg with the solidity of her own as it was against him, Hina merely shrugged her shoulders slightly, before speaking, unsure entirely of what he wanted her to say..*

Well.. Neither of us are in a position to win as such right now, off this position alone. If we had swords, both of our legs would be gone. But aside from that, I can't imagine any situation in my training here to put me in a position of winning, since I'm just learning..

[Wei Wu Wei]

"You're right. Neither one of us is winning. It all depends on what we do next."

Wei slid his weapon out from between Hina's leg and weapon and in a quick turn, swung at her neck.