Shingyo Style Secrets [Shishiyuki, Makoto]

If Shishiyuki were less attentive of a teacher, she may have failed to notice the indication of pain from Makoto as she made her attempt at the technique. However, she had certainly been watching closely, and she moved over to take hold of Makoto's hand and look it over, checking for injury. When studying these sorts of advanced Hakuda, every injury needed to be treated as potentially serious.

"Do not push yourself too far, Makoto. Hakuda is a style which will only punish you for overcommitment. You will damage yourself more than your foes, and that is far from ideal."

After she had discerned that Makoto was not in immediate danger of suddenly perishing or losing her hand, Shishiyuki let go of her hand and returned to her role as observer once more.

"Continue. Carefully."

Studying the form, Shishiyuki nodded in approval, already planning the remainder of the lesson plan in her head. It would do no good to attempt to teach another technique in such a short amount of time, so they ought to do their best with this one.

"Better. Familiarize yourself a bit more with it, and then we will move on to the next part of the lesson. I want you to attempt to strike me in the solar plexus with the ryusha hakken once you are comfortable with its use. Rest assured that I will be perfectly well."

It was more hands-on than their typical lessons, but they needed results more efficiently than normal. Shishiyuki was not an easy target to strike-- doing so was, in itself, ample training.

Typically during their training sessions, Shishiyuki made it a point to give Makoto a bit of time to adjust, a window where she might familiarize herself. However, this was not a typical training session, and as such, they had no time to waste. Shishiyuki simply sidestepped the strike with very little effort, giving Makoto a weak blow that was only enough to send her a bit off-balance.

"Again."

This training may have been less gentle than normal, but Shishiyuki nevertheless had the same investment into it that she always had. Rather than simply explaining to Makoto how to correct her stance and technique, Shishiyuki simply stepped forward and corrected it by hand, moving Makoto's body into a more appropriate form herself. It was brief, and then Shishiyuki once more took up her defense, ready for Makoto's next attempt.

Shishiyuki certainly had to commend Makoto's ingenuity in this situation. Adapting to her evasive efforts in such a way was not something most of her students might have thought to do. Shishiyuki was, realistically, both physically strong enough and well-trained enough to simply use Makoto's own efforts against her, and for a moment she thought to do so. However, that would likely be counterproductive. The typical opponent would not be prepared at the degree Shishiyuki was, and so instead, she allowed Makoto to make the strike.

Of course, she had still prepared herself to actually take the blow, and so a strike that would certainly have laid most flat was mostly absorbed, instead merely requiring Shishiyuki take one step back to catch her balance. She nodded in approval, then took up a defensive posture once more.

"Again."

While a singular success was good, it only taught Makoto the bare basics of what the strike ought to feel like. Now it was a matter of refinement, perfection. She obviously could not teach the full possibilities of the ryusha hakken in only a few hours, but she would still do her utmost as a teacher.

"I did, yes. Your form was correct, and you applied the technique in an intelligent manner. I would rather imitate an opponent you are actually likely to engage if I am to teach you quickly."

Shishiyuki naturally grasped Makoto's intentions nearly instantly, but seeing as the woman had seemed insulted about her teacher going easy on her, she decided that she would not do so this time. Each of Makoto's attempts to catch her off guard were rather handily rebuffed, and as her palm came forward for the ryusha hakken, Shishiyuki simply grabbed her wrist before it could impact. This naturally left the two of them rather close to each other, but that was of little concern at the moment.

"The purpose of the ryusha hakken is to be applied swiftly, before the opponent can even be able to prepare themselves for combat. Do not think to make openings for it. It should only be used when there is already an opening."

Releasing Makoto and once more taking up her stance, Shishiyuki took a breath to center herself once more. This was certainly beginning to work up a bit of a sweat, wasn't it?