Hands Up, Chin Down (Vincent)

[Sora Inoue]

Lately Sora had been using tai-chi as a vent for stress and just to get away from every day hassle a lot more often than he did. The slow movements that matched with the rhythmic breathing made it easy to clear out thoughts. It was relaxing. Though most of the time he practiced this during a free weekend after paper work. For whatever reason the distant whisper of Sarah's narration came more often. It was harder to control hearing this voice, but with focus from such a flowing martial art, it sometimes gave him satisfying results.

After a while, it grew old to have 'me time' so often. Sora still wanted the vent, but even his fiancé felt it would be good for him to be around other people too. So he thought he'd give a self-defense seminar that a co-worker was teaching a try. He already had a good grip on a few martial arts, but it was someplace to go to.

There were a gaggle of students there. Some he already knew, but many were just some he's seen in the hallways of the school. There were a few other adults too. One, Vincent Meian, was up in front of the class, obviously there to guide the students. The others were just mixed in the handful of students. Maybe they were there to help, or just for similar reasons as Sora. Either way the Japanese man paid them little mind as he stayed near the back and began to follow the instructor.

[Vincent Meian]

Having been one of the few teachers with the time, experience or patience to teach the self-defense course offered by the school when its previous instructor left, Vincent had been head of this class for about eight months. The cycle of students in and out was fairly rapid, given that most of the instruction could easily be learned and mastered by all but the most uncoordinated of students over the course of four to six weeks. Of course, there were advanced lessons for those that wished to learn more, but few students (and fewer staff) took him up on the offer, choosing most frequently to attend the martial arts studio in town if continuing their studies. He didn't mind; in fact, he encouraged such diversity, since Josef Muller and himself knew very different styles of martial combat.

Today's lesson had been near the end of the basic course and had involved breaking a variety of grabs by a person bigger and stronger than yourself. Anyone familiar with the particular style being used would have identified the techniques as very similar to aikido with not a few touches of true karate - attempts at grabs were deflected, successful grabs ended in arm locks, sweeps or throws. The variety of techniques was small, but effective, and the more advanced students who had been through this before broke off into pairs with less experienced students. The trainer himself kept an eye on the proceedings, answering questions and correcting stances with nudges and repositioning.

Having noticed the other Japanese man earlier in the class, Vincent stepped away from the group for a moment while still watching them carefully - a wrong throw could do more damage than a bad fall, and not all his students had mastered the techniques applied. Moving to the side of the room, he greeted the fellow trainer with a nod. "Forgive me for not greeting you sooner," he began, still keeping his tawny eyes on the class while occasionally making eye contact with the shorter man. "Are you interested in taking the course, or are you simply observing?"

[Sora Inoue]

Sora's eyes watched the students practice avoiding holds. It was a familiar routine that many styles used. It may grow tedious with practice, but it was useful in a match and was really worth it. A small smile went across Sora's lips as he watch the students show interest in martial arts. He had known some to loose interest once they learned it was more about self-control instead of just learning how to beat people up.

His attention was brought to the instructor as he approached, and nodded back to the taller man. "It's fine." He sighed. "I'd like to take the course." That's what he came to do, so there was no point in backing out now. He gazed sweeped over the students again. While the idea of slipping out of holds was routine, the style would vary from art to art.

"Judo or aikido?" Sure he could've asked if it might've also been jujustu, but Sora already doubted that it was judo or jujustu the fellow trainer was teaching. The two were known as hard grappling styles that caused more injury towards the opponent than aikido. It made more sense to teach them something that would cause less damage to their practice buddy but still get the job done.

Turning back to the instructor, he introduced himself. "I'm Sora Inoue." He had to mentally kick himself to get him to say his given name first. It was a hard habit to get into, but he was working on it. He had found it tempting to introduce himself in Japanese as well, but decided against to keep practicing his heavily accented English.

[Vincent Meian]

Vincent nodded almost idly. A number of teachers had taken the course simply because it was a free instruction. He didn't mind as such, and having someone a bit larger and more careful than most students tended to mean that there was less of a chance of him hurting them if he used the techniques to their fullest. That, and trainers especially got a lot out of this course - it could be used quite effectively on hard-to-handle students, with or without physical powers. Super strength meant nothing against proper leverage.

Perceptive. "In large part, aikido," the taller man replied, taking careful note of a nearby pair before relaxing. "There are elements of kempo and karate as well, where leg sweeps are more effective." Before he'd grown to his abnormal height, the older man had been a rather short student and had begun his training in the gentle martial art before progressing into others more suitable for his stature. He still knew more in aikido than other styles, to the point of progressing far in iaido as well, but it was good to have a mix that actually suited the combatant.

The introduction brought his full attention, however, and the long-haired trainer took the proffered hand with only the most minor of hesitations. (He was still getting used to that cultural norm a year later.) "Vincent Meian," he replied in kind, his own accent flowing around the name somewhat interestingly despite being very practiced. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

[Sora Inoue]

Sora had never found use for such techniques during training sessions. Granted he hadn't been at the job for too long, but he found that quiet and calming exercises worked best with the involuntary powers he worked with. Having a balanced mind always seemed to help keep things in control, at least to an extent.

He nodded at the answer. Looking more closely there were some harder moves occasionally in the mix of things. Sora was most familiar with the harder grappling style of Judo. While it was most widely known as a sport where the opponents don't hold back, he practiced it more closely to it's traditional form of Jujutsu. Tai-chi was the other martial art he was most comfortable with. It was calming and helpful many times. Other than that he wasn't constantly working with the other styles, and was closer to saying he had a working idea of them rather than being able to use them in emergencies.

Looking down at Vincent's hand reminded Sora of this habit he was still trying to work his way into. He grasped the tall man's hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you too." Vincent's speech was well practiced, but the Japanese accent was still lingering, and Sora could just hear it. The corners of his lips turned up into a polite smile towards the introduction.

[Vincent Meian]

As someone whose own power was emotively driven, Sora's stance on a calm mind being the best tool was something the other trainer held close to heart. In fact, the only real way to control his abilities was to remain unruffled, free of either fear or anger in their most extreme settings. Given that his own students tended to be far more varied than the average trainer (and many of them violent), the use of meditation tended to come after a subduing of one sort or another.

After taking the brief handshake, which had been firm but not aggressive, the older man asked, "I would prefer to see your level of ability when the class ends, if that is suitable." Since the class was only an hour, it was due to be called any minute regardless. For now, though, there were too many people moving all at once, and the tall man excused himself to stop another pair of students and adjust the beginner's stance before moving back on his patrol between the groups.

A few minutes later, the students were dismissed and Vincent returned to the other man's area. "Let us begin," he offered, gesturing out to the floor. "What arts are you most comfortable with?"

[Sora Inoue]

When it came to controlling his power, Sora could relate. It wasn't really all the time though. He needed to just keep enough composure from talking back to "imaginary" voices, and staying calm to avoid out of body experiences. Getting worked up never helped in either time.

"Alright." It worked with him. It was always frustrating to learn something again for the nth time, but going way over his skill level could be potentially dangerous. Of course, Sora could wait the few minutes before they actually engaged in martial arts. There really wasn't a hurry, it wasn't a dire emergency after all. He watched as the taller man guided a student's stance and watched the others carefully. He was doing well to teach a larger group. Something Sora wasn't too experienced in.

As the students filed out, the younger man entered the floor with Vincent's motion. "Judo and Tai Chi." It was quite the contrast actually. One that could cause quite a bit of damage, and another that was graceful and more thought of as an exercise now a days. Granted, he never really used the former as a sport, and knew to hold back, it was still interesting for him to realize the differences in each art.

[Vincent Meian]

Indeed it was a contrast. The raised eyebrows showed both the surprise at the news and just how impressed the taller man was with the variance, even both emotions were subdued in his expression. It wasn't too much different from his own expertise, actually, though the polarity of styles was very intriguing. It would be interesting to see the meshing of techniques, if they both ended up teaching each other.

"You must have a strong understanding of basic form, then," he stated, stopping his movement and positioning himself with both feet even before the other man. "Neither art is a beginner's choice. How long have you been training in such?"

Vincent himself never completed his training in any of the martial arts he knew, but he'd been training the techniques he did know over the last thirty years. It made his reactions fast and his maneuvers second-nature, even in day-to-day life. He hadn't taken a full-force strike in a sparring match for a long while, though that was also partially due to the fact that most of his opponents were children. It would certainly be different with an adult who had not only more training than that of a high school student, but different schools of martial arts than Vincent's own.