Toshizou Hijikata ♦ 土方 歳三 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
koukai_kirai) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
xavier_institute_logs2014-10-29 10:51 am
koukai_kirai) wrote in xavier_institute_logs2014-10-29 10:51 am
Entry tags:
Somehow I'll Make a Man Out of You [OPEN]
WHO: Hijikata, members of the Kendo Club, prospective Kendo Club members
WHAT: Kendo training!
WHERE: In the gymnasium, since it's too chilly to train outside
WHEN: Backdated to Saturday evening (the 25th), 7-9 PM, and possibly later.
WARNING(S): Potential for mild violence, but probably not anything too bad.
They were unprepared.
His stomach turned, every time he thought of the small army Sublime had brought into a school of sleeping children. Were they brave? Many of them. Clever? A few.
But brave and clever didn't mean too damn much against automatic weapons. He taught history, he knew that. They meant something, but usually not enough. They were lucky this time, as they'd sometimes been before, but not always. They couldn't rely on luck, not with the sort of enemies they had just by daring to be alive in this world.
What could he give his students, then, in the wake of such a reminder? Some would give comfort, but he'd never quite known how to do that, himself, and it rarely seemed quite right to him. They needed to understand the danger they were in. How were they to protect themselves, without that?
No, what he could give them was what he'd always given. He could help them learn self-control, help them learn courage and steady-heartedness and quick thinking... And for his own part, he could show them how to move on when these things happened, unbent and unwavering, even in a world with little comfort.
It was difficult to see the difference in him since the attack with eyes alone -- he was the same as ever, straight-backed and cold-eyed, tall and proud as he walked into the training area with his long hair pulled back and his sword in hand. Those who had known him for a long time might have been able to pick up on a little shift in the atmosphere around him, but it was slight, difficult to pin down.
"We'll be starting with the usual footwork drills and katas. After 20 minutes, you're to split into pairs -- you'll find your partner on the list over there by the door. Any newcomers or anyone who got left off the list, tell me now."
Once that was settled, he continued: "We'll be drilling a disarming technique which most of you will be unfamiliar with. Those of you who've studied it before, help your partners, and keep a close eye on your own form. We'll continue from there with supervised 3-on-one practice -- again, you'll find your groups posted by the door -- and then one-on-one sparring."
"If there are no questions, begin."
[OOC: Feel free to use this as a mingle thread, to have your character request extra 1-on-1 training after the group meeting, or to hit Hijikata up for mentoring without the swordfighting!]
WHAT: Kendo training!
WHERE: In the gymnasium, since it's too chilly to train outside
WHEN: Backdated to Saturday evening (the 25th), 7-9 PM, and possibly later.
WARNING(S): Potential for mild violence, but probably not anything too bad.
They were unprepared.
His stomach turned, every time he thought of the small army Sublime had brought into a school of sleeping children. Were they brave? Many of them. Clever? A few.
But brave and clever didn't mean too damn much against automatic weapons. He taught history, he knew that. They meant something, but usually not enough. They were lucky this time, as they'd sometimes been before, but not always. They couldn't rely on luck, not with the sort of enemies they had just by daring to be alive in this world.
What could he give his students, then, in the wake of such a reminder? Some would give comfort, but he'd never quite known how to do that, himself, and it rarely seemed quite right to him. They needed to understand the danger they were in. How were they to protect themselves, without that?
No, what he could give them was what he'd always given. He could help them learn self-control, help them learn courage and steady-heartedness and quick thinking... And for his own part, he could show them how to move on when these things happened, unbent and unwavering, even in a world with little comfort.
It was difficult to see the difference in him since the attack with eyes alone -- he was the same as ever, straight-backed and cold-eyed, tall and proud as he walked into the training area with his long hair pulled back and his sword in hand. Those who had known him for a long time might have been able to pick up on a little shift in the atmosphere around him, but it was slight, difficult to pin down.
"We'll be starting with the usual footwork drills and katas. After 20 minutes, you're to split into pairs -- you'll find your partner on the list over there by the door. Any newcomers or anyone who got left off the list, tell me now."
Once that was settled, he continued: "We'll be drilling a disarming technique which most of you will be unfamiliar with. Those of you who've studied it before, help your partners, and keep a close eye on your own form. We'll continue from there with supervised 3-on-one practice -- again, you'll find your groups posted by the door -- and then one-on-one sparring."
"If there are no questions, begin."
[OOC: Feel free to use this as a mingle thread, to have your character request extra 1-on-1 training after the group meeting, or to hit Hijikata up for mentoring without the swordfighting!]
no subject
"It isn't that exactly." He hadn't hurt anyone, after all, hadn't really broken form. It had only been his air, but that had been cause enough to say something, and now he was committed to saying it.
"We received a reminder, the other day. It's not unnatural to be shaken up by it."
He doesn't judge him, is what he's trying to get across. Unsure whether it was communicated properly and unable to elaborate more, he pushes on. "But one core purpose of training is to make yourself better than your natural instincts. Without a well-trained mind, a well-trained body is useless. Do you understand?"
no subject
For most of his life, Alric had trained rigorously to establish the discipline he'd achieved. He might not call it impeccable, and he couldn't deny he had even slipped a handful of times in the past, but he was able to function in a working environment most people would describe as somewhere between "hostile" and "abusive." To be lectured now on the value of discipline by-...
Alric might not express it, but that angry young man Hijikata had expected is certainly still in there, if carefully restrained. But the anger only flashes, briefly, in his eyes; he lets out a slow, calm breath, his smile just a little thinner than it might otherwise have been.
"...you are right, of course, Hijikata-sensei. I am familiar with Yagyu Munenori." He pauses, smiling a little more, although there's still a bit of an edge to his bearing; he speaks pleasantly, but there remains something angry, possibly even a bit sardonic about it, under that insulation. "If I made some error, sensei, I feel it would be best that I know precisely what it was... ..or... ...were you concerned, instead, about my mood?"
...it could be this is Hijikata's way of expressing personal, rather than professional concern. Alric had known men not so different from him--Alric's own grandfather, it seemed, wasn't so different from him--and they often had difficulty opening up without some impersonal buffer between their feelings and others. In fairness, Alric had picked up that habit, himself, even if it was--in his mind, at least--more for the protection of those he was close to than for his own.
no subject
His own frustrations and weaknesses are buried deeper; it's hard for the uninitiated to guess when there's something underneath the still waters of his calm and when there isn't, at times. He hears that purposeful breath, sees the thin edge of his smile, and lets them both pass by him. He's not here for a fight, after all.
"...I told you that this wasn't about a specific error. You'd know if it was." Without more than a hint, most likely.
It was telling that he didn't address the last of what Alric had said. Emotions weren't his strong suit, weren't something he felt comfortable discussing at excessive length, but that was precisely what had been cause for concern, wasn't it?
no subject
Interesting.
Alric paused a moment, puzzled (and, partly, for effect), and then chuckled, scratching lightly at the back of his head. He had an inkling, but he'd clearly have to tease out an answer, and perhaps provide a context in which Hijikata was willing to express it. To begin with, pretend he totally answered the question.
"..ah.. I apologize, sensei, but I'm afraid I still don't quite follow. I trust you wouldn't have called me out, without being concerned for some reason... if not an error I've made... ...one that you fear I may, in the future..? If so, your guidance would, of course, be most appreciated."
no subject
"Being overfocused can get as much in your way as being unfocused can," he said, shying away again from overt discussion of emotions and their state. "It's putting you off balance."
Or, to phrase it as anyone else might, he was concerned that Alric was channeling his feelings into his training enough to be detrimental to both.
no subject
...ah.
After a few pensive seconds, he smiled a little to himself, and nodded.
"I see... I'll try to be careful of that, sensei. Balance, I suppose, does not come entirely naturally to me... I can't help but be concerned that, perhaps, to the contrary, I've been too complacent, here. That I should be pushing harder--helping others to push harder, as well--that I do my friends, here, a disservice by holding back too much in training, for example."