Re: Keeping The Edge

[Tenzin]

Tenzin smiles. "Sounds like fun though. I haven't been camping in a real long time. I might have to go do that this summer if the Sept lets me leave for a while. Take a weekend down into Kentucky or something. I hear they have a really big park down there that's pretty awesome. Something about a weird bridge made out of stone. I'm going to have to check that out. It'll be a fun way to bond with Gaia I suppose. Maybe I'll find a few Garou around here to take with me. Eh I'm sure I can find a few I like. Who knows."

[Dia Halliwell]

"A stone bridge? Like made out of cobble stone or something and not the concrete and steel ones you see everywhere?" Camping was something they'd done when she was little. She vaguely remembered trying to reel in a fish and managing to knock herself and her father into the lake. As she got older though time seemed to fly by so fast and they hadn't managed to schedule another outing. If she was invited to go she wouldn't mind getting out of the city for a while to be able to breathe some fresh air. However she wasn't going to mention it, especially not after that last comment he made. She'd thought they were getting along well enough. They did just meet so  she didn't expect him to actually like her or anything, yet? Maybe they could become friends only time would tell.

While waiting for Tenzin to answer her question Dia put her glasses back on. Looking at her fingers she started rubbing them on her jeans so she wouldn't mark up her face again. She usually wound up covered in the stuff but right now she needed to be more careful. She was interacting with someone and didn't need to go and make herself all filthy.

[Tenzin]

Tenzin looked her over. Had he said something wrong? She seemed off. Must've been something he said. He glanced her over and thought on it. Well so far she was the only person who was worth his time of day at the moment. Probably be one of few.

"It'll probably be in April or May, I recommend you have your things together by then."

[Dia Halliwell]

"W-WHAT?!" startled Diana fumbles trying to put her glasses back on so she can get a better look at Tenzin. Was he kidding? She has a look of total shock on her face "M-me?" finally getting her glasses on proper she looks at him trying to determine if he was being genuine or just picking on her

[Tenzin]

Tenzin raises an eyebrow while looking at her.

"Yeah why not? You're the closest I have to a friend here. You're definitely the one I talk to most. Maybe my family will want to go. I haven't spent much time with them since they 'disappeared'. Funny how family drop off the map when they shift isn't it?" Tenzin thinks on it. "Yeah a good ole trip down to the national park in Kentucky. It'll be a fun time. I look forward to it!"

[Dia Halliwell]

Her jaw drops a little and she starts stammering. Finally she stops and takes a deep breath, a slight blush dusting across her face "I uh.....I'll see if my family is alright with me leaving for a few days...." There is a small smile on her face. She might have a friend. The thought made her happy. Adjusting her glasses again she looks at Tenzin "I wouldn't know about family dropping off the map when they shift, how many of yours have changed?"

[Tenzin]

"Uhhh four that I know of now? It's kind of amusing to me now. The whole 'I wonder where my cousins went?' sort of thing. However here we all are, fighting for Gaia and such. I suppose it's kind of like the family business. Killing monsters and stuff..." Tenzin does not seem as amused by the last thought. "Anyway yeah we can go camping. It'll be fun."

[Dia Halliwell]

Diana would smile at him "Well I'm glad you were able to reconnect with your family" she looks around the training room "I take it a lot of people don't train much? We've been here a while and no one else has wandered in..."

[Tenzin]

"I have no idea. Then again I wouldn't be surprised if almost no one trained. I think people just assume that they will be ready no matter what. I think that's what shows the difference between a future Elder of the nation and a Fostern Firecracker. Loud, pretty, and gone in an instant. You should train too sometime. You know how to fight right?"

[Dia Halliwell]

"I...uh..." Diana looks down at her sketch pad, closes the book, and sighs heavily "Sorta? I mean..." She starts to nervously fidget with her sleeves "They tried...they really did...I'm just rubbish at fighting..." Worlds worst Garou right here ladies and gentlemen. "Always have been..."

[Tenzin]

"You're a Theurge, I don't expect a master warrior but you don't know how to fight... at all? I would hope your Den Parent or Warder or master Ahroun or someone would have been able to train you in how to defend yourself or best a foe who's attacking the Caern. Can you not even block a punch?" Tenzin looks legitimately disturbed by what she just said. Like how does one Garou without knowing how to fight? It was their actual job description. The Garou nation was like the Marines, sure you had your 'job' but everyone had to be 'infantry' first foremost. It was the base foundation of the Garou. Everyone is supposed to be able to fight or slay an opponent. Why did no one make sure she could. This was unacceptable. Half-Ass Den Parents at Septs who couldn't do their jobs.

[Dia Halliwell]

"N-no I can...sorta...I'm just not very good at it...I got the basics down." she doesn't stop fidgeting "Blocking is easy and I've always been able to take a punch" Defending her self was never really a problem. Fighting back to end the fight was. She knew she was horrible in physical combat, that's why she'd learned the few tricks she did to try and keep her self out of physical confrontation. She'd hoped she could find someone who would be willing to train her more because she knew she couldn't always avoid fist fights. Especially not now that she was Garou, and she really did want to learn.   

[Tenzin]

Tenzin looked like he was in shock. Bad teachers were bad it seemed. He'd have to fix it. A Philodox's work was never over it seemed. Taking a brave smile he chuckled and placed his hands on his hips.

"Well I already planned on getting a few jobs teaching in school. Guess I'll have to take you in as a student. I'll make sure to let you know where I'm teaching once I get the jobs and such. I'm a decent teacher. I'm sure I'll get you at least able to take down a famori or two."

[Dia Halliwell]

He meant well, she was sure of it. She was just worried that him trying to teach her would ruin the friendship they were just starting to develop. Not to mention the thought of learning in front of other student made her stomach queasy. "I uh...." she would sigh softly "Guess I could see if I'm allowed to after school..." She really didn't want to try and learn in front of others. Especially if he was talking about training around humans. If he had meant here at the sept she would have felt more comfortable with it. Asking her father if she could take classes wouldn't be a problem. She was pretty sure he was going to try and sign her up for some again anyways. Diana didn't want to offend Tenzin by turning down his nice offer but she was pretty sure he was going to regret offering fairly soon after they started.

[Tenzin]

"Well there's no guarantees I'm going to get the job but I think they're idiots if they don't hire me. Like they're going to find anybody better than me at martial arts. Sounds like a bad joke if you ask me." Tenzin smirked. He was proud of his skill in the art. Though it was a pleasure to teach others the thing he loved and see them prosper in it. It was going to be fun to teach again and this time hopefully make some money. It was going to be a good time. He was looking forward to it.

[Dia Halliwell]

Diana would chuckle softly "I'm sure they'll hire you. You seem to know what you're doing so I don't see why they wouldn't...unless they want someone older which would just be silly"

((sorry it's too early and my brain isn't functioning enough to make a longer post....))

[Tenzin]

Tenzin nodded. Ironically it seemed like a lot of teachers were either older Asian men, or middle aged Geijen who were more adrenaline junkie than true martial artist. Well at least that's how Tae Kwon Do looked in when you looked in upon it in his eyes. It was kind of sad but hopefully he could make an impact upon the city with his skills and passion. With that thought he looked at Dia and gave her a once over.

"So do you have a pair of shorts and a t shirt or at least something that is not blue jeans and a sweater in that backpack? Though if you don't I'm sure we could do some punching drills. The sweater will help you heat up faster so you can get more of a work out. Yeah, we could totally get a good healthy work out in for you!"

[Dia Halliwell]

"H-huh?" She had to pause and think for a moment. No she didn't have extra clothes in her back pack however she did have a tank top and leggings on under her clothes. It was still cold outside most days. "I...have something that might work I guess..." she looked around to see if she could find a door that might lead to a changing room. She hadn't looked at the room very well when she first came it. And it never occurred to her that she might wind up training or something.

[Tenzin]

What was she looking around for? Oh right, she had to change. Tenzin glanced around and tried to find a room. Sure enough, there was some sort of hallway in the corner of the room. Down it they would find multiple doors. One marked men and the other women. Behind those doors, one would find locker rooms and showers and restrooms. It would look very much one would expect the average locker room at a gym to look. Across from those doors one would find a weight lifting room and at the end of the hall is an Olympic sized swimming pool. It appeared the Caern literally thought of anything. Tenzin wondered what else he could find if he thoroughly explored the floor.

[Dia Halliwell]

Dia set her sketch book down, picked up her backpack, and followed Tenzin to where she assumed the changing room was. "T-thank you" she said quietly and quickly disappeared behind the door to the women's locker room. Once inside she removed her outer layer of clothes till she was just in her tank top and leggings. After 'changing' she checked her reflection in the mirror. Would this be ok to train in? She felt really awkward with so few layers. Thankfully the tank top was one of her longer ones so she wouldn't have to worry about it riding up and it sorta covered her butt. Maybe she could keep her sweater wrapped around her waist? She knew other girls walked around wearing leggings like they were pants but she was too self conscious to do that.

Sighing because she couldn't keep stalling with out making Tenzin angry she headed back out. When she got back into the training room she stood there holding her sweater in front of her nervously "Um...is this ok to train in?"

[Tenzin]

Diana disappeared into the lady's room and we walked down to the men's locker room. Oh thank Gaia there were showers. He smiled and rinsed his head under a shower real quick. The Garou found found a towel to dry off before tossing it in a laundry bin and kept walking. He stood outside in his refreshed 'glory'. Tenzin felt clean again and it was nice. Chuckling as she took some how longer than him. Well it kinda creepy it to stand right outside the door.

Tenzin stood at the end of the hall. Let's see, he'd start with form and stance first. After all one needed a strong foundation before one could build the house. Hearing her voice, Tenzin turned and looked at her. Well this got awkward real quick. Who knew that there was a body hidden under the layers she normally wear. There were curves. Tenzin would've been flustered if he didn't know how to quickly put down such thoughts fast. Though seriously, wow. She looked good, real good. Litany. The Philodox turned and started to walk away.

"Yeah, that's fine." Tenzin gestured for her to follow him back into the room. He stood in the middle of it. "Okay stand right here in the middle of the room, facing the punching bag. We're going to to through stance first. We're going to make sure you know how to stand before we worry about to walk or run."

[Dia Halliwell]

 He said what she was wearing was fine so quietly Diana scurried after him into the room. She headed over to where she left her book and set her sweater on top of it. If they were going to work on stance then the sweater would just get in the way if she had it wrapped around her waist. Punching drills it might not have gotten in the way but he'd apparently changed his mind about what they were going to work on first. As she headed to where he'd told her to stand she stumbled but managed to keep her balance and not fall on her face. Go her! "O-ok stance. Got it....how am I supposed to stand?"

She wasn't sure what running or walking had to do with what he was trying to teach her but he was the expert here not her. So she'd follow his lead and instructions as best as she could. If she focused and thought of it like learning about history, or spirits, or something else maybe she could get a better grasp and understanding of it!

Adjusting her glasses she looked to see how Tenzin was standing. He didn't appear to be standing any differently than normal so she couldn't just try and mimic what he was doing. She made sure she was facing the punching bag, out of habit she had one hand clenching one of her wrist in front of her while she waited instructions. Once they actually got started she wouldn't feel so self conscious about what she was wearing or what they were doing but since nothing had happened yet it was still way to weird to not be wearing layers.

[Tenzin]

"Alright.  Here's what the proper stance is going to look like."  Tenzin dropped into a stance that could be seen almost anywhere.  Hands up in fists at chest level, knees bent so that he could be light on his feet.  His body was centered facing her while his left foot was forward and the other back.  Both were up on the balls of the feet.  His chest facing the punching bag mostly. He held the stance so she could observe it and attempt to mimic it.

"Now you don't have to be on the balls of your feet like I am but it is something you're going to need to strive for. The less rotted you are, the faster you get and the quicker you can dance around an opponent or get out of the way. So just try to mimic me the best you can and then I'll start correcting your stance."

<For a more visual reference>

[Dia Halliwell]

She would observe his stance as best she could. "Alright so this foot forward.." She'd adjust so her left foot is forward and her right foot is back looking down as she did it to make sure it looked sorta like how Tenzin was standing "Hands like...this?" Looking back up she'd look at his chest to make sure she roughly had her hands in the right spot. His chest, oh sweet Gaia she just now realized he was shirtless.

You'd think she'd have realized sooner since he threw his shirt at her and she had been drawing him but no. Being in her artist mind set she was more focused on how to draw what she was looking at then exactly what she was looking at. Dia had to admit though he did have a very nice frame. You could tell he worked out and that he was athletic. He had muscles but not like the I work out 6 days a week and bench press a freight car type muscles.

The Theurge quickly looked back down at her own hands as she felt the blush creeping across her face. Ok no stop thinking about that you need to focus on what he's teaching you! Hands in fist, on the balls of your feet, focus!


She did her best to mimic him but it was obvious she had her hands not high enough, they weren't in proper fists, and she was wobbling slightly as she tried to gain her balance on the balls of her feet.

[Tenzin]

Tenzin sized up this solid attempt at a fighting stance. It was what he expected to see from a Theurge who had not been properly taught to fight. No big deal though. He could fix this and he would. Even if he had to take some personal time with the punching bag later.

"No, no. Your fists are wrong. Raise them a bit higher. They need to be about chest. They have to be able to both raise and lower to block attacks if you are not able to get out of the way or strike faster. Your fists are also... here let me help you. Your right foot, move it slightly more to your right. It'll help you balance a bit more. I don't want you to fall." Dia was advised kindly.

Tenzin put some more emphasis on where his fists were located. He threw a few mock blocks, showing how from just below the waist to his head he had complete cover and could block quickly. His stance seemed almost over stressed, it was hard for him not to bounce while in this stance. Once she had the stance, he'd worry about those fists. He was nervous she'd break her thumb when she punched something.

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