fandomhighdorms | The Salle; Wednesday Afternoon (lunch through sixth period)

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The Salle; Wednesday Afternoon (lunch through sixth period)

While waiting for Henry, Setsuna was working a few forms with the gorgeous Narnian sword Peter had brought for her, getting use to its balance, its weight. It was lighter than she remembered Rhindon being, but it was also so short, by comparrison to Yuunagi, but she still liked the feel of it. Not nearly as graceful, but that was the style, and she could easily adapt to it. She quickly initiated a few sequences. Yes, she could definately get used to using her....

[[ she's expecting

henryoredward eventually, maybe, but salle's open for all use ]]

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Henry peered at the Western sword. "It is lovely, but I agree with you. If I'm to learn, it's best done properly." Henry was a little fidgety, and smiling. He was rather excited. "Is Daisuke the type of blade, or the name of the sword?"

Setsuna nodded as she put the Western sword away and pulled out two Eastern ones, the one she was using the other day and a smaller one, just as sleek but designed different, with a hilt and a bit more curve. "Daisuke is his name; he is a katana, which you may remember me having mentioned earlier." She looked at him for a moment, judging his fidgeting and determining if he could catch the sword if she tossed it to him, and figured she might as well. If he didn't, then she'd definately have an idea on his reflexes.

She tossed Diasuke lightly over to him. "The name means 'Great Helper," so he should be perfect for a beginner." She took up her nodachi. "And this is Yuunagi, which means 'Evening Calm.' The name of a blade is very important to Eastern warriors. It forms a connection between the warrior and the weapon; without that connection, you cannot become a great warrior."

She beamed a little proudly at that. That turned out to be an excellent way to introduce Henry to all of this.

It's awkward and sloppy, but Henry managed to catch Daisuke. He held it in his right hand, looking carefully at it. "Daisuke, great helper," he memorized.

Setsuna smiled a little, quietly interpretating how he caught the sword. He did catch Daisuke; that was the important part. It showed that there was definately a lot of hope. She nodded. "Right, then. I think I've figured out what we'll do for our first session then. I want you to get to know him. You can talk to him, but I'll warn you, he's not going ot talk back, not in any language you'll be able to understand for quite a while now. The best way to get to know a sword is just to spend time with it. You said your experience in fencing has been limited, but are you familiar with basic forms? Work through them, and pay very close attention to how you're holding the sword, how it's moving, how it shifts in your hand. Pay attention to it, like you would..a...lover..."

She bit her lip and blushed a bit, realizing the comparrison came from her before she could stop it. She's got to stop reading those Edo romances...

Henry was more or less with Setsuna until she said the word "lover." Then his face turns red and he nearly drops Daisuke. "What?"
He started to calm down, and searched for another simile. He knew what Setsuna meant, even if her word choice did throw him off. Get to understand it like someone you love.
Like Emma.
He nearly blushed again, this time for an entirely different reason. But he took a breath and settled down.
"Okay."

Setsuna winced sharply at the reaction, holding in her own temptation to flail. But she was the sensei in this situation, so flailing wouldn't help. She drew in a breath. "Um, anyway, yes. Do you, uh, know basic forms, then?"

Somewhat more calm, Henry shook his head.

Setsuna nodded a bit. That meant they'd have to backtrack a bit, but...

"That's actually a good thing, because then I can start you out on Eastern forms without having to worry too much about your Western forms influencing them. I'll show you, and you can just follow me. It may feel a little strange at first, but just try to focus on me and your sword." She finched a bit, scolding her brain. That wasn't even remotely euphamistic, stop taking it like that!

"Now, there are three basic ways to start Eastern forms. The most common is with your sword in front of you, hands holding it thus, parallel to the floor." She set herself stiffly, arms extended in front of her with her one hand on Yuunagi's sheath, one hand on the hilt, and looked over to Henry for him to follow her example.

Henry mimicked her stance, looking back and forth from his own posture to Setsuna’s, trying to get it down. He noticed the sturdiness of the posture, but took it a little too far, standing rigid.

"Relax your shoulders," Setsuna corrected him, watching him from the corner of her eye. "Try not to grip so tightly. You don't want to choke the flow of energy from your hand to the hilt." Still, she was impressed with how he held himself or, at the very least, his ability to follow directions and imitate what he was shown.

Henry took another breath, and his shoulders relaxed as he breathed out. He shifted his grip on Daisuke, trying to hold it firmly without it becoming a death grip.

Setsuna nodded in approval of the quick adjustments. "Now, we're going to separate sword from sheath. We want to do this slowly, moving the two parts away from each other with an even, steady pace. You should be able to feel the moment when they start to come apart..."

One eye was trained on her own sword, the other on Henry, as she slowly did exactly what she had described.

Henry did as Setsuna instructed, taking his time to pull the blade out of the sheath. He tried his best to get a feel for the blade. He hadn't a clue how it was supposed to feel, or what would make this one different from another, but once the sword was drawn, he tried to take note of what it was like.

"Good, now, slowly pull it out of the sheath and back over your shoulder, like so." Setsuna demonstrated as she spoke. "You'll want to lower the sheath down to yours side, but you want to try to make the movements balanced, equal. As soon as the blade is freed, the temptation to lower it from this position will be strong, but try to resist it. It's just a shift in balance trying to throw you off. The movements may seem very slow, but that is the point of the forms, to take your time, to languish in each and every moment..."

Henry continues to take his time. Just as Setsuna warned, he does get rather wobbly when he pulls the blade back. He starts to get the death grip again, but he stops himself from being too stiff.

Setsuna was impressed with how aware of himself Henry seemed. She described the continuation of the form further, instructing Henry as they moved. "Carefully move the foot back behind you, turn your hips with it, but not your shoulders, not yet. They follow behind as you pull the sword back. Not quite over the shoulder...Yes, there, that's good. Now, abandon the slowness. Slice the sword down quickly!" Setsuna's voice matched the sudden movement of her blade. She held it pointing downward until Henry got there, too.

Henry was feeling fine with the slow part, but he jolted a little at Setsuna's command, whapping the sword down to the ground. "Ah!"
Henry almost freaked out before realizing that he probably couldn't break the sword if he tried. He still felt bad, though.

Setsuna bit her lip against a grin. "That's good, Henry," she assured him. "Good energy, enthusiasm. Obviously, you need to work on control, but that's exactly what this form is for. Now, from here, you just repeat the process, without the removal from the sheath. Be slow as she pull the sword back up," which she did, "and quick," she swung, "as you bring it down. But you want to control the entire movement, despite how much gravity and momentum might say otherwise."

Henry tried it again. He brought the sword slowly up...and down!
It was a very jerky movement; this time he was scared to swing the sword down.

But at least he didn't hit the floor again. "Try a few more times; I'll just watch, so I can see how you're doing."

[[ i have to disappear shortly for a class and a work shift, just a head's up ]]

Henry nodded, and proceeded to go through the movements again. The first couple tries were just as jerky, but he seemed to be able to better gauge the distance after that. Confident that he wouldn't hit the floor, he was able to bring the sword down more naturally the next couple times.

[[Okay. That's actually good, I can stop procrastinating and do my homework. ^_^;;]]

Setsuna watched him carefully for a few rounds before commenting. "This is all quite good for a beginner, Henry. I'm very impressed." He was doing well. Especially with all that talk he had given her about not feeling adequeate for swordwork.

"Really?" Henry couldn't hold back a big smile. He was genuinely surprised.

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The Salle; Wednesday Afternoon (lunch through sixth period)

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