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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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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