RP Log: Yukimura & Yanagi
Date: Jan. 3rd
Rating: G
Summary: Yukimura spars with Yanagi
Yukimura stepped into the gym, dressed for a workout. He'd been looking forward to this for weeks, since he'd gotten Yanagi's offer to help with easing him back into his martial arts and training.
He'd brought his cane, just in case, but he was hoping he wouldn't need it. After all, he'd been doing better at walking without it recently.
Yukimura didn't see Yanagi anywhere, so he lowered himself to the mats and started working through some of his stretches, keeping one eye on the door.
Yukimura didn't have to wait too long. Yanagi arrived less than five minutes later, done with his daily share of paperwork and speaking to another fellow agent. Since he had been an instructor at the dojo for so long, he thought that helping his comrade wouldn't be so hard, as long as he considered each detail about Yukimura's current health condition.
"Sorry for making you wait," he told the other man when he reached the training grounds, clad in his Aikido gear. "I haven't forgotten the promise I made, Yukimura-kun, and I'm happy to see you ready."
Yukimura smiled up at him from his spot on the floor. "Ah, it's no problem, Yanagi-san. Gave me some time to stretch out." He stood and brushed himself off a bit.
"I'm a little rusty, so go easy on me," he chuckled. "It's been a year since I've been able to practice at all, and I'll admit I'm not sure how much I can handle yet."
Physically, he felt fine, at the moment. Yukimura was mentally prepared to experience some pain, since he'd be using a few muscles that his physical therapy didn't quite reach.
Yanagi observed his workmate for some minutes as Yukimura did so, quietly checking on the info that the whole sequence gave him.
"If I went easy on you, I'd be underesdtimating and insulting you," but he smiled as he said such a thing. "Still, don't worry. I will try to not out unnecessary pressure on you, Yukimura."
Calmly, Yanagi stood in front of Yukimura and took his stance. "Aikido is a martial art that is essentialy defensive. So, you'll have to take the initiative..."
Yukimura smiled at Yanagi's comments. He was willing to bet that if it had been Sanada standing in front of him, his old friend would've tried to go easy on him. But here was a man who knew, somehow, that Yukimura didn't want to be treated as though he was made of glass.
And Yukimura knew his own body well enough to know when he'd reached his limits. He'd stop the sparring when he did, if needed.
Yukimura nodded and took his own stance, planning a little bit. He'd start off easy, not using his full speed or strength, more to test his own limits, but also to get a feel for Yanagi's ability. He wasn't sure how much his legs could handle, so he wouldn't do any kicks...at least, not yet.
Then, with a swift step forward, he let loose with a tsuki aimed for the center of Yanagi's chest.
A punch to his abdomen, eh? Yanagi swiftly blocked it with his hand and replied with a quick kote-gaeshi, throwing Yukimura to the ground yet being careful to give him enough space to roll away safely.
Yukimura had some knowledge of Aikido moves, so he knew how to roll when he was thrown like that. And roll he did, across the line from his shoulder to the opposite hip. He stood quickly and turned, never keeping his back to Yanagi for longer than was absolutely necessary.
A few steps forward, closing the space between them once again, with Yukimura moving to deliver a yokomen uchi against his opponent.
A blow to the head. Yanagi chose to evade it, quickly moving to try using Yukimura's yokomen uchi against him... ah, a shiho nage that again let him throw his sparring partner to the ground.
Yukimura growled at himself as he rolled again. He really wasn't up to par. Then again, he should've expected as much, since it'd been a little over a year now since he'd done any sparring at all.
He stood up and turned around, stepped forward and let another tsuki fly.
This tsuki was aiming more to the head than the abdomen, so Yanagi chose to use the ikkyou principle (the same one that his niece Miki once screwed up rahter badly with during practice). After succesfully avoiding the tsuki itself, he placed one hand on Yukimura's elbow and the other near the wrist, then leveraged Yukimura to the ground.
Deep down, though, Renji was wondering if not only Yukimura's body had been affected by the long inactivity after what had happened to him. This was no moment to ask, though, so he released the other man and they continued sparring, with Renji continuously blocking Yukimura's attacks and neutralizing them as much as he could.
Yukimura kept attacking, only to have his attacks blocked and evaded. It was frustrating. It wasn't like he'd never sparred against someone of strong Aikido training before. It had just...been a while.
But he didn't remember being this easily stopped.
Panting heavily, Yukimura stopped his attacks. Apparently, while his physical therapy had kept him in shape, that "shape" wasn't as good as he'd been before his injury. Which meant he had a lot of work to do before he got back to where he should be.
He bowed to Yanagi, conceding defeat.
Yanagi bowed as well to his partner, just like he always did after each sparring he got in. "Thanks to you too, Yukimura-kun," he politely said, smiling. "I do hope this session has been helpful to you in every possible way."
"Thank you. You've been a great help indeed, Yanagi-san."
Yukimura knew now that he had a LOT of work to do, before he could consider himself "as good as new". And he'd have to work out more before he could even think of taking on Sanada.
Yanagi could see some changes in Yukimura's body language, deducing that he was also reaching his own conclusions about his physical and mental state. Still, that didn't seem to be the only thing he was thinking of, and the problem seemed to run deeper...
Still, he was too discreet to directly ask such things, so he merely nodded at Yukimura. "Is there something else you may need, Yukimura-kun?"
Yukimura blinked. "Not that I can think of," he answered. "But thank you. Even if I'm not where I'd like to be in my recovery, at least now I know where my limits are. I appreciate you making time for me, Yanagi-san."
He did a few cool-down stretches, to make sure that any muscle soreness would be minimal.
Renji had to go, since he wanted to go to the dojo and speak to his brother-in-law about his future schedule and the possibility of attending an Aikido tournament in the next weeks. Besides, it seemed that Yukimura wanted to be left alone, so remaining around would be useless.
"I see... Well, see you, then. If you need help with training later, tell me and I'll do what's in my power to help you improve."
Yukimura nodded, smiling. "I'll keep that in mind."
He continued stretching even after Yanagi left, thinking over the sparring. He'd learned his limits, yes...
...only to find that they were rather disappointing.
When he felt stretched out enough, Yukimura grabbed his cane and headed out, determined to jog the entire way home (which wasn't really all that far).
Rating: G
Summary: Yukimura spars with Yanagi
Yukimura stepped into the gym, dressed for a workout. He'd been looking forward to this for weeks, since he'd gotten Yanagi's offer to help with easing him back into his martial arts and training.
He'd brought his cane, just in case, but he was hoping he wouldn't need it. After all, he'd been doing better at walking without it recently.
Yukimura didn't see Yanagi anywhere, so he lowered himself to the mats and started working through some of his stretches, keeping one eye on the door.
Yukimura didn't have to wait too long. Yanagi arrived less than five minutes later, done with his daily share of paperwork and speaking to another fellow agent. Since he had been an instructor at the dojo for so long, he thought that helping his comrade wouldn't be so hard, as long as he considered each detail about Yukimura's current health condition.
"Sorry for making you wait," he told the other man when he reached the training grounds, clad in his Aikido gear. "I haven't forgotten the promise I made, Yukimura-kun, and I'm happy to see you ready."
Yukimura smiled up at him from his spot on the floor. "Ah, it's no problem, Yanagi-san. Gave me some time to stretch out." He stood and brushed himself off a bit.
"I'm a little rusty, so go easy on me," he chuckled. "It's been a year since I've been able to practice at all, and I'll admit I'm not sure how much I can handle yet."
Physically, he felt fine, at the moment. Yukimura was mentally prepared to experience some pain, since he'd be using a few muscles that his physical therapy didn't quite reach.
Yanagi observed his workmate for some minutes as Yukimura did so, quietly checking on the info that the whole sequence gave him.
"If I went easy on you, I'd be underesdtimating and insulting you," but he smiled as he said such a thing. "Still, don't worry. I will try to not out unnecessary pressure on you, Yukimura."
Calmly, Yanagi stood in front of Yukimura and took his stance. "Aikido is a martial art that is essentialy defensive. So, you'll have to take the initiative..."
Yukimura smiled at Yanagi's comments. He was willing to bet that if it had been Sanada standing in front of him, his old friend would've tried to go easy on him. But here was a man who knew, somehow, that Yukimura didn't want to be treated as though he was made of glass.
And Yukimura knew his own body well enough to know when he'd reached his limits. He'd stop the sparring when he did, if needed.
Yukimura nodded and took his own stance, planning a little bit. He'd start off easy, not using his full speed or strength, more to test his own limits, but also to get a feel for Yanagi's ability. He wasn't sure how much his legs could handle, so he wouldn't do any kicks...at least, not yet.
Then, with a swift step forward, he let loose with a tsuki aimed for the center of Yanagi's chest.
A punch to his abdomen, eh? Yanagi swiftly blocked it with his hand and replied with a quick kote-gaeshi, throwing Yukimura to the ground yet being careful to give him enough space to roll away safely.
Yukimura had some knowledge of Aikido moves, so he knew how to roll when he was thrown like that. And roll he did, across the line from his shoulder to the opposite hip. He stood quickly and turned, never keeping his back to Yanagi for longer than was absolutely necessary.
A few steps forward, closing the space between them once again, with Yukimura moving to deliver a yokomen uchi against his opponent.
A blow to the head. Yanagi chose to evade it, quickly moving to try using Yukimura's yokomen uchi against him... ah, a shiho nage that again let him throw his sparring partner to the ground.
Yukimura growled at himself as he rolled again. He really wasn't up to par. Then again, he should've expected as much, since it'd been a little over a year now since he'd done any sparring at all.
He stood up and turned around, stepped forward and let another tsuki fly.
This tsuki was aiming more to the head than the abdomen, so Yanagi chose to use the ikkyou principle (the same one that his niece Miki once screwed up rahter badly with during practice). After succesfully avoiding the tsuki itself, he placed one hand on Yukimura's elbow and the other near the wrist, then leveraged Yukimura to the ground.
Deep down, though, Renji was wondering if not only Yukimura's body had been affected by the long inactivity after what had happened to him. This was no moment to ask, though, so he released the other man and they continued sparring, with Renji continuously blocking Yukimura's attacks and neutralizing them as much as he could.
Yukimura kept attacking, only to have his attacks blocked and evaded. It was frustrating. It wasn't like he'd never sparred against someone of strong Aikido training before. It had just...been a while.
But he didn't remember being this easily stopped.
Panting heavily, Yukimura stopped his attacks. Apparently, while his physical therapy had kept him in shape, that "shape" wasn't as good as he'd been before his injury. Which meant he had a lot of work to do before he got back to where he should be.
He bowed to Yanagi, conceding defeat.
Yanagi bowed as well to his partner, just like he always did after each sparring he got in. "Thanks to you too, Yukimura-kun," he politely said, smiling. "I do hope this session has been helpful to you in every possible way."
"Thank you. You've been a great help indeed, Yanagi-san."
Yukimura knew now that he had a LOT of work to do, before he could consider himself "as good as new". And he'd have to work out more before he could even think of taking on Sanada.
Yanagi could see some changes in Yukimura's body language, deducing that he was also reaching his own conclusions about his physical and mental state. Still, that didn't seem to be the only thing he was thinking of, and the problem seemed to run deeper...
Still, he was too discreet to directly ask such things, so he merely nodded at Yukimura. "Is there something else you may need, Yukimura-kun?"
Yukimura blinked. "Not that I can think of," he answered. "But thank you. Even if I'm not where I'd like to be in my recovery, at least now I know where my limits are. I appreciate you making time for me, Yanagi-san."
He did a few cool-down stretches, to make sure that any muscle soreness would be minimal.
Renji had to go, since he wanted to go to the dojo and speak to his brother-in-law about his future schedule and the possibility of attending an Aikido tournament in the next weeks. Besides, it seemed that Yukimura wanted to be left alone, so remaining around would be useless.
"I see... Well, see you, then. If you need help with training later, tell me and I'll do what's in my power to help you improve."
Yukimura nodded, smiling. "I'll keep that in mind."
He continued stretching even after Yanagi left, thinking over the sparring. He'd learned his limits, yes...
...only to find that they were rather disappointing.
When he felt stretched out enough, Yukimura grabbed his cane and headed out, determined to jog the entire way home (which wasn't really all that far).