Martial Arts Way: Dojo Row

[SweetSophia]

"Well, that sounds nice," Michiko smiled, "Though is sounds like you're having a little trouble with that move. Hmm. Pirouetting Kendo, don't know if I've heard of that one before..."

[Mitera Nikkou]

"That's 'cause my old man made it!" She said proudly, though still rubbing her bottom, where it still smarted. "An' whatta 'bout your school? Whatcha do?"

[SweetSophia]

"My School is a school of Script Seal Arts." Michiko said, pulling the staff/brush off his back and setting it on the ground purposfully, "We specialize is creating seals and modifiers to a martial artist's body, opponent and surroundings to improve our own abillities or hinder our opponents. Watch."

Michiko carefully painted calligraphy all around himself on the ground, using the brush in a very careful and graceful manner. When he finished his last stroke, he called out.
"Aimimi Script Seal Technique: The Frog Leaps Off the Pad!"

The seal all seemed to flash with a white fire and reduced the ink to ash. Michiko ducked down and sprung several hundred feet into the air. A minute or two later, he came back down and landed on one foot, making the sidewalk crumble a little.

[Mitera Nikkou]

She regarded Michiko mutely for a moment, mouth agape, before she suddenly became a bundle of energy and moved up to him very eagerly, practically bouncing on her feet, her shinai discarded.

"Oh, wow! That was so awesome! I wanna be able to do dat! I wanna be able to do dat!" She exclaimed excitedly, then did a one-eighty and put on the googly eyes and quivering lips. "Will you teach me?"

[SweetSophia]

Though Michiko could not see the face, he definitely sensed the excitement and anticipation from the girl.

"Well, I suppose. I am supposed to be teaching here after all. I don't belive i caught your name, young lady?"

[Mitera Nikkou]

"My name's Ikkuko, sensei!" She replied happily, moving around anxiously, ready to get to learning.

"Do I get a brush like yours?" She asked, admiring the one that Michiko wielded.

[SweetSophia]

"I guess. You're going to need something big to write with if you want to lear Script Seal." Michiko slid open the paper door of the dojo and stepped over to a large cabinet.

"I think this is where we used to keep them..." He says to himself, pulling out a broom and a mop and a dustpan, unti finally he retrives...

"A pencil staff. If you're going to be a begginer, you're going to need to erase... alot. You should see what my old room looks like here, the walls, floors, ceiling...all covered in eraser marks...."

[Mitera Nikkou]

"Whatever!" Ikkuko replies, then reaches out for the pencil staff. "Gimme, gimme, gimme!"

[SweetSophia]

Michiko holds it out gingerly to the child, eraser first of course.

"Take this impliment, and take it with care. To a Script Seal artist, a writing impliment is an extension of the body. Like a third arm, but without the wierd."

[Mitera Nikkou]

Ikkuko accepts the pencil staff, but soon realizes that she's not strong enough to properly wield it. She falls onto her rump with the pencil staff across her lap.

"Awwww...! Why does ever'ting have to be sho heavy for me!" She complains, tears drooping from her eyes.

[SweetSophia]

"Huh? Is that too heavy? It sounds like something fell. Maybe you should practice with something lighter."

He pulls out a smaller bamboo staff with a pencil tip on one end and an eraser on the other.

"I'm not exactly sure how big you are, but perhaps you should practice with this until we get to ink."

[Mitera Nikkou]

Ikkuko rolled the pencil staff aside and accepted the bamboo one. It was a little heavy, but much more managable.

"Alright!" She exclaimed, excited. "Okay, what do I do first, sensei?"

She hopped from one foot and to another, giddy from the expectation to start her training and (in her mind) be capable of doing a bunch of awesome techniques by the end of the day.

[SweetSophia]

"Well, first we need to teach you penmanship. I'm sure you're able to read and write, but you're going to need to write things perfectly. A misplaced dot can be the difference between healing yourself and blowing yourself up." Michiko Explains

"Now you may have noticed that Script Seal doesn't use a standard alphabet. That's because it uses a visual language."

Michiko spins the brush off his back and writes a symbol that appears to be a sideways cone with three lines under it.

"Try writing this."