Therapeutic violence [Action, WTR classrooms]

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

[A grinning Snow is casually pummeling a training dummy in the classrooms. Whatever oddity of time compression has stripped off his brand and replaced it with some other power, he doesn't know, but after some of the earlier adventures he's endured through its questionable charity, he intends to just ride this out.]

[So now he's playing with this new power: density control. And frankly doing quite well at it. The punch he hurls at the dummy starts off light and fast, barely dense enough to engender any resistance even from the air; then, a moment before it lands, his body coalesces into a far more dense form. The punch hits with alarming force, sending the dummy flying.]

Huh.

I think I might've overdone it.

Comments

[spareglasses]

But... how do you determine what's right?

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

Protecting a village from monsters? Fighting a government-sponsored mass murder? Saving the girl instead of abandoning her? It's all pretty obvious sometimes. [He grins.]

[spareglasses]

And when it's not so obvious?

[Considering the expression Yukio's wearing, it's pretty obvious that he's asking this in all seriousness.]

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

Sometimes it's not. Then, you make the best choice you possibly can.

[spareglasses]

The best choice for the people or for what you think is right?

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

When are the two not the same?

[It's his own serious question. He's been wrong at times so far, but what he'd done he'd always tried to do for the best.]

[spareglasses]

[The real answer here is "always" in Yukio's life, but he'll offer up something else for now.]

More often than I wish.

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

I can't say I've never made a mistake. I've made some big ones in my time. All you can do is... admit it, and do your best to make it right.

[spareglasses]

...Right.

[Yukio forces a smile onto his face.]

I guess that's what separates a hero from the rest of us.

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

Hey, more people are heroes than you'd think. Just saying it isn't enough, and not saying it doesn't mean you're not one.

[spareglasses]

I'll keep that in mind.

[A pause and then...]

I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name earlier. I'm Yukio Okumura.

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

Snow Villiers. Martial Arts Instructor. [He offers a hand and a smile.]

[spareglasses]

[Yukio takes Snow's hand and gives it a firm shake before offering another smile of his own.]

I... kind of figured as much.

[He jerks his head toward the dummy.]

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

Plenty of students and even SeeDs who've taken martial arts, too. Probably some of them are a lot better than I am at it. Still, thanks for the compliment.

[He assumes it was meant as one anyway!]

[spareglasses]

Enthusiasm to teach is more important than raw talent and experience in many cases, I think. I bet it improves retention with the students, too.

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

I just mean a lot of other people could be in here hitting a dummy. But you do have to know what you're doing, to make sure you teach other people. Though you learn a lot doing it, too. I think a year of teaching martial arts has taught me more than everything else I ever learned.

[spareglasses]

It certainly can be an eyeopener--I'll agree with you on that point. [A pause.]Did you ever take formal lessons?

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

Took some self-defense classes when I was growing up, but most of what I know is self-taught. Of course, I went through some Garden-level classes before I became a SeeD, too.

[spareglasses]

Right, I remember going through those courses myself... [Yukio laughs.] How did they measure up to what you've learned in the past?

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

A lot more formalized. It was good to learn, actually. A lot of grounding in different forms and styles. It gave me some good things to think about.

[spareglasses]

[Yukio tilts his head slightly.]

Do you mind if I ask what you mean by that?

[haha-steelguard.livejournal.com]

Every martial art comes from the same basic principles -- punching, kicking, pinning, throwing, you know? But every one takes a different approach and philosophy to them.