thebastion | Day 240 - [Boxing Intensifies]

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Day 240 - [Boxing Intensifies]

Who: Ippo and you!
Open: Open
When: Day 240
Where: The Bastion - The New Kamogawa Boxing Gym!
What: [Muffled Boxing in the background]
Format: Will match
Warnings: None that I can think of

[It was finally done. Ippo couldn't help but let a small tear slide down his left cheek as he stared up at the spitting image of the Kamogawa Gym; for all the shards he'd spent, every last one had felt completely worth it. The feel of the wall as he placed his hand against it, the smell that washed over him as he opened that familiar door, the sound of his feet squeaking against the floor as he entered...it was all exactly the same as he remembered it and in that moment, he couldn't have felt any more at home. Sure he was still on a tentatively floating rock in the sky, and sure nothing was ever going to bring back his world or all his friends from the calamity, but this was definitely as close to all that as he could get, and in that he was content.

He smiled with a sense of nostalgia as he climbed up into the sparring ring with a pair of gloves and closed his eyes; if he focused hard enough, he could almost hear the sounds of the gym come to life. The laughter, often muffled by the sound of leather meeting leather and jumping ropes slapping the floor in synced rhythm; the sound of constant movement and the coach's barking orders that somehow cut through the din like a sharpened knife. As he slipped the gloves on and strapped them up with his teeth, one might notice the most peaceful expression crossing his face in the 5 months he'd been here.]

"I'm home...!"

[Welcome, one and all to the Kamogawa Boxing Gym version 2.0! Not that it's really any different than the 1.0, but that's neither here nor there. Where is here are a multitude of things you can work out with! Heavy bags, speed bags, double-end bags, clothing bags! More bags than you can shake a boxing glove at! We've got lifting weights and jumping ropes! Or jumping weights and lifting ropes if you're into that sort of thing, no judgements! There's even a regulation sized sparring ring for all your training and dispute settling needs, complete with gloves and headgear for those tough to settle arguments like putting the seat down! So, to everyone who has any desire to get stronger, or is even just curious about the new building that's suddenly popped up, feel free to come on by!]

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[Ippo watched Ryu get strapped up before he got into the ring, he seemed a little confused on the gloves, but he had a natural confidence about him that gave the boxer a small smile. Once he was in the ring, Ippo put his guard up and hopped up on the balls of his feet, giving the half-dragon a small motion to come at him.]

Show me what you know, try and hit me!

... If you're sure.

[He balled his fists up inside the glove and darted forward, trying to take a cross jab at Ippo and break through his guard. It was fast, but messy. Swordplay was more his thing, really.]

[Ryu's speed was good, but his stance was wide and the punch wasn't nearly as fast or as piercing as it could have been. It crashed into his guard and he could feel his arms shake at the impact, but he stood firm where he was; it was a good estimate of where Ryu was at the moment at the very least.]

Nice hit! We can make some improvements to that though if you'd like.

Oh! Sure, if you want. I know I - swords feel natural, but I know I won't always have one. Things happen.

[He couldn't imagine when he wouldn't have one... but the fact that this place was unpredictable meant that it was a possibility.]

That's understandable.

[He said with a nod, knowing full well how out of hand things could get around here. He walked over to Ryu, moving his arms up and in front of him, keeping the fists just below his eyes; next he pushed down on the man's shoulders, compacting him a little more until his knees were just slightly bent. Finally, he knelt down and lifted his heels up until he was on the balls of his feet, giving him a lot more control over his speed and movement.]

There! The more compact you are, the more you can transfer the force from your legs up to your arms. When you go to throw a punch, turn your hip into it and snap your wrist to the side when you're about to hit; also make sure to stretch out your shoulders so you don't lose any of that power by letting your other arm hang out. Now!

[He said, slamming his gloves together and putting his guard back up.]

Try that one again!

[He shifted, adjusting where Ippo moved him. He bounced up and down a little to get the feel of it, and then nodded. With a quick movement he was off again, delivering a hard, fast punch to Ippo's gloved fists.]

Like that?

[The punch was much more compact and powerful this time around. It struck with enough force to smash Ippo's right hand up and away from his face, though it only revealed him to be smiling.]

Much better! See how much more power you were able to put behind it?

[He nodded and grinned, before a thoughtful look crept onto his face..]

I wonder how much harder I could hit when I'm transformed using that. ... But I don't want to hurt you. I'll find a tree or something to test it on.

Probably a good idea.

[He said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. He didn't think it was a good idea to be punched by a dragon full force, but there were still things he could teach here.]

Well, if you think you have a good command of the basics, maybe we should try sparring?

Sure.

[He bounced up and down a little.]

This seems like something that Cray would like. Though he usually fought with a club... I guess Kahn maybe, but he was... weird.

[Ippo nodded and moved towards the edge of the ring, fishing down over the edge for a second before coming back up with two red hat-like things, one of which he tossed to Ryu before putting on his own. Safety first!]

Well, sparring can be a lot of fun for anyone! It's a great way to drill in basics and get stress out at the same time. Now come at me like you want to knock me out, we're going at things for real here, so I won't hold back either.

[He fumbled at it a bit before getting it on. How does hat with gloves. ... Okay. There. Hat properly fastened, he nodded and dashed towards Ippo. He moved like he was about to punch high, but then tried to come up under his block to catch him off guard.]

[Very nice...very adaptable Ryu, you picked up on this whole boxing thing very quick; but there was still a lot to learn on the other hand.

Ippo snapped his left foot and pushed his body with it, practically sliding across the floor on the momentum as the move put him right on Ryu's side. With a quick shift of his shoulder and a snap of his right foot, he shifted that momentum back the other way, right up his hip into his arm as it lashed out like a sword, heading straight for the side of Ryu's now exposed face.]

[He just grinned and took the hit, pushing past it to try to get in a jab while Ippo's guard was lowered. You couldn't let pain stop you on in a fight as long as it wasn't too bad.]

[The fact that Ryu hadn't even flinched with a direct shot to the face was impressive; it took all his training just to bring his arm around to sock the incoming glove, punching it hard to the side and using the force to push himself back and away.

He'd only seen Takamura use a crisscross during his spar with Sendo, but it worked just fine here. The exchange was enough to throw him a little off kilter, so he would hang back for a few seconds to read what Ryu was going to do next.]

[He just bounced for a moment, keeping his guard up like Ippo was doing. He'd learned a bunch of skills in battle by just watching and taking the hits, so it was his turn to go on the defense.]

[It seemed Ryu was just as content to keep his distance here as he was. Well, in that case, it was time to go do what he did best; with a quick push of his foot, he covered the distance between the two of them in less than a second as he pulled his shoulder back and lashed out another jab towards Ryu's face.]

[He went up to cover his face with one hand, keeping the other low. He wasn't sure what Ippo was doing, but he new he needed to protect both at the same time.]

[... Though splitting his guard might not have been the best idea.]

[The low guard was a good idea, it kept him from going his liver blow, but it wasn't enough in this case. The jab he'd thrown never came as he feinted down into a full crouch, putting all of his momentum and weight into his legs as he shot up, holding his fist up as he aimed to slam a Gazelle Punch straight into Ryu's jaw.]

[Ryu staggered backwards and shook his head, trying to clear it. That... actually really hurt enough to stun him for a few moments.]

Woah...

[Ippo saw his moment, with Ryu stumbled backwards it was his chance for his sunday punch. He lowered himself and began to sway back and forth, his body tracing the sign of infinity as he built up as much centrifugal force as he could. Once he felt that familiar click, he shot upwards with a devastating right hook that was aimed directly for Ryu's face; if that hit, it would be followed up with left hook, the strikes repeating until he ran out of stamina or Ryu hit the mat.]

[The punch flung Ryu back, and he stamped his anger down. This was just in fun. Still, he felt power struggling to be released, and he tried to block and counter one of Ippo's punches with a Snap to jaw. The ghostly image of snapping jaws appeared and if it hit Ippo would feel that Ryu's follow-up punch would hurt somewhat more.]

[The punch caught Ippo rightly off guard; it wasn't everyday someone could snap so easily out of his punches and the snapping jaws blew the boxer back a few feet with his shirt hanging open with a few tear marks in it. Even in the ring, it didn't look like he was much a match one on one for the half-dragon; Ryu barely looked worse for the wear despite how hard he'd been going at him...

Not that he was going to to back down, but he'd have to get his guard back first, which might take a few seconds considering the shock he was getting over.]

[Seeing his chance, Ryu kept going, trying to put more speed than power into his blows. He didn't really want to hurt Ippo, but he also didn't want to give up so easily. Sure, he'd blown one of his power uses for the day, but that was fine. This was a new way of using it, and training was worth the cost.]

[The first shot hit Ippo square, moving him back hard and filling his vision with stars. The second rocked him to the side, bouncing him off the ropes, the third...missed, whiffing and hitting nothing but air. With another clever feint, Ippo had dropped down out of sight, his eyes now lit up a glowing green as his fighting spirit burned hot inside him.

He clenched his fist and swung hard in an upwards arc, the force he'd gotten from bouncing off those ropes, his fist aiming right for Ryu's liver with violent force.

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