(GM Note: Musical and spiritual inspiration for Toph's prologue.)
It is in the early evening-time on Eglin base where the sun has gone down and the sun's bright beams have been replaced by a dark, pristine sky filled with a sea of sparkling stars. Outside the training centers, mecha and aircraft hangars, flight tower, and Special Forces compound, but well inside the wire, there sat a lonely concrete building that was once a barracks for United States Air Force soldiers.
Decades ago, there used to be more buildings and barracks here, but now this old, sturdy place sits alone, far away from the distractions and activity of the rest of Eglin base. Here, a small, dedicated group of people have been given permission to use the building as a martial arts training facility. While different systems are taught here, three evenings out of the week, the system of choice is Jeet Kune Do - Bruce Lee's "Way of the Intercepting Fist."
Most of the time, there are several dozen students here taking classes, each person at a different point in their journey. A sparse few, however, continue to train after everyone else has returned to the post to nurse their bruises or otherwise recover from this strenuous training. Not so tonight for ASC Second Lieutenant Toph Kirin.
When not up to her ears with her medical studies learning what to do when attempting to stabilize battle injuries such as flail chests, sucking chest wounds, and dismemberments, or otherwise buried in her flight school curriculum covering night landings without sensors, what to do when your helicopter loses the rear rotor in mid-flight, and how to make the least amount of noise when attempting to move stealthily along the Florida wetlands in a 29 foot tall, 16 ton-plus veritech in battloid mode, Kirin is often here practicing a system of martial arts that tends to a rigorous study all in itself.
Here, in the simple school with its hardwood floors, worn punching and kicking bags dangle by iron chains and stacked mats are lined up to practice falls and throws. Things are quite unlike the world of the military soldier or college student. There is no G.P.A., no minimum requirements of push-ups, pull-ups, or time to run the mile, no college hours to accumulate, or course studies to satisfy.
There are also no interns, no directors, no pretty colored belts, no stripes, and no brass here. In a way, this is a place to get away from all of that and learn something not only different but long-lasting and possibly life-changing.
Here life lessons were taught. One of those lessons was this: "At the end of the day, there is just you and that person looking right back at you in the mirror." You always see that person in the full-length mirrors set about the hall. That person is your ultimate competitor and the champion whom you will never beat, for when you finally climb a plateau, you will find that the person in the mirror is already there. Above you. Waiting.
It is only you and those other special people here that help you find the path to uncover the reasons for your own spiritual ignorance, unlock the abilities buried in your mind, and hone the necessary skills that come only through countless hours of sweat, and sometimes, blood. They set you on the path. It is yours alone to walk, run, or quit.
Of course, Toph "Scorch" Kirin never came here to quit...
Even now, as she squared off with her instructor, Kirin moved with purpose. As a Jeet Kune Do artist, Kirin's movements were practical, not flashy; purposeful, not half-hearted. However, more than once, she found herself thinking with her medical or aviator's mind. This is when she usually got caught with a fist upside her head...
Like now.
Bam! Then again, there was no dishonor when getting popped by a fighter like Hitomi Yashida. This guest instructor was admitted to the school but a month ago, but she had taken a quick interest in the pink-haired, half-Zentraedi Toph. For one thing, Yashida and Kirin had a few things in common. Both had earned medical backgrounds (Yashida was a trauma specialist with real battlefield experience), both had a real love of Jeet Kune Do, and both women were half-Japanese (Yashida's other half being Hawai'ian).
Yashida was also a stunning beauty with long silky black hair, truly gorgeous face, and a fit figure that combined the sophisticated with the sexy in all-natural image that Yashida had made look effortless (though it was anything but). Yashida's figure and manner were so beautiful it distracted people of both genders, married and single people alike, human and especially Zentraedi, and yet she never bragged about it. No, "I'm better than you" feelings toward anyone.
If anything, Toph might have sensed that Yashida had simply put years and years of effort into honing herself into the woman she wanted to be and eventually became her. Yashida was thus a "self-made woman" much like Toph's Zentraedi mother, Zyorna. Toph had known Hitomi for just a few weeks now. They had become friendly enough that, given the school's somewhat remote location on post, Hitomi had used her requisitioned utility hover truck to give Toph rides to and from the school. It certainly was a better alternative than walking, especially at night. This had provided opportunity for small talk between them and that had led a way for them to get to know each other a bit. It also did not seem to harm their new relationship either that Yashida appeared to be looking out for Toph's in her growth as a Jeet Kune Do student.
Even when, again, it was Hitomi's fist upside Toph's head.
"Toph, you're doing it again," Hitomi said. "Let go."
This was easier said than done for Toph liked to use her brain and here Sifu Hitomi was challenging Toph to use less of her intellect and more of her natural feeling. Letting go meant something about allowing Toph's skillset to act "all by itself." This was an entirely new concept to Toph.
(OOC translation and excellent Dan Inosanto video)
The two fighters engaged again. Limbs clashed with lightning speed. Punches and kicks flew. Blocks and counterattacks ensued. And yet, in seconds, Toph found the back of Hitomi's right hand, for the third time, pressed against Toph's left cheekbone; a brilliantly-placed pok sao pulled at the last moment as not to break the bone. It was technique that Toph could respect except that Toph knew it was coming and again was unable to stop it. This repeated again and again until after the fifth time, Hitomi paused and watched Toph closely with the analyzing stare of a practiced surgeon.
(OOC translation)
Five times to the face. Same technique. Same hand. Toph could not see ahead of the technique to stop it to save her life. And maybe that was the problem; her attempt at seeing it coming was the true problem. If Toph was the type to get frustrated, now was the time. Either way, Hitomi gave her pleasant, understanding smile, backed up a step, pressed her fist against the palm of her other hand, and bowed signifying an end to this spar.
"Toph," Hitomi explained firmly, "you've reached a level in Jeet Kune Do where you have learned the basics. You've got good form and you pace your energy well. However..." and it was always tough to hear that word from an instructor, "you have yet to reach the level where you fully trust what you have learned. Instead, you're overthinking, holding on, and attempting to anticipate my techniques instead of letting your skills take over and do it for you. Imagine yourself in your Ajax cockpit..." Hitomi paused here, for Toph knew Hitomi was no mecha pilot or jet jockey . For one thing, she wasn't cocky enough. =)
"In practice, you have all the time in the world to choose, to decide your next move. It's like a game of chess. You have the luxury of hesitation." She folded her hands thoughtfully. "But in combat and in life, sometimes there is no time to waste. On the medical table with a conscious patient with a flail chest and a missing foot on your table, hesitation can cost you your patient's life. And so it is in the martial arts. Ask yourself - when is it most important not to hesitate? When you trust your honed skills to the point of letting go of your loud and interrupting mind, your long-practiced skills will act all by themselves with little, if any, effort from you. You won't have to think so much, Toph. So don't force it. Remember - 'the less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.'"
Her last sentence was a quote from Lee himself. Toph had heard it used between other students before.
"You know, you are coming along at your own natural pace." She sighed and looked as if gazing far away. "I wish a certain good friend of mine were at your level. He is one heck of a human being, but I'd pay real money to see him in the gym! So, shall we hit the showers and call it a night?" She looked as if she wanted to talk more, so comfortable was she with the pink-haired young woman. Still, both of them knew they had responsibilities to satisfy come dawn, Toph answering her duties as a newly-minted flight lieutenant in T.A.S.C., and whatever it was that Hitomi did so well as a civilian for Eglin base.
After they had washed up and got the sweat off of them, they dressed. As always, Hitomi wore something classy and smelled of attractive perfume. Tonight, she wore a dragon-themed light leather jacket, matching skirt, white silk blouse, and sensible leather shoes; the kind you can move in. Her waist-length hair was tied in a simple ponytail.
(GM Note: This style of clothing and overall look.)
Hitomi turned out the lights to the school, locked up the front door, and left with Toph toward the M-10 utility hover truck Hitomi had successfully requisitioned. As Toph was too new at Eglin to ask for her own vehicle, Hitomi had offered to drive her to the school and back to Toph's quarters. They had done this a few times. However, with tonight came a difference to the routine.
There in the parking lot, the smooth, sharp lines of an all-black M-770 Staff Car rolled up to greet them. It came to a stop directly beside the olive drab M-10. The car had no markings and its retractable hood was up, covering and concealing any occupants.
Hitomi paused. "Toph, are you expecting anyone out here?" Toph knew the answer to that question was a definite 'no.'
The car's hover engine hummed smoothly as the vehicle pulled up a bit more and bathed both women in its headlights. Two nearby streetlamps helped against the light-blinding, but still, the forms exiting the car were completely obscured from Toph and Hitomi's vision. Toph's own natural gifts included incredible perception. Her ears told her there were three people stepping out of the car and slowly walking along the grass.
"Flight Lieutenant Kirin?" came a handsome-sounding voice. "Sorry if we startled you." Immediately, the headlights dimmed. Three men wearing fatigues with military police patches and pins walked forth. They were clean-shaven, had strong physiques, and calm, serious demeanors. They appeared unarmed except for taser pistols in holsters on their gun belts along with handcuffs. One approached. "I'm Sgt. Kramer, Eglin M.P.s. Our radio room dispatched us here. They say we have received word from your mother via an encoded transmission from space. We can't understand it, but it seems definitely meant for you."
Toph had told no one at Eglin base anything about her mother. Not even Hitomi.
"Would you come with us, please? We could use your help." The speaker reached out his hand toward Toph.
What does Toph do?
"Bruce Lee Remix" by Melodysheep
While I enjoy the video and all of Melodysheep's work, there is one misquote in here by whomever put the lyrics together - In 1:50, he or she writes, "Do not believe in styles," when in the Lost Interview, the quote is, "...I do not believe in styles [anymore]..." [italics and brackets mine]. This in an important distinction to me because I don't believe Lee was trying to tell or preach to anyone else what to believe or not believe in. Instead, he was simply expressing what he believed in and what worked for him.
While I enjoy the video and all of Melodysheep's work, there is one misquote in here by whomever put the lyrics together - In 1:50, he or she writes, "Do not believe in styles," when in the Lost Interview, the quote is, "...I do not believe in styles [anymore]..." [italics and brackets mine]. This in an important distinction to me because I don't believe Lee was trying to tell or preach to anyone else what to believe or not believe in. Instead, he was simply expressing what he believed in and what worked for him.
It is in the early evening-time on Eglin base where the sun has gone down and the sun's bright beams have been replaced by a dark, pristine sky filled with a sea of sparkling stars. Outside the training centers, mecha and aircraft hangars, flight tower, and Special Forces compound, but well inside the wire, there sat a lonely concrete building that was once a barracks for United States Air Force soldiers.
Decades ago, there used to be more buildings and barracks here, but now this old, sturdy place sits alone, far away from the distractions and activity of the rest of Eglin base. Here, a small, dedicated group of people have been given permission to use the building as a martial arts training facility. While different systems are taught here, three evenings out of the week, the system of choice is Jeet Kune Do - Bruce Lee's "Way of the Intercepting Fist."
Most of the time, there are several dozen students here taking classes, each person at a different point in their journey. A sparse few, however, continue to train after everyone else has returned to the post to nurse their bruises or otherwise recover from this strenuous training. Not so tonight for ASC Second Lieutenant Toph Kirin.
When not up to her ears with her medical studies learning what to do when attempting to stabilize battle injuries such as flail chests, sucking chest wounds, and dismemberments, or otherwise buried in her flight school curriculum covering night landings without sensors, what to do when your helicopter loses the rear rotor in mid-flight, and how to make the least amount of noise when attempting to move stealthily along the Florida wetlands in a 29 foot tall, 16 ton-plus veritech in battloid mode, Kirin is often here practicing a system of martial arts that tends to a rigorous study all in itself.
Here, in the simple school with its hardwood floors, worn punching and kicking bags dangle by iron chains and stacked mats are lined up to practice falls and throws. Things are quite unlike the world of the military soldier or college student. There is no G.P.A., no minimum requirements of push-ups, pull-ups, or time to run the mile, no college hours to accumulate, or course studies to satisfy.
There are also no interns, no directors, no pretty colored belts, no stripes, and no brass here. In a way, this is a place to get away from all of that and learn something not only different but long-lasting and possibly life-changing.
Here life lessons were taught. One of those lessons was this: "At the end of the day, there is just you and that person looking right back at you in the mirror." You always see that person in the full-length mirrors set about the hall. That person is your ultimate competitor and the champion whom you will never beat, for when you finally climb a plateau, you will find that the person in the mirror is already there. Above you. Waiting.
It is only you and those other special people here that help you find the path to uncover the reasons for your own spiritual ignorance, unlock the abilities buried in your mind, and hone the necessary skills that come only through countless hours of sweat, and sometimes, blood. They set you on the path. It is yours alone to walk, run, or quit.
Of course, Toph "Scorch" Kirin never came here to quit...
Even now, as she squared off with her instructor, Kirin moved with purpose. As a Jeet Kune Do artist, Kirin's movements were practical, not flashy; purposeful, not half-hearted. However, more than once, she found herself thinking with her medical or aviator's mind. This is when she usually got caught with a fist upside her head...
Like now.
Bam! Then again, there was no dishonor when getting popped by a fighter like Hitomi Yashida. This guest instructor was admitted to the school but a month ago, but she had taken a quick interest in the pink-haired, half-Zentraedi Toph. For one thing, Yashida and Kirin had a few things in common. Both had earned medical backgrounds (Yashida was a trauma specialist with real battlefield experience), both had a real love of Jeet Kune Do, and both women were half-Japanese (Yashida's other half being Hawai'ian).
Yashida was also a stunning beauty with long silky black hair, truly gorgeous face, and a fit figure that combined the sophisticated with the sexy in all-natural image that Yashida had made look effortless (though it was anything but). Yashida's figure and manner were so beautiful it distracted people of both genders, married and single people alike, human and especially Zentraedi, and yet she never bragged about it. No, "I'm better than you" feelings toward anyone.
If anything, Toph might have sensed that Yashida had simply put years and years of effort into honing herself into the woman she wanted to be and eventually became her. Yashida was thus a "self-made woman" much like Toph's Zentraedi mother, Zyorna. Toph had known Hitomi for just a few weeks now. They had become friendly enough that, given the school's somewhat remote location on post, Hitomi had used her requisitioned utility hover truck to give Toph rides to and from the school. It certainly was a better alternative than walking, especially at night. This had provided opportunity for small talk between them and that had led a way for them to get to know each other a bit. It also did not seem to harm their new relationship either that Yashida appeared to be looking out for Toph's in her growth as a Jeet Kune Do student.
Even when, again, it was Hitomi's fist upside Toph's head.
"Toph, you're doing it again," Hitomi said. "Let go."
This was easier said than done for Toph liked to use her brain and here Sifu Hitomi was challenging Toph to use less of her intellect and more of her natural feeling. Letting go meant something about allowing Toph's skillset to act "all by itself." This was an entirely new concept to Toph.
(OOC translation and excellent Dan Inosanto video)
Sifu = "Teacher" in Chinese (Cantonese, I believe).
Also, class is much like this:
Also, class is much like this:
The two fighters engaged again. Limbs clashed with lightning speed. Punches and kicks flew. Blocks and counterattacks ensued. And yet, in seconds, Toph found the back of Hitomi's right hand, for the third time, pressed against Toph's left cheekbone; a brilliantly-placed pok sao pulled at the last moment as not to break the bone. It was technique that Toph could respect except that Toph knew it was coming and again was unable to stop it. This repeated again and again until after the fifth time, Hitomi paused and watched Toph closely with the analyzing stare of a practiced surgeon.
(OOC translation)
pok sao = Wing chun Kung Fu punching technique (the same as in the video above)
Five times to the face. Same technique. Same hand. Toph could not see ahead of the technique to stop it to save her life. And maybe that was the problem; her attempt at seeing it coming was the true problem. If Toph was the type to get frustrated, now was the time. Either way, Hitomi gave her pleasant, understanding smile, backed up a step, pressed her fist against the palm of her other hand, and bowed signifying an end to this spar.
"Toph," Hitomi explained firmly, "you've reached a level in Jeet Kune Do where you have learned the basics. You've got good form and you pace your energy well. However..." and it was always tough to hear that word from an instructor, "you have yet to reach the level where you fully trust what you have learned. Instead, you're overthinking, holding on, and attempting to anticipate my techniques instead of letting your skills take over and do it for you. Imagine yourself in your Ajax cockpit..." Hitomi paused here, for Toph knew Hitomi was no mecha pilot or jet jockey . For one thing, she wasn't cocky enough. =)
"In practice, you have all the time in the world to choose, to decide your next move. It's like a game of chess. You have the luxury of hesitation." She folded her hands thoughtfully. "But in combat and in life, sometimes there is no time to waste. On the medical table with a conscious patient with a flail chest and a missing foot on your table, hesitation can cost you your patient's life. And so it is in the martial arts. Ask yourself - when is it most important not to hesitate? When you trust your honed skills to the point of letting go of your loud and interrupting mind, your long-practiced skills will act all by themselves with little, if any, effort from you. You won't have to think so much, Toph. So don't force it. Remember - 'the less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.'"
Her last sentence was a quote from Lee himself. Toph had heard it used between other students before.
"You know, you are coming along at your own natural pace." She sighed and looked as if gazing far away. "I wish a certain good friend of mine were at your level. He is one heck of a human being, but I'd pay real money to see him in the gym! So, shall we hit the showers and call it a night?" She looked as if she wanted to talk more, so comfortable was she with the pink-haired young woman. Still, both of them knew they had responsibilities to satisfy come dawn, Toph answering her duties as a newly-minted flight lieutenant in T.A.S.C., and whatever it was that Hitomi did so well as a civilian for Eglin base.
After they had washed up and got the sweat off of them, they dressed. As always, Hitomi wore something classy and smelled of attractive perfume. Tonight, she wore a dragon-themed light leather jacket, matching skirt, white silk blouse, and sensible leather shoes; the kind you can move in. Her waist-length hair was tied in a simple ponytail.
(GM Note: This style of clothing and overall look.)
(Try as I might, I can never find a good picture of the Hitomi in my mind... not even on the Internet. This picture is kind of close, though. Her figure, clothing, and pose are right, but that's not quite Hitomi's face. Maybe some day... =) )
(Image credit: www.pinterest.com )
(Image credit: www.pinterest.com )
Hitomi turned out the lights to the school, locked up the front door, and left with Toph toward the M-10 utility hover truck Hitomi had successfully requisitioned. As Toph was too new at Eglin to ask for her own vehicle, Hitomi had offered to drive her to the school and back to Toph's quarters. They had done this a few times. However, with tonight came a difference to the routine.
There in the parking lot, the smooth, sharp lines of an all-black M-770 Staff Car rolled up to greet them. It came to a stop directly beside the olive drab M-10. The car had no markings and its retractable hood was up, covering and concealing any occupants.
Hitomi paused. "Toph, are you expecting anyone out here?" Toph knew the answer to that question was a definite 'no.'
The car's hover engine hummed smoothly as the vehicle pulled up a bit more and bathed both women in its headlights. Two nearby streetlamps helped against the light-blinding, but still, the forms exiting the car were completely obscured from Toph and Hitomi's vision. Toph's own natural gifts included incredible perception. Her ears told her there were three people stepping out of the car and slowly walking along the grass.
"Flight Lieutenant Kirin?" came a handsome-sounding voice. "Sorry if we startled you." Immediately, the headlights dimmed. Three men wearing fatigues with military police patches and pins walked forth. They were clean-shaven, had strong physiques, and calm, serious demeanors. They appeared unarmed except for taser pistols in holsters on their gun belts along with handcuffs. One approached. "I'm Sgt. Kramer, Eglin M.P.s. Our radio room dispatched us here. They say we have received word from your mother via an encoded transmission from space. We can't understand it, but it seems definitely meant for you."
Toph had told no one at Eglin base anything about her mother. Not even Hitomi.
"Would you come with us, please? We could use your help." The speaker reached out his hand toward Toph.
What does Toph do?
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