Name: Shuurai Tekken Do (Way of the Lightning Strike Fist)
Rank: D-S
Jutsu Type: Taijutsu
Element: Raiton
Duration/Cooldown: Fighting Style
Range: Close
Appearance:
What it does:
Description on the Abilities and Inner Workings of the Style:
Shokidankai: Arashinomaenoshizukesa [Initial Stage: The Calm Before the Storm]
In the first stage of learning Shuurai Tekken Do, the practitioner focuses in training on slow, fluid motion while flexing and releasing different areas of muscle. No aids are yet used to provide extra resistance to the training, only strict guidance from a good teacher with a judgemental hand. In battle, the practitioner focuses on blocking with sweeping motions and striking with fast single strikes, taking advantage of the forms learned in practice.
Nidankai: An'unteimei [Second Stage: The Gathering Stormclouds]
After a suitable duration of undertaking the first style to build on the basics, the teacher will add a tool to the practitioner's repetoire - small cups filled to the brim with a liquid. The goal of this addition is to work on the fluidity of the movements while still maintaining rigid muscle control. In battle, the practitioner's speed is noticably faster than the average nina, and while the sweeping blocks are now accompanied by extremely fast forearm and shin blocks, the single fast strike policy still stands for attacking.
Sandankai: Yorunotobari [Third Stage: The Veil of Darkness]
The third stage of learning Shuurai Tekken Do is a grueling one, as whole days are sometimes spent a single position, the two cups of the previous stage being accompanied now by cups positioned on the head, shoulders, tops of the hands and feet, and on the knees. The user spends long durations in a sitting position with arms level at the shoulders, but without a chair to sit on. Sometimes, if the teacher is feeling particularly cruel, the student may be asked to try walking in a small circle while the cups are all still in place. In battle, the practitioner begins to use striking flurries in addition to the quick single strikes, as well as learning to add counters behind the now extremely fast blocks.
Yodankai: Haizename [Fourth Stage: The Torrential Rain]
Once the practitioner has attained what the instructor deems to be proper levels of fluidity and solidity, the cups in hand are traded in for medium-sized buckets of water with rough rope handles, which are still filled to the brim with a liquid. The rest of the cups of the previous stage are removed. This adds the extra aspect of maintaining fluidity while improving on muscle control due to the resistance of the added fluid weight. In battle, the practitioner approaches speeds that will baffle the human eye and batter the human body, but due to intense training the user will be able to control every strike, counter, and dodge to a keen precision. Strong single strikes and the occasional flurry are still the mainstay of the practitioner's offense, though there is now a considerable increase in the power behind them.
Saishuudankai: Tekken Tenrai no Raijin [Final Stage: The Divine Fist of Raijin]
In the final stage of Shuurai Tekken Do, the teacher acknowledges the student's abilites by leaving the last training up to him, as the learning is now essentially complete. A complete emphasis on speed should be the focus of the training in the Final Stage; some training methods used in the past include weighted training underwater, deep squats carrying livestock on the shoulders while standing under a waterfall, and other such extremes. In combat, the practitioner is now the stuff of the legends surrounding this style, seeming to be able to attack without physically moving the body from a standstill. Striking and countering become so fluid and fast that some say the blocks are almost up before the opponent's strike begins and the counter is made before the strike is retracting.
Wordcount to learn: 1,500
Bonus Requirements:
Closed Group Fighting Style
Backstory:
Background: Believed in the Country of Lightning to be one of the oldest taijutsu styles still in practice, Shuurai Tekken Do was originally developed by the monks that helped to create the first incarnation of the Hidden Village of Cloud long before there were even inklings of such a drastic change. Honed over hundreds of years, this style has been given an essential definition that is rooted in the seeming paradox of the practice of the style itself: "What you cannot see can indeed hurt you."
The paradoxical nature of the practice of this style is the fact that despite being called the 'Way of the Lightning Strike Fist,' practitioners of Shuurai Tekken Do are known for their meticulously, almost languidly slow pace during practice. A simple movement bringing a fist across the chest from left to right may take up to a full minute or more in practice, but therein lies the difficulty itself. During all movements, muscles are constantly tensed and released without exerting much outward motion, thus making the slowness of the style the way in which it tones the body. Many practitioners choose to hold large buckets filled to the very brim with water while practicing, hoping to attain a sort of rigid fluidity, a statement that highlights the paradox present in the style's practice.
In combat, however, the practitioner demonstrates exactly what this type of practice does for his or her close combat ability. As the practitioner progresses, the laboriously slow practice tones the muscles in such a way that muscle reaction times are increased exponentially with every level of the style achieved. Thus, in a combat situation, the practitioner spends the fight attacking with extremely quick single hits and flurries and then backing off, rapidly responding to any counter-attacks made, and then repeating the process ad lib. When mastery of this style is attained, some users have been known to appear to stand still while their opponent is mysteriously ravaged and bloodied when coming near to them. Despite the general lack in strength exhibited even by masters of this style, it is still a wholly destructive art. Must write a 1,500 word topic mastering the style.
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