[D1 LA, Open] - Practice Makes Perfect

[Togashi Udo]

Upon his approach to the dojo, Udo admires the building. Its traditional architecture is a stark contrast to the many yurts around the Dark Edge Village, and the juxtaposition reminds him how much the miai is a coming together of people.

The building itself is empty when he arrives, so he begins to slowly stretch. As ever, Udo prefers to take things slowly.

Udo begins practicing his martial arts, slowly going through the motions. It feels good to move his body in familiar ways, and he slowly becomes lost in the repetitive motions and forms.

[Shosuro Chieri]

Chieri's interest was piqued upon learning that the Calm Heart Dojo had never hosted a student. The Lion had trained students in a similar building. One might even make the mistake of claiming that it was this very building. It was not. This was the Calm Heart Dojo. Whatever it had been before left with the Lion.

The first sighting of a shirtless, tattooed man practicing his martial arts in a vacant dojo was all too fitting. She had always fancied the Dragon in her historical explorations. So strange and obtuse, perfect conversation partners. Chieri watched him at a distance. Her brown eyes sparkling with excitement. The Scorpion woman pined for a good discussion.

"Ah excuse me, Togashi-san?"

[Togashi Udo]

"Ah, Scorpion-san, I did not notice you there. Have you come to practice?" The end of the question took on a particular lilt to it, almost as if he was skeptical of even the question itself.

He did not pause in his motions, however, wishing to finish his practice.

[Shosuro Chieri]

A muffled laugh, a single note of amusement, escaped from behind her mask. "I had considered it," A half truth. It had been a surface thought. A passing moment. "I can not hope to produce the fluidity and natural grace you have showcased. I am not eager to embarrass myself in front of talent such as yours."

"I am Shosuro Chieri." A thin smile manifested. It mirrored the mask that served to hide such displays. "I was hoping you could help me answer a question."

[Togashi Udo]

Udo was slightly startled by the laugh, perhaps more than he should have been as it was accompanied by the full mask. He was more accustomed to Scorpion who hid less of themselves... this seemed particularly impersonal, and the laugh felt much more personal.

"You honor this one with your words, but this one is still but a hill next to the mountains of talent that make up the Dragon." He pauses briefly to bow to her. "This one is Togashi Udo, and I wonder if you want help to answer a question or if you simply want a question answered by me?"

[Shosuro Chieri]

"It is a very difficult question." Chieri felt her assurances necessary. This was no laughing matter. "I have come to understand that a dojo much like this once belonged to the Lion. It was filled with knowledge of the ancestors and hosted many students by it's very nature as a dojo."

"But all of that knowledge and all of those students are gone now. We reside in a building which does not contain an ounce of knowledge and has never taught a student. So my question is," Chieri paused for just a moment. A beat in the rhythm of the world. "Do we stand in a dojo?"

[Togashi Udo]

Udo ceased his movement at the question and stood looking at Chieri. "That is a challenging question. I'd enjoy helping you to answer it."

He thought for a time before answering. "The kami remain the same, do they not? If I could call up a kami and ask what this place is, would they not say a dojo? And yet, a dojo must teach to fulfill its purpose." Udo sat down on the floor.

"I am learning right now, however, by attempting to answer this question. In such a way, the place itself is fulfilling its purpose without the need of any instructors. I guess I must ask you, is a dojo formed by that which teaches or by that which learns?"

[Shosuro Chieri]

"Does the act of instruction not require a student?" Chieri sat in time with her company. There were many who would have derided this conversation as pointless or perhaps even juvenile. That is why were not sent to mingle among the others. That is why Chieri was chosen. "Those who would instruct an empty room do not impart knowledge. Students without an instructor learn nothing."

"Both are required. It is beginning to seem as if this might not be a dojo at all." Chieri nodded her head to punctuate the statement. "And yet, by this very discussion, we have begun to learn and instruct one and another. Perhaps by our very tongues we have formed a dojo where one had ceased to exist."

[Togashi Udo]

"Can an instructor instruct themselves? Is not the practice I was doing earlier a moment where I am both the teacher and the pupil? Is not one many, and yet many one?"

"I think it is nice to think that we may have created a dojo here, but what is nice can often be simple hubris. When the rain tried to fall on this place, did the ceiling not instruct it not to fall here?" Udo gestures to the floor they are sitting upon.

Udo smiled at his Scorpion company. "Maybe we both need to stop trying to teach and instead both listen. Maybe this place will teach us things we do not yet know."

[Shosuro Chieri]

The Dragon were just as strange as Chieri was led to believe. This Togashi had not only found meaning in her nonsense but led her down the same path. Her eyes widened and lips parted to protest that a building could not instruct them but her tongue refused to move. She was not an intelligent woman, and albeit socially adroit and at times clever, she had never considered herself any caliber of intellectual. To think they Dragon could get someone as vapid as her to truly examine their words. How frustrating. How dangerous.

"What wisdom, Togashi-san. I had never considered..." Chieri was never at a loss for words. There was always something to say, some story to tell, and yet now she could not bring her tongue to lie. Genuine, true words had never been in more short supply. "Perhaps you are right. It is important to listen. We can not hear and be heard in the same moment."

[Togashi Udo]

Udo bows to her and does not reply.

.

..

...

The sound of a distant laugh breaks the silence, and Udo smiles. "Yes, and what I heard there was perhaps we are too serious. Though I will admit to some enjoyment in the discussion, perhaps we move on?"

"Were you at Ide-sama's welcoming? I found it quite warming."

[Shosuro Chieri]

:Ide-sama was very earnest." Chieri's words bear the weight of judgement. There is a moment where her Dragon company might even believe she intends to decry their hosts. "It was very refreshing sentiment. I look forward to sharing a meal with them. I can only imagine what strange foods they've discovered abroad."

"Seven hundred years." Chieri smacked her lips to punctuate the statement, "And they return. I wonder if those who left would even recognize their home?"

[Togashi Udo]

Udo nods. "I imagine it is much like this dojo for them. The same, different, and full of questions about who they are now." He looks closely at the masked figure.

The Dragon are not particularly fond of the Scorpion, and Udo is not particularly fond of masks. He was expecting this conversation to go much worse, but he was, a bit to his chagrin, finding it enjoyable. Perhaps some of that showed on his face, as he had to mask to hide behind.

"I am glad you look forward to a meal with them, and I imagine you are correct about the foods. It will be very interesting. Perhaps we shall discover some new delicacy." Udo thinks for a moment. "Or perhaps all the delicacy will be in the company?" He looks at her with that comment, but then looks away. Yes, good company shall come at dinnertime.

[Shosuro Chieri]

Chieri was often intentionally erratic. She had found that the behavior was perplexing even among her peers. To a people who expected a single face, presented to meet expectations, a woman with two faces was hopelessly confusing and beyond logic. "I do hope to meet someone exciting among them. If not tonight, hopefully soon. Do you not share similar desires, Togashi-san?"

[Togashi Udo]

"I can't say I do. When one lives in the mountains for a long time, excitement takes on a bit of a different meaning."

Udo moved to the center of the dojo and began moving through his routine again. He began quickly executing the forms and attacks. "Excitement is an avalanche, powerful but temporary. It can sweep you up in it, but you have no control over your destination."

Suddenly, he slowed down and progressed through the motions with deliberate care. "What I seek is the river, ever flowing forward. The river is not sudden; it is intentional. It has its own path, and all respect its way."

"But we all have our own desires, though not all desires we wish to have."