[Training] [Finished] Slow. So damn slow.

Fubuki Damano


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[Training] [Finished] Slow. So damn slow. Feb 22, 2019 20:22:42 GMT

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Post by Fubuki Damano on Feb 22, 2019 20:22:42 GMT

The sun was bright in the area just outside of Seireitei, as Fubuki jogged to reach his favourite training place: a secluded glen around a cascade, where the deep vegetation shrouded from the bright daylight letting pass just enough to get an idea of what time it was.

The Shinigami took a deep breath, enjoying the soothing smell of damp earth for a moment before getting down to business. Lately he wasn’t satisfied with the speed of his movements and thought his footwork sloppy, to be generous, so that was his focus for the day.

First, the raw stepping power. Located a relatively flat area, about 10 meters long, Fubuki focused for a moment. He was fairly certain the last time he trained there he was able to cover about half that length with just one Shunpo. Before getting his muscles to cool down, he focused and executed the Stepping Technique.

Turning to look at the starting point, he realized his suspicions were, in fact, real: if by a very small amount, just one step wasn’t enough to cover the expected distance anymore. And although he had no proof of it, he was fairly certain the time he took to cover that distance was the same as when he went slightly beyond half of that. The Gobantai Officier sighed: he had a long way to go to get back at his previous level, let alone improve on it.

Last Edit: Feb 26, 2019 21:14:21 GMT by Fubuki Damano

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[Training] [Finished] Slow. So damn slow. Feb 22, 2019 20:26:17 GMT

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Post by Fubuki Damano on Feb 22, 2019 20:26:17 GMT

After some time using Shunpo to go back and forth, Fubuki finally managed to cover more than half trait in just one step with a consistency he deemed acceptable. But that was merely the beginning of his training session and his breath was already heavy; just how pathetic had he become?!

Well, complaining about his stamina wouldn’t help. So, as soon as he managed to recover enough breath to sprint decently, he looked for a slope and tried his Shunpo going upwards. This should have built some power in those legs of his. Since going downhill with just one step wouldn’t help much for that, this time he opted for getting back to the starting point by using two and covering as close a distance as possible with each. This way, he could have started covering a maybe less versatile, but more often crucial in battle, aspect of the Technique: Control.

The slope he found didn’t look particularly steep at first, but the terrain made it surprisingly hard to run on. Which made it very suitable for Fubuki’s goal, as he aimed at burning as much energy as possible in as little time as possible in order to proceed quickly to the next phase. Better focus on the here and now, though: going uphill was tiring, but came out decently, all things considered. The problem was the second part: his first “return step” was always way longer than the second.

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[Training] [Finished] Slow. So damn slow. Feb 22, 2019 20:47:17 GMT

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Post by Fubuki Damano on Feb 22, 2019 20:47:17 GMT

Once again, it took a while for Fubuki to be satisfied with the drill, but he managed to achieve some fairly acceptable results. In the end, all he had to do to overcome his difficulty with the second part was just letting his body get used to the slightly reduced measure, nothing too complicated to think about.

Of course, that applied to sprinting downhill while having the faintest idea of what he was doing with his body, but in a real situation where his life depended on it, he couldn’t afford to take so much time to adjust his steps to the distances in play.

That’s where the following drill would have been focused on: after conceding himself a few seconds to recover, Fubuki got back to the flatter area where he trained earlier and started flash-stepping through the whole length of it. The goal, this time, wasn’t to do so in the least possible amount of step, but in variable amounts he decided on the spot whenever he had to start, ranging from three to ten. This way, he would have been forced to instantly adapt the released amount of energy just by knowing the distance to cover, eventually increasing or decreasing it during the last meters in case he realized he was going too slow or too fast respectively.

Once again, the drill looked fairly simple but once again it proved to be a bit of a challenge for the Shinigami. He expected to mostly experience the same issue as the previous exercise and be forced to take smaller steps during the last few meters more often than not, but in actuality the mistakes he made with relating the distance to cover with the energy to spend fell all over the place, and it took quite a bit for him to start making his steps even.

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[Training] [Finished] Slow. So damn slow. Feb 23, 2019 17:03:53 GMT

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Post by Fubuki Damano on Feb 23, 2019 17:03:53 GMT

Once again, Fubuki stopped to recover and got to the next drill just as soon as the results with the previous one started getting acceptable with a decent amount of consistency. Despite his increased fatigue, the third exercise took a little less time than the other two, probably because he finally started getting used to sprinting as often as he once did with frequency.

For the next part, the Shinigami crossed the small torrent generated by the cascade, reaching the side of the glen he knew to be more irregular in terrain. In fact, it didn’t take long for him to find what he was looking for: an area filled with hills and slopes, and where the soil was softer in some points and harder in others.

The fourth part of his training consisted in taking decisions on the spot and executing them instantly. So, all he had to do was run and take turns. At first, the main goal was just to keep the speed as constant as possible; thus, accelerating with more or less force depending on the steepness of the trait and its composition.

As expected, the task proved much more difficult to execute correctly than the previous ones. Not only did the greater variance make it more complex; not being used to the area anymore, Fubuki couldn’t even rely on his familiarity with it. Not to mention, focusing on the here and now made him lose his sense of direction, so he couldn’t even rely on recent memory to know what to expect. But that only made the training more suitable for him, so it was fine. And it was soon to start worrying about how to go back to the barracks anyway.

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[Training] [Finished] Slow. So damn slow. Feb 24, 2019 20:15:29 GMT

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Post by Fubuki Damano on Feb 24, 2019 20:15:29 GMT

It took quite a bit of time for Fubuki to get used to changing pace with such frequency, and while doing so his tiredness started getting to him, making it even harder to focus and slower to get the desired results. But he didn’t have time to take a long rest, not to mention stopping would have only made it harder to reprise the training. So, he went on until his coordination, quick-thinking and self-control sharpened enough to gain him some consistency.

This time, the Shinigami’s break to catch breath lasted a little longer than usual, as his body had gotten slower to react to the brain’s orders. But he managed to make full use of it, as instead of completely stopping he spent the break walking until he found the starting point. Which was exactly what he needed to reach, since the next drill would have taken place in the same area.

Actually, the drill was the same as the previous one, except he would have sprinted the whole time instead of trying to keep the speed steady. This way, not only would he have forced his muscles to work harder, but also loosened them, which was much needed at that point.

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[Training] [Finished] Slow. So damn slow. Feb 24, 2019 20:15:55 GMT

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Post by Fubuki Damano on Feb 24, 2019 20:15:55 GMT

Simple as it was, the drill forced Fubuki to go all out, for his body seemingly couldn’t give more. But for him, it was one of those situations where you first feel like you touched your limit and are scavenging for every bit of energy, then your body starts feeling lighter and lighter for some reason you cannot explain. So, while the Shinigami had to run in circles quite a few times before feeling like the technical execution was consistently acceptable, he made it to the end, although at that point his calves and thighs felt like they were burning.

Fubuki returned to the torrent walking. Slowly. He felt like he needed to make full use of any breath he could take, but it wasn’t over yet. His coordination, reflexes, control and speed of execution still weren’t good enough. Walking along the torrent, he found a spot where fairly large and slippery-looking rocks were popping out of the water, something he could easily make use of.

The exercise simply consisted in repeatedly crossing the river by skipping from a rock to the other at a sustained pace. He realized it was stupidly risky, as he could easily slip and injure himself, especially in his tired state, but what use would he make of a healthy body if it was as slow and clumsy as it presented itself at that time?

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[Training] [Finished] Slow. So damn slow. Feb 26, 2019 21:13:43 GMT

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Post by Fubuki Damano on Feb 26, 2019 21:13:43 GMT

Calves scorching, Fubuki made the first jump to get on a rock. And he slipped, falling down into the water on his back, as he fortunately still had the reflexes of crouching his neck not to beat his head. One of the many perks of training in a place no one ever visits is you can afford this kind of occurrence.

What the Shinigami couldn’t afford, however, was any waste of time. He stood up without even checking his Shihakusho or his precious hair (getting irritated would be a distraction, and as such a loss of efficiency), leaned his right foot on the rock to get a feel of how slippery it actually was and finally got on it with both feet, taking a moment to find his balance.

Once sure he wouldn’t have wasted any more time by falling on the first rock, the Gobantai Officer skipped on the second. Again, he needed a few moments to find balance, but at least it didn’t end like before. The thing continued until he finally reached the other side, always with him struggling a little on every rock. Which wasn’t good: he was supposed to jump from one to the next continuously.

Repetition is the key to mastery, though, so he just tried again and again until the whole motion got smoother. A lot of elements needed attention: the force used to jump, the best spot to land in, the search for balance and visualization of the following rock, which needed to occur fast enough for Fubuki not to lose the balance he just found. This was good, as it distracted him from the tiredness and consequent pain he would otherwise feel.

With time (and falls), he went from taking all the time he could between a jump and the other, to developing a somewhat consistent rhythm to finally going from a rock to the other almost as if he was actually running on a slightly wet terrain with no river to fall into.

A little while later, the Shinigami also managed to start executing the drill properly with consistency and stopped slipping at all, so he just sat on the shore closest to Seireitei and rose his sight to look at the sky. The sun was setting, soon he wouldn’t even be able to see the track. It was time to head back to the Barracks, but first he could finally lie down five minutes to recover a little more properly.

And that’s how Damano Fubuki ended up silently spending the night outside.

[Training] [Finished] Slow. So damn slow.

Post by Fubuki Damano on Feb 22, 2019 20:22:42 GMT

Post by Fubuki Damano on Feb 22, 2019 20:26:17 GMT

Post by Fubuki Damano on Feb 22, 2019 20:47:17 GMT

Post by Fubuki Damano on Feb 23, 2019 17:03:53 GMT

Post by Fubuki Damano on Feb 24, 2019 20:15:29 GMT

Post by Fubuki Damano on Feb 24, 2019 20:15:55 GMT

Post by Fubuki Damano on Feb 26, 2019 21:13:43 GMT

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