[quote]"I'm glad you're here," she said, "We're going to focus on your strength, since you can't even push a door open."  The last part wasn't said with venom, but it wasn't exactly warm either.  "Show me your punch," she said and when he did she clicked her teeth.[/quote]

"Yes, ma'am!" Kiro exclaimed, very excited to start, as he threw out a simple straight. It was loose, he didn't fully extend his arm, and it was awfully slow. Awfully. "Hmph." Kiro smirked, thinking it wasn't too shabby. "How was that?"

[quote]"We're going to work on that too."[/quote]

Kiro sighed, as he sunk his head low.


[quote]"Get in this stance.  It's one of the more traditional stances, especially in karate.  A lot of moves can flow from this stance, but today I'm just showing you how to punch properly."  She put her fists to her hips, her elbows pointed behind her.  "Punch out straight with your right arm, twisting your cost until it flattens and you finish the punch.  Keep your wrist straight and don't hold your thumbs in your hands."  She gave a slow demonstration then continued, "Keep your right and up and start punching with your left.  As you punch, being your right arm back into the starting position."  She demonstrated a couple more punches like this.  "Show me."[/quote]

Kiro copied her stance, as he sent his right fist flying out, his left resting near his waist, just itching to be sent out next. He altered punch from left and right, as his punches seemed to get better and better with every try. They were still horrible, but better than before.

[quote]Once she felt Kiro was getting the hang of it, she said, "Do you see those dumbbells?  Pick them up and punch.  I want you to do one hundred punches with each arm.  If one punch is off you're restarting, understand?"  She could tell this was going to be a big challenge for the boy, but if he could make it through this simple training he could push through other training too.[/quote]

Kiro nodded to show he did indeed understand, as he picked up the two dumbbells. At first he thought it was pretty easy, but after about ten, Kiro was ready for a break. He huffed and puffed, as he took breaks after every three punches.

Bakusa growled angrily, as he listened to Kiro's movements from across the courtyard. "What are you doing!?" He angrily screamed. "The moment you stop to take a rest is the moment the enemy's going to strike! You let your arms fall down to your side, and you've already lost the fight!" The man yelled, his fists clenched tightly. He had no interest in training a disciple, but...
The kid was just pathetic, he needed some pointers. '[i]One or two pieces of advice aren't going to hurt, I suppose.[/i]' He thought in an attempt to justify his actions.

"Y-Yes, sir!" Kiro thought what the man said made sense; Kiro just had little-to-no stamina do such things without breaks. '[i]But if I want to get stronger, I need to push my body to its limits![/i]' He convinced himself, as he continued to throw out the punches, now much more confident in his throws then before. He wanted to quit, he wanted to stop throwing out his arms, but he couldn't! He wouldn't give up this time! His arms shook and wobbled under the pressure, as the weights became heavier and heavier.

The blind man smirked, as he could feel the intensity coming off of Kiro. He wasn't strong, and had no natural talent, but hard work always trumped over both of those things with enough time put into it.