Description: Mei Lin challenges Vuong into a battle in what seems to be an abandonned train station in Japan. Mei Lin shows him the might of Hung Gar and he pushes her to her limits. (WINNER : Mei Lin)
Vuong Nguyen is not a pure amateur; everyone in the Vietnam People's Army has to have some basic combat discipline, but this -is- his first time fighting for fame and profit. It pays a bit better than washing windows.
Much like taekwondo is the Korean martial art, Vovinam is the Vietnamese. The official uniform of Vovinam is very similar in style to that of karate and taekwondo, but colored a bright, vibrant blue. And... as far as he knows, he's only ever fought in an official dojo.
This train station: not an official dojo, not by a long shot. Right now, it's rush hour -- the westbound platform is a rush of activity as workers spill out of the trains onto the awaiting platform, filing two-by-two up the long escalators. The eastbound platform is comparatively empty -- and that's where the Neo League fight officials are waiting.
Vuong leaps down the staircase, taking stairs three at a time. He's barefoot, his long yellow belt trailing along behind him. And when he sees the official, he does a front flip over the official's head, twisting in mid air to land facing him.
At which point he bows honorably.
Clenching his hands into light fists, he glances around the rest of the platform. Long benches lie empty, and aside from support columns and the long bumpy tiles (used to indicate to blind people where the end of the platform lies), the fighting 'arena' seems clear. If... low budget.
Vuong blinks. He walks over to the official. "... Uh... who is it I'm supposed to be fighting, again?"
COMBATSYS: Vuong has started a fight here.
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Vuong 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Mei Lin has joined the fight here.
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Vuong 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Mei Lin
For Mei Lin, the neo league was his way to learn and gain real fighting experience. Training for years the routines, stances and technique is one thing -- though you have to be able to execute them perfectly in the middle of action and against a real opponent.
Which is what Mei Lin has been lacking for all those years. He is not expecting to be a glorious fighter... Yet. Though what he seeks is his own self improvement and so far, what he's seen of the neo league has left him rather pleased.
Many talented fighters... And many women with talent as well. It was enough to give him some hope and keep him smiling despite the rough beatings he's had so far.
Mei Lin was waiting for Vuong in the station : he was leaning against one of the column, just conveniently out of sight, "That would be me," He says with a merry voice as he straightens himself and walks over so Vuong can see him. Clad in what seems to be monk robes, Mei Lin walks bare footed like Vuong. The young man bows respectfully to the other martial artist, his right fist into his left palm as he bows to him.
He seems to be looking at him, though his eyes aren't really focusing on him, as if he was looking at something behind him or in front of him, hard to tell. "Show me everything you've got," Mei Lin says, lips curling into an eager smile as he gets into his low horse stance, hands resting beside his waist, ready to strike.
Vuong smiles back as his opponent makes himself known. He had expected a bigger opponent -- certainly not one who could fit completely behind a column like that, but has to admire the entrance. "Hi! I'm Vuong, it's nice to meet you," he replies, bowing honorably as well. Perhaps his fight demeanor will change in later fights, but for now, excessive politeness seems to be the way to go. His smile may be a tiny smidge more reserved than the eagerness Mei Lin is putting on display, but ... only just so. And it might be because of the not-quite-fixed expression passed his way. "I'll give it my best shot, if you can do the same for me!" he answers.
And then, with the officials giving the word to proceed, Vuong initiates combat. He breaks into a sudden dash, hopping forward to hurl his left shoulder in a fierce strike at his competitor -- but it's just an opener to follow up with a high palm strike to the forehead. A bit fast, and a bit overcommitted -- but he'll learn sooner or later whether this actually works. "HUY! HUYYY!"
COMBATSYS: Vuong successfully hits Mei Lin with Dam Lao.
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Vuong 0/-------/------=|=------\-------\0 Mei Lin
"Doing any less would be an insult to your skills," Mei Lin answers. Though it was very important Vuong doesn't soften his blows when he fights him. He might notice something odd about him, obviously by the way he never seems to be looking straight at him even though he seems to be looking in his general direction. "I'm Mei Lin," He adds, though doesn't insist on presentation for now...
It was time for them to talk through their fists!
Mei Lin braces for Vuong's charge and shifts slightly, expecting him to lunge at him. He attempts to intercept his shoulder tackle but his hands don't seem to be able to withstand it. He breaks through it, forcing Mei Lin to take a step back, leaving him open for Vuong's following palm strike against his head. The strike causes him to stagger back and grunt in pain, but Mei Lin quickly manages to regain his composure.
With a ki shout, Mei Lin lunges at Vuong and hurls his right fist straight at Vuong's abdomen, followed shortly by his left one. He joins his hand together afterward and lunges foward to deliver a powerful elbow smash aimed at Vuong's side stomping roughly at the ground as he does so.
The foot stomp makes the ground rumble a moment due to the chi he channels through his foot, causing the pavement on Vuong's left side to crack as a thick pillar of stone burst out of it and rise quickly into Vuong's flank.
COMBATSYS: Mei Lin successfully hit Vuong with Iron Dragon Fist.
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Vuong 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Mei Lin
Vuong is still working on this whole 'ki' thing. He understands the -concept- of it, and can tell when other people use it... but knowing of ki and being able to handle it are two separate things.
This strike, for example. He's pleased at being able to land a solid set of blows upon his opponent -- which he notes with a smile and a small release of breath. Sweeping his hands back into a defensive stance, he prepares for the followup -- but it comes a bit fast. He opts to lean backwards, in hope of taking advantage of his opponent's presumably short reach -- but he'd underestimated Mei Lin's determination. The elbow smash lands -- and shortly afterwards, a pillar of stone rises from behind.
Vuong finds himself knocked forward, blasted onto the floor. He'd known of some fighters who can manipulate their environment, but never thought it'd be done -here-. At -his- level! Pressing his palms to the pavement, he flips himself back to his feet -- and finds out why sudden motions are probably not a -good- thing when someone's been hit as hard as he has. Staggering once more, with one hand snapping to his back, he scrapes the back of his hand against his nose. "Heh-heh... that's... that's a pretty neat trick!" he offers good-naturedly, shifting his feet somewhat.
When he closes back into striking range, his feet are swift. It looks like he might come in with another punch, but instead, he takes flight -- leaping into the air, he swings his foot in a high, whirling kick to the shoulder. In mid-air, he twists his torso sharply, imparting momentum onto his hips so that he can spin about into a second kick, aimed at bowling his opponent over backwards. "Hya, hya!"
COMBATSYS: Mei Lin blocks Vuong's Heavy Kick.
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Vuong 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Mei Lin
The young man keeps his arms in front of him after the attack. One hand farther than the other, his fingers joined together to form a sort of spike. His eyes weren't even looking at him, his gaze lost in the distance. His movements were slow, but he remained steady like a rock as he kept his unwavering stance.
His lips curl into a smile at Vuong's compliment, "Thanks... took me years to do it," He admits. He lets Vuong get back on his feet and doesn't get distracted by the compliment though, his focused expression returning on his feature.
Mei Lin doesn't get fooled by his feint : his nose is slightly up and it almost seems like he felt his movement more than he saw them. His arms move swiftly to block the first swirling kick. The second kick almost catches him by surprise but Mei Lin manages to block it with both arms at the last second. It forces him to take a step back though, a groan of pain escaping his throat.
Mei Lin lunges foward to retaliate : he hurls his right hand at Vuong's face to smash him with the back of his hand while his left one quickly snaps out to strike with his pointed fingers right under his neck where his collar bones join together.
COMBATSYS: Vuong interrupts Strong Punch from Mei Lin with Flying Scissors.
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Vuong 1/------=/=======|=======\-------\1 Mei Lin
Vuong frowns as his kicking attack didn't seem to work. Aerial attacks are kind of his game, and it seems that his ki-sensitive opponents seems to be wise to it, unfortunately. As Mei Lin steps back, Vuong recovers, shuttling his feet back and forth to reset his momentum to a neutral -- a necessity for dealing with incoming attacks, naturally.
But when Mei Lin's strike comes in, he's at the ready: his hand snaps up at the perfect moment to deflect the back of the kung-fu fighter's backhand. The slap of the strike stings like hell, forcing Vuong to shake the instantaneous numbness out of his hand -- but he's already in motion by the time the second strike comes though. The knife-hand strikes him in the sternum, but the angle of attack is off.
It's off, because Vuong's chest is already sideways, his knees scissor-locked around Mei Lin's head. And due to the rapid reorientation, the attack doesn't hurt -quite- as much.
A sudden twist of his shoulders leads to a sharp twist of his hips -- and Mei Lin may be a -bit- disoriented, as he would suddenly find himself flipped out of control by the flying scissors hold, as Vuong lets gravity take over and pull both fighters to the ground.
Disentangling himself rapidly from Mei Lin, he hops back with a grin. His fatigue is obvious from the breaths he takes, but aside from shaking the ouchies out of his hand, he seems... invigorated. "Man, almost broke my hand with that..." he comments with a grin.
Mei Lin barely has the time to realize what is going on as he performs his second strike that his momentum's broken by Vuong's chop against his sternum. It seems to daze him a second, just long enough to give Vuong the freedom to move around her uninterrupted.
A hushed groan of pain escapes his throat at first from the first strike and Mei Lin's hands reach out for Vuong's legs locked around his head as he attempts to break free. It is soon followed by a scream of surprise as he loses his balance and he's flung around by Vuong's twist and ends up being slammed hard against the pavement.
Mei Lin growls and tries to get back on her feet as quickly as possible, lagging behind and disoriented after Vuong's attack. He is panting softly as well, both from fatigue and the actual stress from Vuong's attack, "Woah... that's really... Something.." He says, trying to make his head stop spinning. His joints and back hurts the most and in all honesty, he's quite impressed by those who are able to perform grapple like that, something he lacks quite an expertise on.
He regains his low stance with his hands near his waist and he approaches Vuong. He lunges at him and delivers a low kick aimed at Vuong's shin while.
COMBATSYS: Vuong blocks Mei Lin's Medium Kick.
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Vuong 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\1 Mei Lin
Vuong smiles faintly -- not wanting to appear -rude- or anything, though. It is a bit of a rush to land his most dramatic attack, though, all things considered.
When Mei Lin leaps in with a low kick for his shin, Vuong steps backwards, lifting his heel from the ground. When the kick strikes, he lets his leg go limp, offering no resistance as his leg snaps backwards from the attack. He hops backwards in anticipation of a followup -- but when it doesn't come, the Vovinam fighter decides to take the initiative. He launches into a series of waist-level chops -- aiming to pepper Mei Lin's defenses more than anything else. But he follows up by twisting into a series of kicks -- a roundhouse, followed up by a mid-level kick. As he spins his torso, he continues building up his rotational momentum -- but the finale would send him leaping forward, scissoring both legs about Mei Lin's torso, and twisting sharply to flip him to the ground once more. "Hya! Hya! Hyaaaaaa!"
And if that all takes place as he planned, he'd break free and slam a simple nerve chop to the sternum before springing back to a safe distance.
COMBATSYS: Vuong successfully hits Mei Lin with Momentous Occasion.
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Vuong 0/-------/-----==|=======\====---\1 Mei Lin
By the time Mei Lin finally steadies himself, Vuong counter attacks with his series of chops at his chest, forcing him into a defensive stance. His tiger claw's reflxes are a bit off though, too slow to deflect Vuong's attacks. The lack of rhythm and every clean blow makes the following one easier to land, slowly shattering her rock stance.
The kick finally breaks it and Mei Lei takes a step back not to fall and lose his balance, every smash Vuong performs on him make him groan in pain. He felt his muscles from his torso burning from pain, making him ache and the rest of his movements harder. It all seems to happen too fast and before he knows it, Vuong's already latched into him and he's flipping him over and slamming him against the ground. All he could do was brace himself for impact, which did little to soften the landing.
The last strike on his sternum causes a high pitched screech to escape his throat, unlike his deeper cry of pain he previously wailed. He coughs and rolls slowly into his side when he's fred from Vuong's embrace, his palms touching the ground to feel Vuong's presence as he attempts to rise back to his feet.
It took him great effort and the young man was panting heavily. Though he forces himself, knowing how harsh his father training would have been and knowing if he gives up now, he might as well just drop things and come back home. He knew it would be a long journey full of pain and harsh moment and it wasn't a pleasure cruise... And despite the pain he had to force himself to the very end, so long as he could control his body.
The pain that lingers in his body makes him decide against going after Vuong with another physical assault. Instead, Mei Lin steadies himself and assumes his standard horse straddling stance and he lifts both of his arms in the air. He breathes loudly, channeling his energy through his feet into the ground, his hands trembling from the exertion this technique causes on him, gritting his teeth from the sheer effort it takes from him.
The ground trembles around them, almost like a small earthquake localized in the train station. Suddenly, Mei Lin stomps her foot against the ground and lifts both of her hands up, a few foot behind Vuong to crack as dozens of boulders made of hardened earth and stones rises like a massive wave of dirt. Mei Lin seems to direct the earth itself and bring it forth, causing it to loom over Vuong and with a sudden jerk down of her hands cause the wave of stone and rocks to crash down against Vuong...
Fortunately for him, the density and hardness of most of those rocks remain only for a couple of seconds before it crumbles into the dirt and soil it once was.
COMBATSYS: Mei Lin successfully hit Vuong with Buried Alive.
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Vuong 0/-------/<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Mei Lin
Vuong is still getting used to this 'chi' stuff. He's a good study, he learns fast and all that, but he learns best in the midst of combat. And he'd been paying close attention to his opponent, taking careful note of his reactions... and noticing the shifts that allowed Mei Lin to better weather his strikes.
He'd also taken note of the -stone pillar- that spanked him from behind, as well. No mistaking that as a normal kung-fu strike. So he's up against someone who can move the very stone of the train platform.
So he believes himself to be adequately prepared for the incoming blows. The stomp against the concrete isn't just petulance, it's a technique -- Vuong can sense that much. He starts to leap forward, but he realizes -- the threat isn't Mei Lin himself, but rather, the station around him. Curling inward, he begins to glow with a faint yellow aura...
Rock and stone tumble down upon him, but as Vuong shelters his head, clenching his fists -- it seems the aura helps a bit. He still finds himself squashed flat against the train platform, mind... but he's not as flat as he -could- be. Laughing unsteadily, he pushes himself back to his feet...
And just as unsteadily, he drops to one knee, panting heavily as dust falls from his uniform. "It's... I'm good! We're finishing this," he insists -- more to himself than to his talented opponent.
He charges forward once more -- though he brings his arms high, windmilling them about for a circular strike. ... It ends up not being a strike at all, but rather a grab for Mei Lin's arms, one wrist in each of his hands, with intent to entangle him up. And if he manages that, he'd aim to twist sharply, slinging his opponent backwards into one of the steel support columns. "Hraa!"
COMBATSYS: Vuong successfully hits Mei Lin with Medium Throw.
- Power hit! -
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Vuong 1/-------/<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Mei Lin
Rest assured this feat was no easy task for Mei Lin. The young man pants loudly after he has performed this, the rock growing softer after a moment allowing him to free himself from the wave of earth with relative ease. Mei Lin was not worried, he could sense that Vuong was still moving before he actually emerged out of the layer of soil Mei Lin spread across the station.
His lips curl into a smile and he nods to Vuong, at least showing he understands his desire to continue. He resumes his stance, ready to meet Vuong's attack. He was definately impressed with how Vuong managed to get out of this and still stand but then again, Mei Lin thinks she has a lot of things to see now that she's fighting into the league and with martial artists from across the world.
When Vuong grasps Mei Lin's arms she ends up getting entangled relatively quickly. Obviously, grapples weren't her forte. She flails in an attmept to free herself, knowing full well her struggle was in vain. Instead she opts to focus on her muscles, bracing herself and hardening them in a way to delay the pain and affliction from the incoming impact. Mei Lin ends up getting slammed roughly against the steel column : enough to cause it to bulge under the pressure and excessive hit : however, desptie the obvious rough impact, Mei Lin seems literally unphased by it. Her iron body technique giving her a few seconds to ignore the pain before it backlashes at her.
With a ki shout, Mei Lin's hands form the beaks of the cranes : fingers joining together like spikes as she rushes foward at Vuong, snapping at his face and torso with her quick snaps, using the pressure of all five fingers against his shoulders, chest and face, flailing at him roughly like a furious crane flapping its wing and beak.
COMBATSYS: Mei Lin successfully hit Vuong with Stone Crane Fury.
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Vuong 1/----===/=======|==-----\-------\0 Mei Lin
Normally, when people get hit, they feel it. Vuong can sense the pain, if not in their expression, then certainly in their body. He cannot shape the flow of chi, but he can certainly -sense- it. And he doesn't -sense- any change in Mei Lin's body at all, as if he were literally a stone, or a piece of metal.
Frowning faintly, he takes a cautious step back. When Mei Lin strikes, he raises his hands, and attempts to use his powerful legs to leap to safety -- but escape is not happening against such a furious crane attack. Everything from the waist up is assualted in the sudden onslaught; his face and upper torso are sure to be a colorful map of bruises and blemishes for the next few days as he recovers from the battle. He steps backwards onto the raised bumps of the yellow caution line, noting that he shouldn't allow himself to be pressed back any further lest he fall from the platform -- and has the presence of mind to drop to one knee, to halt his retreat.
"Nngh..." he grunts, offering a good-natured smile despite the obvious pain wracking his body. "Well... you didn't go easy on /me/..." he notes, rising back to his feet.
But he does not stand fully -- he twists himself into a diagonal kick, aimed at knocking Mei Lin backwards. He's unsteady, shaky -- but his kick is solid, his form unassailable.
Afterwards, though -- he'd find it pretty much impossible to stand up, and he'd collapse to one knee, panting heavily. "G-good... good fight."
COMBATSYS: Vuong can no longer fight.
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Mei Lin 0/-------/-----==|
COMBATSYS: Mei Lin interrupts Da Canh EX from Vuong with Steel Tiger Claws.
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Mei Lin 0/-------/----===|
This powerful technique comes with a price though : it allows Mei Lin to delay the pain, but it unavoidably hits her after a moment. A rush of adrenaline that allows her to ignore it, hardened muscles that allows her to absorb the blows without flinching. It doesn't change the fact though that her body still felt the rough impact and internal damage is still there.
When Vuong drops one knee down, Mei Lin lowers her guard for a moment. Her gaze is still distant, not quite looking at him. Though his lips curl into a smile, "It's only natural," He admits. When he rises back and suddenly attempts to knock his back with his kick, Mei Lin instinctively moves his palm to deflect the blow and knock down Vuong's leg with his tiger claw.
He quickly follows up, without a second thought slamming his left palm right into Vuong's chest. Only then does he realize that Vuong might be about to lose his footing and she quickly lunges foward to grasp for Vuong's shirt with the hand that delivered the last palm strike, pulling him back against him. He moves his arms to more or less embrace/support Vuong afterward, "Woah, sorry about that.." He says.
"Go.. Good fight, yeah..." Mei Lin coughs a few times and his knees tremble a second as he loses her balance, a sudden rush of pain coursing through his body -- the backlash of the Iron Body technique. He falls to his knees with Vuong, taking a moment to recover from the pain himself, much like Vuong -- he just managed to stand still longer than he did, it would seem. If only barely so.
COMBATSYS: Mei Lin takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Mei Lin can no longer fight.
Vuong grins up at Mei Lin... only to find that Mei Lin has dropped down to his level. He starts to speak...
And then a commuter train rushes in, with the hiss of steam brakes loudly drowning out any wisdom he could have possibly had to impart just then.
And then the Neo League officials are blurting out in a rush of activity. How could anyone hear through all -that?!-
But... as the first-aid squad rushes out, there's plenty of time to eke out one last thought.
"Thanks for the fight! Maybe we'll meet again sometime!"
Log created on 20:49:37 02/24/2015 by Mei Lin, and last modified on 21:57:50 02/25/2015.