Description: A lot of Aranha's fights both on the Suiryuu and off of it have given the Traceur/Capoeirista the feeling that something is missing. A chance encounter with the Happy Go Lucky Monk on the docks allow him to take steps needed to fill in those blanks.
What do you do when your job's getting you down? You take the pole and go fishing, that's what you do.
Now that summer's dog days are more or less over and the heat isn't as oppressive, Frei has found some excuses to get OUT of the Southtown Young Fighter's Community Center that seems to dominate a degree of his week that it could charitably be called a job. Emphasis on 'charitably' since... he doesn't get paid to do anything. Not that he strictly needs to -- he's got plenty of his own money -- but it does mean he doesn't feel so strong an obligation that he won't blow it off now and then.
Currently the monk is enjoying the afternoon off by sitting on the far side of Southtown's docks; not the warehouse-infested industrial section, but the personal craft and pleasure boating areas with what might be called more traditional wooden docks and buoys, boats of all sizes flitting to and fro in the water, some sitting at their respective slips. The one Frei is at must be public use or abandoned, since he's the only one at it... but it's not that far from where the massive ship Suiryuu has been docking recently, so perhaps it's empty for a reason.
The sleeves of his gold-orange-brown shirt are rolled up, as well as the legs of his jeans; a pair of wooden sandals sits on the dock next to the monk, as well as what looks like a Chinese take-out container. Humming to himself, Frei reaches inside and pulls out a worm, affixing it to his line and then plunking it back in the water.
Then he takes another worm out and bites into it... which would be shocking if the worm's bright, neon green and orange two-toned color didn't reveal that it is, in fact, a gummi worm.
Speaking of the Suiryuu, there's a young man walking off the boat seeming to have a lot on his mind as he walks along the ramp being extended to the docks. Normally he would look a lot more cheerful but first of all, he doesn't know anyone is around, and second, he's been thinking about what the whole tournament is about and the report he's going to eventually have to make to Mr. Big.
It isn't until he's actually on the docks that he sees Frei chewing on a gummi bear. It's almost instant recognition after all he's been in various Saturday Night Fights, Neo Leagues and so he's a recognizable figure. He also heard about his teaching at the YFCC and had been meaning to go but never really had the time. It isn't like he has to go make the report right away so there was no time like the present.
Aranha moves towards the monk, with relaxed controlled strides before. "Aren't you Frei from the SNFs?" He extends his hand forward for a shake while his other hand moves up to guard his face. "I'm Aranha... I heard about your classes and I've been meaning to go to them. You see... I have a problem... I don't quite understand chi as much as I would like."
Well, that's unusual, isn't it? Frei has some notoreity but he's not a big ticket fighter; most of the people who know and love him on the fighting circuits are those who go in for what can only be called his own personal brand of rodeo clown antics. But he's fairly well known for his flashy special effects. Of course, his actually offering a class in chi at the YFCC -- recently cancelled for lack of enrollment -- means any Southtown-based person might ask him that.
The monk turns with a blink to find Aranha looming over him, and squints a little at the afternoon sun blazing over the youth's shoulder. "Haha, 'Frei from the SNFs'... I don't think I've ever been called that before. Maybe Howard Enterprises owes me some money for the title now." He suddenly scoots over to the side and picks up the container of 'bait', making room for Aranha.
"Well... the class isn't taught anymore," he says with a slight sigh. "Not enough people. But I'm alright with giving some individual tutoring. Have a seat and we'll talk about the basics." He suddenly blinks, and there's a slight movement of his fishing pole -- which is by no means a modern fishing pole: it's a length of wood with some line attached -- as well. Yanking it up with one hand, he blinks at the line, which is now wormless... but the 'hook' on the end isn't actually hooked at all. It's just a straight piece of thin metal, like a sewing needle.
The lack of fish doesn't seem to bother Frei at all, either. Instead he just threads another gummi worm onto the 'hook', then plunks it back in the water. "I guess we can start with you telling me what you DO know about chi." He then turns to Aranha with a smile and holds up the container. "Worm?"
Hakuya travels north towards the Suiryuu.
"Well," Aranha begins as he tries to figure out how to phrase it. "I don't really know much about it to be honest." He looks down into the bucket and realizing the worms in the bucket are actually gummi worms he has to stifle a bit of a laugh. Even still he reaches in and examines the worm for a few moments before popping one into his mouth. As far as he's concerned, Aranha doesn't think that the man has any real reason to poison him.
"I know my chi has no elemental properties. I can only use it in short bursts. It takes a bit more effort for me to use it longer bursts. I don't know the whys or hows. Only that it happens."
Indeed the gummi worms aren't poisoned... or at least not the ones that Frei himself is eating. Perhaps it's just the one flavor. Is he out to kill the fish in the harbor?! FIND OUT NEXT WEEK.
There's a faint nod from the monk as Aranha tells him what he knows, and most of it is what Frei himself expected to hear. It's certainly the type of thing Eva told him not that long ago, as well. Fumbling to his left with one hand, Frei finds a spot between planks where he wedges his fishing pole, then shakes out his hands and holds them in front of him. "Elemental properties... I like the sound of that. Sort of like D&D."
Half-turning to Aranha, he sizes the youth up. Obviously in great physical shape. But the spiritual muscles? Hard to tell from a glance. "It sounds like you're mostly doing it on instinct. Which is how most fighters your age work, or at least the ones I know of. Which is a good start! Most people can't make their chi manifest at all, so that means you have a talent many others don't. So what can you learn from me, huh... hmmm."
This seems to consume Frei's concentration for a moment, before he turns his torso to face Aranha totally. "Okay. Close your eyes, and try to call up your chi. You don't have to *send* it anywhere... think of it like willing it to fill your body. Then give me your hand."
Aranha sits down with his legs folded as he closes his eyes and begins breathing... He begins humming one of his favorite Capoeira songs as he does so and instead of being a distraction it seems to help him focus. While he doesn't specifically will the energy to specific locations, it seems as though instinct does so anyway. One of the things the monk may notice is that there's blue glow around both feet.
It's at that point that the fighter extends his right hand as if readying it for yet another handshake. Deep inside, Aranha is wondering what exactly the monk intends to find out by doing this. But he doesn't give voice to that question. He needs the focus from the music.
There's a few moments where Frei doesn't touch Aranha at all. The sudden humming interests him... and the spike in Aranha's aura when he starts the music interests him too. Everyone's got their own little signs and rituals, after all... perhaps the music is Aranha's.
But once the capoeirista's energy seems to be flowing as much as it's going to, Frei closes one eye for a second, concentrates, and then reaches out to try and shake Aranha's hand. When it happens, because in a spark of silver (on Frei's side) and the color of Aranha's own chi from his hand, the sensation is a bit like a short, static shock; not painful, but surprising. It's focused mostly around the fingertips rather than the palm, however.
Taking his hand back, Frei nods in satisfaction. "You may or may not know this, but 'chi' is a Chinese word, and the best translation is probably 'breathing'. It's more complex than that, but the Chinese believe that energy passes between the body and the world around us all the time, especially when we breathe. That energy is called 'chi'. What you just felt was me drawing on a type of chi that's... I guess you'd say opposite to yours. Hence the shock."
When the shocking sensation surprises the capoeirista and his eyes suddenly go wide and the music suddenly stop. There's no graceful fade out but rather a quick flash before the blue energy around his feet blinks out of existance. "Normally I'd call it 'Axe'(pronounced Ah-shay) but I got the feeling most people wouldn't understand what the hell I was talking about. Something like life force. But that does make sense..."
The fighter mulls over this new knowledge and then a question comes to mind. "Opposite? What type of energy would mine have to be in order for that to be the opposite?"
Reaching down to pick up the bait container, Frei pops another gummi worm in his mouth, then offers it to Aranha as he chews and gives his explanation, pausing briefly to chew and then swallow first. "It depends on who you ask. And since you asked me, you're getting my version... but I', pretty confident in my version," he adds with a smile. Once Aranha's either declined another gummi worm or taken one, Frei sets the box back down and clears his throat.
"I already said chi is the energy of the world around us, right? Well... just like there's fundamental forces in physics, there's fundamental forces in chi, too." Holding his right hand out, palm up, Frei summons a little globe of orange-gold light, no bigger than a golf ball. "There's yang, which is the energy of life, positive energy..." Reaching out his other hand, he calls up a similar little sphere of light, but this one is silver instead. "And then there's yin, the energy of death... negative energy. Chi is made up of a balance of those two forces. You seem like a pretty active, outgoing sort of guy... so I expected your chi would be mostly yang, and I was right." He closes his hands, the energy orbs disappearing.
"Postive and Negative energy. Hmmm. I assume all fighters who can wield some type of energy wields some combination of those two basic fundamental forces. Whether their chi/axe is elemental or not?" Sure he's basically parroting what Frei is telling him but he only does so in order to make sure he understands what he's being told.
"If my chi is positive... Yang, should I work in the direction of strengthening my connection to this Positive energy or working in the opposite direction to improve my ability to work with it." There's a certain amount of care he takes in avoiding the use of the word 'use.'
"Basically. Think about fire, that's pretty common. Fire is basically a certain type of yang energy. It's hot, aggressive, forceful. But then there's, say... lightning. That's hot and forceful, but it's also very directed and focused. There's a bit of yin energy in that, calming and shaping the yang that wants to burst out of control. And then there's ice, which is mostly yin energy applied to water in the air... you see what I mean?"
The question hangs in the air as Frei, who chews thoughtfully on another gummi worm, considers Aranha's actual question. "Well, that depends. Nobody's... an 'innate' yang type or a yin type or a fire type or whatever, not really... but you use your chi mostly on instinct, right? So it followed your personality. That's the most important thing. Did you know you hum when you're trying to gather your chi?"
Aranha nods as he feels as if he's starting to get the gist of it but he asks one more question to make sure he's understands it, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but would water chi be yin energy used to cool the water in the air but once the liquid forms theres's some yang applied to it to prevent it from leaving its liquid state?" With the question asked he reaches into the bucket to take another worm since it was offered before. He's just choosing now to take one.
He chooses to take sometime to digest the second part of it. "Based on personality? Hmmm and actually I did. I sometimes use music as my focus as a result of the fighting style I use. I don't always hum during a fight because I can think of a song in a fight situation. When I'm out of the fight situation though I have to concentrate on the music to draw upon my chi."
Blanka arrives from the harbor.
Frei shakes his head in response. "Not exactly. The thing about chi and elements is that they're not permanent. Chi fire burns things, and it's hot and such, but... it disappears as quick as it came. Same with ice. Like... if you start a campfire with a chi fireblast, if the wood wasn't burning, the fire would vanish. Does that make sense? The ice thing was just an example... people who use ice attacks just form them out of nothing, so they'd never melt, but they would just vanish."
Stretching his arms over his head like an arch, Frei stands up and snaps up his fishing pole, dragging the line around it and then tying it down. "What I would do if I were you, is keep doing what I asked you before: focus on letting your body fill with energy. Hum or dance or whatever if you have to... you just want it to become second nature. If you can do what you need concentration to do now, while you're fighting... then you can start to learn what comes after."
"Hmmm..." There's a lot for the fighter to think about. First off he never really thought about the reason that chi attacks disappear. In his defense though Aranha just never knew about chi to ask that question. But this knowledge is indeed useful. Knowing what chi can't do can prevent him from from making mistakes in a fight due to ignorance.
Aranha slowly gets up from his seated position and stretches. The homework assignment has been given and it's time for Aranha. It was a conversation the young Capoeirista/Traceur needed to have. He came out of the conversation with much more knowledge and actual direction.
"Thanks for the lesson. We'll be in contact." With that, the Dancing Spider is on his way. After all he still does have business to attend to before he has to return to Suiryuu.
Log created on 17:02:02 09/07/2007 by Aranha, and last modified on 09:36:49 09/10/2007.