Isawa-gunso had made it a point that he would be expected to defend himself and, if absolutely necessary, to kill. He didn't like the sound of that, but Daidoji Fuichi reasoned it was better to be prepared than to be surprised. If he had learned one thing from spending his early years with his larger and more rambunctious brothers, it was that surprises are bad, indeed.

Thus, as morning dawned on the aft-deck, Daidoji Fuichi took up his regulation Asahina bo-staff and...thought about what one does with it. I suppose I...wallop someone? Maybe? His consternation is evident.

Himiko had been making a morning walk, clearing her head now that the dangers of the Sea of Shadows were finished. There was a relieved smile on her face, and a certain comfort in not having to wear so much armor any more. And of course, the ability to just sing again. Himiko had been singing one of her terrible Crab drinking songs for the past while, though it stopped when she noticed the Asahina.

Himiko approached rather casually and offered a bow. "Mornin', Daidoji-san. Trust the days are treain' ye well?"

Having been told that the aftdeck was also the place most people could find space to train, Nobuyoshi heads there much earlier than his appointed duty time, a bokken over his shoulder.

He makes the appropriate bows to those on deck, but doesn't seek to engage them in conversation, just to find an appropriate space to practice.

Taking the bokken, and begins to move through the forms of his kata. The kata itself is interesting to watch, the movements are quick and precise. Their also somewhat hard to predict, as several times Nobuyoshi changes direction suddenly, his bokken singing through the air, it's melody there, but surprising.

The young Lion also takes to the aftdeck for a morning training session, a bokken in hand and a knife at his belt. He bows appropriately to all the others who are present. "Good morning shipmates." Noting the curious expression on the Asahina's face he moves up alongside Himiko. "I see you are taking Isawa-gunso's instructions to heart Asahina-san. Yasuki-san, nice to meet you on the other side of a storm."

Yasuki Himiko wrote:Himiko had been making a morning walk, clearing her head now that the dangers of the Sea of Shadows were finished. There was a relieved smile on her face, and a certain comfort in not having to wear so much armor any more. And of course, the ability to just sing again. Himiko had been singing one of her terrible Crab drinking songs for the past while, though it stopped when she noticed the Asahina.

Himiko approached rather casually and offered a bow. "Mornin', Daidoji-san. Trust the days are treain' ye well?"

He bowed in return. "Well enough, I suppose. Good morning to you as well, Akodo-san. I'm...well, it's difficult to explain, but I've never actually, ah, been in combat before, and it's certainly not emphasized in the Asahina school. So, I really have no idea what I'm doing with...this."
He nodded toward the bo in his hands like it was a vicious snake prepared to bite him. "Help?"

Himiko offered a quick bow to the Bayushi, then another to the Akodo. "Mornin', Akodo-san. 's to see ye in good weather, where ye don't look like a drowned kitteh." She smirked mischevously, then looked to the Asahina.

"If yer lookin' fer me te teach ye te use that flimsy piece o' driftwood, I can't help ye. If ye want me te teach ye how to stop somethin' with yer hands, then I might be able te help out a bit."

He cocked his head. "Is that better? It seemed to me that the object was to keep some distance between one's self and the enemy, but I suppose I'm less likely to drop my hands, neh?" A nervous chuckle.

Himiko shrugs. "I suppose it depends on yer phila... pilo... yer thoughts on it. I figure if I've got 'em on the ground and ah'm throwin' elbows in their face, they ain't stabbin me."

Bayushi Kichirou made his way above decks for what felt like the first time in days. As he'd been told he was foregoing his armor and weapons coming to the Aftdeck in the clothes provided and a carrying a bokken. He knew it wasn't the best weapon to train with but it was the only one with which he held any skill.

Seeing the others going about a similar duty he greets them with a bow and bright smile a fair counter to the other Scorpion's insulated countenance, "Good morning all. It feels nice to be out in the sun." he says with a small chuckle as he adjusts his hat to keep the glare from the sky in check.

Stepping to a side, he begins to limber up with his bokken stretching out muscles that while they had been used, had not been used for this task in days.

He shrugs in turn. He's not very good at shrugging, it being considered crass and vulgar by his Father. Many whuppins had gone into his training, oh, yes indeed.

"Well, one has to try, I suppose." He set the bo down behind a water barrel so that it wouldn't roll away, and greets the Scorpion with a pleasant smile before turning back to the Yasuki. "What's first?"

Himiko walked up to him and studied him carefully. "First we gotta work on yer stance. It starts with..." and she begins explaining the ins and outs of a basic jiujitsu stance, stepping at times close to the Daidoji, but trying her best not to touch him or be so close as to be suggestive towards impropriety.

Fuichi is certainly a fast learner, theoretically speaking. His stance is a little crude, but he has a natural grace common among Crane. Of course, Himiko's proximity makes him ever-so-slightly uncomfortable, but he shakes that aside for the sake of the lesson.

"...And then I punch him?"

"Hold yer horses, hot shot. Sure, a punch is gonna happen, but we gotta work on the process o' the punch." She held up her own stance, mirroring him. "Now, a good punch..." and again, she begins moving into the mechanics of making a solid punch connect with someone.

There's no denying it, Fuichi is just not wired for violence. His punches are anemic at best, but at least he has the forms down. Sort of. "Thank you, Yasuki-san!" He smiled, clearly pleased with his progress.

Himiko snorted. "don't be thankin' me yet. We've got a long way te go. Put some damn force in yer punch."

Jishaku smiles at the Crab's comment and also gives the Scorpion a bow when he arrives. "Ah good, I'm not one to use such a weapon either. Jiujutsu is much more useful in my opinion. If you can put your opponent in a grapple then you can hold him or at least keep him occupied until your shipmates can come to your assistance Daidoji-san." He watches the Crab and then the Crane run through a few punches. "Have you ever fought in self-defence before? It may be that your time is better spent with stances and body toning before you start trying to throw punches around. In a sparring situation I mean."

His eyes widen in momentary surprise at the Crab's gruffness, but he turns to acknowledge the Lion. "I have received training in how to avoid, well, arrows and tetsubo, mostly. However, most people tend not to attack Shinden Asahina, so I have little practical experience."

He turned back to the Yasuki. "Like this?" It's better, but it's probably going to take a while to overcome years of total pacifism.

"Why don't you join me in my warm-up routine Daidoji-san? If you are going to start putting your body through some earnest training you don't want to be out of action for days at a time recovering from muscle strains, neh?" He grins. "What do you think Yasuki-san, shall we see how our Sea Swallow here copes with a proper warm up?"

"Better," she says with a nod. "But ye still gotta put more into it. Remember, if yer in a fight and the other guy is swingin' at ye, he's not gonna be polite enough te pull punches." She looks over to Jishaku and nods. "Good idea, Akodo-san."

He raises an eyebrow in curiosity. "Alright, Akodo-san. What should I be doing?"