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Post by Beia Meiling on Jul 20, 2010 15:01:50 GMT -5
It was sunny out on the beach, the waves crashed against the shore.
Beiling waited on a hill over looking the beach, going through her tai chi routines. For the first time at the school, she was truly calm and relaxed. All of her movements were slow and flowed into one another. One could almost say it looked like a odd dance of sorts. Her long legs tracing semi circles in the ground as she moved from stance to stance, arms moving in rhythm. Her qi swirled calmly.
She did this until Yang showed up for training.
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 20, 2010 15:17:44 GMT -5
Yang watched Beiling train with a little disappointment. He had noticed it before, and he confirmed it now - her forms were perfect, but her intrinsic qi control was terribly flawed.
"Beiling," he yelled out, "stop what you're doing."
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Post by Beia Meiling on Jul 20, 2010 15:26:09 GMT -5
Beiling jolted a bit from the sudden, her qi swirled faster before losing it's spiral pattern.
"Aah! You scared me professor."
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 20, 2010 15:29:51 GMT -5
Yang sighed and walked up to Beiling. "The very fact that I scared you proves a point - your intrinsic qi control needs work."
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Post by Beia Meiling on Jul 20, 2010 15:40:22 GMT -5
"Intrinsic qi control?" She had a curious, if unknowing look on her face.
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 20, 2010 15:42:21 GMT -5
Yang looked Beiling over. After a minute of inspection, he asked her, "show me how you breathe."
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Post by Beia Meiling on Jul 20, 2010 15:44:08 GMT -5
"I am breathing now." She said smartly, not changing anything.
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 20, 2010 15:45:24 GMT -5
Yang groaned to himself. This was going to be long.
"No, I mean how do you breathe? How much lung or throat do you put in?"
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Post by Beia Meiling on Jul 20, 2010 16:08:18 GMT -5
Beiling pondered the question for a few seconds, it was a matter of putting her thoughts to words. "I use my stomach and breath out through my nose and mouth. Letting the air flow through my throat."
She fell back into her practice stance, breathing as she would if enter combat.
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 20, 2010 16:15:41 GMT -5
"Good, good, but I've noticed something..."
Yang immediately stopped, though, upon realizing something: was this allowed?
Technically, the basic breathing techniques employed by Internal Killing Fist was very much common knowledge, and what he was mentioning was largely common.
But if this keeps up, he might have a curious student wanting to learn ever deeper into his knowledge - into the knowledge of the Order.
He will have to obtain authorization from the elders to teach her more, but for now, he can share a little basic knowledge.
"... you seem to neglect your lungs and chest in your breathing."
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Post by Beia Meiling on Jul 20, 2010 16:33:38 GMT -5
"Is that bad?" Beiling asked, quite sure it was if he pointed it out. She had learned how to control qi by observing her mother and through self training, she was quite new to this formal training business.
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 20, 2010 16:39:21 GMT -5
"Yes, it is bad, or else I would not have pointed it out. Let me explain..."
Yang pointed to his stomach.
"Breathing through the stomach allows for a excess build-up and cache of qi beyond what is needed for everyday existence. That's good, however..."
Yang pointed to his chest.
"If you don't put your chest and lungs into it as well, then the inefficiencies in your body's breathing will diminish the effects of the excess build-up."
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Post by Beia Meiling on Jul 20, 2010 17:22:39 GMT -5
'Ack, he is talking in such formal language. Build up? Cache? It's like there is a whole dictionary of terms for this.' She thought to herself, trying to parse what Yang was saying into what she knew. "Hmm...I always had enough excess though....except for a few things."
Those few things were her mother's spellcards. It took massive amounts of qi to trigger them, more than Beiling could generate.
"So how do you breath efficiently?"
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 20, 2010 17:37:10 GMT -5
Yang pointed a finger out and pointed it at his chest. He breathed in through the back of his throat, making a rumbling sound as he did, and expanded his chest and stomach out together. He then breathed out, bringing both in as his did.
"Like that," he said as he returned to normal.
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Post by Beia Meiling on Jul 20, 2010 17:48:59 GMT -5
Beiling tried to replicate Yang's example, with some success. However, she found it to actually worsen her qi flow. "Professor, doesn't this way of breathing interrupt you qi flow?"
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 20, 2010 17:52:51 GMT -5
"That's the point, I'm trying to force your lungs to work harder to train your chest muscles and diaphragm."
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Post by Beia Meiling on Jul 20, 2010 17:55:21 GMT -5
"Shouldn't I just go running for that?"
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 20, 2010 20:16:45 GMT -5
Yang groaned to himself, again. 'This girl asks too many questions.'
"Beiling, if we went running, then you would train not just your lungs, but your heart muscles and leg muscles too. By doing this, we can concentrate on the lungs."
Yang took a deep breath.
"If you want, we can go for a run after this."
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Post by Beia Meiling on Jul 21, 2010 3:24:49 GMT -5
"Hmm, just trying to understand why we would do it. That way I can integrate it into my routine effectively. I do have to run anyways though."
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Post by William Jason Fredericks on Jul 21, 2010 14:48:06 GMT -5
Yang and Beiling were taken off guard when a sudden eruption of water exploded from the surface of the water several dozen yards from the shore, shooting water about 30 feet into the air. The phenomenon did not repeat and the waves soon obliterated all remains of the disturbance.
Moments later a vague shape, pale and rounded, could be seen moving just under the surface of the water, slowly approaching the shore. The bald head of groundsman Fredericks soon broke the surface, inching upwards as he apparently walked along the ocean floor. When he had proceeded to where the water was only waist deep it became clear that he was dragging something behind him.
He finally reached the beach and stopped to drop his burden, which looked suspiciously like a shark, about 8 feet long. He seemed unconcerned with the cold and unaware that anyone else was on the beach as he removed his boots and dumped water from them.
"Thrice damned global warming...harder to find...have to wait until winter...only a baby."
He replaced his boots and drew a long kniffe from his belt. He turned to the shark and finally seemed to notice that he was not alone on the beach. He hastily replaced the knife in his belt.
"Blimey...can't go anywhere....stay inside....belong."
He looked up. "Afternoon....professor" he said to Yang, ignoring Beiling.
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 21, 2010 20:01:51 GMT -5
Yang whistled, quite impressed by the Groundskeeper's catch.
"Morning to you too, Groundskeeper." He gestured to Beiling, "might I introduce you to Beia Meiling?"
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Post by William Jason Fredericks on Jul 21, 2010 21:22:35 GMT -5
"Morning already?...took too long...be getting old."
He looked up and stared at Meiling for a moment. His eyes narrowed and he sniffed the air. His eyes lowered again without saying anything to her.
"Crown of thorns and...peony....interesting."
He turned back towards Yang although his eyes remained focused on Yang's feet.
"What brings ya' out on such a blustery morn?"
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 21, 2010 21:37:34 GMT -5
"I was training Beiling with breathing exercises when you came by." Yang replied with a smile.
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Post by Beia Meiling on Jul 21, 2010 21:46:52 GMT -5
Beiling just kept quiet, wondering who the old man was. More importantly, that shark looked like it would be good if cooked.
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Post by William Jason Fredericks on Jul 21, 2010 21:52:41 GMT -5
"Yes, I s'pose breathing is important...for most folk."
He grabs the tail of his catch and lifts it up but puts it back down.
"Can't do this here...folks around...have to..."
He looks back up at Yang for just a second. "I don't s'pose I could trouble you and the bra...student...to 'elp me get this over to the edge of the forest. Its a mite 'eavier out of the water."
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Post by Professor Xia Yang on Jul 21, 2010 21:56:02 GMT -5
"Gladly. I would carry it myself, but..."
Yang looked over to Beiling.
"I think having her carry it would be a good chance for some training."
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Post by William Jason Fredericks on Jul 21, 2010 21:57:53 GMT -5
"Pack mule...good for something."
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Post by Beia Meiling on Jul 21, 2010 22:01:10 GMT -5
Beiling was only to glad to help, "Sure!"
She ran over enthusiastically and picked the fish up by the head. It was heavy, but not to bad for her qi enhanced muscles. "So, how are you going to cook it?" Fredericks was in for a long barrage of questions as they moved it.
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Post by William Jason Fredericks on Jul 21, 2010 22:05:32 GMT -5
The corner of Fredericks' mouth tightened and he slowly closed and opened his eyes.
"Easy...just a moment...be rid of them."
He took a deep breath and answered without looking up as they started towards the forest. "I don't plan ta cook it."
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Post by Beia Meiling on Jul 21, 2010 22:07:44 GMT -5
"What are you doing with a shark then?" Beiling asked rather innocently.
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