#Wado being awesome

[yolowritter]

A few other lucky accidents in MLB I have noticed:

Nora is a kickboxer, wears those weird armbands, and insists to be called by her ring name. To a martial arts buff, that means she practices Muay Thai and got really serious about the culture, that includes those armbands (called pra jiad) and immense importance for the ring name (in Thailand a Nak Muay will often change their legal name to match, and will ALWAYS include their training camp in their name). It also explains why a bulldozer like her has a trickster name: the ring name is given by fans, and whoever gave it must have decided she looked like a deadly spider but didn't know Anansi is a trickster.

Marinette's grandmother is named Gina Misurati. Because in neither Italy nor France one changes their name to match their spouse (mrs. HUSBAND NAME is a courtesy title), and her bike, a Moto Guzzi V7 Sport (it's identical), has written Misurati on it (it was obviously a reference to Maserati, but they stopped making motorbikes in 1960, and none of their bikes looked like Gina's anyway).

Diplomats have horrible working hours that get worse with higher rank, and diplomat kids are often "weird" and forced to grow up too fast. By happenstance, Lila's first mother is barely home, and Lila shows surprising maturity at the oddest moments (like when she flat-out told Marinette that a boy wasn't worth fighting over and offered to help her with Adrien in exchange of friendship).

Paris didn't have their own city police until 2021. Roger is from the NATIONAL police, meaning he shouldn't answer to the mayor... But he does, so SOMETHING must have happened to cause this transfer of authority.

Felix' outfit is identical to Eton's uniform minus the ridiculous hat and overcoat. I suppose it fits his social standing.

Sabine can use her spatula as a weapon. That spatula is nearly identical to a Monk's Spade, a weapon used in Shaolinquan.

Speaking of martial arts, in Chameleon Lila uses actual MMA techniques to overpower Ladybug, and Felix' claim of using Karate points to Wado Ryu thanks to those dodging moves of his.

And the big missed chance: Savate. Not only it's France's national martial art, Paris is where it was improved in the street fights of the Belle Epoque... But nobody in the show practices it. The old non-sport style includes the ancestor of Parkour, cane fighting (now mostly practiced separatedly as La Canne), garrote (the contribution of Paris' gangs), throws (already present in Paris, where Greco-Roman Wrestling was born and practiced before being rebranded), and elbow and knee strikes. It would be perfect for out heroes, both of them... Yet they don't practice it.

Yeah, it's honestly such a shame that these awesome details/references are just either never used or a one-and-done deal just to make a cool easter egg. And sure, Gina's bike for example could be just that, a cool little character detail. Maybe while the bikes did stop getting made in the 60s, she got herself an old one and re-vamped it as the years went by. Adds flavor to her character. Admittedly I don't know enough to talk about the model, but I trust your skills when it comes to identifying the make. Also, I was always sure that changing your last name to a spouse's (like mrs Dupain-Cheng) is optional, like a courtesy as you said. I don't know enough French people to tell if it's a rare occurance or otherwise, but still a nice tidbit of info I'll file away.

Nora is honestly another prime example of wasting some awesome character building because they can't bother to do the research behind the design. Sure, she looks cool and somebody might have said "give her wrappings on the arms, that's awesome" and the designers went with it, but we clearly see that she is a Martial Arts buff even in the way she talks to Alya and co. Why they never bothered to lean in on that even as a background detail, I'll never know. I know it's unreasonable to expect any group of writers to focus on every single character beat, and that Nora doesn't appear enough to really warrant the focus, but it still would be cool to see even through like, one or two lines from Alya. A reference to the Anansi metaphor you mentioned or a word from Nora about the cultural inspiration. It would have been cool.

Continuing down the martial arts road, I did notice Lila's MMA moves in Chameleon, but it seemed more like a case of the writers/animators deciding on cool moves than them paying proper attention and using the correct style of fighting. Sure, they might have and in that case kudos to whoever greenlight that decision, but it always felt a little accidental to me, just for the sake of the action scene itself, you know? At least with Felix we get a proper explanation, and it does honestly build up his character with a cool detail. Not sure if Karate was the best fit for the reasoning here, but any explanation is a step in the right direction at least.

About Savate...it honestly would be an awesome inclusion. Sure, the heroes fight with their superpowers and weapons most of the time, but some the close-quarters moments like the rooftop scene in "Ladybug" was the perfect chance for Adrien to bust out a good throw at Hawkmoth. Speaking of, one might make the argument of Gabriel using La Canne moves, (and I honestly haven't seen enough to dispute that), but to me it looks like he handles his weapon more like a sword? Sure, fits in nicely with Adrien's fencing allowing him to fight back in a 1 vs 1, but we already have quite a few characters who swordfight this way. Tomoe and Kagami do, as does Adrien like I mentioned. It would have been much more visually interesting to give Gabriel a separate style of bladework, especially since his weapon is in the name. In general, I'd love to see a good knee-cracking kick from Ladybug, so I totally agree with you.

I do love Felix's outfit though. It's a cool reference to those who get it, but also stands on it's own as a cornerstone of his design and adds more to his character and personality. Especially with the entire fandom (me, I'm the fandom) writing about him habitually keeping wrinkles off his suit at all times and staying perfect. I refuse to believe Colt Fathom did not do a number on this kid. But yeah it's also just a cool outfit to put him in, and I appreciate that!

In terms of Roger and the police...I'm going to be frank with you, the show handles that aspect horribly. Sure, you could assume that they answer to Andre because he's the immediate authority figure and also a corrupt politician, but that's first of all not even remotely possibly without serious internal corruption of National Police, and second of all completely unreasonable! The police force's reaction to Akuma attacks used to be a big thing in Season 1. In Origins, they tried fighting Stoneheart on their own. And in Copycat, they try to apprehend "Chat Noir" for stealing the Mona Lisa. There's the seeds of an interesting dynamic between the heroes in masks and the boys in blue! But in Rogercop, they're being made into utter fools! Andre is very obviously under duress when he tells them to apprehend Ladybug and Chat Noir, and they just...start listening to the villain like mindless drones? In Maledictator I can excuse it, his whole powerset revolves around making new "laws" that those he blasts have to follow. Makes sense that Roger and co. would be the first responders and get beamed in 5 minutes flat. But in any case where an authority figure is forcibly giving orders, there is a protocol! A procedure to follow! A plan to be made! But...nothing! The show does absolutely nothing, and then beyond this point the vanish apart from another 2 or 3 times where police officers show up in the background somewhere, or as Akuma goons because we need grunts for an action scene. As much as I love "show don't tell", in this case I'd be happy with tell! A comment from a news report about how police have been instructed to stay out of the Akumas' way and help civilians evacuate is so easy to add, and it would change nothing except making Roger and his team actually usefull! As it stands, the entire concept of a police force exists only the few times Astruc needs it to. And don't even get me started on Chloe's coup of the Captial City of France!! I'm convinced this universe has no goverments, no presidents and no first responders for any situation, I swear...

About Lila's mother, yes! Finally somebody says it! Lila's mother is obviously overworked, she clearly does love her daughter but is physically unable to make time for her! This could be such a cool dynamic to see with Lila's home life, and like you said it perfectly explains why sometimes amidst her psychopathic tendencies there's a moment of unexpected maturity from her. Exploring this even gradually, even with us literally being drip-fed information, would have made Lila a much better character! There are so many layers here that remain unexplored, and I can smell the good content like a bloodhound! Sure is a shame that Thomas never bothered to include any of it... I swear, every fault this show has goes like this:

Cool Idea + Good Introduction + (Botched Everything-Else * No Follow-Up) = Miraculous Ladybug

Can't believe the writers made me do math for this show...or that when S6 releases we'll be able to make the "Six seasons and a movie" joke from Community. At least that's a silver lining...

P.S: I love Sabine's spatula. An elegant weapon, from a more civilized age...

#miraculous ladybug #yolo rants #i'm going insane #thanks thomas #cheers guys #seriously the writers will have to pay for my therapy #missed potential #ain't that the truth #describes the entire show tbh #anyway yeah #i'm going to cry #goodbye #i'll see myself out

[foxydivaxx]

More Gossip Girl AU Headcanons: The Roronoas

-Everyone calls Zoro Prince-sama because he acts like one

-Zoro resembles Arashi a lot which many suspect to be a reason why Terra treats Zoro like trash

-Idol by Yoasobi in this universe is sang by Miku and that song is actually referring to not only herself and all idols in general but that song is her way of telling people about Zoro's situation. The fact that it was released around the time of the #FreeZoro movement makes it more awesome and heartwarming. Zoro cried when he heard the song and thanked Miku for it

-The #FreeZoro movement was secretly started by Kuina, Perona and Zoro's backup dancers

-Miku and Zoro got their talents from their dad which is why their mum behaves the way she does. She envies her kids and her husband

-Arashi watched his kids on TV whilst in asylum. What Terra did not know is that Mihawk found out about Arashi and figured out a way to free him and whisk him off to Japan to be free. When the #FreeZoro movement begins, Arashi returns to America to reunite with his son. He also gains the strength to confront his wife and proceeds to finalise the divorce proceedings that she tried to delay years ago

-The Roronoa/Dracule clan are all great dancers

-The family now host movie nights every weekend to watch old Roronoa and Dracule classics

-Arashi and Mihawk have been best friends for years since they were kids. Terra drove a wedge between them

-Both Arashi and Mihawk go out together a lot these days and many suspect that there could be more to their relationship especially since Mihawk helped them a lot.

-Mihawk paid back the debt he owes to the Roronoas who saved him during his own struggles.

-Enma, Kitetsu and Wado are Zoro's cousins in this verse and they are all famous actors

-Grandma Roronoa is a top actress and Grandpa Roronoa is a singer and actor.

-Grandpa Roronoa passed away a year before Zoro's birth

-Grandma Roronoa always makes rice balls for the kids, especially Zoro and even taught Sanji how to make them

-The reason Zoro did not become like his mum or worse is thanks to Mihawk and Boa Hancock who serves as his lawyer and is now his new manager

-Some aspects of Zoro's life mirrors Arashi's in a lot of ways and also Mihawk's too as both father figures had turbulent relationships with one abusive parent.Arashi had a toxic relationship with his dad and Mihawk had to separate himself from his mother

-The Roronoa/Dracule family all live under the same roof. Zoro started living on his own once he turned 18.

- Sora and their kids plus Zoro’s other friends and their families are considered part of their family

- When Zoro started adapting a sexier image (similar to Koda Kumi), it rose a lot of eyebrows at first as people were so used to him being cute, baby Zoro. Eventually, the general public accepted it as they realized that he suits the sexy image better

- Sometimes whenever the family is having a dance party, Zoro’s inner sexy tiger comes out and next thing everyone knows, those sexy dance moves he exhibits onstage begin to manifest. The thing about Zoro is once the music comes on, he changes completely. Sanji too is like that

- Speaking of Sanji, people have been calling him Sanji Roronoa way before he and Zoro finally married

- Arashi has tried to get Zoro to tone down the sexiness albeit in a joking manner similar to Whitebeard and Sanji

- Zoro got his love of fashion and bling from his two dads who are pretty snazzy dressers. (Picture Zoro wearing bling similar to Sasha Banks)

- Once the cameras stop rolling and once Zoro is offstage, he becomes a cute little kitten. Onstage, he is a sexy tiger, similar to his dad. Sanji is similar in that regard except that one is a sexy fox xD

- Zoro’s natural singing voice is a lot deeper and sensual. He knows how to manipulate his voice to get the desired results out of a song, something that shocks Japanese netizens a lot

- Yosaku and Johnny are the pranksters of the family

- Perona and Kuina always go shopping together and help Zoro get clothes

- Miku’s normal speaking voice is a lot more matured compared to her idol voice

- Zoro and Miku write a lot of their songs especially now that they are older and wish to express certain things themselves

- Miku does her hair herself

- Miku is always portrayed as a bunny and Zoro is a mighty green tiger and often times is portrayed as an adorable black kitty with green stripes in fanart

#one piece #zoro #mihawk dracule #boa Hancock #Sanji #zosan

[threepistol]

Hello, here's a fic of zolu clashing hakis because they absolutely should.

You can read it on ao3 too if you prefer to read there.

“Zoorooo!”

The call of his name ignites danger signs across his vision. But he has no time to prepare for the inevitable.

Zoro lurches forward. A Luffy-shaped weight pummels into his back, followed by ropes of fleshy limbs that wrap around his neck and hips. Zoro's feet scramble, but he swiftly regains his bearings with practiced ease.

Luffy wiggles with uncontainable energy. “You never told me you had Conqueror’s Haki!”

Zoro struggles to tug loose the arms near-strangling his throat as he says, “Huh? I have Conqueror's Haki?”

“Yeah! Robin told me some of the Beast Pirates were talking about it. Someone with powerful Conqueror’s Haki cut down this King guy, and they said that someone was you!”

“I remember fighting someone like him, but I don’t have that kind of—”

Zoro pauses. In the murky depths of his memories, of dinosaurs and fire and blood, he recalls power that cascaded. Power that bubbled and rippled. Power that knocked out lackeys that surrounded him and left them frothing at the mouth. It’s a power he’s seen before back when Luffy was…

”Ah, I think I do.”

A choked yelp shoots out of Zoro's mouth as Luffy bounces on his back. His grip tightens around his neck with each bobble. “Awesome! We have another crew member that uses it! We’re matching now, Zoro!”

The arms and legs circling him mercifully loosen their hold after the seventh tap-out. Straw slippers thwack at the grassy deck, and Luffy pumps a fist into the air. “Alright! Let’s do it then!”

Zoro rubs the soreness in his throat. “Do what?”

“Let’s clash Hakis!”

Zoro blinks. “I don’t know how to do that.”

“It’ll be fine!” he assures, slapping Zoro on the shoulder.

It does nothing to soothe his reservations, but Zoro says, “Okay,” because he’s not one to question his captain’s orders. When he says it’ll turn out fine, then it will. It always does with Luffy.

Zoro puts some distance between them. Once he reaches the far end of the lawn deck, he looks at Luffy. “So what should I do?”

“Just copy what I’ll be doing!”

He frowns. “That’s not a lot to go off of.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine! Just relax! It’s Zoro, so I’m sure he’ll get the hang of it easily!”

A multitude of complaints sit frenzied at the back of his throat, but hearing Luffy’s certainty of his ability, Zoro doesn’t let one slip out. Instead, he draws a breath and tugs free the tension in his muscles. Then he meets Luffy’s gaze.

Luffy sits on the railing. He flashes Zoro one last smile, one that has Zoro's lips twitching to reciprocate, before a shadow casts over Luffy's expression.

The breath Zoro had drawn is stolen in an instant.

Two giant's hands pummel at his sides. They squeeze and press him until viscera and blood spill out his every orifice like fruit pulp. When he blinks, those hands disappear, but the pressure remains. Luffy's gaze pins him down where he stands. A cave-sized snake that constructs and crushes his being until his skin taints red and his eyeballs pop out of his sockets.

The engravings of Wado’s hilt drive into Zoro’s palm. His heels dig into the soil. He pants.

He fights to remain standing.

The air around him solidifies like honey. It clumps in his nose and in his mouth with every breath. It squelches with every movement.

Darkness perforates his vision, but he stands his ground. He returns the fire of Luffy's gaze.

Hairs of black lightning flash in front of his eyes, and a power familiar courses through his veins. The pressure of Luffy's gaze dwindles, as if the power had formed a barrier around him. Instead of honey-congealed air and tangibly-phantom giant's hands, tremors like swarms of needle-legged spiders crawl beneath his skin. They tickle, and they itch, and they scratch, and they bite. They scurry their tiny claws even in the folds of his stomach.

As the spiders multiply, the pressure recedes, recedes, recedes.

But then it explodes.

The Sunny groans, and her sails billow. The boards squeak. The rails splinter. The grass bows away from the winds that rupture between the two conquerors.

The clash is the whistle of a rocket. It’s the explosion of gunpowder. It’s the eruption of color. The clash is fireworks blooming in a sky stricken with thunder that crackles, extending blades of lightning black, outlined red. The electricity burns and shocks. It sends the clusters of spiders into agitation. They fluster and frenzy, even reaching the tips of his toes and the innermost tunnels of his ears.

The water flounces. Waves roil and purl and eddy. The sea writhes in terror, fleeing from the impact of their clash. The ship rocks in the ocean's frenzied dance.

Though the world screams and thrashes, Zoro struggles to keep his eyes open. He grits his teeth, tasting smoke under his tongue. He fights to keep his gaze locked with Luffy's.

Howling wind belches and bellows. It drowns out the ocean's cries. It cuts into skin like pins and needles. It unearths patches of dirt and grass. It flings the barrels and crates off the deck. It tears through the fabric of the sails. It shatters exposed portholes and scatters the glass.

For nothing can stand between the space of two kings, and no one can survive the clash of two conquerors.

Zoro fights to bear it all. His knees buckle.

The pressure breaks instantly.

Luffy laughs bright and tinkling, carelessly clapping the soles of his slippers like he hadn’t almost brought Zoro to his knees with his eyes and will alone. "That was great! Zoro lasted longer than I did with Rayleigh the first time."

“What the hell was that?” Zoro manages to choke out. The pressure had let up, but cotton balls stuffed full inside his skull replace it. “That’s what you’ve been dealing with?”

The clash of Haki between two conquerors. Facing beasts and humans-teetering-monsters in the eye, colliding with raw fortitude alone before moving their battle of wills to a battle of fists. But Zoro could barely breath in the first Haki wave alone. Meanwhile, Luffy hums a playful ditty as if the seas hadn’t split purely in the face of their spirits given form.

A grin splits Zoro’s face. He expects nothing less from his captain.

Luffy nods. “You get used to the tingles after the first few.”

Zoro tries to steady himself, but his legs refuse to settle. He sits on the floor instead, slumping against the railings. A low sigh rolls out his tongue. His heart hasn’t stopped hammering. Jitters still shake through him, though they remind him of adrenaline rather than Haki.

"So how do you train it?"

Luffy turns to him, head cocked.

Zoro grunts like it should be obvious. "Conquerer's Haki, how do you train it?"

“Rayleigh never went into much detail with Conqueror’s Haki, said the best way to train it is for the user to get stronger himself.”

“Then how do you learn to control it?”

Luffy crosses his arms and cranes his neck up. He closes his eyes and hums at length. Once he opens his eyes again, he says, "I dunno. I just do what feels natural."

Zoro groans. "That doesn’t help me any."

Luffy only snickers. "Zoro will figure it out!"

(Then the doors slam open. The crew gawks at the ruined deck. The only two possible culprits of the mess perk up from Usopp and Chopper’s conjoined shouting. Luffy innocently smiles and waves at everyone while Zoro shrugs off the crew’s alarm like it’s not his problem.

Nami spares no strength in lamming both of their heads.)

#one piece #roronoa zoro #monkey d. luffy #zolu #haki clash #words words words #I made Conqueror's Haki affect other conquerers haki holders more than usual hope you don't mind

[globalgear]

Best Swords for Martial Arts Fans, Japanese Collectors, and Movie Buffs

Replica blades are a great way to show your interest in a certain activity or passion. They can be collected and displayed as art, used for training purposes, or even used in movies and other performances. If you’re looking for the best replica swords on the market, look no further! In this blog post, we will discuss some of the best replica blades available today.

Demon Slayer Tsugikuni Yoriichi Sword Kimetsu no Yaiba Sword

This sword replica is based on the weapon used by Tsugikuni Yoriichi in the popular anime series Demon Slayer. The sword is made of high-quality stainless steel and features a black lacquer finish. It also comes with a display stand for easy display.

Museum Replicas The Sword of Themistokles

The Sword of Themistokles from the movie 300 Rise of an Empire is hand forged from high carbon steel! This sword is fully functional and is finished in antique bronze. This is not only an attractive functional sword it is a perfect display piece with an attractive wall plaque which is included.

One Piece Katana of Luffy Nidai Kitetsu Katana Sword T10 Clay Tempered Blade

As one of the 21 Great Grade swords, Nidai Kitetsu is among the finest blades in the world, being the second strongest of the Kitetsu swords with extraordinary sharpness and strength, on par with legendary swords Wado Ichimonji, Shusui, Enma, and Ame no Habarkiri. In the anime, Luffy managed to use it to cleanly cut through multiple swords with great ease despite his lack of skills. Comes with wooden scabbard covered in leather.

Devil May Cry The Rebellion Dante Replica Sword

Dantes Demon Devil Cry The Rebellion Replica Sword features a 37 inch blade with a red and black lacquer finish. The painted blade offers a 4.08 mm thickness and sports a cutout groove on both sides of the blade towards the front. The large blade is then attached to the guard. The magical guard forms the Devil Cry Skull with bones and a ripple body which sports an antiqued silver finish. Attach to the guard is the humungous stainless steel slim handle with a black finish and supports the steel crown pommel. This awesome looking sword comes equipped with a wooden wall mount which has the Devil May Cry imprint. Tech Specs: •Overall Length: 54 inch •Blade Length: 37 inch •Blade Material: 440 Stainless Steel, Black and Red Lacquer Finish •Blade Thickness: 4.08 mm •Guard Length: 8.5 inch •Guard Width: 9.25 inch •Guard Material: Stainless Steel, Antiqued Silver Finish •Handle Length: 11.75 inch •Handle Material: Stainless Steel, Black Finish •Includes: Wooden Wall Plaque with Imprint

Whether you’re a martial arts fan, Japanese collector, or movie buff, there’s a replica blade out there for you. With so many options available, it’s easy to find the perfect sword to add to your collection. Do some research and find the best sword that suits your needs and interests. For more replica swords please visit our online store and pre order your favourites today!

#replica #swords

[jack-pictures]

#one piece #roronoa zoro #trafalgar d. water law #lawxzoro #lawzo #zolaw #lawzoro #RP #sword fusion #Wado being awesome

[creative-type]

wake from death (and return to life)

Summary: Zoro had always been told Kuina died falling down a flight of stairs. But she didn’t fall, and she wasn’t dead.  Rating: T for some violence/swearing Word Count: 9300 AO3

Written for @codedredalert​ as thanks for putting on an amazing secret Santa event and for being an awesome person in general. 

Kuina returned from her duel with Zoro hot, sweaty, and elated. She felt...settled. Sure of herself in a way she hadn’t been in months. With one hand wrapped firmly around Wado’s white sheath and the other clutching at the front of her shirt, Kuina felt the beat of her heart, slow and steady, for once able to ignore the small, obnoxious lumps that were her developing breasts. 

Her dream wasn’t gone. It wasn’t out of reach or stupid. It didn’t matter if she was a girl; she could still be the best swordsman in the world. 

Kuina repeated that thought like it were a prayer, hardening the fragile, tenuous thing that was her resolve until she mostly believed it. In the heat of the moment it was easy for Zoro’s words to drive out everything her father ever told her, but without his brash, almost senseless tenacity shouting in her ear the doubts came creeping back. Hovering in the recesses of her mind like a persistent fly, ready to poison her budding hope before it ever had a chance to take root.

Preoccupied with her thoughts, Kuina didn’t notice the intruder until it was too late. A shadow of a hand clasped itself around her mouth just as she was about to descend the stairs that led to Wado’s proper resting place, muffling her scream while another batted her sword out of her grasp. The sound of it clattering across the ground was amplified by the shattering of peace surrounding her father’s estate. 

Kuina writhed against the hold, for a moment forgetting everything she’d been taught in favor of animalistic struggle. The attacker cursed as she managed to bite the hand that held her. It was enough of a distraction for Kuina to smash her heel against the instep of his foot. His hold loosened enough for Kuina to wiggle free, immediately darting or her sword. 

Her attacker was quicker. Impossibly quick. Kuina barely saw him move as he snatched Wado off the ground, unsheathing its blade in a single, smooth motion. A beam of moonlight framed a tall, lanky frame, cords of hard muscle straining against tight-fitting black clothes.

“Who are you?” Kuina demanded. She’d thought at first it was one of her father’s students foolishly trying to steal Wado Ichimonji, but she had never seen this man before in her life. Not in the countless duels she’d fought, not when walking around the village, not even at the harbor during those rare days she watched ships come in and out of port. 

“You don’t need to know that, little girl,” the man said. He held Wado up to the light, and when he spoke, Kuina could hear his smile. “What a magnificent blade. It’s a shame it’s wasted in this country backwater.”

“It’s mine,” Kuina hissed. “Give it back.”

The man chuckled. “Don’t you worry, girl. I’ll make sure to return it to its proper place.”

Kuina moved on instinct, reacting to his subtle change in posture, the shift of his feet and the movement in his hips before her conscious mind realized he was about to attack. But he was so damn fast. Faster than any of the adults she’d ever fought before, faster than Kuina ever thought possible, and she wasn’t able to dodge in time. 

Instead of her neck, Wado Ichimonji bit into the flesh above Kuina’s clavicle. Time seemed to stop, forever freezing in her mind the man’s breathy laugh as her own sword traced a path of bloody violence from collarbone to hip. Dark blood bloomed from the cut, almost black under the bleached light of the moon. 

Kuina fell. Her head cracked against the stairwell, sending a blinding pain through the back of her skull that was somehow worse than the deep gouge across her chest. She didn’t remember tumbling down the stairs, but when she looked up again she was laying flat on her back, the familiar ceiling of the dojo above her. From the corner of her flickering vision she could see Wado’s display stand, mocking her by its closeness. 

Blood bubbled in Kuina’s throat as she gasped for air. She felt very little as her vision swam and pitched, and the small part of her mind that was still functioning couldn't decide whether or not that was a bad thing. Every heartbeat forced more of her lifeblood through her wound, which by sheer, dumb luck hadn’t gone deep enough to kill her. 

The man took his time sauntering down the staircase. Kuina flinched as his shadow hovered over her vision, flinched again as he tossed Wado to the ground next to her. 

“I saw your duel with the little green-haired boy. You’re quite good,” he said, almost conversationally. “It’s a shame you’ll never have a chance to hone that talent, I would have liked to see it fully bloomed. But,” he shrugged a little, as if he were discussing a vague annoyance rather than the fact he was trying to kill her, “you only have your father to blame. Tell him, if you live long enough, that this is what happens when you do business with the Revolution. And if you don’t…” He laughed again, a cruel, cold laugh that pierced deeper than any blade. 

“Well, I think he’ll get the picture.”

                                                            ***

Her father found her there, lying in a pool of her own blood and a death grip around Wado’s hilt. Kuina remembered very little of what happened after that, and woke an indeterminate time later in a haze of pain and confusion. She heard people talking, but they sounded distant, like her ears had been stuffed full of cotton. Any attempts to move were unsuccessful. Kuina couldn’t even open her eyes. 

Her pulse hammered against the back of her skull while the entirety of her torso felt like it was on fire. More distantly, her stomach had decided now was the best time to revolt against the rest of her body. Dull, persistent nausea came in waves, growing in intensity like the tide pulled by a full moon. Kuina felt her insides fold in on themselves, a belly full of blood and chyme forcibly purged from her system. 

“Someone turn her head! Don’t let her choke on it!”

Sudden motion caused pain to explode in her head. It was too much for Kuina to bear, and she let the blackness overtake her once more. 

                                                      ***

Awareness came slowly. For a long time Kuina felt herself hanging on a precipice, and knew somewhere deep inside that if she allowed herself to fall down it she would never come out again. Even so, it took every ounce of her will to inch away from the void, away from the oblivion that called her like a siren’s song. 

There would be no more pain. No more agony of being born a girl in a world that catered itself to men. There would only be rest, and at that moment Kuina was so desperately tired. 

I’m going to be the world’s greatest swordsman!

Wado Ichimonji weighed heavily in her hands, anchoring Kuina to the promise she made. To Zoro, to herself. 

To the world. 

Kuina woke. Every breath was agony, the simple action of expanding her ribs enough to draw in air almost too much for her to stand. The ache in her head was far more manageable in comparison, so she focused on that instead. 

It took considerable effort for Kuina to open her eyes. The lashes were crusted over and heavy, but after several attempts she was able to pry them open to assess her surroundings. The room was dark, with its only curtain drawn and a single candle flickering in the corner. As far as Kuina could tell, she was alone. 

But how had she gotten here? And why was she in so much pain? She scrambled for memories, but it was like trying to grab sand; the harder she tried to hold on the more slipped through her fingers. Kuina remembered agreeing to duel Zoro, thought she remembered the clash of live steel. 

Had Zoro finally surpassed her? Had Kuina lost? The very idea offended her, despite how many times her father insisted that he was destined to become the better swordsman. 

No, Kuina hadn’t lost. She was as sure of that as she was of her own name. An accident, then? She remembered standing at the top of the stairs after winning...and making her promise, Kuina’s mind unhelpfully supplied her...but she hadn’t been holding Wado when her head cracked against the hard, unforgiving ground. 

Kuina jerked upright. Or attempted to, at least. She only managed to sit up forty-five degrees before a sharp, blinding pain across her abdomen forced her flat once more. Sparks danced across Kuina’s vision, but she hardly noticed as her breath hitched in her throat. She’d been attacked. A man had come at her with a sword. Not just any sword, Wado…

“Be still,” a voice said soothingly. “You’ll open your wounds.”

Kuina tried to say something, perhaps warn the voice that there was an intruder, but all that came out was a garbled moan. 

Strong arms reached behind Kuina’s head, bracing her shoulders and helping her sit up. Kuina sobbed with pain as a glass was pressed against her lips. 

“Drink,” he commanded. 

Kuina managed only a few small swallows before she began to sputter and choke. With a resigned sigh, the man allowed her to lay back down. Kuina’s abdominal muscles thanked him for the kindness, but her mouth cursed him in every language she knew. 

“Language, Kuina.”

“Dad…?”

Blinking bleary eyes, Kuina looked up at her father’s face. He was weary and wan, the creases around his mouth deeper than she remembered. He found a washcloth and wetted it, wiping the excess water from her mouth and the crusts from her eyes. 

“I’m here,” he said thickly. “Kuina, I’m here.”

And then, for the first time in her life, he buried his head in his hands and wept.

Kuina was stunned speechless. She had never seen her father cry, let alone collapse with emotion like he was now. She didn’t understand, and couldn’t even move to comfort him. She was as weak as a newborn kitten, more powerless than she’d ever been before in her life. 

Fear crept through the fog of pain and confusion, an icy finger tracing down her spine and making her shudder. Kuina laid her head back on her pillow, staring at the rafters so she didn’t have to look at her father. The cruel laugh of her attacker echoed in her mind. 

“Dad, you have to hurry,” Kuina rasped. “Someone came to the dojo, they might still be here! You have to find them!”

Her father lifted his head from his hands, a broken man. “It’s too late. By the time I found you...it was too late.”

“But he knows who I am,” Kuina insisted. “He knows who Zoro is.”

Gods above, he’d seen her fight with Zoro. Kuina’s stomach shriveled with horror. If she wasn’t able to defend herself, what chance did Zoro have? Her attacker watched their entire fight without being noticed by either of them, had apparently been able to sneak into the dojo and out again without being seen. 

“He said this is what happens when you deal with the Revolution. What did he mean?” Kuina asked. “You wouldn’t help out a bunch of criminals, would you?”

Her father’s face went ghost-white. Kuina saw his hands shake. Suddenly he stood, pacing a tight circle at the side of her bed.

“I need to get you out of here. Somewhere safe and far away.”

And just like that, Kuina’s world began to crumble around her.

“What are you saying?” Kuina asked. “Dad, you can’t mean that. You can’t just...force me away. I’ll get stronger, I promise. I-I won’t let anyone hurt me ever again.”

“This isn’t about strength,” her father said. His resolve hardened with every word, his decree set in stone. Kuina had never been able to change his mind once it was made up. She had hoped to one day by becoming the strongest swordsman in the world, but at that moment her dream was very far away. She was afraid of losing her father, her home. 

Everything. 

“Will you come with me?” Kuina asked, her voice tiny. 

His expression crumpled into a picture of abject misery. “Kuina, love...I can’t.”

“Then I don’t want to go. I won’t, and you can’t make me,” Kuina said, hysteria threatening to take over her entirely. Ignoring every one of her body’s warnings to stay supine, she forced herself to sit up. “Dad, please, I don’t understand.”

Her vision went wet and misty as tears filled her eyes, spilling silently down her cheeks as she began to cry. She hated crying, hated the weakness it implied. Each halting breath shot a bolt of agony through her torso, her wound threatening to split against the strain of holding herself together. 

Let it, Kuina thought wrathfully. It couldn’t hurt any more than having her heart torn in two. 

Slowly, as if burdened by a great weight, her father sat down next to her. He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, the dark circles underneath contrasting sharply with his pallid complexion.

“I can’t, because I have received a letter from the World Government requesting I train their young soldiers in the way of the sword,” he said quietly. 

“Just tell them no like you always have,” Kuina said. 

“And have them come after you again?” he said. “After Zoro, or one of my other students? No. This is...this is my price for giving food and supplies to the Revolution. A life hung in the balance then, as it does now. You’ve seen too much, little bird. If the Government realizes you’re alive…” He hung his head.

The use of her childhood nickname, spoken for the first time since she was a girl, cut through Kuina’s remaining defenses like they were wet paper. The tears came faster, each breath more ragged.

“I don’t want to leave you,” Kuina repeated. 

There was a deep sigh from her father. Then silence, save for the sound of Kuina’s sniveling. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he said, “I wish I could have saved this from you a little longer. It’s time for you to understand the way things are.”

And then he told her everything. 

                                                      ***

Kuina didn’t have a chance to pack her own bags. She wasn’t allowed to say goodbye. No one could know what they were doing for fear of it reaching the World Government, and so, as soon as she was fit for travel, Kuina died. 

She didn’t know the story that her father told. Infection, maybe. Perhaps he let everyone believe her wounds hadn’t healed right, and she bled out. Kuina didn’t care. All that mattered was that she was leaving everything she knew and loved behind. 

Father wouldn’t even let her take Wado with her. It was too conspicuous, he said. The World Government had seen her wield it before, and if word got out about a young girl with a white-sheathed sword, then…

The sentence was left unfinished, the implication clear. There was a small, angry part of Kuina that wondered if this wasn’t her father’s last, desperate attempt to dissuade her for her dream once and for all. She focused on that anger, nursed it to a burning vengeance. If she didn’t the loss would overtake her completely, and Kuina had no intention of letting a few Government officials or her father dictate her future. 

The only keepsake she took was an oni mask that had hung on the wall of the dojo for as long as she could remember. Her Father said it had been a gift from a dear friend, a memory of his time spent in a faraway land. Its fearsome visage made Kuina feel a little braver and a little less like the scared little girl she was. 

Before stowing her away on the ship that would take her far away from the danger of Shimotsuki village, her father gifted her with a katana. Its scabbard was chipped and worn, but the blade felt perfectly balanced in her hands. 

“The path that you walk will not be easy,” her father said. “You will need to be able to protect yourself.”

Kuina swallowed hard around the lump in her throat. She wouldn’t cry again. She wouldn’t. 

But she did wrap her father in the strongest hug she could manage, ignoring the burning ache such simple exertion caused. “Promise me you’ll tell Zoro.”

“Kuina…”

“Promise me,” she repeated. “Maybe not today, or tomorrow...but when it’s safe. I’m not going to let that dunderhead make it to the top unchallenged.”

Her father sighed, carding his fingers through her hair before bending down to press his lips against the crown her her head. “I promise.”

                                                       ***

The ship stopped at Loguetown. 

Kuina wandered the city, hand clutching the scabbard of her katana. She’d never seen so many people congregated in one place before in her life. It was impossible to take it all in at once: the sights of buildings stretching up toward the heavens, the sound of a market that sold everything from food to jewelry to gunpowder, the smell of ocean brine that hung over the city like a pall. 

And the pirates. Pirates everywhere. 

Like Kuina, many wore weapons. Some stitched jolly rogers to their clothes, or had obnoxious tattoos that marked what crew they belonged to. Loguetown’s position at the foot of the Grand Line made the influx of piracy an inevitable reality, but Kuina was quietly amazed they were allowed to walk around the city, bold as brass. The townsfolk naturally shied away from them with practiced air of a population that had long-since learned how to mind their own business, but like a backed-up sewer their stench permeated everything. 

The Government should be hunting them. Kuina wondered how many of these pirates her attacker could have struck down in the time it took him to gather information on her father’s one interaction with the Revolutionary Army. 

Kuina shook that thought from her head. It wasn’t that simple. The Government had been trying to get her father to teach their marines for years. He had just been foolish enough to give them a reason to press the issue. Her father said that one way or another the Government always got what it wanted. It had just been a matter of time.

At least all the pirates kept her from sticking out too badly. Kuina only had a vague idea of where she was going and wanted to avoid seeming too conspicuous. Shifting her pack higher on her shoulder, she headed off for the town square. The backpack contained all her worldly possessions other than the clothes on her back and the sword in her hand. For the first time in her life, Kuina was well and truly alone. 

Keeping her head down and doing her best not to be jostled by the crowd, she didn’t notice the execution tower at first. It wasn’t the tallest or most important building in the city, but once her eyes did catch notice of it she couldn’t look away. For something so monumental it was efficiently and practically made, metal scaffolding holding up the simple wooden platform where the Pirate King finally met his end.

This was where it all started. If not for Roger and his stupid treasure, maybe the Government would be less interested in the services of a local swordsman trying to mind his own damn business. Roger’s death led to the great pirate age, and the marines’ subsequent arms race. 

Kuina wasn’t sure who she hated more, or if it even mattered. 

Her wound pulsed with her anger, and Kuina forced herself to take a deep, cleansing breath. She’d seen how strong the Government was first hand. She had a long way to go before she could think of fighting back. 

She tore her gaze away from that damned execution platform and wandered west. Her father occasionally did business with a weapons shop in the area, and that was her ultimate destination. He sent a letter calling in every favor he owed asking the shopkeep and his wife to watch over her until a more permanent solution could be found. The connection was obscure enough to hopefully throw the Government off the trail, and far enough away to prevent anyone from recognizing her. 

It was a risk. Loguetown was home to a marine base, ineffective as that marine base was at keeping pirates out of the Grand Line. But it was the best her father could manage on short notice, and so Kuina went, hoping beyond hope that he knew what he was doing. 

She found the shop easily enough. A crowd of five pirates were clustered around the entrance, and Kuina stayed well back of them. At first glance they didn’t seem to be causing any trouble, and she watched with a fighter’s eye as they showed off their new blades. At least one of them looked like he actually knew how to use a sword, while the rest had the lean, hungry look of predators looking for their next meal. 

They laughed with one another, calling each other crude names and doing whatever it was pirates did when they were with their friends. Kuina allowed herself to relax marginally. All she had to do was walk past them and she’d be in the clear…

She made it about three steps before she was noticed. A scrawny pirate perked his head, sheathing his new dagger at his waist before leering down at her. “Are you lost, little girl?”

Kuina was beginning to resent being called little. Without bothering to answer, she moved to go around them. A second pirate grabbed her roughly by the arm and spun her around. He was slow. Sloppy. But so soon after being nearly cut in half, so was Kuina. 

“My friend asked you a question,” the pirate said, leaning down close enough for Kuina to smell his rancid breath. “In my day children were taught to respect their elders.”

His eyes slid to Kuina’s sword, still hidden away in its sheath. He snorted derisively. “You carrying that around for your daddy? Or do you think you actually know how--” 

Kuina acted without thinking. Drawing her sword halfway, she smashed its hilt into the pirate’s nose. Blood spurted as he howled in pain, but Kuina was already moving. Pivoting sharply, she slashed at the first pirate. He tried to dodge, but Kuina still managed to clip his bicep with the tip of her blade. 

Kuina had never been in a real fight with real steel. The surge of adrenaline was greater than anything she’d ever felt before, outstripping even her midnight duel with Zoro. Each movement was frozen in sublime clarity, like she was looking at the world through clear, perfect glass. She shifted to avoid a wild slash, ducked beneath an errant punch. 

But she was still outnumbered five to one, and still very much recovering from her wounds. A second pivot brought her directly in the path of a pirate’s foot, and she took the brunt of the attack where stitches still kept her intestines from spilling out of her belly. Kuina crumpled like a ragdoll, and another pirate -- she wasn’t sure which one -- kicked her sword out of her hand. 

“Stupid bitch,” one huffed while clutching his bloodied nose. “Stupid, crazy bitch.”

He kicked Kuina in the side. She was able to roll just enough, absorbing the worst of the blow with the large muscles of her back instead of her vulnerable ribs. It still hurt like hell, and the two kicks that followed weren’t any better. 

“God’s above, she’s just a kid,” another one of the pirates said, pulling him back before he could do any more. “Do you want to be known as the kind of guy who murders helpless girls in broad daylight?”

“Doesn’t look all that helpless to me,” the first said darkly. 

“We’re out in the open,” a third murmured. 

The first, who appeared to be their leader, growled in frustration. “Fine. Grab her stuff and get back to the ship. Captain doesn’t want any trouble if he can help it.”

Kuina moaned as her backpack was ripped from her shoulders. The pirate whose nose she bloodied scooped up her sword, whistling softly as he held it up to the light. 

“Nice blade, kid. Deserves a better master than some brat who doesn’t know how to pick her battles.”

They laughed as they walked away and were quickly swallowed by the crowd. Kuina tried to call them back, but all that came out was a strangled wheeze. The people of Loguetown stepped around her like she was a piece of garbage, going out of their way not to look at her, let alone help her stand.

Kuina’s hands clenched into fists and she gathered every scrap of her flagging strength. She wouldn’t let them get away with this. Wouldn’t lose again to a few upstart pirates. Slowly, painfully, she forced herself to her knees.

They’d taken everything. Her sword, her money, her clothes...it was all gone. All that was left behind was the blue and red oni mask. It must have fallen out of her bag while they were stealing it from her. 

Kuina cradled it close to her chest. She couldn’t keep losing if she wanted to be the strongest swordsman in the world. What would her father say if he saw her now? What would Zoro say? 

He’d tell her to get her ass off the ground and stop feeling sorry for herself. Gritting her teeth, Kuina forced herself to her feet and limped into the weapon shop. 

The owner hadn’t moved from behind the register, though it would have been impossible for him not to have heard the commotion right outside his door. At the sight of her he frowned, taking in her disheveled appearance, her labored breathing, before finally settling on the determined gleam in her eyes. 

“I need...a sword,” Kuina panted. 

“Excuse me?”

“I said, I need a sword,” Kuina forced herself to stand up straight, though it sent bolts of lightning from her chest through her back. “I’ll pay you back later, I promise.”

She grabbed a sword at random from the discount barrel and limped back to the door. When the shopkeeper finally realized what she was doing he hurdled over his register, but it was too late. 

Kuina was gone.

                                                       ***

It was nearing dark when she found the right ship. It had taken ages of asking and searching through local bounties to figure out who had stolen her sword. From then it had been a matter of taking what precautions she could: stealing linens to bind her seeping wounds as best she could, scouting where the pirate’s ship was docked, experimenting with her borrowed sword until it felt comfortable in her hand. 

It seemed like she had chosen well in that regard. Kuina was startled by the edge it held, cutting through whatever it touched with ridiculous ease. It gave off a sinister energy that suited her purposes just fine. It was a sword that thirsted for blood, blood she was more than happy to deliver. 

If all went well Kuina would only need it for a moment. If things didn’t go well, then...Kuina supposed it wouldn’t matter, because she’d be dead. 

The sun cast a golden glow across the water, the sky a painting of pink, blue, and orange. Kuina’s shadow stretched out behind her like a giant, and she fixed the oni mask firmly on her face. 

She didn’t bother trying to hide herself after that. Walking with more confidence than she felt, Kuina stepped out in front of the docked ship. The pirates on deck stopped to stare at her. She supposed she made a strange figure with her mask, naked blade in her hand. 

“Tobias Thornhill, I challenge you to a duel!” Kuina called out. “You’ve brought shame on swordsmen everywhere, and if you have an honorable bone left in your body you’ll come down here and fight me.”

Sweat trickled down her neck and she heard the men on the ship laugh. One raised his gun to shoot her where she stood, and Kuina yelled, “Thornhill, get your ass down here right now! Or are you too much of a coward to finish the fight you started?”

The laughter died, and a hush fell over the dock. For a moment the only sound was the ocean waves splashing against the wooden hull of their ship. Even the gulls had gone quiet, as if the world itself was holding its breath waiting for an answer. 

Kuina saw a few of the men scurry below deck, emerging a moment later with Thornhill. Rage bubbled within her when she saw her sword hanging at his hip, and it took a small measure of will not to storm the ship right then and there. 

Thornhill leaned over the railing, squinting down at her. “I don’t know you, boy. You’ve got the wrong man.”

Kuina’s gaze flickered down at her torso. She’d bound her chest in the hopes of keeping herself from bleeding to death, but it seemed like it had the double effect of hiding her gender as well. 

Contrarily, Kuina was annoyed that he didn’t recognize her, but she quickly realized this was another advantage. Before leaving home her father had done his best to hammer in her head the terrible power of the World Government. There weren’t many girls her age who were competent swordsmen; it was better to take whatever steps she could to protect her identity against the faint possibility of the Government finding her all the way in Loguetown. 

“You know what you’ve done,” Kuina said. She raised her sword in clear challenge. “Now come down and fight me, swordsman to swordsman. Or are you too much of a coward?”

Kuina smirked with satisfaction as Thornhill’s mouth twisted in fury. If there was anything she had learned from her father’s dojo, it was that calling a man a coward was one of the worst insults he could receive and the easiest way to stir up a fight. But before Thronhill could respond, he was stopped by another pirate. 

The newcomer was the biggest and ugliest of them all, so of course he was their captain. Kuina recognized his picture from the bounties and knew he was worth twelve million berries. She wasn’t sure she could fight someone that strong in her current state, but there was no backing down now. 

“What’s the meaning of this, Tobe?” the captain said. 

“Dunno, Captain, I swear. This bastard says I’ve done ‘em wrong, but I have no idea who he is. Never seen him before in my life.”

The captain scowled, squinting down at Kuina. “Who’re you calling a coward? Why don't you show your face, and we’ll see who’s done who wrong.”

Kuina’s gaze never left Thornhill. “Are you scared of a little duel? The Grand Line is no place for scaredy cats or weaklings. I can’t say I’m surprised, but I thought a wanted man would have a little more pride than that.”

She turned away and pretended to leave. She heard the captain say, his voice loud and clear, “Tobe? I want you to kill ‘em. Make sure it hurts.”

“Yes, sir.”

Kuina smiled behind her mask. It was time to get her sword back.

                                                       ***

It was well after dark before Kuina limped back to the weapons shop. Blood leaked down her leg from a cut in her thigh, soaking her boot and leaving a bloody print with every step she took. The front of her shirt was stained red from where several of her stitches had popped. She felt like she was floating through a haze, half-delirious with only a single goal driving her forward. 

Of course the store was closed. Kuina pressed her forehead against the doorframe, fighting back tears. Since her duel with Zoro nothing had gone the way it was supposed to, as if the universe itself was rebelling against her preposterous dream.

The universe could go to hell for all she cared. With the last of her strength, Kuina banged on the door, making as much noise as she was able. It was a two-story shop, but from what little Kuina had seen, only the ground floor sold merchandise. Either the shopkeep slept on the second floor, or he rented the place to someone who did. Either way, she was getting inside tonight. 

It was impossible to say how long Kuina stood there pounding on that door before she heard someone on the other side. She kept pounding until it opened, her momentum making her fall into the arms of the man inside. 

“Mr. Ipponmatsu?” Kuina said, suddenly weary. “Hi. I’ve come to give back your sword.”

“Oh my god, you’re covered in blood,” Ipponmatsu said. There was a beat of silence as he took in her appearance. “Oh my god, my sword’s covered in blood! What happened? Who are you?!”

Belatedly, Kuina remembered she was still wearing her mask. She slipped it off and let it clatter to the floor. “Sorry to meet this way. Did you get my dad’s letter?”

It was only after she said it that Kuina remembered she wasn’t supposed to be her father’s daughter anymore. Too late. As the floor tilted and pitched under her feet, Kuina could only hope that the little shop owner knew how to keep a secret, because she didn’t think she could fight her way out of any more trouble tonight. 

“Sorry, Dad,” Kuina mumbled as the darkness swallowed her completely. 

                                                                ***

“You should be dead. You know that, right?”

From her cot, Kuina groaned. Taking that as an affirmation, Ipponmatsu’s wife continued changing the dressing on her leg. 

“Of all the foolish, ill-considered, selfish stunts I’ve seen, yours takes the cake. You’re lucky we don’t throw you out on your head.”

For all her scolding, her hands were gentle as she worked. Kuina hissed as iodine was painted over the wound to keep it from festering. Ipponume clucked her disapproval. 

“If you’re old enough to go out swinging swords, you’re old enough to deal with the consequences. I suppose that’s how you hurt your chest?”

“No,” Kuina said through gritted teeth. 

“Well, I suppose it’s none of my business.” She taped down the last of the bandage and rose to her feet. “You stay right where you are. My husband wants a word.”

Kuina watched her leave, a pit of dread forming in her stomach. She strained her ears as husband and wife exchanged heated whispers, but she wasn’t able to hear anything distinct before Ipponmatsu entered the small room and closed the door behind him.

They kept her in what amounted to be a storage closet, which probably should have offended Kuina but didn’t. She felt perfectly at home surrounded by polish, scabbards, whetstones, and whatever random crap Ipponmatsu sold in addition to weapons.

Ipponmatsu stepped around a stack of supplies and sat cross legged at the foot of Kuina’s cot. “Explain.”

“My father said--”

“I know what your father said, and it’s a load of crock,” Ipponmatsu interrupted sharply. “What’s he doing sending me his daughter? What are you doing hunting pirates? Do you realize you could have been killed?”

Kuina opened her mouth to argue, then saw the worry in his eyes. Her defensiveness left her in a rush, and she clutched the blanket around her waist. “I know.”

“You could have led those pirates back to me,” Ipponmatsu said. “Half my clientele has a bounty these days. You don’t mess with pirates in this town, girl. That’s suicide.”

“I’m not a girl!” Kuina shouted. She struggled to sit up properly. “Look, if it’s a problem I’ll take my sword and leave. I didn’t mean to get you into trouble, but I couldn’t let them win. I don’t need your help. I don’t need anyone’s help.”

“Calm down, gir--er, what did you say your name was?”

“Kuina.”

“Okay then, Kuina, calm down. I’m not letting you go out there in the shape you’re in. Even if my wife would let me, my pride wouldn’t.” Ipponmatsu puffed his chest with self-importance. “But if you’re going to stay then I’ve got to know what in the hell is going on. Why did Koshiro send you here? I know it’s not just because you’re an annoying brat, though he’d have all my sympathies if it was.”

Kuina looked down at the floor, hot shame flooding her cheeks. “I can’t say.”

“Sure you can. You just open your mouth and tell me.”

“No, that’s not it,” Kuina said. “I don’t want to cause any trouble for you.”

Ipponmatsu’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve caused me plenty of trouble already.”

“Worse trouble, then. I’m truly grateful for all you’ve done, but I’m sorry. I can’t...I can’t say any more than that.”

A brittle silence fell over the room, tense and brooding. Ipponmatsu’s eyes bored a hole through Kuina, as if he could find the answers he wanted by staring at her. She could only meet his gaze for a moment before looking away. She found where her sword was propped against the wall next to the deep red scabbard of the katana she’d borrowed, both freshly cleaned and gleaming.

“You’re serious,” Ipponmatsu said. “You think whatever it is your father’s done will put me at risk.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Don’t call me that,” Ipponmatsu said. “It makes me feel old.”

He rose to his feet and walked to where the two swords lay. He picked up the borrowed katana, the cross-shaped guard gleaming in the light. Drawing the blade part way, Kuina could see the reflection of his eyes amidst the distinctive flames of the hamon. 

“You should have been killed,” he repeated quietly. With a sharp clack he sheathed the sword once more. 

“I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not,” Kuina said. “The bastard stole my sword.”

“That I understand. Your father sent you out with some quality steel. It doesn’t have any name that I’m aware of, but the blade appears new. Perhaps it hasn’t earned one yet.”

He sighed and set the blade back in its place. “I’ll be honest, I don’t know what to do with you, but you can stay here until you heal. I don’t want any dead children on my conscience.”

He tossed a stack of bills at Kuina’s feet. “That’s for taking care of Thornhill. The Government takes a cut when they’re not brought in alive for execution -- highway robbery if you ask me -- but there’s the rest. It’ll be enough to get you started if you need to.”

Kuina picked up the money with shaking hands. “Thank you, sir--I mean, Mr. Ipponmatsu.”

He made a gesture like he was flicking away an annoying fly. “I need to get back to the shop. Try not to bleed to death while I’m gone.”

                                                           ***

Kuina planned to stay only as long as it took for her to stand up without feeling like she was going to pass out. What started as a week’s recovery turned to two, then three, and before she knew what was happening months and years had passed, and she still hadn’t left. 

Ipponmatsu put her to work, and Kuina was grateful for the distraction. The wound across her chest healed to an angry red scar that crossed diagonally from collarbone to hip. If she moved wrong she could feel it pull taunt, and when the weather changed it ached terribly.

She learned her lesson, and for the most part left Ipponmatsu’s clientele alone. It was funny, she always felt more nervous talking with marines. While the immediate fear of being found out faded over time, like her scar it never went away entirely. Pirates were easier to manage by far. 

Besides, Kuina still had her mask. When trouble came for Ipponmatsu that the marines couldn’t handle, she knew what to do. Kuina didn’t resort to such drastic measures often; Ipponmatsu did have a reputation to uphold and she an identity to protect, but it was good practice.  

Kuina waited for a swordsman as skilled as the man who attacked her all those years ago, but none ever came. She wasn’t sure one existed in the East Blue. As time passed, she felt herself growing restless, her dreams calling her to the Grand Line. 

Still, she waited. There was someone else she knew who would be heading to Paradise, and it wouldn’t do to get a head start. 

                                                         ***

The day started simply enough. Kuina had the morning off work and spent her time wandering the city while her scars itched ahead of a building storm. Later on she might stop by the local dojo and knock a few overly smug upstarts down a peg or two, but going up against the local talent had long-since lost its charm. What she wanted more than anything was a real, honest-to-gods challenge, and she wasn’t likely to find that here. 

Not that anyone ever knew they were fighting her. Kuina kept her identity as a swordsman secret from everyone except Ipponmatsu. She hunted bounties with a bound chest and her oni mask obscuring her face. There were all sorts of rumors that circulated about the demon that hunted the streets of Loguetown that she did nothing to discourage. It was better if no one knew who she was.

That was especially true now that Loguetown was under the protection of newly-installed Captain Smoker and his subordinates. There’d been a great deal of confusion the first time Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi stepped into Ipponmatsu’s shop several months previous, both Kuina and Tashigi baffled by having a doppelganger with such similar interests to their own. It would be troublesome if the marines found out she did more than just sell swords. 

And really, these days there were few bounties to hunt as Tashigi and her captain were the first marines in living memory to do their damn jobs. As much as Ipponmatsu raved about lost business, the city was safer under the White Hunter’s watch. It was rare for pirates to walk out in the open, and the few who did were always put down quickly.

Which, in a way, made the excitement around the execution stand all the more interesting. 

Kuina was drawn by the growing crowd. Rain began to fall in fat, stinging drops as a boy in a scraggly straw hat desecrated Loguetown’s greatest monument, an act Kuina heartily approved of. She laughed while policemen shouted at him to get off the platform, only to be completely ignored by the boy as he surveyed the city. 

Perching herself at the edge of the fountain Kuina watched the exchange play out, yelling encouragement the straw-hatted boy probably couldn’t hear while garnering scathing looks from passersby. She ignored them. Straw Hat was the most interesting thing to happen all week, she might as well enjoy the spectacle while it lasted.

Suddenly there was a scream. Gunshots fired, followed by the clash of steel against steel.  The crowd panicked, people running in droves away from the execution platform. Kuina was too far away to see what was going on and climbed onto the rain-slicked fountain for a better view. 

Pirates. A whole gang of them, many most wearing cheap grease paint and jester’s hats. They were headed by a woman in a billowing cloak and a pirate with a great red nose. The woman was new to Kuina, but she recognized the face of Buggy the Clown from the bounties posted near the marine base. 

Before she could move, another one of the Buggy Pirates attacked from above, trapping the boy in stocks while the clown himself raved about a public execution. Kuina didn’t have a sword on her. She never did unless she was wearing her mask. Cursing her own bad luck and unpreparedness she ran against the fleeing crowd, ducking under the first pirate she saw and clocking him square in the nose, stealing his blade before he ever hit the ground. 

“Sorry not sorry,” Kuina shouted as she cut her way through swarths of pirates. The cutlass felt awkward in her hands, the balance all wrong compared to her katana. But apparently Buggy didn’t choose his crew based on competence, and she was able to cut through opponents like hot butter. 

There were too many. She heard someone behind her shout for Luffy, looked up in time to see the straw-hatted boy yell, 

“I’M GONNA BE KING OF THE PIRATES!”

Kuina stopped dead in her tracks. Pirate? Him? He didn’t look old enough to shave. 

The boy, Luffy, seemed to see someone out in the crowd. “Sanji, Zoro, save me!”

All at once Kuina’s heart stopped beating. On base instinct she dodged the slash of a pirate, not paying enough attention to counterattack. She was searching through the people, trying to look past the dizzying array of color for that familiar shade of green. 

She heard the voice behind her shout once more. Kuina tracked the sound, ignoring the sting as a blade grazed her arm. He was close, so close after all these years. 

The boy in the straw hat laughed, clear and pure. “Sorry guys, I’m dead.”

Kuina shot a questioning glance, and gasped as she saw Buggy’s sword descend toward his neck. At that moment there was a clap of thunder louder than any she had heard in her life, electric white light flashing down on the execution platform. 

The thunder boomed, rolling down the streets of Loguetown long after the flash of lightning struck. The heavens opened in a deluge that instantly put out the fire of the bolt, but there wasn’t a force in the world that could have kept that execution platform from falling. Metal groaned as rivets were forced loose, the wood that wasn’t blasted into oblivion cracking and splintering, the entire structure leaning sideways as if pushed by a divine hand. For the briefest moment Kuina thought it might steady itself, but it swayed an inch too far, reaching its tipping point before collapsing into a mess of rubble and smoke.

Kuina was stunned. The pirates were stunned. Everyone in the world save for Straw Hat Luffy was stunned. The boy...no, the pirate...was somehow able to jump to his feet unscathed, dust off his pants, and laugh, pausing just long enough to return his hat to its rightful place on his head.

He was crazy. He had to be. But he was also somehow connected to Roronoa Zoro, a fact that was painfully obvious when Luffy grabbed him and a blond man by the shoulder and ran into the rainy streets, still laughing like a madman.

It was the first time Kuina had seen Zoro in years, but it was impossible to mistake him for anyone else, for all that he’d grown up to be square-jawed and muscular in a way that would have been attractive if she didn’t remember him best as a scrawny green shrimp. She recognized his surly expression, as well as the white sword he wore at his hip. 

Wado Ichimonji.

They were gone before Kuina could regather her senses, disappearing in the throngs of people still trying to escape the chaos, but she’d seen the direction they went. There weren’t many safe places for a pirate to dock, and Kuina thought she knew where they were headed.  

The familiar hum of adrenaline filled her veins, and she ran through the pouring rain to Ipponmatsu’s shop. It was only a few minutes from the square at a dead sprint, and she forced everything from her mind except catching up to Zoro in time. The questions -- why was he traveling with pirates? Who was that straw-hatted kid? -- could wait. 

Kuina burst through the door of Ipponmatsu’s shop with her lungs burning and heart pounding. She ran to the converted storeroom where she still slept, grabbing her sword and -- after a moment’s hesitation -- her blue oni mask. 

“Kuina?” Ipponmatsu called. “Kuina, what’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you later!” Kuina shouted, before sprinting back out into the rain.

Straw Hat Luffy had run west, so that’s the direction Kuina went, cutting through backstreets and alleyways until she made it back on the main street where they had initially fled. Straw Hat and Zoro didn’t know the city like a local would and weren’t likely to stray from the bigger streets for fear of getting lost. That was the hope, anyway. Kuina had lost valuable minutes retrieving her sword and didn’t have time to second-guess her instincts. 

Her guesswork paid off moments later as a group of marines clustered around a pair of dueling figures emerged from the storm. Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi had been disarmed and pinned to a wall by Zoro, who was wielding only one of his three (three?) swords. Straw Hat and the blond man were nowhere to be seen, nor was Captain Smoker or the pirates who attacked the square. 

“I can’t stand you!” Zoro shouted. “You have the same face as a friend who died years ago! You even say the same things as her, and I can’t stand it!”

Neither of them noticed when Kuina came up behind them, taking out the marine grunts with the back of her blade. “I’m not dead you moron!”

Zoro whirled. “I don’t know who the hell you are, but stay out of my business!”

“For god’s sake, Zoro, I always knew you were an idiot. I told you, I’m not dead!” Kuina tore the mask off her face, grinning wildly as all the color left his cheeks. “What, did you not believe Dad when he said I was alive? Did you think he just saw my ghost or something?”

Zoro looked from Kuina to Tashigi and back again. For a fraction of a second his blade wavered, and that was all Tashigi needed to break his hold. She dove for her sword, but Kuina was faster. A moment later Kuina had her pinned to the ground with her katana at her throat, blade so close Tashigi nearly cut herself breathing. 

“I’ve got no quarrel with you, Petty Officer,” Kuina said, her voice deathly calm, “but if you raise your blade at my friend again you won’t live long enough to regret it.”

“You’re a swordsman?” Tashigi said. “You’re the Demon of Loguetown?”

“Wait, no, you don’t get to ask questions,” Zoro snapped. “Why are you not dead? Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t dead?!”

Kuina blinked rain out of her eyes. “Dad didn’t tell you?”

“No, your dad didn’t tell me!” Zoro exclaimed, throwing his arms to the heavens in exasperation.

“When I saw you with that kid I figured that’s why you were here,” Kuina said. “To see me.”

It felt so stupid to say it out loud like that, but why else would he be here? With pirates, no less? Kuina studied Zoro’s face, so familiar and yet not after all these years, not sure what else she was supposed to say. For whatever reason, her father hadn’t passed on her last request. 

He had spent the last nine years thinking she was dead.

“Roronoa has been sailing as a bounty hunter for more than a year,” Tashigi said. “Everyone who reads a newspaper knows that.”

“And what makes you think I read the fucking paper?” Kuina snapped. “All that’s in there are lies and garbage promoting the World Government.” She pushed herself off of Tashigi and stood up straight, careful to kick Tashigi’s sword far out of reach. 

“I’m sorry,” she said to Zoro, more softly. “I thought you knew.”

“Well I didn’t,” Zoro said. He his arms dangled from his sides numbly, his blade barely hanging from limp fingers. “But I’m glad you’re not dead.”

“Me too.”

Without thinking, Kuina wrapped him in a tight embrace. She felt Zoro stiffen under the contact, then slowly relax before patting her awkwardly on the back. 

“I, uh, really need to go. My captain needs me,” Zoro said. 

“So it’s true. You’re a pirate?” Kuina said, looking up at him properly. 

He shrugged. “Yeah. It’s kind of a long story. I’ll tell you about it next time.” He swallowed hard. “I mean, you are still aiming for the top? Right?”

“Of course, you big green goober.”

She felt him smile. “Then we’ll see each other again. You owe me a rematch.”

“Anytime,” Kuina said. She released him, glad that it was raining so he couldn’t see her cry. As he turned to run off toward that strange, straw-hatted kid, she said, “Um, Zoro, why are there bite marks on the hilt of my sword?”

Zoro reddened from his scalp down to his neck, his blush clashing horribly with his hair. “Gotta go, bye! See ya around! Come find us on the Grand Line!”

Kuina watched him run until he was swallowed by the dark grey of the storm. Despite the wet and the cold, she smiled. Zoro was okay. He might not have known she was alive, but he was okay, and he was still aiming for the top. 

When Kuina turned around Tashigi was struggling to sit up, holding a baby den-den mushi to her ear. Through the static and wind she heard Captain Smoker barking orders. Kuina only sighed and found her mask, fitting it back over her face before turning back towards Ipponmatsu’s shop. She supposed helping Zoro escape made her a criminal. She’d have to hurry before they raided the store to arrest her. 

“Where are you going?” Tashigi demanded. 

To get money and some clothes. Maybe pack a bit of food if she thought she had the time. But the Petty Officer didn’t need to know any of that, so Kuina shrugged. “To the top.”

Kuina felt the tiniest bit guilty leaving her like that. She gathered Tashigi’s katana, freshly sharpened just that morning, and handed it to her. “A word of advice, Petty Officer, since you seem like a nice enough person. The World Government isn’t what you think it is, and if there’s any justice at all in the world, the whole thing would burn to the ground.”

A strong westren wind gusted through the streets, swallowing any answer Tashigi might have given, and Kuina didn’t care enough to ask her to repeat herself. Hand firmly around her sword, Kuina began walking home for the final time.

And as she walked, something dormant within her began to stir. Her dream, after being stifled and pushed back for so long, roared to life. Storm or no storm, marines or no marines, Kuina couldn’t imagine herself staying in Loguetown another day longer. Not when she knew who was waiting for her on the Grand Line. 

Kuina had weathered her father’s disparaging opinions of her ambition, tempering the pain that should have stopped her until it was her greatest weapon. She had survived the crime of being at the wrong place at the wrong time and rebuilt her life from the smoldering ashes left behind by a cruel and unjust regime. It didn’t matter if she was a girl, or that the World Government wanted her dead. She didn’t care what anyone else thought she should be, because she had chosen her own path. 

Kuina was going to be the strongest swordsman in the world.

And in the end, that was all that mattered.

#one piece #one piece fanfiction #one piece fanart #kuina #roronoa zoro #Creative-type doodles #creative-type writes

[kawakaorin-aho]

So, I wanna talk about him

[sighs] Ok, I'm doing this with no deep reasons, i think, but anyway, it's just about one of my favorite character from one of my favorite anime, Zoro from One Piece.

(And I don't mind that no one's gonna see this, I actually know that.)

Take a seat, this gonna be long...

I often hear/see things like people talking about his "lack of development" as a character, his "inhuman qualities" or even, his "cliche and standard personality" (the badass, in this case). And the most annoying, hearing comparisons between him and Sanji. 💨 Ok, ok, hands down, no one here is going to talk shit about Sanji, because, SURPRISE~ I like him, I'm a Zoro fan, and I like both!

So...

As a fan that's nearly enough of hearing so much bullshit all the time about him, I thought that it was time to talk about this in somewhere, and here I am.

The First Mate and (yes, he is) the Vice-Captain of the Straw Hat crew is contanstly said as <Ahem>:

- Cliche badass guy

- 0 personality development

- Shallow character

- "All about strenght"

- Little elaborated etc, etc...

And u wanna know something?

This is partly true!

No, don't kill me, this isn't a troll post. I said "PARTLY". Yes, let's confess, it's obvious that he IS the badass archetype of the damn anime, such as a bunch of other animes does have. Not even 5% of his backstory was shown, and the little part that was, wasn't thaaat deep, I'll get there. Oda loves to show how he's totally obsessed with training and make look like he's just that: all about training, sleep, drink and fight. But he ISN'T just this..!

Remenbering well, in East Blue saga, he used to laugh a lot and even make jokes at some point. It all changed after Mihawk beat him and after he realize how little he was next to him. He was just a frog that didn't knew the sea. Is not a coincidence that after this, his behaivour turned more serious, grumpy and kinda mature? He was the first damn one to realize the life and the path that they was about to take, and take it seriously! Something that not even the freaking captain did!

In the most serious and delicate situations he always was the only one to have a cool head and not be taking by the moment or feelings. He looked at the situation like no one in the crew did in first place, putting Luffy in his Captain place. (Water 7, anyone?? C'mon, THAT was trully badass!) And being rational and calm in this kind of situation don't make him "inhuman" or "antipathetic", it does exist real people that's way worse than that... (And that speech that he had with Luffy in W7 made me fall in love with him.) Srly, his sense of responsability is one of the pillars of the crew.

His arrogance it's based on his swordsman skill, not more, not less. He's actually pretty chill, quiet and rly mature, he even acts like an old man sometimes, reading journal, fishing and declaiming "swordsman poetry" in the middle of a fight like some wise elder hermit (nobody else but that guy use a haramaki, i mean, how old is he? 80?) XD; not to metion his "paternal side" that's just so adorable.

Wise. That's the word. This guy is wise af for someone that young. Again, like an old man. And is a swordsman thing, u know, drink alcohol and be wise. :P

Oh yea! Can I remenber of the "badass cliche guy" and remenber u guys that, besides he being that "awesome" and "cool"... He's a total dork!!

WHO THE FUCKING FUCK GETS STUCK ON A CHIMNEY!?!? FREACKING SANTA DOESN'T!

So don't come to me and say that he's just the "100% badass shitty thing all the time", that man fought with a BIRD because of food! And NO, don't make me mention his most famous gag, we all know that if Zoro takes the helm, they find One Piece in 2 episodes..!

We still have the humanity and simplicity of his past story. Some people like to call that "without depht", knowing well the way OP is, this may be true; Putting his backstory side to side with the crew ones, his is sure rly "shallow". But that can also be his differential, like not needing an oversad (dunno if that word exist) and overwhelming depressing backstory, to be a good character. Simple things could have been enough to make him who he is. And we have Wano coming~ So m a y b e we still can have more from him to come, just time and Oda can say that... #wanohype

About the "tough manly powerful" image of him, he IS a good guy. Even if he likes to pass the image of a cool, strong, fearless and without weak spots dude... He is totally soft and protective with a stranger girl and got arrested in trade of her security. The "hard outside, soft inside" type, and that's precious.

He being psychological strong don't demerits him! A lot of people in OP are weak or disturbed internally, and he doesn't follow this is, someway, amazing! It's not because he don't shows it, that he doesn't feel pain. He just don't want and don't like to be reason of concern to anybody, and to me, this is as hard, as this is brave. ("Nothing happened", huh? *shivers*)

Of COURSE... <Sighs> let's go.💨 He and Sanji are 2. Different. Characters; They have different personalities and ideologies; They were made in different ways; This CAN'T BE COMPARED, OK..? Just because Sanji had his own "year", and added more things to his story like a 2nd flashback (that only LUFFY HAVE!), "family", origins and stuff don't automatically makes him "better" than anyone. Sanji, in fact, is at the moment more developed "historically" than almost all of the crew💧. He have waited a damn long time for this to happen, so as Zoro too. We just need to wait. Maybe Oda is also planning more for him, that we just don't know. The point is DON'T. COMPARE. THEM. JUST... They r 2 different and singular characters, if u have your preference like me, great. So STOP this shit, is annoying as fuck, thanks. (Sorry, but I needed to say this 😒)

I left this one to the final. No, I didn't forgot his greatest, most beautifull and (to me) captivating quality. His incredible loyalty.

If in W7 speech scene I fell for him, in this he just broke in the gate to my heart and stole it for him forever.

What to say about this? Not only one of the most epic scenes of all OP and animes, but also a powerful and perfect resume of who is Roronoa Zoro. I always say to my friends, "his best scenes, isn't the fight ones";

The fact that this proud man bowed in favor to someone else, asked to be stronger so they never pass trough that again; always surpass the limits of his own body to protect the crew, not even bothering If he's going to die or not; seing Luffy not just like a helper for him to be the greatest swordsman, but the man that he handed over his own life to protect him...

And Kuina.

He carries the dream form both, his and hers. The honor of her it's with him, and just like her Wado, his will to protect the dream never broke.

This was to everybody that insist to talk shit about him, I won't stop anybody to think in some way different, that's NOT my purpose! But if it's just hate and shit... Just. Don't.

WUF! 💨

That was WAAAY more than I expected.. 😅

It got damn long! But I don't regret it. Call me "tard" If u want, I don't care, nothing will change what I feel about him XD

That post will probably not be useful anyway, but well, that's my thought, and simply this. A little more of love to the wronged marimo <3 (I probably made this in my apex of my missing of him) (and because I'm done with this shit)

Sorry for bad english~!

Sleep well, mossy guys~ ( °v°)

Fuck, I forgot to sleep.

#i just needed #stop this shit #no hate #no comparison #no competition #one piece #roronoa zoro #zoro #god this got long #sorry not sorry

[asianartscenterblog-blog]

Beginning A Martial Art

The primary and very last thing you need to remember about martial arts is that it is a discipline of discipline that's supposed to arrange you for combat. It's not simply a set of actions that look great to spectators. Each motion, each breath carried out by the martial artist is meant to accomplish something during a fight encounter. If you are ready for the idea of utilizing your martial arts expertise for fight conditions, then you are ready to train and progress in martial arts.

Inasmuch as the term "Martial Arts" literally means "the art of Mars" (Mars being the god of conflict in Roman mythology), try to be ready to invest in martial arts equipment to coach for extremely combative situations. Although some cultures frown upon girls collaborating in martial arts, there are different cultures that anticipate women to learn martial arts too - like in historic Japan, wives of samurai warriors were anticipated to defend the home if attacked within the absence of their husbands.

Martial arts may be subdivided as to what skills they appear to prioritize - this will inform you what forms of martial arts gear it's essential to use. For putting, you may need the "wood dummy" that is used as Chinese martial arts tools - this kind of Chinese language martial arts equipment tries to coach your thoughts to anticipate the place angles of assault would come from. For kicking sports activities like Taekwondo, the required martial arts gear to make use of can be a mouth-guard and a head-guard (for each female and male jins or fighters.)

Male jins want other martial arts tools like a crotch guard or sport cup in order that their groin just isn't uncovered to damage. Chest protectors are standard martial arts gear for novice matches and Olympic-level matches. However, in real life you must anticipate such protecting martial arts equipment to be absent so some sparring matches involve absence of any protecting gear, so that you get used to being in actual-life fight conditions.

Uniforms are standard martial arts equipment for nearly all martial arts these days. Usually, you can distinguish what sort of martial arts is being carried out primarily based on what the fighters are wearing. But uniforms usually are not simply nice to take a look at - since they are made from thick material, they're fairly durable in order that they can face up to constant strikes and friction during fight conditions. Uniforms these days are also product of breathable material like thick cotton so that fighters don't overheat or really feel too uncomfortable within the warmth of a match.

Since martial arts were developed for combat, typically fighters or martial artists is perhaps members of the military. Within the Western context then, it might be necessary to have entry to necessary martial arts equipment resembling strength coaching gear. Though up to now, the burden of your opponent might have been sufficient to workout with, these days many martial arts recognize that energy coaching is quite essential too. So if you'll find a method to buy your personal health club tools (as your funding into obligatory martial arts equipment) or no less than lease them by the hour, that would aid you develop power and power for your matches.

In lots of Chinese martial arts, there are other types of martial arts tools that Western martial arts don't require. Some Chinese disciplines would require you to break wooden blocks or planks with your fist. This straightforward but staple amongst Chinese martial arts gear checks your power, focus, and skill to marshal your chi (energy) into your fist the place it meets the wood. One other type of essential martial arts gear for the Chinese martial arts would be concrete blocks. Some instructors may ask you to interrupt these concrete blocks together with your fist, feet, or even your head.

As you possibly can see, the Chinese language martial arts require a distinct set of martial arts equipment compared to the Western type of martial arts. Do spend money on the kind of martial arts tools acceptable to your self-discipline. Martial arts tools will allow you to be a stronger, higher and extra confident fighter ultimately.

Those of us old enough will keep in mind trying to find a martial artwork membership was almost not possible. Many golf equipment educated in backstreet gyms and halls, had been often only a small group of friends. When you knew someone coaching already, it was straightforward to get in, if you didn't, nicely, it was just about not possible. Fast ahead to the early 70's. It was at this time that the 'Bruce Lee Phenomenon' hit the West. Enter The Dragon, a major Hollywood backed film, hit the silver screens. It was explosive, right here was a man who might do nearly magical things, at blistering speeds, and so, as a direct results of that movie, so was born the trendy age of martial arts within the West.

Clubs started to spring up in every single place, individuals flocked to be educated so that they might be like Bruce Lee! The reality of that was considerably harsher! Soon, could realised that to achieve even a fraction of Lee's means required years of painstaking practise!

The primary martial artwork to really explode because of Lee's film was Karate. With colleges already effectively established within the UK, they capitalised on the phenomenon by popping out of the again streets and into the college and church halls etc. Adverts sprang up, and all of a sudden, you might discover a membership to train at! Karate is probably one of the vital well known of all of the martial arts, with a rich historical past and tradition spanning centuries. And so Karate golf equipment started to increase, together with other martial artwork kinds, which started to realize curiosity from a Western tradition suddenly smitten with the lure of Eastern mysticism and legends.

Inevitably, this boom light, folks left because it was too hard, that to get wherever was a lifelong commitment, not something achieved in a matter of weeks or months, but years of exhausting graft. And so, golf equipment misplaced members, however to not the extreme ranges that they disappeared again into the dingy training halls of earlier years. Many thrived with a gradual enhance in college students, dropping others along the way, but retaining adequate to maintain going.

Then, as with the Bruce Lee films, along got here one other Hollywood Blockbuster that was to push martial arts again into the general public domain...Karate Kid. The film was easy, a younger lad being picked on by a group of Karate school bullies, boy comes throughout a Japanese janitor, who simply happens to be a grasp in Karate....

Mr Myagi. It was a wonderfully simplistic movie, where, I am sure we all bear in mind, the young lad, 'Daniel san' was taught the rudimentaries of Karate by washing a car! 'Wax on, wax off'.....marvelously clever analogy, from which he learnt every little thing he wanted to do Karate! Of course, it is not that simple in reality, but right here we had a movie, which spawned 2 sequels, that all of the sudden showed that training was not only onerous work, but could possibly be fun as effectively!

And, what this movie did that no different movie earlier than it had performed, it attracted Children to the martial arts! It was actually a catalyst within the meteoric rise of martial arts golf equipment across the world, with dad and mom dashing to enroll their children to study this glorious manner of looking after yourself, of learning respect and self-discipline, and making their youngsters better individuals for after they finally enter the world as Adults.

Karate was the principle benefactor of this growth, obviously I suppose given the film's title, however the knock on results had been felt proper across the assorted martial artwork kinds. Reputation rose through more movies, with stars reminiscent of Jackie Chan, who, along with his unique mix of undoubted skills and comedy, made Chinese language martial arts appear enjoyable to learn. And so there we have now it, a really transient historical past of the rise in recognition...However! Here we're in 2008, and regardless of all of the publicity, do you know which martial art is which? I hope the following provides you with some guidance:

Karate - Most likely one the most recognised. There are a number of kinds, which I can't elaborate an excessive amount of on right here, suffice to say that each does have it's differences, but each also has lots of the similar characteristics, specifically a focus on conventional etiquette, self-discipline and exhausting work. Karate (that means Empty Hand) is a very traditional martial art, where you'll certainly learn respect for others. The main styles are Shotokan, Wado Ryu, Goju Ryu, and Shitu Ryu, although there are an important many extra.

Karate has also change into one of the vital 'bastardised' styles. There are a terrific many schools and organisations whose Chief Instructors have studied most of the types, and have combined this data to develop their own programs. These Organisations have developed their own curriculums and grading syllabus. Essentially they are still Karate, and, with the best membership or organisation, you'll study an awesome deal about your self.

Taekwondo (or Tae Kwon Do) - This is a Korean martial artwork, 1000's of years outdated, however solely really becoming fashionable prior to now 20 or 30 years. The trendy idea of Taekwondo was developed by Normal Choi in Korea through the 1950's. Right now, there are two styles, ITF (International Taekwondo Federation) and WTF (World Taekwondo Federation). Both educate the same fundamental beliefs.

Taekwondo (which means the best way of hand and foot) is, predominantly, a martial artwork based around kicking methods. Very spectacular and effective strategies, but these learning Taekwondo will even learn beneficial hand methods, and self defense. ITF Taekwondo is far nearer to the unique concept of Common Choi. The WTF type has developed more right into a Sport, and is, actually, a recognised Olympic Sport. ITF sparring is semi contact, whereas, if you happen to fancy your chances, the WTF style concentrates on full contact.

Judo - Judo means 'The Light Method'. It's a very trendy artwork, and, actually, isn't actually a martial artwork, but a sport. Judo is, however, a very efficient self defense artwork, teaching you how one can put locks and holds on an opponent, and learn how to throw. There aren't any kicks or punches in Judo. A effectively established Olympic sport, it gives an alternative choice to more traditional 'combat' model martial arts.

Kung Fu - A Chinese language martial art. There are a whole bunch of kinds out there, the most popular as we speak being Wing Chun. Bruce Lee was a famous exponent of Kung Fu, but he additionally studied a lot of it is various kinds and developed his own Jeet Kune DO (JKD), a method of preventing that used actual life avenue conditions to develop an efficient method of attack and protection.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - That is the fastest growing martial artwork style in the world at the moment. Japanese Judo and Ju Jitsu masters exported their martial arts to Brazil across the 1940's and 50's, where it rapidly gained popularity. A Brazilian family, the Gracies, took this data and developed it into some of the efficient floor fighting systems recognized at present. Though much like Judo and Ju Jitsu, the Brazilian artwork concentrates rather more on getting your opponent into a submission by locks, holds and chokes. It's, to many, a much more realistic method for the road, where rules don't exist.

MMA - Not likely a martial artwork as such. MMA means 'Mixed Martial Arts'. It is origins are again Brazil, where it is called Vale Tudo. Right now, MMA, or perhaps you would realize it better as 'cage fighting' is a large sport, dominated by the UFC, Pleasure and Cage Rage. It has, for a lot of, change into a substitute for boxing. MMA is a 'no holds centerville martial arts barred' sport, whereby opponents can punch, kick, elbow, knee and wrestle each other into submission, or, get a knockout. Very explosive, and definitely not for the faint hearted! These in MMA will have additionally trained in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, as well as Karate, Taekwondo or different martial artwork style, hence the term Blended Martial Arts.

[wakingwriter]

When and why did you begin writing?

My first story was in third grade, where Mario, Link, and Zelda had to stop an evil wizard. Sadly, I never finished it. As a teenager, I wrote a narrative/humorous diary of a few family vacations. Then I started on a novel, which was terrible, put it down, picked it up again in college, put it down again, and started seriously writing after I had been working a couple years. After reading so much science fiction and fantasy growing up, I needed a way to process what I had read, which turned into novels of my own.

What are some day jobs you have held?

For my day job, I’m a mechanical engineer working at a large construction company doing performance engineering. I also teach karate. I studied Wado-Ryu Karate in college, and now teach a group of about 16-18 students. The elements of my other interests influence my writing. You can usually find some cool physics or martial arts in what I write! In my spare time, I play video and board games. My wife and I cosplay at a few cons each year and also force our pets to cosplay for the annual Christmas card.

What have you written so far?

I have two novellas out Tuning the Symphony and Merchants and Maji both in the same universe.

The Dissolutionverse is a society of ten planets connected by music-based magic instead of space flight. Merchants step from one planet to another to sell their goods. Alien cultures and languages spill from one world to another. Members of all ten species gather inside the Nether, the center of the society, to debate trade, law, and the economy of the Great Assembly. Only the maji can make the portals that link the planets together, and so the maji are central to keeping the economy going. Some of the stories focus on the maji, some on regular folks.

Remember that first terrible novel I wrote? After about 20 years and 4 or 5 complete rewrites, the ideas behind that original story have become “The Seeds of Dissolution.” After so many rewrites (and a lot of great alpha and beta reader feedback), I think it’s good enough to publish, and I’m running a Kickstarter from August 15th to September 16th to raise funds for adding more art, maps, and better editing. You can read the first two chapters here, and the Kickstarter is here.

I also have a couple works of flash fiction and I’ve written a couple (unpublished) YA books. One is about a boy whose father is killed, and he and his mother decide to change history to get him back, with his father’s time machine. The other I bill as “X-Men Evolution meets High School Diary of a Wimpy Kid.”

I’ve completed an epic fantasy, which I’m currently subbing to agents, where magic comes from eating seasonal fruit. The story uses Babylonian names and architecture, and in it two sisters escape slavery with a box marked by the gods. They work to discover the secret of a fifth godfruit where there should only be four when each fruit is blessed by the god of the corresponding season.

Tell us more about your main character. What makes him or her unique?

The main character for Seeds of Dissolution is Sam van Oen, who comes from Earth, and is accidentally thrust into the society of the Dissolutionverse. As such, he’s unfamiliar with it, which means he can learn along with the reader.

What makes Sam unique is that he has anxiety issues with crowds and new places, so showing up in the Nether is really freaking him out. There aren’t a lot of SFF main characters I’ve found that not only have anxiety issues but have to cope with them, rather than something magicking them away. I specifically show that magic can’t just cure him, and if it’s used to help, there are side effects, just like any medication.

In addition, Sam is bisexual (or pansexual, as this book contains species with multiple gender norms). I try not to make a big point of him deciding whether he “is” or “is not” bisexual. It’s a part of his character, and it comes out in the people he meets and the friends he makes. In the rare case of a bisexual main character, I’ve read of only a few males, and their sexual orientation is usually a main point of the book. I prefer it to be just one part of the experience of reading, like when you meet someone in real life.

What is your next project?

Most likely, one or two Dissolutionverse novellas, and after that, the next full novel. I have several novella ideas, ranging from a Sherlock Holmes-type mystery to a heist story, to a romance, or a Jules Verne-like adventure story.

Non-Dissolutionverse, I have two other novels outlined, one about colonists who land on a planet completely occupied by a sentient fungus, and the other about a society based on Incan culture, where body kinesthetics (like martial arts) create magic.

What are some ways in which you promote your work? 

I’m slowly working through all the ways I can find!

I have a website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed. I may have driven a couple sales from Twitter, but I’m not sure. I also belong to a few indie author groups, and when a bunch of authors put together a group event, that gets the most attention and sales by far. Paid services will promote books, but I’ve never actually made money on a promo. Generally, they’re good for attention and a few sales, but probably not worth the price. I’ve also run ads on Goodreads and Amazon. Both generate clicks, but only a couple books sales. Finally, I go to various cons, both to sell books at a booth, and to be on panels. The con booths actually make some money.

Finally, there’s Kickstarter! For my latest novel, I’m attempting to offset the printing cost, and hopefully pay for some cool additions to the book while also giving some extras to the backers, like a new short story, wallpapers, buttons, maps, and even original artwork. If this is successful, I’ll likely do the same for my future self-published works.

As an independent publisher, it’s important to try a lot of methods, however, it’s also important to realize that any work you do on marketing is taking away from time you could be writing.

Do you work to an outline or plot sketch, or do you prefer to let a general idea guide your writing?

When I start a new full-length story, I’ll take a few days to type out connected thoughts about the story. When I hit an interesting thread, I start a bulleted list of events. I usually end up with 9-12 pages in the overall outline.

While writing, I paste sections of my outline below to guide how I write. So far I have not written a story that followed my original outline all the way, because I end up writing something that works so much better. Somewhere in the middle, I will stop to readjust the path of the story to reflect that and keep going.

Usually, I have several major changes to the story during the first edit, and less during the 2nd and 3rd.

How do you feel about indie/alternative vs. conventional publishing?

Self-publishing means you control everything about your book. It also means you have to do everything for your book. It takes a lot of work, and you won’t sell as many copies as a traditional publishing house, but you keep a lot more of the profit.

I’m not yet published traditionally, but I am still submitting and one day hope to be. Having books available by both methods means you can develop your brand in different ways. Your traditionally published books can boost your name further, whereas with self-publishing, you have the opportunity to write experimental stories and subject matter or genres that are not considered “marketable.” More and more traditionally published authors are using indie publishing as a way to make a little extra on the side and to give their readers something more for being loyal.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Keep writing. I’ve heard, at least for self-published authors, that you need about five books out before they start to really get noticed. When my second novella came out, I sold more of my first novella than my second, though that sounds contrary. Of course, if you land a deal with a publisher, they take care of a lot of the marketing work, but that’s why they also get a cut of the profit!

Who are some of your favorite authors that you feel were influential in your work?

I started out with Tolkien, C.S.Lewis, and Moorcock, and worked through Piers Anthony, Terry Pratchett, Robert Jordan, and David Eddings. These inspired me to start writing and to branch out in my reading.

Some of my current favorite authors are N.K.Jemisin and Brandon Sanderson, for their sheer imagination and worldbuilding. Lois McMaster Bujold and Mary Robinette Kowal have awesome characters, Jim Butcher has incredible plotting and sense of timing, and folks like Larry Niven, Neal Stephenson, Charles Stross, and James S.A. Corey obviously put a lot of research into showing how real science fiction can be.

If it’s not clear by now, I try to learn a little from each book I read, whether in style, art, or prose, and apply that to my own writing.

How can you learn more about William and his work?

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page | Kickstarter

Book Links:

Tuning the Symphony | Merchants and Maji

  William C. Tracy, author of Tuning the Symphony @wctracy When and why did you begin writing? My first story was in third grade, where Mario, Link, and Zelda had to stop an evil wizard.