Clash of the martial weapons (wing and I)

Johnathan stood in the center of the Academy's dojo, feet in a traditional open stance as he did breathing exercises. The gi he wore was pure white and not as worn as his others. A patch of the Shotokan Tiger was on the back in the exact location of his tattoo. He was wearing his belt, the five red stripes vivid against the lack of color. Letting out a controlled breath, he began to 'perform' the kata Chinto as a warm-up, waiting for his opponent, Nik, to arrive. Flowing into the form, he dropped back at a forty-five degree angle from his stance, arms in a cross guard, the phantom enemies starting to populate the dojo.

Nik entered the dojo and saw that his competition was already here and doing warm-ups. He was glad that someone else her in the school had taken martial arts. He didn't want to grow sloppy in his form due to lack of a proper person to train with. "Hello, John. Getting ready?" Nik asked. He was wearing loose athletic pants and nothing else so his body had good freedom of movement. He began his own preparation, slowly going through the motions of Qigong, or "Life exercises". The pattern helped the Qi flow and warmed the muscles for use. He didn't know what styles that John used, so it should be an interesting match.

Johnathan spun around, crouched for the double jump kick and saw that Nik had entered the dojo. His future sparring buddy was doing his own warm-ups only a few paces away. Propelling his body upwards, his left leg did the feint, while his right had the solid kick. He then sped up the pace of his kata, finishing faster than what would normally be considered proper. He paused to watch Nik's warm ups, noting how flowing his style was compared to Johns own. Pulling out a pair of mma-styled gloves from his pack he spoke his own readiness. "I'm ready to start this when you are."

Nik finished the slow, meditative motions before sliding and extending his legs into a forward bow stance. He rose his arms, palms tiger mouthing and facing out, with his knees slightly bent. He sink his tail bone, preparing the spring, and eyed John with a clear expression that said, "Your move". He took note of his partner, looking at the details in his stance, the motions he made, and filed them all away. His sifu had taught him that the first step to winning any battle was to learn about your opponent until you could think about their next move before they did. Thus was the way of tai chi. However, once he learned of the battle patterns and skill level, he switch tactics, entering his favored tiger stance of shaolin kung fu.

Johnathan shifted to a half-open stance, left side leading, still tall on his toes. He may drop into a deeper stance later in the fight, but until he learned more, he wanted to remain as mobile as possible. Keeping the start of the fight simple, he threw a palm-heel strike with his right hand at Nik's solar plexus, left in an open hand guard.

Easy beginning. Nik rose his left hand in ward off, pushing his palm onto John's wrist on order to redirect him. Nik automatically followed with a push, centering his hands on his opponents chest in an effort to gain some space between each other.

Johnathan pushed off the ground with his right food shifting him to the side and out of the path of the push. His left hand dropped from its guard and went after Nik's right wrist, his arm parallel in a set up for an arm bar, his right hand following close behind.

Nik dodged, sidestepping at the forty-five degree angle, but he felt John's hand connect slightly with his side. The man was much faster than average. Nik took that into consideration as he pulled his foot in and, in the brush knee, swept his arm across to connect with John's back, again in the attempts to create space so he could continue his observations. He had very good reaction time and knew his style well. This was going to be a true spar, and Nik did not know who would come out on top.

OOC: We're going to have to flip a coin, mate, ehhehe.

ooc: of course, they are two masters. this really isn't a easy call kind of thing.

John felt the brushing of their hands as Nik spun to his backside, the other master shifting sides. He saw his opponent move his arm towards his back out of the corner of his eye, and fell forward into a twisting roll. He stood up facing his opponent with his feet reversed, the right side leading his half-open stance. His right arm was level with his shoulder, the forearm across his front, and his left was down toward his hips, diagonal across his body.

Nik switched stances near instantly, pushing his right hand out away from his body and his left hand drew in closer to the left side of his stomach. His palms remained opened with a slight bend, the tiger mouth form. His shoulders were relaxed, and the bend in his arms were still noticeable. His right leg slid forward, causing his body to sink down in a crouch. In this stance, his qi was channeled into his legs, preparing for swift movements and jumps. In Nik's style of fighting, he used it to prepare for oncoming assaults as it allowed him to dodge very quickly and, offensively, allowed for very strong spring-loaded punches.

Johnathan stood at the ready, recalling what he knew of Nik's style. He was using a soft style, Tai Chi if he had to guess, and that those are highly adaptive, defensive styles. If this was his only style, then not much would progress in the fight if Johnathan chose not to press. That may not be the case, and Johnathan was never one for inaction. Instead, Johnathan went for the method most chose against seasoned martial fighters, take it to the ground. Springing off his back foot, he lead with an elbow strike, intending for this to close the distance.

Nik admitted very quickly that John was much faster than he had originally anticipated. Normally he would have sprang to the side and let John fall out of his attack, but he did not have the time to react. He made the split second decision to raise his hand to grab hold of the elbow so it wouldn't crash into his center, but, ultimately, he rolled with the strike and ended up on the group with the other fighter on top of him. However, from there, Nik threw a lot of his strength into trying to flip the two over so Nik would be on top with his arm at the man's throat. It was a bit of a risky move as Nik had to depend on his own strength for the maneuver. however, John was strong, but Nik, at a pure physical level, was stronger.

Johnathan felt the man fall under his blow, and was shocked to realize he himself was bringing them to the ground. Those feelings passing quickly, as his mind raced with the various directions that this course may take him. He was at an odd angle to break the grip on his arm, and his opponent caused them to roll. Not wanting to have the bottom position himself, Johnathan went with the roll, adding his strength to Nik's. Forcing the roll to continue, Johnathan ended with the top position as they went full circle.

Clever move, Nik thought, feeling the other man land on top of him as he used the excess momentum to continue the roll. However, before John could anchor himself, Nik drew his legs in and lashed out with a powerful kick, aiming for John's midriff in an effort to get him off. The kick was pulled heavily as Nik didn't want to actually hurt him, but the force would be enough to push the man off if it connect properly.