Champ Versus Champ. [Kyukaku]

[Kazuki Akimoto]

ooc: You saw the message, I was adamant I'd have something up today. ^^;

ic:

Shifting his feet a little with a small smirk on his lips, he kept his eyes on the younger of the pair as the change in his eyes became evident. Kazuki had seen it already, the change in performance from Tyler in comparison to their last fight, and his pride in the young mans improvement was not concealed in the slightest.

'Last time I fought you, it was a near whitewash. This time, you've yet to give me one clear-cut opportunity to strike you. Tyler, well done. You've come one hell of a long way.'

His thoughts interrupted as the younger fighter stepped in, he altered the weight in his feet to his back (left) foot, giving him the opportunity to draw back the front leg if he needed to change position quickly. As before, his hands kept their position at the top of his chest, open and loose in his conventional style. Not surprisingly, there wasn't much of a delay before the attack came, a snap of his arm whipping towards his face. He leaned back a little, though aware that it would not be sufficient in evading the swing. Tyler was close enough that his reach would play to his advantage.

Still, his hands were kept high for a reason. With the small lean back, his left hand would reach up to come between the attacking limb and its target, the dull 'thud' of the hand smacking against his open palm. His right might have been more suited to the defence of that attack, but he had other things planned. With the outstretching of the limb for the strike, it would leave Tylers left side with a much-weakened defence. As a result, his right hand would shoot out in a similar strike to the upper side of the ribs, under where the arm would normally rest when not active. The angle of Tylers body would probably cause it to strike more closely to the pectoral with the twist, but the intent was for the lesser padded area where the blow would have more of an impact.

[Kyukaku]

(OOC: He has risen. He has risen indeed. Amen. )

It was yet another opening attack that made him more than a little bit vulnerable to a counter attack. Knowing this going into the move, Kyukaku was counting on the fact Kazuki would fully capitalize on it. In order to get a good hit on Kyukaku, Kaz would need to fully commit to his counter. By doing this, it would also be very likely Kazuki would be forced to leave himself open for a moment as well. Of course, this was all speculation, but one thing was certain: if they continued blow for blow as they had til now, Kyukaku would be the victor this time around.

The chop was absorbed, Kyukaku's hand twisting around to grab the back of Kaz's wrist. Continuing his already forward momentum, Kyukaku's right leg would slide up to his left, as his left knee would raise up pointing directly to Kazuki's left side. By scooting in and changing their distancing slightly, Kazuki's punch would instead hit the more tender area under his armpit, rather than his pectoral muscle. It instantly bruised, and Kyu knew that would be one that couldn't be shaken off completely in a few seconds.

However, at this point Kyukaku's left leg was now raised and chambered. Almost instantly after Kazuki's punch landed, Kyu's foot fired out, getting full power of the hips and finishing what was his sliding side kick. With one hand snapping back from the punch and the other one held in place (at least for the time being) Kazuki would be unable to block the heel driving directly into his midsection. Due to their closer proximities, it would also be harder to avoid, especially with Kyu's grip acting as a guide and Kazuki's recent slide back himself.

Intending to drive through Kazuki, Kyu's heel would aim for the solar plex. Once making contact, Kyu would let go of his grip and let the momentum carry through Kazuki as he snapped his leg back immediately, gauging the damage done.

[Kazuki Akimoto]

ooc: -Throws a phoenix down on the thread- You asked if I'd reply, I guess I did.

ic:

With his hand striking, despite the target not quite what he had originally envisaged, he had immediately returned to analysing what was happening around him. As such, his eyes were able to detect the rising leg for the kick Tyler had begun to execute.

However, what the eye see's and the body can react to are two different things entirely. Even with the lightning-fast reflexes he was renowned for, Kazuki was only blessed with two of each working limb. His left still held in front of him to intercept the previous punch, his right striking the younger male, he had no armaments left to handle the matter as it stood. With the foot rising to meet his chest, the best he could do was to push back off his front foot, using his capturing hand to drive away Tylers fist in the process as the kick struck him solidly, if a fraction lighter than its original intent. Exhaling sharply as the blow connected, he controlled his breathing to prevent the kick from winding him as it should have and let his left hand rest against the impacted area, his eyebrows raised in a mixture of amusement and muted tension.

The odds now hung in the younger fighters favour. Not just by an edge, but quite heavily. However, Kazuki had taken fights back from worse situations, so he would not show any signs of slowing. This match would end when one or the other fell and remained down.

The retreat would be a short one, only putting the pair out of each others range for a moment before Kazuki advanced again. Sliding forward with his right foot leading, as opposed to taking a step considering the short distance separating them, he opened the frey once more with a surprisingly fast left jab, knowing he would have to break into Tylers defence before he could consider any further action.

It was this pattern that dictated so many of Kazukis fights. His offence was above average, nothing that a seasoned fighter couldn't initially rebuff, but the truest strength had always remained in his counter-attacks and defence. A blessing and a curse, the Asian was limited by this and it seemed Tyler had begun to realise it. Without the correct opportunity, his attacks were superfluous and limited, strong enough to handle an average opponent, but falling short of dealing a worthy blow until his foe made a mistake.

[Kyukaku]

(OOC: In your words: -le gasp!-)

Kyukaku felt sore under his left arm immediately after the punch, though the felt connection from his foot more than made up for the pain. His leg snapped back into chamber only to be set down in front of him, once again taking his loose karate fighting stance. Briefly making eye contact with Kazuki, the older fighter jumped right back into the fray, refusing to give either one a breather.

It was the way Kyukaku preferred it, to communicate deeply through one's fists. It was something few fighters could do, to hold nothing back in the moment without ill will towards your opponent. It was the highest form of respect Kyukaku knew.

Kyukaku slid back ever so slightly on both feet as Kazuki came back in, pushing Kaz's reach to its full potential to give no leeway. Knowing Kazuki's jab was too quick, Kyukaku covered all variables as he kept high guard. Rather than attempting to parry the speedy attack and likely get hit somewhere else, Kyukaku absorbed the fist to his forearms as he shifted his hips to the left.

Moving as fast as he could, Kyukaku would send out a low right round kick to hit as quickly after Kaz's jab as possible. Driving his shin to the inside, Kyukaku would attack Kaz's outer left thigh. It was a painful place to get hit, even for large guys. With Kyu's higher mass, it wouldn't be surprising for a clean hit to knock Kazuki clean off his feet.

[Kazuki Akimoto]

With Tylers slight retreat, the extension Kazuki was expected to give to his jab would only be half-completed. With a small amount of inward hope, he had banked on the younger male not backing away enough to put him off balance and overextended in his attack, but his body told him in enough time that were he to reach any further, he would put himself at risk. Instead, he braced his weight onto his front foot, slightly shunting his form to stay still after the torque provided by the extending efforts of the jab.

As before, his ever-analytical eyes flickered around in search of Tylers reaction, finding it in the low kick aimed for his left leg. Unlike before, he at least had full control over his body in order to react to what was coming his way, and it might just be a suitable opening to enter into a powerful counterattack...

His left leg being the rear, his weight being used on his front to halt his advance, all it took was a light push from the sole of his foot to bring his leg up, raising the knee to about waist-height, bending the knee to cause the large muscle in his thigh to grow taut as Tylers kick impacted it. Indeed, the force of the slightly larger fighters kick was enough to ring through the elder fighters body, but the already applied momentum he had begun would stay that for the time being.

In bringing his leg up, admittedly mostly for the act of blocking that troublesome attack, he would continue to push his left leg forward even as it struck, sending the flat of his foot out in a rudimentary but effective lunging front kick towards the younger fighters available knee. It would be near-impossible for him to gracefully dodge it in any method to deliver a counter with one foot having only just made the previous kick, likely not even braced on the ground again, and if it were to land it would almost certainly send a painful jarring impact throughout Tylers left leg, potentially slowing his movements and limiting his ability to dodge.

[Kyukaku]

Having a solid defense as usual, Kazuki was able to absorb most of the force from Kyukaku's kick into an area that wouldn't cause sustained pain or damage. Kyukaku wasn't one to deny that he makes many mistakes, but he always learns from them. Seeing Kazuki fight on several occasions, and fighting him himself, Kyukaku was well aware of his strengths and weaknesses. His defense, among all fighters, was purely top notch. That's where Kaz was most effective: his counter attacks.

It was for this reason Kyukaku planned to remain on the offensive. He could attempt to parry Kazuki's parries, but in a game like that he knew he'd be bested. As Kyu's right leg slammed into Kazuki's left, Kyukaku would plant it where it fell, landing in a south paw stance. Having already shifted his hips to the left, Kyukaku continued his previously planned follow up. As his right foot would plant, Kyukaku's hand would drop into a linear line with his elbow, swinging in tightly with a close hook with all body weight into it.

Unfortunately, focusing fully on the attack would let Kazuki's kick go unchecked as it found home on Kyu's knee. Luckily, the fighter had good posture, always keeping his legs slightly bent. While there would be no joint damage, it would still bruise rather nicely and likely start tightening up in a few minutes. However, that kick would mean Kazuki wouldn't be able to dodge the incoming hook, currently being grounded on one foot. Aiming to come at his blind spot and snake around his guard, it would be hard for Kaz to even see coming, let alone stop the momentum of Kyu's whole body weight.

[Kazuki Akimoto]

The satisfying feeling of the stepping kick connecting was there, but a hollow sensation followed it. Kazuki was no fool, with a history so entrenched in the principles of martial arts, to be lulled into expecting that kick to do anything more than cause pain and muscle cramp. Tyler held himself properly, as most fighters worth their salt did, so a fully incapacitating blow was not expected.

What was not expected, or at least not put as the highest expectation anyway, was Tyler making no attempt to dodge it. His hands being free, both had been kept in anticipation of something thrown at him at the best case, the option of following through his own strike the next. As such, his heel would rake by and send his foot to the ground on the instep of his younger foes leg. Close quarters at its finest, with their stances almost interlinked, this was an ideal ground for the senior of the pair with his Aikido background.

Yet, he was more interested in throwing a strike than any kind of throw, and as he continued with the added range given with his foot coming down he brought his left fist through in the shadow of Tylers hook, lunging from underneath the striking limb in a makeshift combination of a straight and an uppercut to the side of the fighters ribs --using the added pivot, however minor, that Tyler would put into the hook to assist in his targetting--, intent on winding him this time around. Taking his own attack into mind, it left him unprotected for the punch that followed, though the force of his own blow might slow down Tylers if he were lucky enough to connect first, he wasn't counting on that.

As such, the only defence he would use would be to lower his body slightly, his muscles pulling taut as he braced for the impact that would almost definitely shake a few cobwebs loose and leave an unpleasant ringing in his ears. Once again, however, he saw it as a sacrifice for the greater good. Kazuki was apparently engineered to take abuse like that, but headshot or not, he'd not even consider going down until he'd gotten off his own retaliation, riding on adrenaline to stave off the inevitable eruption of throbbing in the side of his head.

His retaliation, in turn, was another kick. This time, a right-footed monster that brought a little dust off the ground underfoot as he torqued sharply to bring the limb up and into Tylers left side with all the force musterable, fully intent on making any blocking at the very least an extremely painful endeavour, at the best completely futile. If Tyler were standing so close as to merit it, he'd throw a knee instead to ensure the power of the blow wasn't wasted in the wrong area.

[Kyukaku]

Having thrown his hook as an immediate follow up to his kick, Kyukaku's punch would hit just less than a second before Kazuki's own. Years of fighting experience allowed Kyukaku to exhale as the fist as it crashed into his ribs with no added thoughts, doing nothing to soften the blow but saving his lungs from being winded. Kazuki must have seen his punch coming at the last minute too it seemed, the older fighter lowering himself to take the punch elsewhere rather than the knockout blow on the temple.

Instinctively popping his arms back into guard to protect his recently struck ribs, Kyukaku squared off against Kazuki once more, both men inside the other's stance. No sooner had Kyukaku returned to his center that he'd turn to his left once more, his right hand once again dropping to a horizontal parralell to the ground. Opening up his left hand, Kyukaku pulled his arm in tight, protecting his ribs up to his face as he bent his knees. Fighting through the pain of his sore left knee, Kyu torqued hard to the left with an incoming elbow strike.

Unlike most elbow strikes, Kyu's wasn't aimed for the head or the body. No, staying tight to his chest Kyukaku turned as he'd slam the point of his elbow into the area just above Kazuki's left knee. Enough to cramp the leg on its own, the force behind Kaz's kick/knee would multiply the damage expontentially, all leading up to one leg hurting like a son of a bitch.

Wasting no time, Kyukaku's right hand would switch back into guard as he turned back sharply to his right. Shooting out his left hand, Kyukaku aimmed the heel of his palm to blast directly through the guard of Kazuki, planning on striking the sternum. Also a painful blow, it would aim to force Kazuki to move back just out of his immediate striking range, though not necessarily out of Kyukaku's.

[Kazuki Akimoto]

The dull ache in the crook of his neck and shoulder, where Tylers punch had found its home, reminded him that in future, he'd be giving a considerable amount more credit than it was due to the younger fighter. If he'd landed flush on the side of his head, that shot would most likely have put him on the floor in one capacity or another...

Regardless of that pain, however, his body continued to pivot on his sole axis as the knee came around to Tylers midsection. With eyes that reacted quicker than his hands --or in this case, it would seem, legs-- could, he caught the motions Tyler set about for the elbow.

'Jesus, this is going to hurt like hell...'

It would be impossible to stop as he was, that much was absolutely certain. His whip-round for the knee had put too much momentum into his spin. The only faint thing he could attempt would be to force through the pain, counting on the upward motion of his knee to partially offset the returning force and cause the elbow to glance off from its struck area.

That notion, bursting through his mind in the half-second it took to process it, brought about his action of bracing his knee and pushing that little bit harder with it, despite the knowledge that it was going to, as he so eloquently thought, hurt like fuckery.

From his positioning, the twist kept his body at a slight angle to a fully-forward facing stance, but with his eyes still poring Tylers movements he watched the right hand retract.

'Wait, Tyler's a Karate user... The left hand!'

Knowing it would create a tangled mess of the pair once again, Kazuki drove forward his own left to meet the oncoming palm, his hand opened to intercept the blow with a slapping collision as it came within a few inches of his chest. If Tyler was not quick enough to retract his arm, he would find it rather roughly ensnared within the Asians rough grip, angling it to bend back the fingers of the hand, forcing the arm down and keeping it extended. However, if Kazuki was lucky enough to get that far without Tylers intervention, it would not end with that. His right hand, though it would have been the most opportune to defend against the strike, would drive into the side of the elbow joint from below, causing the two conflicting forces to jar the joint painfully. Successful, well, it would be a mild irony for Kazuki that he would be lashing out at the very thing that had just inflicted its pain upon him.

The pacing of the movements, however convoluted they would look, would take neither more than a second or two, reflexes were the strongest asset here, along with trickery. Tyler had shown that he could at least match Kazuki thus far, but the elder of the pair wasn't so soft as to quit when the going got tough...

[Kyukaku]

From his first and only previous fight with Kazuki, Kyukaku had remembered two things more than others.

1. A dislocated arm.
2. Broken fingers.

He remembered the dangers of attacking with open hand formations when it came to the martial expert, and while in the midst of the battle it didn't help him prevent the seizure, it would help him deal with it. With the sense of touch causing him to react even quicker than if he saw it, Kyukaku would shuffle both feet forward, sliding up just a few inches in the same stance with his right foot forward.

As his body moved forward, he'd pull his arm back to meet halfway. Moving it down and back at the elbow, Kyukaku would cut out about half of Kazuki's leverage on his hand, preventing any immediate breaks. Luckily, this would also prevent the extra leverage Kazuki was attempting to gain, as his forearm would now connected with Kyukaku's own forearm, having bent his arm at the elbow and moving it away from the point of impact.

Still, this would only slow the damage, not stop it. The real counter would come from Kyukaku's right side, having just returned to guard. The moment it did, it would snap out once more in the exact same way. This time with the closer distance, however, Kyukaku's right elbow would move unhindered over Kazuki's occupied left arm, striking with the bone into the older man's temple and forcing him to drop the hand one way or another, be it sheer pain or an instant knockout.

[Kazuki Akimoto]

Maybe it was something to be expected from their last -and, notably, only- altercation, but the Asian had not forgotten how he had beaten Tyler previously. With people like that, you remembered what worked and knew that it would either remain exceptionally effective or be completely useless. As of today, he had found that Adam was one who only became harder to beat with every fight, remembering his previous mistakes and capitalising on them, effectively lowering Kazukis arsenal of attacks that would be of most use.

Tylers response to a tactic that would have the same result as their last fight now officially added him to the same group as the surly Rydell, a thought he would keep to himself from the pair, he mused with a mental chuckle. As if either would appreciate being compared to the other.

In his combined advance and retraction of his arm, the joint-stunning effort Kazuki had intended was now rended quite useless, but in drawing his arm back there was one thing that appeared to have been forgotten in the midst of the fight:

Kazuki, despite his unorthodox methods, was an Aikido specialist at his core, and Tyler had left him with a perfect situation to exploit his favourite aspect of the art.

Wrist manipulation.

Lowering his hand would be a surefire way to lessen the force he was exuding against the hand currently, but he wouldn't be able to maintain that force. Plainly, he was using one arms worth of strength against two of Kazukis, and while the younger man was stronger, he wasn't that much stronger. The forearm that had intended to strike Tylers elbow would continue to drive upwards, combining its force with the strain Kazuki would maintain on his opponents hand before he jerked his arm suddenly in a clockwise fashion.

Whilst it was something that could be overpowered with sheer force and will, Kazuki intended to use the sudden nature of the twist to catch Tyler off-guard, combining his rotation with the upward force of his other arm to turn Tylers wrist into a backwards version of the 'nikyo' hold, shifting himself slightly to his left to compensate for the reversed nature of the hold.

Relying on the painful pressure the capture would place on the younger mans wrist and elbow, Kazuki would then hope to use his right arm, having slipped through to the back-side of Tylers trapped limb, to press down on the back of the forearm and force his opponent to the floor. If the catch had been successful, the strain on the joints would leave Tyler helpless to the ministrations, but only if he was unable to escape beforehand. The motions in themselves would also, though not to Kazukis initial intent, render the swung elbow ineffective, with Tylers body being twisted and negating the momentum being used with the strike.

Again, if he'd been able to execute the takedown to full effectivity and bring Tyler to the ground, Kazuki would drop to one knee, maintaining the pressure on the joint in an attempt to make the younger fighter submit to defeat. If not, well, he wasn't entirely sure what would happen....


ooc: Alright, I'm a little concerned that this might feel a bit 'moddy', but you already know that if anything seems off to give me a buzz. I just thought about how you'd placed your arms and thought about the principles of the 'nikyo' defence, and saw a way to reverse it quite effectively. XD

[Kyukaku]

(OOC: It's good to have a brother that practices Aikininjitsu. Let's me understand the principles of things like nikyo...and their counters )

Simple movements. They are what makes or breaks a good martial artist. A simple movement can completely render on attack useless...and a simple tweak of that movement can render that counter as well.

Kyukaku and Kazuki both seemed to understand these facts all too well, and the longer the fight went on, the more it seemed like a chess match, and not a slugfest. To not quite such a surprise, Kazuki was able to easily and rather quickly shift his hands, forcing Kyu's hand in a backwards version of nikyo, Kyu's wrist turning off to his left from the sharp movement.

The sudden change of direction would cause Kyukaku's body to slide both feet closer into Kazuki's stance. Just like the basic principles of Aikido were to use the other person's movements against them, Kyu found it to be a decent counter measure to the throws and locks themselves, putting less strain on himself when not fighting the motions. By stepping even closer, it would prevent Kazuki from getting even more leverage to work with and slow down his move's efficiency.

With the elbow more likely than not losing all its power from its now awkward position, Kyukaku began to tweak his movements ever so slightly as well. With Kazuki still manipulating his wrist, Kyukaku's right arm would ratchet open from its elbowing position, swinging underneath Kaz's left armpit, gripping the back of his shoulder in his hand.

Following his hand's lead, Kyukaku turned his entire upper torso to the left as he stepped through with his right to Kazuki's right side. Right hip to right hip, Kyukaku slid his left foot out for a wider more powerful stance, continuing to turn his upperbody to the left. The end result would be a hiptoss, causing a lack of leverage on Kazuki's part once he would be sweeped off his feet, hopefully preventing serious injury.

Instead of simply letting Kazuki fall and back away like he would in most cases, the tangle of their bodies would cause Kyukaku to fall atop him, adding his body weight to the impact. Kyu would most likely land in a side mount, still having his right arm unde Kazuki's left armpit. Lowering his chest to keep Kazuki pinned down, he'd dig his left knee into Kazuki's upper ribs as his left leg swung out and back for a powerful knee to his lower right side, just above the hip.

[Kazuki Akimoto]

ooc: I completely ballsed up my post before, but there's no take-backsies here. Damnit.

ic:

In making his advance towards Kazuki, Tyler would find that the Asian would shift with him, intending to maintain the force of his hold as long as possible. However, quick thinking on the younger fighters part seemed to be on his side at the moment, and with the whip-back to capture under Kazukis arm, the pair were once again rather firmly tangled.

'Don't tell me he's going to try and throw me...!?'

Surely enough, Tyler began to step through with his right to set up a basic throw, and Kazuki began to sigh inwardly at the notion.

Aikido.

What were some of the most renowned techniques in the style, so much so that a certain 90's action movie star used them in nearly every movie he did?

In that line of thought, Kazuki knew that his small error of judgement would make it certain he would be sent to the floor, but he had already considered his rebuttal to Tylers actions. His grandfather, bless the old mans heart, had (quite literally) beaten it into him that no art was unbeatable, thus no throw was uncounterable.

His levering arm shot against the young mans chest, grasping his shirt around the right shoulder as the pair began to go to ground roughly and dragging him off of his intended fall somewhat. It would only be a minute shift, but technically he needed little more. Effectively, as they fell, instead of only the upper half of his upper body ending up atop Kazuki, Tyler would hopefully fall further forward, almost into something akin to a pro-wrestling pin.

Instead of landing flush onto Kazukis midsection, though, the elder Asian would have shot his right knee up, tucking it high to cause Tylers ribs and stomach to crash into it first and foremost as he fell. Were that to be the outcome, the resulting pile the pair would be in would pose an...interesting sight. Both with an arm currently exhibiting a hold of sorts, they would look more like a pair of kids wrestling than anything else. That notion took a slight effort to hold back a chuckle from Kazuki, considering their situation.

If he'd been able to catch the younger fighter as he fell, the chances stood that Tyler would roll away from him. Winded from the knee, he'd need a second to retain his breath after falling onto the intruding appendage, something not too easily done when you're trying to continue a ground assault.

[Kyukaku]

The throw began to send both men towards the ground. Kazuki's right hand left its post, moving towards Kyukaku's right shoulder. Working on instincts, Kyukaku's first thought was that Kazuki was trying to push Kyukaku back in order to keep him from falling on top of him. To make sure this wasn't the case, Kyukaku pulled in with his right arm's hold as an attempted counter balance, still overshooting the fall somewhat, but keeping their torsos in contact throughout.

Landing in the standard wrestling pin, Kazuki's right knee would come up. Still, Kyukaku's false instincts would pay off in the end, his knee striking his right side kidney area. It hurt, but there would be no wind loss, something Kazuki may not have share with Kyukaku landing tightly atop him.

Keeping his chest down Kyukaku would burst forward with his left hand. Kyukaku would attempt to push out of Kazuki's weakened hold, as he only held it with one hand at this point, which was likely to be loosened if only slighty from the throw turned slam. Pushing his left hand forward, Kyukaku would palm the right side of Kazuki's chin, pushing his head to the left as he'd hold it there so Kazuki couldn't use his greatest skill: his perception.

"If I hold you three seconds, I win, right!?"