Post by daiyu on Apr 28, 2008 3:06:44 GMT 1
Name: Xia, Daiyu
Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 17
Weight: 121lbs
Height: 5'5"
Appearance:
--Physical Appearance: Standing at five foot five and weighing one-hundred and twenty-one pounds Xia's weight is comprised mostly of muscle, while it is more visible in some places it is not noticeable in others. When wearing clothes she looks as if she could be any average every day girl, but with the clothes removed her muscles become more noticeable.
Always noticeable however are the powerful muscles in the girls legs which are hard to the touch thanks to years of extensive training. She is not what you would expect to see, she is far from a large mass of rippling muscles but this only serves to conceal her strength from the eyes of all.
Bearing naturally tan and generally smooth skin Daiyu has undergone series of body modifications in several different places, though nothing too intensive. Her left ear is pierced three times, her right ear twice, her belly button once, and her right nipple has been pierced as well. On her back she bears an elegantly designed gothic cross and on her front a snake like dragon curls around one of her breasts with the head ending upon her shoulder.
--Cosmetic Appearance: Normally Daiyu will wear Chinese styled dresses when she can, normally choosing to wear Purple and Gold or Black and Gold Colors though she is quite open to new ideas. Beyond that she will wear what just about any other girl will wear, blue jeans and a t-shirt, t-shirt and skirt, things like that.
At times when she is training in private or having an arranged fight of any sort where she has time to prepare ahead of time her favored choice of clothing is that of Shaolin Robe As seen here.
Makeup wise she rarely does anything beyond some lip-stick, gloss, and eye liner. She does not paint her nails simply do to the fact of how often they break while she is training and fighting that she views it as a complete waste of time and money. When going to a more formal calling event Daiyu might possibly do more to her face.
Eye color: Brown
Hair: Possessed with an unusual quantity of natural brown hair Daiyu will usually keep her hair in two separate pigtails or even stranger is the times when she will take her hair and create a complete circle out of it behind her back.
Habits: When upset Daiyu has the habit of reverting back to her native tongue without realizing it, she will also sometimes drift in and out between Chinese and English and will continue to do so until someone informs her that they can't understand a damn word that she is saying. She tends to bite her nails when no one is looking. She can usually be seen twirling a strand of hair around her finger or chewing on her own hair, both of which she'll generally not even realize she is doing.
Other Information
Personality: A generally straight forward and sometimes considerably arrogant girl Daiyu is the type who knows what she wants when she sees it and will do anything within her power to get it no matter who's toes she has to step on to get there. She practices traditional Martial Arts with an almost religious fervor, also having a strong discontent for those that just blindly street fight.
Among other things she tends to dislike Mixed Martial Artists who call them selves Martial Artists, believing there to be a considerable difference between actual Martial Arts and that silly sport of theirs. Even though it's hard to imagine her life with Martial Arts one does indeed exist, however blunt and aggressive she might be in fighting seems to completely wash away in the home life.
Taught by her mother traditional values she is like a completely different woman in her home town, often taking care of the house and doing tasks considered apart of the traditional woman's values. A great part of her training has always been mental conditioning, being able to maintain two separate life styles while not letting one conflict with the other has been a tiring task but a task which she has endured.
Outside of the home and outside of fighting Daiyu is pretty much a "What-you-see-is-what-you-get" kind of girl, not afraid to be feminine and not afraid to be masculine either she has a weak spot for cats and younger people. If ever there were a sin to describe Daiyu it would be pride, she overly prideful of her achievements as a martial artist and of her family heritage, a single bad word about either is enough to set Daiyu against you for almost life.
She takes Martial Arts and fighting perhaps entirely too seriously but it is this driven seriousness which has made Daiyu into the fighter that she is today. She is hard to get along with for most as guy's are usually uncomfortable with the fact that she can kick their asses and most girls did not like the fight that Daiyu could kick most of their boyfriends asses.
Transitioning to living in America was a daunting task for Daiyu, ontop of having to learn English she had to learn the customs and culture though all in all it was a considerable deal better then the living situation in China.
Though she still has troubles at some times she has mostly adjusted to life in America and has made a few friends here and there and even located, to her delight, a Shaolin Dojo at which she could continue her training.
Ryomei, Ryomei is a completely nother subject. It is a girl that Daiyu seemingly literally followed to America, Ryomei, a girl of roughly the same age as Daiyu whom Daiyu has become, to say the least, completely obsessed and infatuated with. Though some have jokingly referred to her as being in love with the girl Daiyu outwardly expresses nothing but the desire to hurt the girl. When Daiyu had discovered that Ryomei would be attending Hircine High not a force in the world could stop her from going to that school.
She is determined her goal of defeating Ryomei in any way that she could, a bitter love-hate burning within her soul from the shame of suffering defeat at the hands of such an inferior being.
Hobbies: Her hobbies, quite scarily enough, involve Fighting, Training, and thinking about Ryomei and not necessarily in that order. She does very little beyond those things, she is an avid painter and a Gymnast to increase her flexibility. Beyond these things it is not entirely uncommon to see Daiyu at a library checking out a Manga or book or simply walking around the city lost and confused.
Her absolute favorite place to visit by far has been the beach, to which she attempts to go to as often as always and for as long as she goes. She has clearly fallen in love with California despite whatever she might say otherwise.
Extracurricular: Gymnastics, Anime Club, Art Club
Important Details
History: Born and raised in Hong Kong China, Daiyu had a loving and caring family. They did the best that they could for the child with her father working at a large corporation they had enough money to afford a moderate life style, they were far from rich but they were not poor, rather they were about what would equate in America as upper-middle class.
When she was five years old Daiyu had witnessed the Shaolin monks preforming a demonstration of their abilities live in public and she was instantly awe struck with the beauty and grace of their movements and from that moment on she fascination was caught with Martial Arts, it was all her parents could do to stop the girl from running away and joining a dojo somewhere but instead they indulged her commitment and told her that if she still desired to train when she was seven that they would allow it.
And so the family would take trips, going cross country every so often to witness live demonstrations of Martial Arts, Fights, and Tournaments where female practitioners of the Shaolin Martial Arts were first becoming known. And then age seven rolled around and the parents fulfilled their promise, allowing Daiyu to go to a local dojo which taught traditional Shaolin martial arts to students of all types.
The training was intense, the girl often being sent away to camp for entire months at a time where the students would preform rigorous exercises all designed to condition their bodies while learning the basic forms of the Shaolin Martial arts. Daiyu was the schools most promising student however as she showed more determination and power of will then those around her, upon watching a demonstration between the older students Daiyu had decided which style she wished to use.
Watching the grace and fluid movements of a senior female student as she took down one of the older male students using her Snake Style provoked Daiyu's first case of "love", she had become a bit taken by the older girl and the beauty and grace of the style but that "love" would be a fading thing when training would take her mind completely.
By age eleven Daiyu had already focused her training into that of the Snake Style with the blessing of her master and within another five months Daiyu had won the inter-school Jr. Tournament, which would later lead to Daiyu eventually winning the regional and national tournament.
She brought both to her self, her family, and her school great honor with these victories and was chosen by China in an arranged global tournament where junior martial artists of all types gathered and fought, to represent the Shaolin styles in the junior division was Daiyu.
At the age of thirteen Daiyu suffered the most humiliating defeat she had ever experienced, the fight had not even existed as she was disgraced in the final round, the girl she would know as Ryomei bringing her down to the ground and preventing Daiyu from doing much of anything.
Thus began Daiyu's second case of love, the face of the girl haunting her every waking thought as Daiyu pushed her body to the extremes, doing whatever she could do to make her self stronger, more prepared, and capable of defeating the girl she was sure she would meet again someday.
However, at age fourteen, Daiyu would be taken away from everything which she knew and loved as her father company moved them all to America. It was a strange land and Daiyu was often treated poorly by the local citizens for her lack of English, it was shameful how they treated her as if she had never seen a piece of modern technology before in her life, as if China had absolutely no technology.
She would be homeschooled up until highschool, during this period of time Daiyu would learn to speak English and better understand the American culture before she learned of Hircine High and who it was exactly that lived there. Near demanding of her parents to allow her to go there they complied and so Daiyu was put aboard a plane from New York and sent to California to begin her life at Hircine High.
In California she would live in her cousins apartment where she learned a little more about America and how to be an American and how to have a good time where as at her house she only learned how to do things the Chinese way and how a proper woman should behave. Regardless of this, Daiyu settled into Hircine High and eventually even located a local Shaolin Dojo at which she could continue her training.
Ryomei, the girl continued to linger on her thoughts and serve as a fire that burned within her, determined to beat her no matter the cost. These were the reasons for which she had moved all the way to California, to simply attend Hircine High, and now at Age seventeen Daiyu has yet to accomplish that goal...
Fighting Style: Practiced by Daiyu is the arts of her home land of China, she has spent many years learning to the arts of Shaolin Kung-fu and though she is considered a near novice in all other forms Daiyu's primary, and best practiced form, is the Snake Style.
Shaolin Snake Style
Principal Actions: Sweeps, Foot-work, Finger Strikes, and quick kicks.
Personal Preference: Having chosen the Snake Style as her primary method of combat Daiyu has focused intently on training her self to make her body more agile, faster, and flexible. As such rather then some people who would go for heavy one-shot blows Daiyu will often use her own speed with the snake style to deliver rapid strikes to the body of her opponent. Part of the main focus with the Snake Style is to get the opponent to open them selves up, as such, feints are often used and her body is constantly moving.
Though she does not know the more advanced forms of Style Daiyu is far from a novice in the Snake Style, she knows exactly what it is capable of and is generally refrains from using some of the more complex movements which could permanently damage another student.
A difference between Daiyu's snake and traditional snake style is that like all things she has personalized it, using far more kicks and sweeps then one traditionally would while practicing this style.
Style Description:
Venomous snakes are possibly the most dangerous animals on the planet, considering how lethal they can be compared to their size. Because of this, Nature has balanced things by providing many of them with distinctive mechanisms, like bright-colored scales, the cobra's hood, or the rattlesnake's rattle. The snake might kill you, but you can’t claim you weren’t warned first.
In many ways, the Shaolin snake-style typifies this. When attacking, the snake-stylist goes for vulnerable spots like the eyes, throat and groin. However, because of the serious consequences of hitting such targets, the snake-stylist must be calm and peaceful and avoid a fight. It is only when there is no recourse but to fight, and the situation serious enough to warrant it that one should use the techniques of the snake form.
The snake techniques also promote "ting" or "listening" energy. This is the sensory ability developed through "sticking hands" and related exercises. Through its use, the snake-stylist can neutralize an opponent’s attack with a minimum of effort and risk.
Because of its quiet attitude and emphasis on rhythmic breathing, the snake is traditionally thought to develop the chi.
The snake may appear not to be an ideal candidate for a shaolin animal due to its lack of legs, however if you think in more depth the snake will use slyness and softness rather than hard raw power.
The snake style is designed to cultivate internal energy thus gaining superior focus and penetrating force not associated in anyway with the external animal. The snake as it moves is very evasive as it twists its body in a zigzagging motion. In order to survive the snake must use its body in a different manner to compensate for its lack of limbs. The snake coils its body to begin with, then raises its head into a striking position and from this position straightens its body and strikes with precision and speed. This type of striking force is just from the momentum and twisting movement from the coiled position.
The snake form differs to the other shaolin animals as it has no hard punching techniques instead it uses both hard and soft principles to be successful. The fingertips and palms are used to strike with penetrating force. The snake is in direct opposition to that of the tiger. The snakes energy is quiet and internal and makes no external sound as it strikes, whilst tiger styles are noisy and active as the practitioner exhales to gain power. As with any internal style characteristics this is understood to be of an advanced martial level where strikes and blocks are made simultaneously (offense and defense are one and the same!). Soft coiling actions which are deceptively defensive suddenly change to offensive strikes. Hence the speed of attack is not as important as the smoothness and flow.
There are many different finger-striking actions associated with the snake practitioner. One is known as white snake throws out tongue (bai she tu xin), here the fingers recreate the forked form of the tongue with the index and middle fingers extended whilst the remaining fingers are folded underneath and back out of the way. This strike is then used to focus upon the soft areas or adversary’s eyes.
Another fingertip strike is known as snake comes out of its hole (qing she chu dong) where the practitioners fingers are together to form a cobras head shape, this strike can also be inverted to block or strike to the throat or eyes. This type of strike often comes from a bent elbow.
One inverted snake technique known as water snake swims to the surface (shui she shang an) terminates to pressure points around the throat and armpits.
Another important factor when considering the spirit of this animal is to keep the whole body moving and flowing if to be combined with the actions of the other animals. In many cases it is necessary to administer soft circular actions which terminate with focus and a harder action as the technique makes contact.
When practicing snake it is important that the practitioner is relaxed with good concentration. The snake parts of a form should be calm and soft. Another issue to understand when training with snake movements is to remain “connected” with all parts of you body contributing to the desired end. As well as a flexible body concentration and clarity of thought are a necessary attribute for any martial artist.
In many ways, the Shaolin snake-style typifies this. When attacking, the snake-stylist goes for vulnerable spots like the eyes, throat and groin. However, because of the serious consequences of hitting such targets, the snake-stylist must be calm and peaceful and avoid a fight. It is only when there is no recourse but to fight, and the situation serious enough to warrant it that one should use the techniques of the snake form.
The snake techniques also promote "ting" or "listening" energy. This is the sensory ability developed through "sticking hands" and related exercises. Through its use, the snake-stylist can neutralize an opponent’s attack with a minimum of effort and risk.
Because of its quiet attitude and emphasis on rhythmic breathing, the snake is traditionally thought to develop the chi.
The snake may appear not to be an ideal candidate for a shaolin animal due to its lack of legs, however if you think in more depth the snake will use slyness and softness rather than hard raw power.
The snake style is designed to cultivate internal energy thus gaining superior focus and penetrating force not associated in anyway with the external animal. The snake as it moves is very evasive as it twists its body in a zigzagging motion. In order to survive the snake must use its body in a different manner to compensate for its lack of limbs. The snake coils its body to begin with, then raises its head into a striking position and from this position straightens its body and strikes with precision and speed. This type of striking force is just from the momentum and twisting movement from the coiled position.
The snake form differs to the other shaolin animals as it has no hard punching techniques instead it uses both hard and soft principles to be successful. The fingertips and palms are used to strike with penetrating force. The snake is in direct opposition to that of the tiger. The snakes energy is quiet and internal and makes no external sound as it strikes, whilst tiger styles are noisy and active as the practitioner exhales to gain power. As with any internal style characteristics this is understood to be of an advanced martial level where strikes and blocks are made simultaneously (offense and defense are one and the same!). Soft coiling actions which are deceptively defensive suddenly change to offensive strikes. Hence the speed of attack is not as important as the smoothness and flow.
There are many different finger-striking actions associated with the snake practitioner. One is known as white snake throws out tongue (bai she tu xin), here the fingers recreate the forked form of the tongue with the index and middle fingers extended whilst the remaining fingers are folded underneath and back out of the way. This strike is then used to focus upon the soft areas or adversary’s eyes.
Another fingertip strike is known as snake comes out of its hole (qing she chu dong) where the practitioners fingers are together to form a cobras head shape, this strike can also be inverted to block or strike to the throat or eyes. This type of strike often comes from a bent elbow.
One inverted snake technique known as water snake swims to the surface (shui she shang an) terminates to pressure points around the throat and armpits.
Another important factor when considering the spirit of this animal is to keep the whole body moving and flowing if to be combined with the actions of the other animals. In many cases it is necessary to administer soft circular actions which terminate with focus and a harder action as the technique makes contact.
When practicing snake it is important that the practitioner is relaxed with good concentration. The snake parts of a form should be calm and soft. Another issue to understand when training with snake movements is to remain “connected” with all parts of you body contributing to the desired end. As well as a flexible body concentration and clarity of thought are a necessary attribute for any martial artist.
Strengths: Being a practitioner of Snake Style means that there are a couple of components which Daiyu must have the first of which being focus. She has patience and peer focus, her vision and hearing heightened so that she might be able to catch an attack coming and avoid it, above all else however she requires the focus and precision to make her style workable. Without focus and precision the Snake Style would become completely useless, as such, she must remain focused upon her opponent at all times during the confrontation or else her style will falter.
The second component which she possesses is speed and agility, for without speed and agility she would be victim to the strikes of far more powerful enemies. Speed and Agility are primary aspects with Snake Style and because of this she has vigorously undergone flexibility, athletic, and other various forms of agility training. Her body is optimized for speed, allowing her to preform rapid strikes and avoid the attacks of her enemies. With her flexibility however gives her a benefit against those that would seek joint manipulation upon her, giving her at least a small chance to break free.
And the third element is all about perception and intelligence, since the Snake Style has no blocking forms Daiyu must always be perceptive and attempting to read her opponents movements so that she can avoid powerful blows and the intelligence to know the exact moment and location at which to strike to optimize her damage.
Weaknesses: Weaknesses come a dime a dozen for this classically trained Martial Artist, most of which are actually side effects from her strengths.
Because most of her body has been conditioned for flexibility and speed she has very little in the way of endurance, while she has the ability to sustain her self in a fight she can only take so few blows before the pain sinks in and starts to effect her. Because of this she is often considered 'fragile', meaning that a good blow to the head runs the chance of knocking Daiyu flat on her ass.
Defense, the Snake Style has no forms for blocking enemy strikes which means she must always be perceptive of the situation and totally concentrated or else she'll get steam rolled, this requires intense concentration and focus and should this concentration be broken then her only defense will falter and she will be left exposed, this coupled with her overall inability to take too many blows can lead to a fast defeat for her.
Grappling is another place where she fails, she only knows minor components of grappling, so few that they aren't even listed as a fighting style but mostly just stuff she has seen preformed before hand. She will no doubt lose a grappling match to an experienced grappler.
Perhaps her biggest weakness is that her Style is a traditional one and put up against more modern styles it could very well falter against the unorthodox.
