Kyukaku VS Sieghardt Rochefort

[Odin Reeves]

Ring two, second fight.

[Kyukaku]

Dain, Taiku, and Adam signed up for this? Alright! Now this shouldn't be a walk in the park!

Kyukaku decided not to enter in the last tournament, and it had been a mistake. The prior tournament Kyu had faced almost no real competition, save for the finals match against Odin. He wasn't one that liked to beat on those weaker than him; it wasn't a real victory unless you actually had to triumph over something challenging. He lacked motivation to sign up last time, and the tournament held some of the best line ups he had seen since Varron. This time however, it looked like he made the right choice.

Keeping with tradition, Kyu sported his traditional karate gi, headband, and gloves. He had the name of his opponent now, but it hadn't rung a single bell in his head.

Oh wait, I DO know a Sieghardt! Wait...that was a friend of Grandpa's. It would be really depressing if my opponent was an 80 year old man with a tracheatomy...

Kyukaku hopped into his ring, swinging his arms across his chest and back just to get the blood pumping. Besides the very basic stretches, he preferred to fight cold. The problem with being a mid-sized fighter is the constant need to adapt your fighting style. Its true that its a necessity for all fighters, but when one is either on the larger or smaller size, you can count on the fact that most your opponents will be the corresponding opposite. It was for this fact that Kyu preferred not to do any warm up moves. He didn't want to give away how strong or fast he was. It was true the more knowledgable would be able to tell Kyu was a karate-ka, but luckily it doesn't favor any type of attack or defenses.

A giant or a leprecauhn, it didn't matter. All Kyukaku hoped was that his opponent would be a capable combatant. Kyu's constant holding back often screwed him over in bigger fights, and in ones like these, it gave little growth to each fighter.

[kej]

A few days prior...

The silver-haired youth knelt in front of the white porcelain god, his lips parted slightly, saliva and the remnants of bile dripping from his mouth. He spit into toilet, where the contents of his stomach remained, only to dry-heave once again, there being nothing left to come out. After a few minutes of spitting his foul saliva out, he got up and began rinsing his mouth and washing his face. Looking into the mirror, he noticed the dark circles present beneath his eyes, which were more profound than the last time he saw them. After splashing his face with cold water and drying himself off, he left the washroom and checked the digital clock on the end table located next to his bed. "2:00 AM..." he had gotten rid of his jet lag, but still suffered from insomnia; with the tournament being in the next few days Sieghardt wanted to get a good night's rest and tried to get back into the habit of going to sleep, but to no avail. Deciding to make use of the time he had, he began doing some light stretched then training; hopefully afterward he'd be exhausted and just pass out naturally. The following morning he'd stop by one of local pharmacies and see if he could get something to aid him.

The pharmacy was easy enough to find, however, the ever-present language barrier was still there. At first he tried speaking in French like he always did, on the off-chance that one of them also spoke it, but this time he came up short. Next he tried sign language, and one the pharmacists, putting two and two together, those being the gestures he was making and the dark circles under his eyes, gave him an over the counter melatonin agonist. Giving the man a small nod and "Thank you," he sprinted back to the hotel, where he would do some basic yoga to keep himself flexible. That night, he slept like a... no, wait, he slept better than a baby. Waking the next morning, he found a wet spot of drool on his pillow, but he didn't mind; no dreams of him killing his family or being raped to stir him in the night; just blackness, no recollection of anything that happened during the night even if he did have one of those terrors. He stretched and yawned loudly, feeling better than he had ever felt before; making his way to the washroom, he looked into the mirror and smiled at himself, which looked fairly odd with the rings of insomnia still visible. It was only morning and the day was going good; he had unwrapped his hand and found that his hand had healed partially, though tender, it was no longer an open wound, and to celebrate that, he would go for a swim later in the day. The tournament was tomorrow, and Sieghardt was glad he felt this great -- it gave him a little more confidence than he usually did, and he was looking forward to testing his fighting style against other talented fighters, and hopefully learn, as well as teach a thing or two.

--

One would think Sieghardt was a vain boy, with him standing in front of the mirror every morning. Slapping both of his cheeks with his hands, he pushed them, squishing his face whilst looking at himself in the mirror. "Those pills were a godsend, but -- what the hell?" he questioned himself as the dark circles were still visible, though a bit less than when he couldn't sleep through the whole night. He inhaled deeply and sighed, undoing the chain and removing the piercing on his lip; though he was used to people aiming to grab at the chain to rip his lip and earlobe apart, he didn't want to risk it, since most of the people who tried that were untrained hooligans, not seasoned fighters. Despite the fact that he could fight in casual wear unhindered, he opted for a more comfortable approach; he wore a pair of red cotton canvas gi pants, the only gi pants he had, and a light, zip-up hooded sweater with nothing beneath. He wrapped his hands, wrists, feet and ankles in athletic tape before slipping on a pair of shoes and zipping up his hoody. Doing a few stretches and cracking some joints, the 'pop' sound audible, he made his way out of the hotel, going into a light jog as he made his way to the tournament.

Sieghardt arrived and tossed his sneakers into a locker, and joined the other participants in the briefing of what was to happen which fell upon deaf ears -- Sieghardt's, anyways. He simply stood at the furthest point from the crowd, not too much to seem out of place, his hood veiling his facial features as he stood there silently, picking out the bits and pieces of speech he understood. He scanned his jade eyes over the other fighters, a few which seemed familiar, but otherwise unknown. He assumed he'd seen them around school, and was glad that he was such an obscure presence in school, and even more so now with his hood. The only face he recognized was that of Kyo's, but he refrained from greeting him at all. He probably wouldn't remember him, or even if he did it may be slightly awkward due to the hostile environment.

The time before his match was used to prepare himself, and in this time he had figured out a way to integrate his insomniac appearance into the fight. To prepare, he hadn't really thrown any punches or kicks, but instead did some light stretching and a few breathing exercises. His opponent was a young man named Kyukaku -- like Kyo and Taiku, it had a very Japanese flair to it. When he got to the ring, he saw that Kyukaku was already in the ring; he had no visible fighting stance, but assuming from the traditional style of gi he wore he had to know some kind of Japanese art -- Judo or Karate, or he could've simply worn it because it was comfortable; he himself sported gi pants. Stepping in the ring bare-foot, he viewed the fighter in front of him; he had a slight height and weight advantage over him, but they were pretty much the same body type. Unzipping his hoody, he left it open and pulled down his hood, revealing his insomnia-ridden face. To add to the effect, Sieghardt threw a few unimpressive hooks and uppercuts from an orthodox boxing stance. It was at this point where the crowd would probably bet on Kyukaku due to his appearance; the basis of his style had been put into play; deception. Well, it wasn't the type of deception he learned from that old man, but it was deception nonetheless. Moving toward Kyukaku, he stretched his left hand out in a closed fist, offering a gesture of sportsmanship accompanied by a small nod; when, and if they tapped fists Sieghardt would dart back quickly to create some distance and take the same orthodox stance he entered the ring with. He smirked inwardly as he felt a slight tremble in one of his legs, thinking,

"Damn, I'm fucking anxious."

[Kyukaku]

Kyukaku shivered underneath his gi, not of a fear, but excitement. His opponent had finally arrived, and it sent a tingle up his spine. It was like the injection fuel to start his adrenaline rush, which began to pump through. It was hard to judge this one on appearance, for the kid honestly looked less of a fighter and more of a punk, or emo rocker.

There was always more to an appearance though, that was a fact. Sieghardt's fighting style was unknown to Kyu, though there was a slight give away as he started throwing a few hooks to the air in what was either a warm up or a false representation of his style. Kyukaku believed the former of the two, though in the end would do little. He was a versatile fighter, knowing many strikes, throws, and holds. Kyu had no reason to believe that this one wouldn't be the same, and would be foolish to believe that this one was a boxer, or kickboxer based on a few simple motions.

Kyukaku smiled lightly as Sieghardt showed good sportsmanship with a tap of fists. He followed suitely, glad that his opponent shared the same respect he held.

"Good luck." He stated with a friendly smile, lightly tapping his fist against his opponents before taking one small slide back as Sieghardt seemed to do the same.

Content with the fact Seighardt had enough time to set himself, Kyukaku began to slowly inch towards his opponent. Just before he reached striking distance, Kyu took a quick sliding step forward with his left. Just as his body would set, Kyu's left hand would land in a jab as his right fist settled near his own jaw. The body's motion would aid in both the speed and power of his jab, which would strike out towards his opponent's chin and snap back if all went accordingly.

[kej]

As Kyu closed in to tap fists, Sieghardt was surprised to find that, despite his name, this man didn't look Asian at all; he was about as caucasian as he was, though he was slightly more tanned. "Good luck," came out of his mouth, something that made him a bit relieved as his opponent wasn't a savage and showed some respect. There was a possibility they could become acquaintances after this. Kyukaku did the same as Sieghardt, darting back a bit to create some distance, though while Sieghardt waited, Kyu instead closed the distance between the two, and just before reaching striking distance stepped in, throwing out a quick jab. "Typical opener... low risk/reward ratio," as the jab came he stepped back, the jab ending right in front of his face before being pulled back as quick as it had been thrown. Sieghardt found himself leaning against the ropes, and without getting off the ropes he slid along them to the right, putting him to Kyu's left. Hopping back a bit to get at a comfortable kicking distance, he lifted his left knee slightly as if he was going to do a front kick, but instead shot out a quick side kick aimed toward his opponent's lead knee, since it was just within distance. It was a quick snapping kick with power generated from the knee, sort of like the kicking equivalent of a jab. Immediately following the kick he would once again hop a bit back, just out of kicking range and to the right in order to avoid getting trapped against the ropes or turnbuckle.

[In a nutshell: I'm going to do this every time I post since there seems to be a lot of misunderstandings concerning fights. Basically, Sieghardt moved back and Kyu's punch barely missed him. He then circled around to Kyu's left, and I assume Kyu would turn to face Sieghardt, so he kicked with his lead foot and aimed for Kyu's left knee, and continued to circle around him counter-clockwise.]

[Kyukaku]

(OOC: yay for cliffnotes! if my posts confuse you just PM me.)

In an announced fight, if someone gets caught with the first move of a fight, particularly a light jab, they lacked any skill in Kyukaku's opinion. Thankfully, Seighardt seemed to be aware enough to avoid it.

His opponent had started himself off close to the ropes, and to avoid getting struck Kyu knew his opponent would be forced to move to either the side, or straight back. Pleasantly enough, he chose to move both, placing himself closer to the turnbuckle. The fact Kyukaku had never expected his jab to hit in the first place provided him the readiness to prevent this one's counter.

Kyu moved to face Seighardt like the smaller man had expected, however it wouldn't work out as planned. As Kyu pivoted counter clockwise on his right foot, he lifted his left leg inches off the floor by raising his knee as he drove it to his left side. The sidekick struck just below the knee cap on the higher shin, causing Kyu's left leg to swing back slightly before plantly firmly on the canvas.

Aiding in his next movements, the quicker planting of his left foot provided a more explosive motion as Kyu blasted forward with his right leg leading now. As he came in, Kyu's right fist would drop 90 degrees couner clockwise, making his arm parrallel to the floor. With his forearm exposed, Kyu would drive in an upwards, smashing into the underneath of Seighardt's jaw.

The smaller fighter would be retracting his kick at this point, and therefore unable to evade this motion. It was a quick enough move to catch most fighters before a proper guard was established, but even if Seighardt managed to block the end result would be the same. Kyukaku would push his opponent into the corner of the ring. If struck underneath the chin this would take no effort at all, but Kyu still had more momentum than the man if he was able to put up a fight.

[kej]

Immediately following his snapping kick Kyu had closed the distance between them and was now just a short distance away. Noticing his right arm getting into a striking position, and judging from the distance and the likelihood of an uppercut or some sort of strike aiming for the bottom of his jaw coming from below his line of sight, Sieghardt threw his head up and back as he felt Kyu's fist connect with the bottom of his jaw. To the audience it would look like Kyukaku had smoked him with that hit, but the fighters in the ring knew otherwise. By throwing his head back, he followed through with the motion of the strike and neutralized its destructive power, though it still connected somewhat. While staring at the dimly lit ceiling lights, he mentally grinned while being pushed toward the turnbuckle by Kyu's forearm on his neck. Bringing his head down before his back slammed into the turnbuckle, the first thing he saw was his opponent's face only a few centimetres away from his own.

"Just how I like it... though I'd prefer to keep this façade up, looks like it might be unavoidable," he slipped his left arm inside past Kyu's right that was pinning him against the corner and hooked his thumb into the back of his collar and gripped the gi, while simultaneously pushing on the inside of his opponent's elbow with the outside of his in an attempt to force it off. With his free right, he grabbed a hold of the inside of Kyu's left elbow and pushed it forward until his arm was straight, preventing any inside shots from being thrown with his left. With both fighters' arms disabled and at such a close distance, options were... not exactly limited; more like different. Sieghardt looked like a cornered animal whose only option was to fight back, but this was where he was most comfortable; being able to see the sweat droplets upon his opponent's brow was the safest range for him.

[OOC: He threw his head back in order to minimalize the damage from the forearm strike, and once he was cornered he used his left elbow to push on the inside of Kyu's right elbow, while Sieghardt's right hand held and pushed Kyu's left arm at its pivot and it's probably positioned around Kyu's side.]

[Kyukaku]

The crowd gasped and cheered as it seemed Sieghardt was struck with a devastating blow. Kyukaku however knew otherwise, as the impact on his forearm smash wasn't as powerful as expected, meaning his opponent had ridden the blow. It was an action that kept his head from being knocked off yes, but by allowing his head to roll back he gave up all leverage.

Kyu kept the forward force of his forearm, pushing up and back as he drove the smaller man into the turnbuckle. Kyu's hand opened up momentarily, finding a handhold of cloth of the sweatshirt covering Seighardt's right shoulder. Kyu was the stronger man of the two, and there was no doubt his arm would be stronger than the neck of the smaller fighter, especially with the added leverage. Because of this, Seighardt would not be able to lower his head as he had planned.

However, even without sight Seighardt was able to find handholds upon Kyukaku. As the man fought to free himself and block attacks from Kyu's left arm, Kyukaku pulled forward on the sweatshirt. He thrust his right knee up and in, striking Seighardt in the lower left set of ribs. With his arm above the target area it left these fully exposed, and the fact Seighardt would never see it coming would surely lead to a couple of broken ribs.

Wasting no movements, Kyu instantly snapped his right leg back down. Simultaneously, Kyu would snap his right elbow back and forward again, using the sweatshirt as a fulcrum as he cracked into Seighardt's jaw. With a loss of wind from the knee strike, and a sudden and powerful strike to the jaw while bent forward it would be a miracle if the smaller man wasn't knocked unconcious on impact, let alone able to resume the fight.

[kej]

As he felt Kyu grab a hold of the hoody he wore by the right shoulder, Sieghardt quickly reacted by releasing his grip from his opponent's left arm and pull his arm back while rotating his body clockwise. With Kyu pulling the right shoulder of his sweater forward and slightly up due to him being taller, and with him moving backward and down, his opponent was practically pulling his hoody off of him. The fabric of his light hoody slid off of the right side of his body, but following that was a knee to his ribs. The knee surprised him, sending sharp signals to his brain that something had been injured internally, as well as winding him, but that wasn't much of a problem; Sieghardt could function normally and would just wait until he could breathe again, since he is accustomed to using his body in anaerobic activities.

So, even after receiving the knee he continued to spin 180 degrees while dropping to the canvas as Kyukaku pulled his elbow back, allowing Sieghardt to slip his head down and descend, simultaneously throwing his left leg out between Kyu's legs above the knees while his right was thrown behind them just below the knees whilst his opponent's elbow deflected off the top of his head, the actions preformed fluidly with the rotation. Maintaining his grip on Kyu's gi with his left bent at the elbow, Sieghardt's full body weight would pull his opponent down when he fell. During his descent Sieghardt would push his right leg forward and his left back in an attempt to scissor Kyu's legs from beneath him; if this maneuver was successful, by the time they both hit the ground, Sieghardt would have a hold of Kyu's right leg, with it being pinned between his own legs which would be crossed and locked.

[OOC: Everything in the second paragraph was done while Sieghardt was dropping , the throwing of his legs being the reason.]

[Kyukaku]

Kyukaku held Seighardt against the turnbuckle, wrenching his neck forward in an effort to keep the smaller man's back against the corner ropes. The knee would therefore strike unhindered as it would occur before Sieghardt would be able to move. Kyukaku momentarily released the pressure as planned, and this moment would be the only time Sieghardt would have any space to make his turn. Kyu's elbow went back out, though striking Sieghardt in the side of the face. It wouldn't have the knockout blow as hoped, but it would sure dome rock the poor kid.

Kyukaku felt the sweatshirt began to slip off his opponent, watching as what seemed to be an awkward dive to the ground in the corner of the ring. As Sieghardt's legs began to slip underneath Kyu, he raised his right knee yet again. He allowed his left left to be swept from underneath him as he leaned forward, raising his right knee higher as he gained forward momentum.

Still gripping the sweatshirt Kyukaku would punch Sieghardt in the face. The sweatshirt would cushion the blow, but at the same time blind Sieghardt without the use of his arms. As Kyu fell, his right knee would plummet directly on top of Sieg's (sorry for abbreviation, the name gets long) previously injured ribs, likely causing more damage and surely loads more of pain. Kyukaku would sit all his body weight upon the one knee to focus the area of pain. As he did this he would let go of the sweatshirt, leaving it in Seig's face as he continued to smash his right fist into the boy's face. It would only be a matter of time before the kid's heart wouldn't be able to keep up with his head blows.

[kej]

[OOC: Busy with other things, won't be able to post.]

[Zeniro]

Calling this one for Kyu.

Finish up as usual.