"Place to be naked" [Closed]

[Elmira Medina]

According to Elmira's older brother, the etymology of the word "gymnasium" came from ancient Greece, when the gymnasium functioned as a training place for competitors in public games, such as the Olympics, which were done in the nude, derived from the word gymnos, which translates to 'naked.'

She didn't remember everything that her USC student sibling told her, but the memory of his explanation struck her as she made her way through the complex weight machines and sweaty people in the work out stations. Nobody was actually naked, though some came a bit close: a couple of girls wore shorts and tops so small and so tight that little was left to the imagination. Plus, to add to the imagery, they were often bending over, stretching, and spreading their legs out. It was like they were simply there to tease onlookers.

Elmira herself wasn't much better, donned in light short-shorts that revealed her shapely long legs, and a loose tank top. She had a gym at home, which consisted of a treadmill, an elliptical, and a few weight machines that she was able to claim for herself. But going to the gym wasn't just for the purpose of working out- getting fit was its main function, but Elmira also saw it as an opportunity to socialize, show off, and check out guys... and apparently girls. The only reason I was staring at their butts was because it was hard not to, she told herself as she opened the door to an empty room. They were out there on display! She did have a habit of flirting with females while drunk, but it never lead her to question her sexuality while sober. Besides, with her small chest and fiery jealousy, she had enough problems in the locker room.

The area she stepped into was closed off by walls of glass and usually used for preplanned courses, such as yoga, aerobics, and kids' karate. A kickboxing class was scheduled to take place in a couple of hours, so until then, Elmira had the area to herself to stretch. Blue mats lined the floors, and a couple of exercise balls sat in the corners, one of which Elmira picked up and used to stretch out her back. As she began, she switched on her iPod, since the repetitive 80s music the gym played outside wasn't exactly her work out preference.

[Arkady Awren]

This was the first time that Arkady had visited this gym and probably his last, he came in to practice his Katas. He walked through row upon row of either burly topless men or near topless women. Unfortunately for him, almost all of the people on the weight training equipment were older than him and more developed. Even with there masses of muscle he could probably dispatch them with little resistance anyways, that wasn't on his mind though.

He was wearing his normal set of robes which was an unlikely sight in a gym, but his Ninjutsu training had taught him to wear the clothing most comfortable for him. He didn't need to be stressed about looking good anyways. He opened the doors of the private training room to find one other girl inside probably years eldest when compared to him. He entered acknowledging her existence with an inclining of his head, if she would pay attention to him anyways.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind me stretching out here with you."

His russian accent was never as thick as his brother's, but he still pronounced his words fully and clearly. Now that he let her know he was there, he began doing his stretches, focusing on his leg muscles. Butterfly, lunge... Princess pose! He was going to be doing a lot of kicking in this session.

[Elmira Medina]

"Oh, I hope you don't mind me stretching out here with you."

"Hm?" Elmira tilted her head while it was upside-down from leaning across the ball, noticing that she had company and that she did indeed hear a voice behind the music of her iPod. She pressed the pause button and took out one earphone, opening herself up to more conversation. "I don't own the place. Do whatever you like." After lifting herself up and propping her feet a few inches apart from each side of the ball, she began to lean down and continue stretches, this time focusing on her calves. It was a bit awkward- she hadn't expected anyone else to come in, but that wasn't really anything she could control.

"You waiting for a karate class to start or something?" she asked after a few moments of silence. "I mean, I don't know what else the robes are for. There's probably lots of other kinds of martial arts that I'm not even thinking of." Her eyes glazed over him as she overlapped a bent arm in a hook over a straightened arm, warming up as she watched his routine. He seemed to be concentrating mainly on his legs; perhaps their fighting styles (or maybe just work out styles) were similar.

[Arkady Awren]

"You waiting for a karate class to start or something?"

Arkady giggled for a moment as he finished his leg stretches, Karate was close enough to his fighting style possibly even the bane of his style. Karate was more of a connotation for martial arts in general though.

"Nope, I am just practicing some techniques before I go back to school... Moral my ass..."

Arkady had gotten into a fight on his first day and he intended on improving himself before ending up in another one. He was right though... His new school was far off when it was named. With his stretching finished he began to kick at the air, a part of a Kata.

"In ninjutsu you are required to wear clothing that is most comfortable to you. If you're wearing something that makes you uncomfortable your Root Chakra will close right up."

The root chakra is opened by you being sure of yourself, so if you're wearing skimpy clothing yet lack developed muscles you aren't going to feel good about your body. Robes were also the only item of clothing that Arkady owned, so that was a trump card as well. He ended his kicks with an axe kick to the ground followed by a couple of back hand springs and other dodging maneuvers.

"If I am able to be asking. Are you waiting for a class or something?"

[Elmira Medina]

"Nope, I am just practicing some techniques before I go back to school... Moral my ass..."

Elmira's head tilted to the side. "Moral?" She lifted an eyebrow as she repeated the word. "You go to Moral Crest High?" Her hand crept to the back of her neck, rubbing it a bit in thought as well as in preparation for further stretching. "I guess a lot of the kids our age in this area go to Moral, huh? But I haven't seen you around before. Then again, it's only my first year." She understood what he was saying, though. It had never occurred to her to actually practice fighting techniques until arriving at that school, where it seemed that almost every student was trained in some way to kick ass. Of course, she had some teaching as a kid, but she didn't keep up with it as much as a true fighter would.

"In ninjutsu you are required to wear clothing that is most comfortable to you. If you're wearing something that makes you uncomfortable your Root Chakra will close right up."

"Root Chakra, eh?" She chuckled a bit as her palms fell flat onto the floor. "Sounds like tree powers or hippie talk. But I'm not the ninjutsu expert."

"If I am able to be asking. Are you waiting for a class or something?"

"Yes, you're able to be asking, and no, I'm not waiting for a class. I'm just working on flexibility today. I do cardio tomorrow."

[Arkady Awren]

Arkady's Russian accent often stuck out like a sore thumb, but when he was only chatting things up with someone he didn't bother to try and hide it. The girl had been working on her flexibility and her body had showed it, she was quite shapely, but Arkady tried to avoid noticing just that. She had also mentioned going to Moral Crest High, Arkady and obviously her, residential school-like premises.

"Well, yes I agree. It seems that almost everyone I meet, including a couple of gangsters with sharp pokies, attends- Is forced to go through that silly high school."

He gracefully moved from his dodging back to continuous kicking combos, each seemingly different, but strangely in sync with the rest of his movements. He was trained in Ninjutsu by his father when he was either 8 or 7 and he practiced until he was ran out of Russia. That's the only real way of remembering his family... Other than his brother of course... It then came to his mind that to practice techniques you cannot just simply kick at the air! You must practice with something that will react and give you real time experience.

"Hmmm... You're practicing flexibility... I'm practicing techniques... Mayhaps you could go for a friendly sparring match? It would help us both with what we are currently practicing and it could come in handy in the future! What do you say?"

[Elmira Medina]

Elmira lifted herself upright and blinked quietly for a few moments. A sparring match? Did people actually do that kind of thing in real life? Her eyes glanced over the boy again, donned in his robes that still made her think of karate, even though he referred to the style as Ninjutsu that used 'root chakra' that she was unfamiliar with. Sometimes her lack of cultural understanding in such areas made her feel uninformed.

"You mean, like, a practice fight, right?" she clarified a bit awkwardly. She was not accustomed to partaking in violence without initially being angry. When she had practiced her technique, it was usually against a punching bag, not a living person. Plus, her opponents had always been female- since such was the sex she tended to feel jealousy and hatred toward- for many years. The last time she had fought a male was in the first grade, when the kid had rudely commented that her new, short haircut made her look like a boy. Despite beating him senseless, Elmira grew her hair out from that point.

But this guy wasn't threatening in any way, at least not from what she could tell. And, like usual, she was bigger than him, something she would generally consider an advantage in combat. There was the chance that he could be quick and dexterous, yet the concept didn't stay in her mind very long. "Okay, what are the rules?"

[Arkady Awren]

"You mean, like, a practice fight, right?"

Arkady smiled with a nod to answer her question of clarification, sparring was an honorable battle between two warriors to test their strengths and improve them at the same time. His heart was already racing with excitement and he couldn't help, but let out a girlish squeal.

"Okay, what are the rules?"

This is where Arkady would have to actually think. He put his finger to his chin and began to get those gears grinding. Luckily after a small amount of smoke poured from his ears his thinking process was complete.

"Rules... Let's see! No low blows, no Qi abilities, no improvised or concealed weaponry and no face shots! We can't mess up each other's faces, otherwise I wouldn't be able to do my endless stare... Now if you accept my challenge, we can begin after we take our bows."

After finishing his statement of the rules Arkady would stand face to face with his opponent and incline his head. He didn't want to bow fully because that could lead to dain bramage and his itching paranoia just wouldn't let that happen...

[Elmira Medina]

Elmira listened intently as he answered her question about the rules. No low blows? she thought, a bit disappointed. Low kicks were part of her specialty. Then again, the match was set up so they could practice and improve their techniques, not reuse what they were already good at. Still, Elmira had a competitive streak in her: she liked to win. And he also mentioned no face shots- these weren't exactly what she was 'good' at, just something she happened to do a lot while fighting. After all, when angry at somebody, the first place she tended to aim was the face. It was more insulting and damaging that way. However, she wasn't going to argue, since she herself did not want any strikes to alter her physiognomy; a pretty face was important to her, so the rule was also to her benefit.

"Understood." She reciprocated the inclination of his head with a forward bow, initially placing her hands together then quickly realizing they should remain straight at her sides. With this acknowledgment, she assumed the battle had begun, and moved her body to the left side in a swift jump as if she were going to hit from that side, but actually swung her right arm, hand flat like a chopping French knife, toward her opponent's stomach. It was a simple feint, and he might see through it, but she was determined to act quick even if the attack did not land.

[Arkady Awren]

They both shared their bows and the girl started off with a feint... Really? It was actually somewhat surprising that she would start off so strategically, but they were close which meant Arkady had the advantage of anatomy. He was also grounded and more stable to attack.

The girl had made a judo chop at his side and Arkady countered with two knuckles to the pressure point where the arm meets the upper torso with his right hand. Meanwhile if the pressure point wasn't good enough to stop the fist completely due to overwhelming pain or just plain out numbness, his left hand was free to push the chopping hand down with an open palm to the wrist.

"By the way, my name is Arkady. You are?"

Combat was one of the best ways to express yourself and is an even better way to find out more about your partner. It does help to know their name though.

[Elmira Medina]

"Nice to meet ya. I'm Elmira, but you can call me Ellie." It was still strange to her, acting friendly and carrying on a small talk conversation while attempting to harm an opponent. Well, perhaps the true intent was not to do fierce physical damage, but there was still the drive to defeat a temporary rival. Besides, Elmira quickly felt a sharp sting around the place she planned to strike.

Ow. This guy, apparently named Arkady, had done something to her hand. She was a bit caught up to actually realize the pressure point he had hit, but she did realize that whatever action he took in response hurt more than she expected. Without letting it show, however, she snapped her arm back a foot, partially in the surprise pain, partially in protection from more damage, and partially as part of her next move. Her right arm was at that moment farther from her torso than usual, bent at a forty-five degree angle, and with her movements concentrated in the balls of her feet, she rotated her body to the side, using the momentum of her full weight to hopefully become part of the strike she prepared with the outward elbow aimed at Arkady's shoulder.

[Arkady Awren]

"Nice to meet ya. I'm Elmira, but you can call me Ellie."

Hmm... Ellie, maybe they would be sparring partners from here on. Good idea, no? He was capable of using his brain and body at the same time, which made talking to her while in combat completely easy.

His mind was proficient in being split between two things. Unlike most of the students with mental problems around the school, Arkady could multitask without having to smash something.

He was being attacked again by the girl and she was making her moves incredibly easy to read. She went back to make an attempt at quickly getting back into the fight. She bounced back from his first strike and was coming down with an elbow.

Elbows were harder to defend as they were closer to the center of gravity when it came to momentum. She had revealed her back and opened up for an instant knockout, but they were sparring and he was trying to better himself not kill her...

Instead of killing her as he had trained to do with others, he would perform a sweeper kick since she'd opened up almost every vulnerability. No matter where he'd strike, she'd end up on the ground and to prevent himself and her from injury he'd duck to slip under her non attacking arm and guide her fall while also pushing her down to guarantee her touching the ground.

"Ha, it's like we're dancing! A very violent dance!"

[Elmira Medina]

Perhaps not the best idea, Elmira thought as she felt herself knocked toward the ground after the attempt of her elbow to the shoulder. She had not thought to shield herself of any sort of counter, instead focusing on how next to hit him, and now she was on the mat, looking up at her opponent as he mentioned something about dancing.

"Ha. I'm probably better at dancing than I am at this sparring thing," she admitted with a grin. At least she was able to still talk. In fact, she wasn't damaged very badly, excluding the bit of pain from the impact of the kick, just left in a vulnerable spot. Even she knew that being down was an incredible disadvantage, and if this were a match between enemies, her opponent could simply jump on top and pound her like mad. However, he seemed to be going easy on her. Though the floor was padded, he must have done something to prevent her from falling too hard.

"So, does this mean you won, or do I get back up and keep going, or do we start another round?" she asked curiously, her palms flat against the floor, prepared to push her body up despite the answer.

[Arkady Awren]

"So, does this mean you won, or do I get back up and keep going, or do we start another round?"

Arkady began to scratch his head as he stood up from having lowered Ellie down onto the ground. He wasn't impressed with that match, so he would've gone with going another round, but he had reached what he wanted so he would leave it up to her.

"Well, in a usual match it'd be whoever didn't bite the dust, but I wasn't impressed by your flexibility. You can try again if you want, after all, matches are just meant to better yourself."

He'd back off a little bit to let the girl pick herself up because he didn't want to seem like he was looking down upon her. Neither did he really want to get clocked if she was going for another round.

"If you want we can go again, but this time it would be until someone actually announces that they give up..."

[Elmira Medina]

"Oh, I get it," Elmira replied, jumping back onto her feet with more energy and enthusiasm. "Like, you tap out when you are ready to accept defeat." She scratched the back of my head. "Sorry, I'm kind of new to this whole sparring thing. And you're right- I didn't really practice much flexibility. I just did whatever came to my head first, and I'm actually not much of a quick thinker." She shook out her arms and rolled her head along the sides of her neck. "But I guess this is an opportunity to work on that, too." She smirked.

"Alright," she went on, bowing her upper body toward Arkady, as she had done before. "Round two!" She put up two fingers in a V-shape, like a peace sign, to numerically signify her statement, then quickly switched back into fighting mode. To start off this time, she sent her right foot flying upward in a high kick toward his chest, her balance kept on the ball of her left foot, which was held back while she leaned much of the rest of her body slightly forward along with the movement.