Book One In The Ahh-Ness Of Things Series: April & Donnie were once inseparable, but now almost six years have passed since she left NYC. What if April O'Neil could set the record straight, once & for all! The only girl down enough to chill with the...
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"You're gonna die, Sis!"
"Mikey!" Leo called out to Michelangelo who was hunched in a grappling position, staring me down.
"Oh yeah... sure thing. I'll take it easy on ya, April no worries." He chuckled sheepishly.
"God Mikey. C'mon, let's just get to work." I knew his heart meant it but this was going to be difficult.
We ran through shitei kata with me starting in uke as the attacker. Of course, for the time, Mikey would always let me gain the position. It made me feel alive in a way I hadn't since I'd left. I felt like I could think without a million voices in my head. He was in charge of nagashi uke, blocking my strikes, but even this was a trial with Mikey as his movements were always so unpredictable. He had near perfect form; yet it was difficult for him to follow set boundaries in techniques. Although he was inept in most parts of his life, always the flitting butterfly; he was by Master Splinter's own admission, the most instinctively capable of martial skill. It was a gorgeous & terrifyingly good time when ever you were paired with him. While his inability to stay focused or take anything seriously kept him in constant judgement from his brothers, it made him a perfect opponent to truly test you. You never knew where he was going to counter. He kept you guessing & when he had a weapon in his hand, it was frightening how smoothly he could control you through his distractions. It was natural tai sabaki & without any forethought of his own. No matter what advance you made, he could move away from you & counter before you even realized what he did because it all seemed so random & chaotic.
I was glad we were just practicing kihon. We did this for half an hour until Leonardo commanded hantai ni & we switched roles. Now with me defending his attacks I had to pull out sentai kata the I knew from all the years of working with him. I still ended up on the floor so many times, Leo called for us to take a break. At that moment, Michelangelo had me tied up in his ankles, standing over me pretending to file his nails. My face braced against the floor to try to keep my own weight off of my arm, as he had it bent in such a way with his foot that I couldn't move without dislocating my elbow. He let me go, but only to sit on top of me in jest, which of course he thought was hilarious.
Their father had been adamant that these practices were to build the correct way of using weapons or even random objects out of necessity. The motions were all exactly the same fundamentally. Starting with hands only, but not pulling punches. His principal was that you couldn't use a weapon if you didn't know how to use your body. If Raphael struck someone, the movement & technique would be identical whether he had a sai in his hand or not. The forms were also interchangeable between weapons, like if Raph had a sai or a tonfa, either way it was the same body motions. We weren't sparring for a judge. This was for reality & in our reality; the enemy wouldn't stop until you were dead. So we got hurt. Over & over again. Getting thrown to the floor so hard you went unconscious, dislocating your shoulder, breaking wrists & fingers was all part of it & you better learn kime; know how to gain advantage over each other by manipulating pressure points. Waza if you didn't want to break your brother's arm or lop off a hand.
