A special class

OOC: No, I'm not learning Shunpo I know I don't have the rank for it. Just thought this would fit well under this heading since it does have to do with Hohou's (Hohō?) agility/movement specialization. I will delete if if needed.

As promised instead of another lecture class, they instead went to the dojo for study. But no sooner had they arrived they were ushered to another section of the academy Arawn had not seen before. It looked almost like a sandy beach in the middle of a field surrounded by walls. Once he crossed the threshold, he could feel a strange sensation come over him. He looked around there were other students looking around as well, they felt something too. There looked to be wooden poles stuck in the ground at various places. Some were short, coming to Arawn's waist, while others towered over him, well over ten feet. There were also things that looked like pull-up bars as well. They too varied in height. The instructor began speaking. "Today we shall have a very special lesson, today you will learn to jump." There were snickers and moans of disbelief; they wanted to get on with the sword training "Quiet!" The students silenced instantly. One of the students gathered his courage and spoke up.
"Sir, we know how to jump." The group of students parted so that the speaker was visible. There were nods of agreement in the group. Takahata eyed the brave student.
"Is that so?" He walked over to a pole the stood at least eight feet high. "Come jump over this." He pointed at the pole. The student looked at his teacher blankly. He looked at his fellow students for support, but they were as confused as he was. Finally he shrugged.
"Sir, I can't jump that high." he said, "No one can." Almost waiting for the cue, Takahata leapt up and over the pole with ease. The student stood open mouthed, his fellow students just as amazed. Arawn then remembered his trip with Solun; he had jumped across the rooftops. It wasn’t that amazing.
“Do you think I can do that only because I’m strong?” There were some nods again. “Any one of you can do the same, you just haven’t tried.” He pointed at one of the students in the front of the group. “You, come over here.” The shock of being singled out was replaced by the embarrassment of standing in the front of the class. The student stood beside Takahata, his face flushed. He was sweating as if he just ran a mile.
“Now jump.” The instructor spoke; the student looked at him questionably. “I said jump!” The student makes a small bunny hop in the sand. The students break out in laughter. Takahata ignores them. “No! I want to you jump harder, push off with your legs and feet. The student is even more nervous, but bends his legs and pushes off with more force. The student’s feet leave the earth as he rises high into the air, well over the instructor and the pole. The sudden altitude makes the student panic, he tumbles in the air and falls face first into the sand. The students forget to laugh. Their mouths hang open in utter surprise. The student gets to his feet spitting sand from his mouth and dusting himself off. It seems the sand cushioned his fall enough to reduce damage.
“In the real world your power makes something like this effortless.” Takahata points at the taller poles. “Not much training is needed; you just need to be aware of what is possible.”
“Sir!” The student that jumped speaks up, “Why haven’t I jumped like this before? I tried to jump down the stairs in the dorms, nothing like this happened.” The instructor smiles at the question.
“Well there are several wards in place to keep you boneheads from jumping around like monkeys.” He laughs heartily; it sends a shiver down some spines. “That’s not the only thing, you ever notice you can’t use kido that well outside of the class or practice areas?” Arawn had never really tried, but does recall it was harder to practice when in his room.
“There are several wards in the academy, Seireitei, and even Rukongai. It’s similar to the Sekkiseki that protects the capital. Once you get to certain level of power, it’s pretty much ineffective.” He stomps his foot in the sand. “This area is free of that stuff; you can practice here without too much trouble.” A few students take some experimental bounces in the sand.
“Alright, enough explanations; let’s get to work.” He begins to divide the students into groups and put them through exercises. Arawn’s group was the first to tackle the pole area. They had to jump to the top of each pole, and then jump down. The height of the poles varied. The first jumps were barely 3 feet high. The first 10 reps ending without much issue, they all succeeded on their first try. The next pole was 6 feet high; this was a little trickier for the group. The top of each pole was about a foot wide around, but being unable to see the landing area made them unsure and fall off. Arawn lost his balance on the top of the pole twice, and fell into the sand below. For every fall they had to add five more jumps. The teacher seemed to watch all the groups with relative ease, and enforced the added exercises. After the 6 foot pole came the 12 foot pole. This was the hardest of them all. Due to the height they had to gauge their ascent properly. Arawn was the first to crash into the pole as he rose. He pushed off with his feet strongly but more forward than up. He rose into the air, and slammed into pole well before he reached the top. He tried again, pushing softer with his feet and angling his body up. This time he rises upwards but not forward. Another of his group didn’t jump high enough and grabbed the top with his hands. One student missed the top completely, but laughed as he flew over the target. As difficult as the exercise was it was somewhat fun and painless. Arawn felt the landing wouldn’t hurt even if there wasn’t any sand. Another attempt and he landed on the pole’s top. He glanced down, the world spun beneath him. He liked the view, but hated heights. He nearly fell from his perch. He took a deep breath and leapt down. The trip down seemed faster than the trip to the top. It was only in a second he was back to the soft sandy earth. He didn’t have time to shut his eyes. Everyone finished the 12 foot jump, but took nearly forty tries each. Once the group finishes, they are to repeat the cycle again. Hours pass, and the 12 foot pole poses no trouble for them. They even start to land on the top with only one foot, trying to one up each other. They sweat with effort as they jump on the poles with ease now. The chime sounds and they stop.
“Alright line up!” The groups meet in the center and line up in rows. “We’ll be back tomorrow. Remember you groups.” They stand before him dirty and sweaty, but hardly tired. Takahata smiles and leads them off to the dojo for sword practice.

OOC: No comments? Guess I'll finish up then.

The next day the jumping practice continued, this time they had to face the pull-up bars. The drill involved jumping over the bar, but you had to pull your legs up to clear the bar. So in essence they had to aim for the bar, then move their legs. When it came to Arawn's turn he tried to remember how he had jumped the day before. He bent his knees and pushed off with his heel then ball of his foot. He cleared the bar completely, a failed attempt. The other students found this difficult as well. Trying to hit the bar wasn't as easy as it seemed. The 3 foot bar was laughable, but the 6 foot bar was giving them all trouble. On Arawn's second attempt he aimed too low and caught the bar in his chest, his hands instinctively grabbed it. He sighed and fell back to the earth. Another student crashed into the bar head first, the rolled on the ground in pain. Around his seventh attempt Arawn had grasped the timing and height needed. As he rose into the air he brought his legs up and cleared the bar landing on the other side. The others followed suit, and the 12 foot bar awaited. Like with the pole, they needed power, but they also needed to gauge the distance properly. Unlike the pole, there was little danger of crashing into the bar stands, they would simply pass to the other side. Arawn decided it was best to pass over the target first, then slowly reduce power. Even with the extra reps would hardly be a problem if he got the form correct. His first jump was under the target, he had to move his head to avoid an accident similar to the other student. The next jump cleared the bar, he was tempted to try to land on the bar. Since it was round, it would probably be a bad decision. Another jump completely over, but this time by inches at best. Arawn tried his best to reduce the power of his next jump, as he neared the bar he raised his legs to clear it. After four more tries he had sufficiently gotten the distance and timing. Now he had to make up for the missed jumps. Once his group finished they repeated the cycle. Things went a lot smoother the second time around. One student attempted a flip and fell short of the target. There were some cheers, and Takahata made him run laps around the practice area. "No need to showboat, all you need do is jump." was all he said. Arawn wondered if the same power to make him jump high could be focused into a side jump or perhaps high speed dash. The chime rang, and the thought vanished as the instructor barked for them to line up and head out. Soon they would be ready to visit the Human world.