What, like Kendo? (Solo training thread, fighting skill)

Dominic slid open the door to the classroom which his schedule had lead him to. The room was, by large, matted and the walls were covered with racks of bokken. There were a few students mingling inside already so he entered, sliding the door shut behind him. "Cartwright?" a voice called out to him. The first year looked around to find the source of the voice, a younger looking man wearing an instructor's uniform. The man was shorter than some of the students, including Dominic, so he was well hidden amongst the rest of them upon first glance.

"Yes, sir?" The man stepped up to him, standing at his full height of 5' 4" with raised sandals. "I'm Hiro Takashimi, your zanjutsu instructor." Dominic bowed his head, "A pleasure to meet you, Sensei." The man smirked at him, he obviously liked it when his students showed him respect, a big ego for such a small man. "You have a set of robes waiting for you over there. Put them on in that side room and then hurry back, we start in a few minutes." Takashimi motioned towards what was apparently the changing room since this appeared to be a co-ed class. Dominic looked about the room as he scooped up the pile the instructor pointed out. There sure were a lot of beautiful women in this class he noted.

After a quick change he exited the side room to find the rest of the class had arrived in the time it took him to put on the new set of robes. All the other students seemed to have been wearing their robes upon arrival. It was likely that he was going to be told to take this set home with him after class. The robes felt slightly thicker and therefor heavier than his typical school robes. He assumed this was to absorb some of the force should one of these bokken accidentally strike him. "Alright class, pair up!" called out Takashimi. Dominic looked around to find most people partnering up with people they already knew. He simply took the last person to find a partner. One person was as good as any he figured.

Unfortunately he was wrong. There was a reason no one had partnered with this individual. He was nearly 6' 5" and built like a tank. The guy stared blankly at Dominic as the instructor began passing out the wooden blades. Something told him he was going to need thicker padding...

"Alright, we'll start off with attack and defense drills. Those of you on my side of the room may attack first. Those of you on the opposite side will have to defend for a full ten minutes. Ready!" It was more of a command than a question, "Begin!" Dominic was supposedly first, this meant that he wouldn't have to run like a scared child just yet. Though it also meant he had no idea what he was doing. His opponent continued to stare at him, an eyebrow raised, his sword dangling by his side as if he was too lazy to hold it up.

Dominic sighed and charged at the man, the blade held horizontal, sticking straight out as he ran. He almost smacked another student in the back of the head as he ran passed, causing his opponent to smirk slightly. The man made no motion to lift his blade as Dominic closed in the final few feet. The wooden blade sailed straight towards his chest and impacted with a dull thud. The guy shook his head as the first year pulled his blade back and began swatting him like an old rug, over and over again. The brute couldn't help but break into a laughter that resembled a low roar. A student or two stole a glance at the spectacle which only resulted in them being hit by their own opponents.

As the brute calmed himself, he swept Dominic's legs out from under him with his sword, sending him sprawling onto the mat. "Genma, watch it! It's not your turn to attack. Do it again and you'll be removed from today's exercises." The brute sighed and let his blade fall to his side again. It appeared as if he was only trying to have some fun and he'd been scolded for it. Dominic thought about what it must be like for this guy. No one seemed to want to spar with him due to his size, but nothing in this man's expression told the first year that he wasn't a nice guy. He simply appeared to be bored. 'Alright.' Dominic thought to himself. 'If this guy is looking for a good fight. I can at least try my best to give him one.'

The first year climbed back to his feet, picking up his fallen bokken in the process. Dominic eyed a few of the other students, they each seemed to move and attack in their own kind of rhythm. Almost like a dance that was unique to each individual combatant. Though what did he possess that could make his style unique to him? He was faster than most, but not by much. He was smart though he knew little about this particular topic so he was at a disadvantage there as well. His breathing had settled itself since he'd recovered from his tumble and he found himself raising his blade once more against the brute before him.

Before long the brute found himself being assaulted a second time by the new guy. This time he ran forward with an overhead swing. 'Perhaps I'll block this time.' he thought. 'It couldn't be as boring as just standing here, though it is funny to see this guy's reaction when his attacks fail to hurt me.' A second later Dominic was on him. The man had given himself some distance to start out with and proceeded to sprint towards his target. Though instead of slashing with the overhead strike, Dominic dropped into a baseball slide between the man's legs and smacked him dead in the groin with the wooden sword. The result was comical to say the least; the man dropped to his knees, the sword clattering to the mat before him.

Several students stopped to laugh, the teacher just shook his head and sighed. "Switch!" Now all the students stopped to watch, as Genma clambered back to his feet his hand found his weapon. The man turned towards Dominic, a less-than-happy look on his face told the first year that he'd just made a big mistake. On the bright side, he wasn't bored anymore... The floor began to shake slightly as the man charged Dominic, the bokken gripped in both hands like a claymore. The first year jumped out of the way as the wooden sword was brought down on him, causing it to hit the ground and shatter. One would think he'd quit after breaking his sword, but technically he was allotted another nine and a half minutes to wale on his opponent, blade or not. However several students appeared to be more than willing to lend the brute a replacement bokken.

Dominic berated himself for his actions. Obviously it was only going to piss the guy off, but he'd just wanted to actually deal this guy some damage. Now it seemed that damage was going to be dealt back ten times worse...

W.I.P