Twice. As Mai looked over the giant map of Tokyo's districts -each with their own color and full of threads and pins showing the agency's patrol routes- her brow furrowed. Twice now this city's heroes had been caught off guard in the past few months by those who sought to wreak havoc upon the streets of Tokyo.

First there had been the sudden outburst of criminality in what was eventually discovered to be called 'Operation Babel', a test by a newly founded villain organization that had turned the entire city upside down for a full twenty four hours as law enforcement found itself stretched to the point of the breaking. During this disaster villains has made use of the greatest strength heroes possessed, cooperation and coordination. While there hadn't been any more cases like this since -or at the very least not on the same scale- it was concerning to think it could happen again.

Especially since it wasn't nearly the worst disaster Tokyo has had to deal with recently.

The sins of the Elementalist that had come to light when he was brought to court had shaken society but it was what he did afterwards that was truly horrific. Unleashing his experiments all throughout Tokyo had once more taken Pro Heroes everywhere by surprise and resulted, for the second time, in a death toll that was utterly unacceptable. Even now bodies were still being dug out of the rubble or fished out of the waters with yet hundreds more missing, perhaps never to be found.

All of it had shown that hero society as large was missing one important thing. Something villains had unfortunately not only figured out as well but also turned against them. Coordination.

In her mind's eye she could envision the large wooden plaque hanging over her agency's entrance and the motto inscribed upon it. 'You never fight alone.'

It was time to back those words with actions. Just the Tranquil Soul hero agency by themselves wasn't enough. Every agency in Tokyo needed to coordinate and cooperate to establish the most efficient patrol schedule possible. One that would ensure that no matter where trouble occurred or how much of it there was they would be ready to reply in force within moments.

It was for this purpose that she had sent out invitations to the leaders of every major agency in the city and many of the smaller ones to get together and see what could be done to fix the problem. In fact, one such meeting was about to take place. As she checked the grandfather clock in her office she realized the hero Titanomachia should be arriving soon and triggered her necklace, a flash of light shifting her into her hero outfit as well as changing the color of her eyes and hair. It wouldn't be good to keep her fellow leader waiting.

Traditionalist even all the way back when it was first founded the Shirayuki Dojo was built with three tiers of angled roofs and set within the center of a wide, walled courtyard. Given that the agency's office was set at the top floor of the main building it was a bit of a walk to the front entrance so it was better to head there ahead of time.

Making her way down from the office on the third floor she briefly stopped after the first set of stairs to look down. A wide hallway surrounded by rooms formed an open square allowing anyone on the second floor to have a full view of the first's tatami floor and the many martial artists training atop it. She did not delay for long. Her duties as a hero took precedence over her duties as a teacher in this moment, something understood by everyone present due to her choice of outfit, allowing her to make her way through the large open area on the first floor without obstruction.

Exiting into the courtyard she followed the path straight from the door to the entryway, only slightly slowing her pace to reminisce on her surroundings. While the original dojo was still the largest building within the courtyard it was far from the only one. To the sides sat two rectangular buildings, each long enough to stretch nearly all the way from the back to the front of the courtyard. An early 20th century addition, she recalled. Giving a nod to the various martial artists practicing all across the courtyard on a variety of training equipment and with weapons ranging from the humble spear all the way to ones used in modern day law enforcement she briefly cast a glance over her shoulder.

While it wasn't visible from where she was, a fourth building was under construction at the back of the courtyard, cleverly hidden from the front behind the original dojo to preserve the Edo aesthetic. This final one, as much as the outside was built to match the appearance of the other ones, was much more modern after all. 

Having been commissioned only three years after the establishment of the Tranquil Soul hero agency this final building was Mai's pride and joy. A grand acknowledgement of her accomplishments by peers and family in physical form, for permission to add anything to the dojo's grounds is rarily granted, especially for anything involving technology. Yet this final building was modern even by the standards of the surrounding area. A simulation hall.

Employing a mix of props, holographic technology, adjustable constructs and other things for which the explanation of how they worked had completely gone over Mai's head the hall, while not nearly as large as the ones at UAU, certainly did not fall behind when it came to utility.

Nearing the front entrance she realized she was just in time as she heard the doorbell ring. Straightening her back and taking a deep breath she crossed her arms behind her back as two doormen pulled the gates wide open. Her gaze went up -and up- as she came face to face with her guest.

"Welcome to the Shirayuki Dojo, Titanomachia. We of the Tranquil Soul hero agency are grateful that you have accepted our invitation. I am Yuki Onna, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Stepping to the side and extending her arm towards the dojo she nodded at Sunadokei and her assistant.

"Please do come in. Let us head to my agency's office to sit down."

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Tags: @niteshade

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Link to the Tranquil Soul hero agency.

"No further questions? Excellent. Let us pair up then." Yuki Onna said with a nod. "Stranglehold, you're with me. Trailblazer, you're with Gleipnir. Finally, Waterfall, you're..."

Seeing everyone promptly heading for their assigned mentor before she even finished talking Mai trailed off. She supposed that there was no need to explain all three pairings, the third was obvious after all for lack of other options. Wait, was she being arrogant by assigning pairings without her seniors' input? She'd have to apologize for being so presumptuous later. For now she put the thought aside, there were lessons to take care of and the future of their students was far more important than her own missteps. Clearing her throat she looked Takeo in the eye and fell into her groove, years of experience taking over and giving her a far more intimidating presence than her 4'10" should.

"You are indeed correct that Judo employs an opponent's momentum against themselves and as you suspected, it is far from the only martial art to do so. Allow me to explain some of the core principles and differences with other arts."

With her arms still crossed behind her back she began to pace once more.

"First we must look to its origin. Judo, much like a great many martial arts, originates from Jujutsu or Jiu Jitsu as it is most commonly known these days. 'Ju' means 'gentle', 'yielding' or 'flexible' and all three are excellent ways to describe the art. As opposed to harsher styles such as Karate or Boxing that focus mainly on striking, Judo and Jujutsu focus on defense and reacting to one's opponent. Instead of employing one's own strength against the enemy one yields this to instead take advantage of the opponent's own momentum to disable them. The most important thing then is to adapt to what said opponent does, requiring a great degree of flexibility to be done successfully."

Making sure she hadn't lost Takeo halfway through her explanation she briefly looked him in the eye before nodding once more and continuing. 

"Jujutsu as the name would imply is the Jutsu or technique by which one can accomplish such a thing. Judo takes this one step further. Focusing as much on the philosophical as the practical the Do -or Dao as the Chinese refer to it- is the 'gentle way' or the 'flexible way'. While both are grappling arts at their core Judo focuses mainly on throwing techniques to be performed while standing whereas Jujutsu turns its attention mainly to subduing an opponent whilst down on the ground."

Stopping her back and forth pacing right in front of Takeo she concluded her explanation.

"Where you yourself belief it best to focus your efforts is not a decision I can make for you." She added with a shake of her head. "Either can be useful. Jujutsu is excellent for real combat whereas Judo can help you center your mind to approach battle with calmth and tranquility. Should you seek to specialize even further in using an opponent's momentum in a fight, Aikido is aimed at completely neutralizing it and employing joint locks to disable them."

Yuki Onna took two steps back getting a bit of distance from Takeo before raising her right hand to head height with the palm facing him and pointed at it with her other hand.

"As I'm sure you've understood by now, momentum and the generation or manipulation thereof is key to any martial arts. Nothing exists in a vacuum and all force is applied in relation to something else." She explained while closing her fingers into a fist. "As you can see here clenching my fist pulls on the muscles in my arm and should one of the ligaments in my wrist tear this motion would cause quite a bit of pain. Which brings us to the big question."

Taking a deep breath and letting her words set in for a moment she waited just long enough that the silence was beginning to stretch.

"Where does the force come from to move your quirk's hand?" She extended her hand to forestall his reply. "Of course, it is controlled and moved by your brain but where does the force come from? A good punch begins with channeling force from the ground, through your legs all the way up your arm and into your opponent through your balled fist. Yet your telekinetic hand can accomplish all of this without the underlying support structures. No ground to kick off, no body to channel the force and no arm to direct it."

Miming a punch to emphasize her point she pulled her hand back once more before she continued.

"Or is there? No, perhaps that isn't the right way of saying it. Given your hand's range of motion it is clear there is no invisible arm attached to it. Yet it has a range limit nonetheless, implying there is something, intangible it may be, that is linking the hand back to yourself."

In truth she wasn't sure of her words. Quirks could operate on rules that were much harder to define through normal physics and it was perfectly possible the range of control was simply the limit of what his current understanding could accomplish. The veracity of her words did not matter as much however as the mental image it could bestow. Taking a stance more suited to Sumo than any of the previously discussed martial arts -something that looked quite comical with her small frame- Mai drew back her arm to prepare for a palm strike.

"That does not mean however that there can't be an arm behind it. Observe."

With one smooth motion she took a step forward and struck, her hand stopping less than a foot away from Takeo and ruffling his shirt with the gust of cold wind that billowed from her palm, sent all the further by her strike.

"With the right motions one's quirk can do more than it would normally be able to accomplish. While yours is more esoteric it should be no exception. Martial arts involving strikes may not suit your physical body but knowing the mechanics behind them may aid you nonetheless. Telekinesis is, as I'm sure you're aware, heavily affected by one's state of mind. If you know how an arm or even an entire body moves to maximize the force of a strike you may be able to apply this mental image to empower your quirk's effects."

Waving her hand while standing straight once more as if to wave the thought away she shook her head and finished her explanation.

"But that is not something we have enough time for today. For now, we must get start at the start." Yuki Onna smiled meaningfully, her last line having been passed down generations of Shirayukis before her. "Positioning. Take a stance, Stranglehold. I will correct you as we go.

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TL;DR: Shirayuki splits the group into pairs. Proceeds to instruct Takeo on the history and meaning of various martial arts, the different applications thereof and how they may apply to his quirk in addition to his physical combat style.

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Tags: Iphigenia Pavlina Sadako Gotoh Takeo Hoga Elijah Arataki Noa