Strange Therapy

As it turned out, Army actually did prefer his tutors nice and sweaty, at least when they were extremely sexy women. But he didn't want to sour the mood, so he kept that tidbit to himself. They were both adults here, best to keep it professional.

And then, ten or so minutes later, he entered the room to find Mariko wearing a black bikini, one that clung to her body and fit like it had been painted on. All the sudden, things felt much less professional. It was nice to see there were still plenty of good moments in his life, though.

Army himself was decked out in his usual boxing trunks, red with a black trim, and match boxing shoes, laced up tight. Not ideal wrestling wear, but it would do in a pinch since his best stuff was back at the house.

"Wow." He made his way into the ring and got a better look. Somehow, he doubted she would mind."You look great. I mean..." He ran a hand through his hair and cut himself off before he culd look really stupid. "How do you want start off?"

As Army returned and entered the room, Mariko's green eyes briefly scanned over him to observe his new appearance. She then couldn't help but smirk and giggle as he tried not to stumble over himself with his words, obviously somewhat flustered by Mariko's attire. "Why thank you. But there's a reason I'm wearing this, and it is related to my helping you out today. So don't go getting any ideas."

Then hearing his question, she thought to herself for a moment before answering. "Hmm… I suppose first I'll need to know what sort of style this girlfriend of yours uses. So come on in the ring and tell me about her. You mentioned she's lightning quick, but is she a brawler, grappler, high flier, or anything like that?"

She had a reason for dressing up for a walk on the beach? One that didn't involve what she thought he was thinking? Curious, very curious. Mariko wasn't a boring woman, he'd give her that much. "Yeah, it's a little late for me not to get ideas. But I'll keep it civil." He put his hand over his heart. "Promesa, belleza."

He rolled his way into the ring and popped up, bouncing on his toes a little. Pure reflex, felt wrong to stay still inside a ring. "Let me think, let me thin..." He rubbed away at the stubble underneath his chin. "Hard to say. She's small, she hits fast and mean. Think she does a lot with counters, she's real good at turning a good attack back on you. Oh, and she doesn't have a problem with bringing a weapon. Learned that the hard way. Twice." He gave a quick shrug. "I'm the only match she's had so far, so I can only go off what she's done with me."

Mariko chuckled and shook her head at hearing the first comment, then took a moment to consider the information Army gave about the woman he'd been having trouble with. "I see. Sounds like she's a very skilled street fighter. Probably has at least some mixed martial arts thrown in too. I'm more of a grappler than a brawler, but for the purposes of what we're doing, I think I can strike a decent balance and help you out some. So then…" she said, her expression suddenly shifting to a seductive grin. "On to lesson one~"

Hips swaying from side to side, Mariko slowly approached Army, stopping only once she was about an inch in front of him. Looking up into his eyes, she then placed her hands on his abs, which then began to travel up to his chest. It would look as if Mariko was completely contradicting what she'd just said about her attire being related to helping Army. But that's exactly how she intended the situation to look, at least at first.

Then seemingly out of nowhere, the Japanese beauty spun while swinging the sole of her bare foot right at Army's stomach, aiming to catch him off guard with the kick. She'd then step back before holding a single finger into the air. "Rule number one, eyes on the prize. Women are experts at using their looks, charm, and/or sex appeal to get inside their opponent's head and throw ten off, ESPECIALLY if that opponent is a man. How can you possibly to defeat an opponent when you're too busy staring at their body to even notice when they're about to try to hit you? You can't. You obviously find this woman attractive, even under the circumstances. So, you have to put all those thoughts aside and instead focus on strikes, defenses, and so on. Got it?"

Army was ready. He felt ready, anyway. The whole concept of getting into brawls with girls had been a little weird to him six or so months ago, but he was getting more and more used to it all the time, and Jackie being a complete bitch made it all the easier. Any tip Mariko had for him would be more than welcome.

So he was taken off guard - just a little, just a wee bit, just a tad - when she gave him much nicer treatment instead. Sure, his alarm bells were going off in the back of his head, but the majority of his brain was way too focused on the incredibly hot, hauntingly beautiful woman stroking his chest. Just the way he was tuned. Yes, it was a little weird considering what she'd said earlier, but if she'd changed her mind in the span of a single minute, who was he to argue?

Well, he should have thought things through a little more. But he didn't. And he paid for it. Painfully.

Army staggered back and fell to his knee, gasping from the kick. He didn't see it coming, hadn't had a single second to prep his body for it, so that didn't help him take it. But more than that, Mariko was, plain and simple, really fast. Not quite on Jackie'level, but close. Even if he'd been expecting an attack, he might not have had the chance to block it.

"All right, lesson learned." He coughed and shook his head, then lumbered up while he rubbed his stomach. "What's the second rule?"

"Good." Holding a second finger up, she continued the lesson. "Rule number two, don't waste effort on an attack that's bound to fail. It sounds like a big part of her strategy is waiting for you to swing clumsily at her so she can dodge and hit you while you're open. But if you can switch it around and make her come to you instead to attack first, then all you have to do is try your best to anticipate and counter. Lets give it a try."

Putting her hands up in a boxing style stance, Mariko inched toward Army. Being right in front of him and within arm's reach, it was likely he'd be tempted to try to strike first. If in fact he did, the Japanese beauty would simply duck under whatever sort of attack he threw at her, before slamming a roundhouse kick into the side of his leg. But if he followed her instructions and remained patient rather than immediately attack, Mariko's kick would be the first strike attempted. And if he saw it in time, Army might have time to defend himself against it.

Army couldn't keep the smirk of his face as Mariko went into a boxing stance. Now this was more his speed.

Years of training with his father made his fist's automatically come up, taking a classic boxing stance. Fists tight. Eyes forward. Stance strong. Just because he was facing a small opponent didn't mean he could be lax, and that was one lesson he didn't need anyone to teach him. Experience had drilled that into him more times than he'd care to count.

Army's first notion was to press the attack and come at her, but Mariko's words echoed in his head. He stopped a punch in its starting stage and held tight, keeping his guard up instead of going for the obvious blow. It paid off. He took her roundhouse kick in the side, but his arm absorbed most of the blow. Still hurt, she had some real power in those legs, but it was nothing he couldn't take.

"Good one, good one." He started to move around her, bouncing on his heels as they danced. "But I gotta attack sometime, right?"

Mariko was glad to see Army had been paying attention, as he managed to use his arm to protect himself from her kick. Now moving around in sync with him, the two began to circle the center of the ring. "Of course, but only at the right time, which takes us right into rule number three. If you want to land big strikes on speedster, you have to nullify their speed or everything you throw at them will hit nothing but air." She explained, before beginning to inch toward Army.

"Same as last time. But this time, don't just deflect the hit. Catch whatever I throw at you, then see if you can effectively counter attack." she said, before lifting a knee as if she were about to try to kick him again. However, this was only a feint intended to fake him out as she sent her right fist toward his jaw.

Army was focused on Mariko's kick - mostly because she could do some real damage with it, but also because she had awesome thighs and he could see every inch of them at the moment. As serious as he was trying to take all this, old habits died hard.

He got ready to block the kick, brought her arms down low and prepared to catch it under his arm and toss her for a sweet counter. That image would have to stay in his head, though, because in reality all that happened was him taking a shot on the jaw. A good right cross for someone her size, and it didn't help that she'd taken him off guard, but he'd taken harder blows in his day. Even still, she had enough force to drive him a couple of steps back with a hard grunt.

"Okay..." He grumbled a bit, but let it go with a shrug. "Guessing that was another lesson."

"More or less." Mariko replied, shaking her hand out after the punch struck against Army's jaw. "You have to be able to anticipate what your opponent's true intent is, and not necessarily react to every little thing they do." She said, before putting her fists back up as she retook her stance.

"Remember what the point of this lesson is. If you can grab a hold of your opponent while they attack, they won't be able to move away from you, so it becomes much more difficult for them to avoid your attacks. So lets give it another try. Again, try to catch what I throw at you, then see if you can counterattack without letting me escape. Got it?" she asked, wanting to make sure he was ready before continuing again.