Saewoo stood on the arena, as the crowd roared below. They were waiting for the match to begin. Saewoo waved his hand, addressing the crowd. "Ladies and gentleman, welcome back! I introduce to you, the second round of the Martial Arts Tournament! Our contestants this match are.. Arisa and Rowan!"


Saewoo then hopped off the arena, allowing the contestants to come up.

Standard site-wide combat rules apply. Post participants have 48 hours to initially post in this thread, then 24 hours every post after that. Should a participant take any longer than this, they should be disqualified. In the event neither post within that time, both are disqualified. The first post should be both participants entering the arena, and starting the match on the second post. The arena is of solid stone, and circular, with a 20 meter diameter. Ring outs, however, are not in effect. The arena elevates off the ground roughly 2 meters, and has stairs leading up to it. All other tournament rules as detailed in the event page apply. Good luck, and have fun.

Rowan gave a polite bow as he stepped up into the arena circle for his second bout of the tournament. His previous fight had been one to remember, and he was quite proud to have taken part in it. In some ways, it had made him a more competent fighter than he was before, and now that he had advanced to the second round he was feeling just a bit more confident in his abilities than before. His suit from the previous round had been washed and pressed allowing him to look his best once more. The rolling around in the dust had been unavoidable then, and for some reason the blonde mage couldn't help but think it wouldn't be avoidable this time either.

Looking to his opponent as they arrived, Rowan would offer a bow and a courteous smile. "A pleasure to meet you. Let's both do our very best in this fight, shall we?"

Arisa surprisingly got through round one. She wasn't sure how she did it, but the guy did get disqualified. A part of her felt sad that it wasn't a fair victory, but perhaps this time she would be able to get one. Her short leveled brown chocolate hair would shine from the lights and sun of the 'state' she was walking upon. This arena was the same as the last, but perhaps she wouldn't walk as far as she did. Truly she walked within a twelve meters away from the exit/entrance she walked from. Today she was wearing a black tank top that fitted nicely with her curves and training shorts. They were black as well with the bottom rims of the shorts being white. For shoes it was regular sneakers that were black and maroon. Her heart would beat with every step closer to her destination she took.

From however far this other guy was she would then hear him speak that it was a pleasure to meet her. This guy seemed rather nice and gentleman-like compared to the last guy. After seconds from when she stopped at her twelve feet she would get into position quick with her right hand forward face-front a couple inches from her face as her left hand was lowered to the mid-way of her stomach and out a few inches as well. Her left leg would bend a little and slid forward against the land as her right leg slid back a little in a rather hangetsu dachi position. Whispering softly she would arise her aura, ''Seated Might's.''. After that her brown shimmering eyes would look at this guy's soft colored ones and his blonde hair. Not only that, she would watch his body movements and expressions. ''It's a pleasure to meet you as well. Shall we do our best and enjoy this battle.'' she would say softly yet calm. A small smile would appear from her lips that sound then soon disappear as she fully prepared.

Rowan offered another bow to the young woman he was set to face of against after she offered her own courteous greeting. She was strong, even he could tell despite his rather lackluster talent for seeing through people. His curly eyebrows began to twitch in anticipation of the battle to come, but he wasn't just going to move in without cause or caution. Seeing how the young woman adopted a half moon stance similar to some he had seen in his training, Rowan opted to go for a more versatile form of combat than he normally chose. He began by his feet with his left foot slightly forward and raised onto its toes, and then raised his arms into a ready position with his fists at eye level. He was sort of bouncing up and down on his feet as he did so, but not without reason. His body was like a spring, ready to move whenever he should desire. However, he wanted to see if Arisa might make the first move to try and overpower him.

"Whenever you're ready." He called out to her.

Arisa looked at him as she stood her ground. Her eyes looked at him and unlike the other guy, this one wasn't coming for her. What was he doing? He was in fact getting in some position that was quite different from hers. 'You should be careful of this one, Ari.' spoke the dark voice that was then trying to poke her control system within her conscious. 'W-what are you doing?' she spoke within her thoughts. Her eyes started to twitch as she tried to concentrate on what was happening. Slowly a smirk appeared on her lips as her eyes appeared differently. They slanted a little more as she gave a toothy grin. Slowly she positioned differently as her feet would do a shiko dachi stance. Truly while she was doing this, Arisa would stare upon her foe to make sure he wouldn't come at her at this time. As her legs would spread she would bend her spin a little to let her hands go in front of where her pelvis bone was in the mid section. Simply her left hand would curl so the back hand would face the ground, positioned straight as her right was straight up, palm facing him. Next her left fingers would curl towards her and back straight in a 'come at me' way. ''Come give it to me.~'' she spoke rather differently, womanly with a rich french-like soothing accent. Keeping her toothy smirk she would dead-eye watch this dudes movements. What was he up to now? No way was she going to just came at him while he was like that. All Arisa Ana knew was that she was prepared to do what was needed.

Rowan took note of the shift in Arisa's demeanor, but merely shook it off with a shake of his head. It seemed, much like his last opponent, that he was going to have to be the one to initiate the combat between the pair. He allowed Arisa the courtesy of adjusting her fighting stance before making his move. Unlike many he had witnessed during the tournament, his goal was not to make use of his speed to defeat Arisa. He did not recklessly charge towards her like some kind of madman, but instead chose to carefully approach using a side to side shuffle reminiscent of various purveyors of the sweet science. His feet moved as if they were covered in grease as he moved in to close the gap, constantly moving with seemingly no pattern to discern between each step.

As the distance between the pair was closed Rowan made his first move. Continuing his shuffle, the man sent out a short left jab directly towards Arisa's face. Knowing she would either block, dodge, or counter his move, he decided to shorten the blow instead and curved his forearm into a stronger elbow strike directed to the left side of her face. At the same time he would begin a motion to her right while keeping his left arm steady in order to counter any kind of move that she made.

Arisa looked and watched him as the blonde guy would come forth in a rather shuffling way. She smirked as she would then fix her pose due to him being at least eight meters from where she was. Her body would pose straight as her right hand would cover her face and her left hand in front/across her chest. The right toe would point forward as the left would point left yet her legs were balanced apart. Softly she took a breather as she hoped to win this for Arisa. Arisa Ana would watch every movement of his feet and hands as he would get closer. As he came forward towards her, she would see that his fist was going for a straight jab making her lean back to dodge the fist. As the elbow part would come in she would then fade to the her right side/his left. As he turns she would be then behind him while watching every movement she would then strike his tailbone with all her strength in a fist formation of her right hand as her left hand would be ready for anything as well has her legs being ready to move away.

Rowan felt the blood in his heart really get pumping as Arisa deftly dodged his strike. Something about the way she moved made him feel a new rush in the face of battle, and he couldn't wait to experience more of the power that they both held. She had made a move to his left now, and that meant she was either going towards his blind spot or directly behind him. She wasn't much faster than he was, but he still had to react more defensively than she might due to their obvious differences in strength. His momentum was still carrying him to the right while she made her move to get around him, and so he would allow that momentum to serve as his focal point.

Planting his left foot directly into the ground at a steep angle, and with plenty of force behind it, Rowan stretched out his body to its maximum, and dropped into a full split. His body would easily pass under her strike, which had oddly been aimed at the point where he believed his ample butt cheeks had been only seconds before. Smiling, Rowan would push off with his hands behind his back and tactically roll, providing roughly a two meter space between the two. When he was finished dirtying himself up on the arena floor he would come to standing stop as gracefully as he had fallen.

As she was about to punch forward towards his tailbone, she has noticed him dropping down. Her eyes winced as her eyes then looked up without him noticing to keep track of his head. 'Oooo yes. Come to me.' Ana thought and smirked within her thoughts. Before she would let her arm go towards his skull she would adjust with him (arm/fist wise) as he dropped down right in front of her mid-way, anticipating him splitting - reacting to his spreading his leg. The momentum of him going downwards to do the splits in front of her while his back is turned, her fist going towards his tailbone would instead go towards his occipital bone upon his skull. Right before impact, she would lower and turn her body into the blow, adding explosive power and her own weight to it.

Ruling: Arisa's actions were invalid as it would be physically impossible to suddenly lower your whole body down as he did the splits mid punch towards his tail bone. As you stated in your post Arisa that you were already punching towards his tail bone with all of your strength. You were throwing a jab with all of your power behind it previously before the skull thing. Rowan dodges the punch effectively and the fight continues on from Rowan posting.

After the stunt he just pulled, Rowan knew he would have to be more careful. He had only narrowly escaped certain defeat with his risky tactic, and he was certain it would not work again if he went for a repeat. Arisa was stronger than him, and probably more experienced in the art of combat than he was as well, but that didn't count him out of the fight just yet. This tournament was where he could shine even without the help of magic or his faithful friend, but none of it would matter if he couldn't think straight and get the job done without making a fool of himself. He would have to get serious again, and not let the fiery battle lust in his blood take control of his actions again.

The gentleman could tell that his opponent wanted to defeat him quickly, and she had the capability as well. One swift punch from her in one of his vital locations and he would be down for the count with little more to say. Step one in his new plan would be to block access to all of these areas, and that would be the easiest step. She had the advantage in strength, yes, but not in speed. There, he had found out, they were equal and thus Rowan would not have to worry about her outpacing him. However, she had proven to be rather flexible as well as entirely more maneuverable than he had predicted. This had been a mistake on his part, and one he was not going to allow himself to repeat.

Raising his arms into his previous stance he began a new tactic. Using the same shuffling pattern as before Rowan would make his way into range, just a few feet away from Arisa, and begin a sort of fighter's dance that he had picked up in his youth. His first punch was a quick jab aimed right at her chest. As soon as his arm had extended to its maximum length, Rowan would dance out of her own range with a quick step back, and then continue his technique by sliding to her left with his steps. This time, a swift jab towards her left shoulder, and again he would step out of her range before coming back in, this time a roundhouse kick directly towards her right side from behind her body. After this new onslaught he would take a few steps back, roughly a meter between them this time, and wait for a response.

'Shit' she would think as she missed. Her eyes watched him roll away about two meters away from her. As he was doing this she would get straight back up with her usual pose. Her right hand was in front of her face as her left hand was covering her chest area. Her eyes would watch him once more, preparing for her next move. She was unsure on what he was going to do this time, but she was for sure that she had to clam herself. Sadly this wasn't a battle of blood bathing. Her hair was winding behind her as there was silence between them for however long it took him to slowly jot towards her in a combative stance. She would majorly watched his feet till about a meter making her then watch his fists more.

Moving forward he would go towards her chest area to punch it, but she blocked it with an open palm of her left hand. After that simple move he would move away making her eyes follow him. She would see him go towards her left making her move with him as if they were dancing. Her hands were prepared to block anything else as her eyes then caught him going towards her making her left hand getting ready to block. Her eyes would follow his hands as his hand would go and punch her left shoulder making her left hand move towards it to block it with her palm once more, however she would clasp down gripping his fist and following him as he retreated. As he would step back she would close the gap, holding his hand as security and she would pull on his hand forcing the closing even faster. Surely the sudden closing of distance would disallow any attempt of a round house kick, now within a foot of him. If he resumed the kick she would use the conjoined hands as a bridge to block the kick. If he were not to resume 'she would be able to tell if he would to kick or not based on the movement of his body and the sight provided of her peripherals', she would continue the dash charging with a fist aimed directed to his sternum. Watching the movement of his free hands and wary of any movements of his feet.

Rowan felt the blow from his first jab connect, but only with a block. Still, it was nice to see he still had the bodily capacity to throw a punch dangerous enough to warrant the defensive move by Arisa. As he danced around her for his second hit he found it too blocked by a simple palm, but it would seem his rather aggressive opponent had other plans for the gentleman. She had gripped his fist with her own might and followed his own footsteps as he had fallen out of her range. Of course, she was now seeking to put him on a more defensive ground, and by doing so she would ensure that he would be taking hits. Rowan only smiled as she followed him.

"You're not the first beautiful woman to get this close to me, Lady Arisa." He said as she pulled herself closer. "But you'll be the first to experience this." His words came as he swung out his left foot to catch her own movements off guard as they moved backwards. This would trip up her own steps, and remove her momentarily from her earthly tether. Following this, Rowan would readily push back against her with his open left hand and slam her full on into the ground. Using the shock of the blow he would then throw out four jabs directly into her exposed midsection. Not one to stick around for what came next, Rowan would back off from his opponent with a quick hop and a few more steps placing a meter between them yet again.

'You're not the first one to be this close to me either nor the first one to leave afterwards...' she would think darkly. Hearing his taunting words she would see the left foot kick out, kicking towards her to trip her. She would jump. As she jumps she would pull on his right hand with her left, still grasping it. Her right fist that was initially to strike would grab for his left shoulder as she's jumping. Using the momentum from pulling his right hand with her left and grasping and pulling his left shoulder with her right hand, she would propel herself upward to deliver a flying right knee to his throat, favoring her right side/his left side. Should he attempt to block or evade it, her momentum would allow her to connect with her left knee to the side of his head instead. After that should he somehow interrupt either knee she would torque her body, throwing her weight into the torque, to force her right hand from his left shoulder, forming her hand into a fist aimed at the side of his head.

If it wasn't for the battle presently taking place Rowan might have questioned the actions taken by his opponent. Instead of allowing herself to be tripped up by his fancy footwork she had instead opted to jump over his legs and place herself in a rather similar position as the one the gentleman had wished to place her into in the first place. Not wishing to waste a perfectly good chance to end the fight on his own terms, Rowan used her actions to his own advantage to maintain a sort of tactical superiority in the face of this new situation. He had always tried to be fairly good at that.

She was pulling him towards her as he had been prepared to propel himself in the same direction, and so he had both the advantage of momentum and surprise on his side for his next maneuver. Instead of propelling himself into her and towards the ground his new intention was to do almost the exact opposite. With her pull and his force moving them closer together Rowan opted to duck under whatever she was planning to do with her hands before she could seize him with both and charged directly into her abdomen under both her arms. Without either of her hands to block, and with her legs off the ground, there was surely no way for her to defend against the attack. With his free hand he would move to defend his face from her knees should she try to flail out give him a wallop to the gorgeous sculpture that was his looks. By simply following the momentum she had put in place Rowan would continue the charge at a slight downgrade then, and eventually finish his initial plan of pinning his opponent to the ground. He would hold on to her left hand with his right, but made sure to jam his shoulder into her right elbow as they made contact to ensure she could not counterattack.

So I would like to point out in post #12 Rowan did not correctly deal with Arisa's Sternum punch.

Arisa wrote:she would continue the dash charging with a fist aimed directed to his sternum. Watching the movement of his free hands and wary of any movements of his feet.

No where in Rowan's post #13 is there a distance stated as falling out of range as she clearly stated that she was pretty much in close proximity (striking distance) Not to mention you actually take note

Rowan wrote:As he danced around her for his second hit he found it too blocked by a simple palm, but it would seem his rather aggressive opponent had other plans for the gentleman. She had gripped his fist with her own might and followed his own footsteps as he had fallen out of her range.

You contradict yourself here pretty hard by saying she is out of range yet she grabbed your fist?

That is a hit right there. On paper the fight ended right there cause with the lack of endurance you don't have the power to shrug off being winded like that.

As far the current actions. You went for a leg sweeping attack but then did not correctly state how you pulled it back to react correctly as she jumped over it. Forgetting the fact she is so close it would be impossible to even pull such a kick anyways. Cause you never stated how far you dashed back or anything of that nature. So you would be on one leg trying to duck her attack which is not as easy ducking on one leg. You wouldn't have the complete stability to pull the following actions. At this point its pretty clear cut who won.