MacCloud
Super-Earth
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
- Location
- East Coast USA
Ryder MacCloud walked through his dojo. He was at peace with himself here. He had a bought the building and arranged it with the money he had saved while in the military. He had done his duty for twelve years and had finally decided to live a little. He had himself studied martial arts for as long as he could remember and it was something he enjoyed. So he had built his dojo and most of his students had come fromw the advertisement of word-of-mouth. He was polite to his students, helping them. In class no one was allowed to pick on anyone else. Respect was a key part of his training method. His style was a mix of tae-kwon-doe, akido, and Judo. The high kicks and jumps in tae-kwon-doe brought younger students and gave an outlet for aggression. The Akido was about self defense, but the joint locks were impressive. The Judo was mostly for the wrestlers in the class. Still learning how to fall and to escape a pin was good for anyone. He had a basketball court size training area. Mats along the wall could be rolled out to cover half the floor space. He had practice dummies to kick and punch and sparring gear for those training sessions.
He was always here and lived upstairs above his school. His home's main luxury was the walk-in tub with massage jets. He truly loved his bathtub! He had more than enough students to pay his bills and even put money into savings most of the time. He taught skills, techniques and control. His students very rarely ever left his class with new bruises. He did not believe pain helped people to learn. Mental focus and frame of mind were the tools he wanted to see in his students. His students had done well in local tournaments the last two years. He had just started allowing them to enter last year. So his reputation had begun to grow which brought him more students.
Every morning rain or shine he ran five miles. He was a member of the local fitness club because they had an Olympic size pool and he swam every other day time permitting. His life was mostly complete, yet he was still lonely. For all his combat experience, his friendly outlook, and his obvious fit body he had never learned to just ask a woman to go out. He froze just thinking about doing so. It made no sense to him and he had tried. A woman he found attractive in his class he could talk technique or training, help her stretch or spot her when she was being thrown and feel perfectly comfortable. Outside on the street he would wave, maybe say 'hi' and vanish within himself. He had never had any bad experiences he could remember? He had not been 'popular' in school. He was nerdy and his interest in things he did seldom if ever matched up with his peers. He had worked since he was sixteen at a local small town airport. He had worked to pay for lessons and flight time. Between his job and martial arts training he had little free time. Despite being 6'3" tall and fit, he had been sort of a ghost.
He had been a scout/sniper in the Marines so that had just reinforced his loner personality. That had been one of the reasons he had left. He wanted to be around people. Ones preferably not shooting at him. So today was like any other. He was in his 'gi' as he stretched out preparing for the evening first class.
He was always here and lived upstairs above his school. His home's main luxury was the walk-in tub with massage jets. He truly loved his bathtub! He had more than enough students to pay his bills and even put money into savings most of the time. He taught skills, techniques and control. His students very rarely ever left his class with new bruises. He did not believe pain helped people to learn. Mental focus and frame of mind were the tools he wanted to see in his students. His students had done well in local tournaments the last two years. He had just started allowing them to enter last year. So his reputation had begun to grow which brought him more students.
Every morning rain or shine he ran five miles. He was a member of the local fitness club because they had an Olympic size pool and he swam every other day time permitting. His life was mostly complete, yet he was still lonely. For all his combat experience, his friendly outlook, and his obvious fit body he had never learned to just ask a woman to go out. He froze just thinking about doing so. It made no sense to him and he had tried. A woman he found attractive in his class he could talk technique or training, help her stretch or spot her when she was being thrown and feel perfectly comfortable. Outside on the street he would wave, maybe say 'hi' and vanish within himself. He had never had any bad experiences he could remember? He had not been 'popular' in school. He was nerdy and his interest in things he did seldom if ever matched up with his peers. He had worked since he was sixteen at a local small town airport. He had worked to pay for lessons and flight time. Between his job and martial arts training he had little free time. Despite being 6'3" tall and fit, he had been sort of a ghost.
He had been a scout/sniper in the Marines so that had just reinforced his loner personality. That had been one of the reasons he had left. He wanted to be around people. Ones preferably not shooting at him. So today was like any other. He was in his 'gi' as he stretched out preparing for the evening first class.