Oh. Sometimes she completely forgot school clubs were a thing. Not that she’d ever been a part of them. It was a bit hard when you’d punched nearly half the school in the face at least once. But that was in her old hometown. She hadn’t punched out anyone…except in the ring, but at least that was an outlet.
“I see,” she laughed, rubbing the back of her neck. “Well, everything is open. The crowd doesn’t start coming in for a few more hours.” Safer for the kids that way, really. “If you want to use a punching bag, we’ve got tape and gloves behind the counter.” Funny, considering she never used gloves herself unless she was doing demonstrations with the kids.
Ryuuko placed her hands on her hips, tilting her head as she continued. “I’m around for tips and sparring, if you ever need it. Haven’t been here in Lambda all that long, but at least I found a job that suited me.” Honestly, she couldn’t picture working anywhere else in the city. A cute cafe? Not a chance. This was the best option for her.
“Oh, also if you get hungry or need something to drink, we’ve just started on a sort of lounge room. Someone brings in a bunch of stuff every morning, so we just set up a table in the back.”
So Ku had a bit of time before the place started to get packed. That was nice to know, she’d have to remember the times here in case she decided to come here again for training.
“I see…” So she could use the punching bag, spar with this person, or ask for help. She was mostly going to just work on forms today, but the options were nice.
“Uh… tape… for punching?” That was a new concept for her. She knew boxers and others wore gloves, but tape? Oh right, boxers wear tape too sometimes. She looked at the counter the woman talked about. “How… do you put on the tape?” She was more curious about it than willing to try it herself, but it was something she always wondered.
She almost chuckled at the girl’s confusion. “Yup. Extra protection for your hands, especially in the gloves. Just because you’re wearing them doesn’t mean your knuckles won’t still get busted or rubbed raw in the gloves, so the tape helps with that. Plus sometimes, it’s easier to get a feel for your punches if you use tape without the gloves. And in the event you still wanna cause some damage, your hands are more of a weapon.” She paused, then laughed. “Or something like that, I guess. That’s my way of thinking, it’s probably different for everyone else.”
Ryuuko crossed to the counter, slipping behind it and rummaging around for a roll of tape. “It’s pretty easy, but you gotta do it in a way that still lets you move your hand flexibly. If you do it wrong, it could feel too tight on your hand and cause more damage when you punch.” She dug around a bit more and found the gauze. “First you wrap with a layer of gauze, for cushion--sometimes I’m lazy and forget which isn’t something I don’t recommend. You start around the wrist a few times and then move between your thumb and index finger a few times, then your thumb..” she droned on, her hands moving as she explained.
“And then you basically just repeat those same movements with the tape. It’s a bit easier if you have an actual wrap, but most people bring their own if they use them so we don’t really supply them.” She wiggled her fingers for show and clenched her fists. “It’s probably the cheapest if you’re on a budget.”
