Shokomaru had no words, he just smiled and nodded like a good boy while they did the honor thing.

"If I may suggest though..." Ishiyo swung the bokken about randomly for a second to limber up again after the tension of the duel. "You-eh stance reveals much, it gave me an advantage." She smiles, "Not enough too matter it seems...but it may help in a future duel should you find the need." Her tone is serious, an honest appraisal and suggestion.

She pointed the bokken at Shokomaru, "Enjoying yourself Daigotsu-sama?"

"It'd be a true shame not to, Daidoji-san", he answered with a nod. "I think matters being what they are you might both be happy, but still not quite satsified?"

She nodded to Ishiyo's observation, committing to memory to practice more on concealing her stance.

"I'm not sure I follow, Daigotsu-sama...?" the Unicorn looked a little confused.

"I think Daigotsu-sama is saying while the kharmic strike was an interesting outcome, we both wished to triumph." Ishiyo responded lowering her bokken, "Which is true in its way, one always hopes to win but as long as defeat is not permanent then something can be learned and growth can occuh."

"Ah."

Hyeon-ju gave a half-smile, shaking her head.

"Well, yes... and no. At least, for me. Like in Go, they say that the most ideal game is played between two evenly matched players, so that the game can flow almost endlessly until the board is full - a game where there is no declared winner, but where both players achieved a greater appriciation for the game and their opponent. For pilots, it would be an encounter where each pilot matches the other's movements perfectly, turning the engagement into an aerial dance." It was a bit of a lengthy explanation, but it was hard to put into words the serenity that could be found in an even match.

He didn't comment on what an even match meant for ground forces. It meant attrition, deaths in the thousands and glory for some cunts who didn't even set foot into the fray.

"Well said." He stood up and continued his drills.

While she may have doubted the sincerity of his words, she did not speak it, out of respect of his status.

Seeing that he was going back to continue his own training, she figured she'd do the same as well.

"We can continue to spar if you like, Daidoji-sama, or continue as we were."

"Perhaps just a few basic strike and counter-strike exercises?" Ishiyo responded, looking at the Spider briefly before turning to the Utaku. "Not quite sparring but useful none the less." She brought her bokken in the basic guard position. "And even though ou-eh schools are different, I am sure the foundations are the same."

"Yes. That sounds more than acceptable to me. There is a limit to how much one can learn on their own, after all," she offered warmly, and assumed her position again, though this time slightly different as she was more ready to move at a moment's notice than to stare off against her opponent.

"Simple strikes and counter-strike exercises."

Shokomaru was finally starting to warm up, so he had no intent of interrupting them. He was actually pleased to see them interact.

"Shall I begin?" Ishiyo asked even as she moved forward making a basic overhead strike. It was fast but anyone trained in fighting would recognize it was not meant to hit her opponent, just the air or sword in front of the Utaku. When the two bokken struck, she instinctively started to slide back...letting Hyeon-ju make her own strike without risk of smashing Ishiyo in the head.

"Hai," she nodded, ready and taut like a bowstring as they would've said in the older days.

Following the strike, Hyeon-ju raised her bokken, deflecting the overhead strike to the side while she stepped out of its intended arc. Feet slid against the tatami as she readied the counterstrike, raising the bokken in a similar high slash for Ishiyo to defend herself against. Similarly to Ishiyo, she did not strike directly at the Crane.

Following the movement of her strike, the Utaku continued her side-ways movement, ready once more to defend herself.

And the Crane on again, this time starting for a low position with the sword held behind and to the side. The slice itself would come up aiming to strike around the hips and cut up through the abdomen and chest. As before the distance was kept far enough back to hit only air and the Unicorn's bokken. She would slide back again, sword in the low guard position.

A lot of the Unicorn's techniques seemed to rely on movement, evading and side-stepping first and foremost before blocking with the bokken. Usually such exercises like these had the occassional kiai accompanying the strikes, but Hyeon-ju remained silent except for her breathing.

Following after Ishiyo, she stepped forward and made a mid-high strike that, in a serious fight, would have been aimed at cutting straight across the Crane's abdomen.

In contrast to the Unicorn, Ishiyo's strikes looked more precise in their timing. Focusing on making each strike as close to perfect as possible. After parrying the latest strike, Ishiyo goes back into the normal guard: bokken held at an upward angle in front of her. She strikes again, this time making a quick strike that would be meant for the head and face. The bokken dipping and moving forward rapidly, again it would be short aiming for the air.

The sound of bokken hitting eachother once more filled the room as Hyeon-ju parried Ishiyo's strike, though this time instead of stepping back or to the side, she moved forward with an overhead strike towards the Crane, aiming for the space before her.

It was an intricate dance that went back and forth, words communicated through the swordplay and each sound of wood striking wood.

Another upward parry then Ishiyo stepped back and brought the next to her face, parallel with the ground. With a sudden rush forward she thrust the blade, another high attack that would have been meant for the head or neck. As before it would come up short, even if the Utaku failed to block. Which was an unlikely event.

Stepping back from the strike, Hyeon-ju avoided the strike more than she parried it, and instead used her bokken to force Ishiyo's own weapon downward for a moment, before rising the wooden weapon towards for a thrust.

So it would go on for a while, the two samurai-ko exchanged strikes and going back and forth, testing eachother's speed, agility, and strength, as well as skill with the blade. In terms of skill, the Utaku prodigy maybe had the upper hand, but the two women were otherwise close during the sparring session.

As they both finally eased up and ceased the exercise, Hyeon-ju had a light sheen of sweat on the forehead. "You fight very well, Daidoji-sama."

Ishiyo lowered her bokken and bowed, likewise her forehead had acquired a light sheen. "Thank you Utaku-san, the Kakita school retains its dedication to the blade...even if it has branched out." She looks over to the Spider, "Well I believe you have a pretty good idea of ouh skill now no?"