With the first tournament for the UFC-A so close, a lot of Animalians were interested in competing, even those who had never seriously fought before. Even Maho had a slight interest, but she wasn't particularly motivated to compete. She did go to the Golden Mountain Dojo, but it was more for meditation than learning martial arts.
Maho flew over to the Golden Mountain Dojo for a bit of meditation. It was quite convenient to be able to fly. As she was heading towards the dojo's garden, she heard the sound of people sparring in one of the training rooms. Curious, Maho went to see who was fighting. Inside, she saw three of the Five Elements. Tuxing was busy with a practice dummy, strike at the pegs on it in a particular pattern and style. Jinxing and Muxing were the actual ring and sparring with each other. Even though Muxing no longer had legs, that didn't mean she was slow. On the contrary, she was able to parry Jinxing's attacks rather easily. Watching them go was rather hypnotic in a way.
As Tuxing was taking a short break, she noticed Maho watching. "Have you come to train?" she asked. Her English was getting improving a lot, which was a good thing in this case. Chinese and Japanese didn't translate to each other as easily as some people would think.
"No, I was just watching," said Maho, "You're not masters yet, are you?"
"It takes years to achieve mastery," said Jinxing, "We're off to a good start and we should be ready for that tournament, but we're not going to be declared masters for quite some time."
"And I'm guessing you are focusing on Kung Fu," said Maho.
"Tiger, Leopard, and Snake," said Muxing.
"What are the differences?" asked Maho.
"Excellent question," said Tuxing as she jumped into the ring. Muxing slithered to the side. "For Tiger and Leopard, there are no blocks, just counterattacks."
Tuxing and Jinxing both exchanged a couple of blows, Jinxing trying to dodge the larger cat's strikes. "Both styles epitomizes the phrase 'the best defense is a good offense'," said Jinxing.
"The difference is that Tiger style is powerful, direct, with no feints or subterfuge," said Tuxing, posing in a striking form.
"Leopard style is about outsmarting an opponent, attacking from the sides, and going for a debilitating blow," said Jinxing, swing her arms to demonstrate.
"So what about Snake style?" asked Maho.
Muxing held her arms in a hooking form, rather like a snake about to strike. "Snake style is more defensively-minded, more concerned with keeping a distance. But if an opponent does pursue, a Snake would be leading them into a trap." She lashed out with her arms in demonstration, "The goal is to be fluid, like a serpent. The arms will either entwine around an opponent's or strike at angles they wouldn't expect." Maho gave Muxing's claws a nervous look. She was glad that the rules for the UFC-A tournament forbid using claws and fangs. Fighters have to wear foam tips on their fingers to keep them from injuring their opponent.
"You know, there's also a Crane style," said Jinxing.
"I've heard of it," said Maho, "What's that one like?"
"From what I heard, Crane style is mostly about deflecting an opponent's strikes, trying to keep escape a possibility, and striking only when the opportunity presents itself," said Tuxing.
"Well, I'm not that interested in fighting myself," said Maho, "There might be other cranes. By the way, where are the other two?"
"They're still trying to find their own styles," said Muxing.
"I guess there's no Red Panda or Water Buffalo styles," said Maho.
"You'd be surprised," said Jinxing, "There are a lot of different styles for Kung Fu, with different animal themes."
"Houxing will be looking for a style that focuses on agility and moving around," said Tuxing.
"And Shuixing will be wanting a style that let her make best use of her size and lack of speed," said Muxing.
"Interesting," said Maho, "Well, I hope your training goes well." She left the training room and headed for the garden. Kung Fu did sound very interesting, but it didn't seem like the thing for her. Let others fight each other, Maho would rather meditate.