@DreadPirate@1Hawkeyes@Whiskey Business@Xandrya@ineffable@DragonofTheWestJason had wandered off to the side and sat along the wall, taking it all in. His father had been obsessed with this project for the last few years, it was heartwarming to see it finally come to fruition, and so close to home too. Sure, they were from the East Coast, but Dan had been training out of Toronto since before Jason was born, the city was like a second home to them both.
He became suddenly aware that he probably seemed standoffish, sitting off alone this whole time. As he stood to go join his fellow students, the door opened up and Dan and Alex walked back in, followed by the other four fighters who'd be acting as the Academy's instructors.
"Oi! Everyone fall in" Alex called out, his voice echoing through the gym "Grab a seat on the mat, or stand if you'd rather. Let's get this show on the road!"
Once everyone had gathered around, Dan stepped up to speak. The rest of the instructors stood behind him, arms folded or held behind their backs.
"Just wanted to introduce you guys to these fine men and women who'll be molding you all into champions, and what specifically they'll be doing. Anyone who's ever seen me in my prime knows that my focus is boxing, but I'll also be doing a course on Fight Theory, you'll find out exactly what that is the first time it comes up in the schedule. All I'll say about it now is that it's about the mental side of the sport."
Next he turned and pointed to Alex "You've already met Mr. Slade. He won the Ultimate Fighter the year I was selected to coach, we've been training together ever since. He'll be in charge of sharpening up your technique and showing you some.. let's say creative ways of utilizing your striking. Real fun guy to be around too."
"Moving right on down the line, direct from Venice Beach, California, Mr. Alvey "King" Kulina, a true veteran and a legend in PRIDE. He's the master of weight management, and he's also our primary kickboxing specialist." Next up, the only female instructor "I'm sure most of you are familiar with Amanda here. Ms. Hart is our resident wrestling and judo queen. Don't be fooled by her short stature, she'll have even the biggest of you on your ass in a split-second, and you'll have no idea how you got there."
"Our last two instructors are a pair of fighters who trained under me in the past: Jiu-Jitsu champion Riccardo Souza and Thai-clinch crusher Andre Braga. As you can probably gather, Riccardo will be handling Jiu-Jitsu and the miscellaneous aspects of ground work, while Andre will be sharpening Muay Thai skills, as well as clinch work and teaching you all how to take full advantage of the cage. You'll get to know them all better when classes begin, but for now, give them all a hand, great. Alex has a few things to cover and then we'll get you moving on to the rest of the tour. Thanks guys"
Without a beat, Alex stepped up and began.
"Alright everyone, little bit of housekeeping is all, things that you all should know about how this is going to work. To keep everything running smooth and manageable, we've broken you guys down into groups of 7*. Way it's gonna go, for example, one group could have a morning session with myself here in the gym, while another has Fight Theory with Dan in the classroom at the back of this building, and the 3rd group could be doing conditioning training outside. All that to say, from here on out, the other people in your group are your classmates, training partners, and roommates. There's gonna be a copy of the schedule in every bedroom in the Dorm, as well as in the common areas. Now, first group. That's gonna be..."
Jason let his mind wander as Alex read off the names, subconsciously sizing up other students to see how he'd match up with each of them physically. There was a complete possibility of having to fight some of them at some point in the future, whether here at the academy or out in the real world. He snapped back to attention.
"... that leaves Blue group, comprised of Helena Estrada, Delilah Callahan, Paul Russo, Max Callaghan, Kevin Ilagan, Norifumi, and Jason Green. Ok, that's settled, come on everyone, we'll have a look at the rest of the place on the way to the dorms."
Alex led the way out through a back door to the gym, emerging in the sunlight.
"There's not a whole lot to see to be perfectly honest. The building next door, we call the Olympic center, 3 floors of non-MMA related activities, a full-size runner's track, Olympic-caliber pool, basketball, tennis courts, etcetera. You guys'll be doing some course work in there, but most of it will be centered around the gym. And the only other finished properties are the staff apartments and the industrial building, both of which are off-limits to students, so we'll head on over to the dorms."
They crossed the sweeping grass fields off to the western edge of the academy grounds, where a trio of beautiful two-story log cabins stood. A cleared lot with obvious foundations for a fourth cabin sat a few feet away from the closest one.
"Welcome home lads and ladies. Your bags have already been laid inside, up to each of you to determine rooming arrangements. Blue group, that's yours on the left. Yellow, you're in the middle. Red in the last. If you ever get confused, here's a tip, the front door is colored by group. Head on in, have a look around, relax a little. I believe the rest of today is yours to do as you please, but Dan wants to get everyone together this evening for a communal supper, so see you all later!"
And with that, he walked off, leaving the students to wander into their new homes. Jason found himself leading the way inside of Blue group's cabin.
"Home sweet home" he said to no one in particular.
(*OOC Note: 21 students total at the start of things here, as explained in the post, the 7 of us are a group, the other 14 are NPCs to fill the background, nothing to overly concern yourselves with)
(OOC Note 2: I plan on doing up a little drawing to show the layout of the cabins interior, as well as an overhead view of the academy grounds. For now, I'll just say for the purpose of divvying up the rooms, it's a 3-bedroom. There's 3 beds in one room, 2 in the others)
