Steel and Silver - Keiko Yamamura vs Jukiya Oshima (D) - UWFI Rules Match

[DropKix]

Jukiya’s breath rolled out slow and controlled, the faint throb still echoing through her jaw as she resumed her stance. Her teeth clenched beneath the mask of composure, a silent reminder of her opponent’s audacity. Only a few minutes into the match and she had nearly been knocked out clean by that enziguri… it lingered in her mind like an aftertaste she couldn't spit out. She knew that somewhere among the thousands of onlookers were her mother's own set of silver eyes, no doubt peering down at her with utter disdain for losing the first point.

Keiko’s words tugged her back to the present, where a flicker of something else soon sparked in Jukiya’s eyes. Respect, perhaps, but quickly blanketed beneath that familiar veil of Oshima stoicism, her gaze narrowing as the silver lynx dismissed the notion of luck. Hmph. We shall see about that.

Keiko moved. Quick and lower than before, faster this time too. The energy shifted in an instant, leaving Jukiya powerless to stop her. Her feet left the mat and the canvas met her spine in a dull thump, her breath catching in her throat from the abrupt impact. A spark of irritation flickered behind her eyes. On her back—again. But that frustration didn't last long, for this time, Jukiya wasn't going to let herself be caught helpless.

Her arms coiled instinctively, snaking around Keiko’s shoulders, not to push her away, but to pull her in. With a powerful arch of her lower back, she brought her hips upward and her legs swung high, fast, and sharp. The inside of her thighs brushed against Keiko’s ribs in a controlled clench before her calves crossed just above her opponent’s tailbone. Ankles locked, heels drew in with a close guard tight as a vice, smooth as silk.

But she wouldn't stop there. With the fight now on the mat, Jukiya would have to act quick. Her right arm surged upward, attempting to thread around the back of Keiko’s neck. If she was successful, the crook of her elbow would ensnare the base of her opponent’s skull, her left hand clasped her own wrist, completing the frame. In one fluid breath, Jukiya fell back, pulling Keiko down into her body, her hips angling, her spine curling like a bowstring drawn taut as she attempted to force a point loss from her opponent by strangling her into submission with a close guard guillotine choke!

Spoiler

[Bare]

Keiko wasn't exaggerating when she told Jukiya that her point earning kick had been a movie born out of desperation and need than any kind of planning or true intent. Still that being said she was determined to keep her momentum going and hopefully overwhelm her opponent from the start and continue to pull points to her side.

As such she charged in faster than she hoped her opponent could predict, trying to grab at the woman's legs and pull them out from under her in an attempt to get Jukiya on the mat and break her guard! This objective was met, but anything after? Not so much.

Before Keiko could even try anything Jukiya moved her body up, lifting her legs and arching her back to catch Keiko in a waist lock! 'No! this is!' Just as the thought entered Keiko's head Jukiya would snap her shut in a tight guillotine choke! 'Damn it! I don't have long!' Keiko thought to herself knowing she'd only have fifteen seconds before losing points.

Thinking quickly she would grab at the arm around her neck and start to lift it up. Simultaneously however she would also use her free arm to start throwing punches against Jukiya's ribs, trying to weaken and knock the breath out of the woman to loose her hold. All while Keiko was trying to get her knees under her and lift her upper body as much as possible to aid in trying to break free!

[DropKix]

Jukiya’s arms cinched around Keiko’s neck with precision and fury, her biceps swelling against the strain as she locked the guillotine in deep. Her legs coiled tight in closed guard, ankles crossed just above Keiko’s tailbone, a vice of muscle and martial prowess. From the outside, it looked seamless, textbook even. But from the inside, Keiko was fighting like hell.

The first punch to Jukiya’s ribs landed like a meat hook. Her torso twitched violently under the impact, her guard quivering. But her hips bucked up again, forcing pressure onto the choke, her teeth clenched tight behind her lips. If Keiko tapped, the match was over then and there. But even if she didn’t… all Jukiya had to do was hold on for a few 10 measly seconds more to make Keiko lose a point!

Jukiya adjusted, yanking the choke tighter, arching her hips upward to create tension across Keiko’s spine. Her calf muscles burned. She could feel her grip beginning to slip from the sweat pooling between their bodies. Keiko was climbing, getting her knees under her, rising with the strength of desperation. And those damned fists just kept coming.

THMP! THMP! THMP!

Another hit landed under her ribcage, this one duller but deeper, forcing her legs to falter again. Her thighs flexed, trying to maintain the closed guard, but her core was spasming from the damage now, controlled structure breaking down into clenched muscle and raw instinct. Just five more seconds...

“Stay down…” she hissed, lips brushing close to Keiko’s ear, more ragged plea than command.

But Keiko kept pushing. Jukiya could feel it. Her opponent’s chest rising higher, the torque on her spine lessening. The choke was slipping, not in form, but in leverage. Her arms screamed, her ribs were on fire, her vision blinked white at the edges. Three seconds. Another ribshot. Then another. The last one made her head whip back with a silent scream. Her grip buckled—only slightly—but enough to break the seal of finality the choke needed.

Two.

A final, brutal body blow knocked the air clean out of her lungs.

“Ghh—!”

And her arms finally gave. Not by choice, but because her body betrayed her. Her guard slackened, her legs uncoiling like a snake too tired to strike. Her arms slid off Keiko’s sweat-slicked neck as she fell back onto the mat, panting and furious, chest heaving from exertion and pain. The ref’s hand hovered at the eight mark, but didn’t come down again. The count stopped. No point would be deducted from Keiko, although there was no doubt the hold certainly would have taken it's toll on her. Her hands slowly pressed against the mat, spine curling upward like a striking serpent coiled in pain. Bruised, humiliated, but not broken, Jukiya began to rise once again.

[Bare]

This wasn't good at all. Escaping from a guillotine choke on its own was difficult enough. But within a window of ten seconds? That was another layer of difficulty on top of it and ironically it fueled her to try and get free even more fervently than she would have if that limitation wasn't upon her. As a result Keiko was attacking furiously with elbow after elbow into her opponent's sides, trying to weaken the grip as much as possible, taking advantage of the weak spots provided by the woman's ribs.

Thankfully by the sounds of Jukiya's grunts and cries of pain it seemed as though that Keiko's attacks were enough to loosen the hold and even break it all together! "Hahhhhh!" Gulping in a sudden breath of air Keiko would immediately pull away from her opponent, trying to regain her oxygen while also pushing herself up to a standing position, but the effects of the guillotine choke definitely were being harshly felt by her. Stumbling haphazardly for a moment as she tried desperately to get her equilibrium and stance back, naturally leaving her vulnerable to Jukiya in the process!

[DropKix]

The canvas was still warm beneath Jukiya's palms, slick with the sweat of struggle and failure. Jukiya’s breath stuttered, ribs flaring with every inhale as she pushed herself upright. Her core screamed. Her jaw clenched. That damned choke had been her, and she'd lost it by inches, by seconds.

She rose slow at first, spine uncoiling, the silhouette of Keiko staggering into her periphery like a wounded animal trying to stand tall. Jukiya’s eyes narrowed beneath the strands of hair clinging to her brow. Her gaze locked onto the opening, the instability, the vulnerable sway of her opponent’s legs as she struggled to reclaim her footing. Her stance wasn’t solid, not yet at least. A faltering breath, a slip in balance. Jukiya didn’t have the luxury of rest. Not now. Not after she’d let those precious seconds fall through her fingers. This was her cue to pounce.

Her feet struck the mat with a rush of breathless momentum, closing the gap in a burst. Once she was withing range, Jukiya’s leg whipped skyward, her heel cutting the air like a scythe raised high above her head before it came crashing down in the form of a savage axe kick! Her heel plummeting down toward the base of Keiko’s neck like divine retribution, honed to knock her senseless where she stood. A perfect, merciless execution, one that could potentially yield a match-ending knockout blow, or a thunderous knockdown to force a ten-count and snatch back a point!

[Bare]

Keiko was having double vision right now, her breathing ragged and lungs burning with exertion as she tried to get her bearings once more after that rather brutal choke hold that Jukiya had her locked in. Truthfully though Keiko knew that her being up like this was just as problematic for herself as if she stayed down, because as is she was off balance and uncertain of what was around her, a rather poor combination for a situation such as this.

Unfortunately Keiko would soon be proven wrong the moment she looked up, seeing Jukiya's heel rising into the air above her! 'Oh no!' Keiko thought, knowing she had no time to dodge or move backwards, therefore she had only one option available to her! Raising her arms up to cover her head and neck Keiko would take the blow and immediately fold under it and get knocked face first into the mat below!

"NGH!" Keiko groaned out in pain, her opponent's heel having still connecting with her neck even with her hand up to provide some resistance but that just prevented her from being outright koed by the blow. As is Keiko's eye lids were fluttering while she groaned in pain, clutching her neck and kicking her legs against the mat in both pain and to show she was still conscious, but it didn't stop the ref from starting to count, or the point deduction against her.

"One! Two! Three!

It went on like that with Keiko not really doing anything at first, just trying to breathe and regain some sense and equilibrium, but she wouldn't be able to rest for much longer with the ref's count climbing ever higher.

"Eight! Nine!"

Making use of the count as long as long as possible Keiko would finally push her hands under her before pulling her knees in to rise up into a kneeling position, stopping the count as she huffed a few times before looking up at her opponent.

"Hah... You have a very good axe kick Oshima San." Keiko said with a nod before pushing herself the rest of her way to her feet, rolling her neck and wincing as she did so before sighing and looking back up at Jukiya. "Shall we resume?" Keiko asked while raising her fists up in preparation.

[DropKix]

Jukiya stood motionless, her breath caught in her throat, lungs straining as though they too were waiting for that final word… Ten.

But it never came.

Instead, the illusion of victory shattered under the sound of scraping knees against canvas, the slow, stubborn rustle of movement made only by someone too proud—or too foolish—to stay down. Her lips parted, exhaling a slow, measured breath as her eyes tracked Keiko’s ascent. Despite the fact that she had forced a point loss from her opponent, there was no triumph in her gaze. Only disbelief, then disappointment. That kick should have ended things. That heel to the neck, placed with precision, aimed with malice, time and delivered with surgical cruelty, was supposed to shut the lights out.

And then Keiko had the gall to compliment her. There was a current of respect in her voice, a nod to skill that might have meant something under different circumstances. But Jukiya didn’t return the sentiment. She didn’t need flattery. She needed Keiko broken.

“And you have a very good neck Yamamura-san … I wonder if it'll remain as strong when my heel finds it a second time” Her voice came low and even, her fingers flexing slowly at her sides, betraying the simmering tension beneath her composed exterior.

Jukiya gave her opponent the courtesy of a curt nod, signaling she was ready to continue the fight, before darted forward with the speed of an arrow, trying to cut through Keiko’s moment of recovery before it could become another rally. Her opening gambit wasn’t elegant, it was vicious and precise. She snapped into a low stance and threw a tight, thrusting front kick toward Keiko’s inner thigh, trying to compromise the base before it could even stabilize.

Whether it found its mark or not, Jukiya was already spinning. Her hips twisted, and her arm swept wide in a brutal arc, aiming to bring her knuckles crashing in a stiff, whiplike backfist toward the side of Keiko’s head. It was an old-school shoot strike, the kind that was more bone than technique. After all, the Oshima warrior seemed intent on clinching a victory through knockout or submission, but if this was going to be a long fight, then she’d drag Keiko through every cruel mile of it, point by point.

[Bare]

Despite her vision being tinged still with some light circles flickering in and out Keiko would manage to get herself onto her feet, beating the count that had started just in time and naturally, she wanted to pay some respect to her opponent with a compliment. Although as she did so it seemed the word would fall on the deaf ears of someone that didn't want too or couldn't seem to accept her feelings of sportsmanship.

Frowning slightly at the contemptuous response that Jukiya gave her Keiko would simply raise her fists up in response. "As you can imagine... I won't be keen on letting that happen again Oshima San." Keiko said sternly in response. Taking a step towards Jukiya the woman would dart towards Keiko, lifting her leg up and going for what seemed like a kick to Keiko's leg.

Narrowing her eyes in response to this Keiko knew the woman wouldn't go for such a simple attack after seeing what she was capable of doing earlier. Still Keiko had to be defensive, raising her leg up to block the kick with her shin and deflect the kick. As she did so, because Keiko kept her gaze fixed on Jukiya's form the entire time Keiko would notice the way her body was already turning, seemingly prepared to go for a spinning back fist!

Raising her arms up as soon as possible Keiko would look to block the blow with her forearms and if successful clamp her hands down on the woman's limb before pulling on it, trying to drag her opponent around for a moment to build momentum before extending her leg out to trip the woman and bring her face first to the mat, with Keiko leaning over while pulling the woman's arm back to stretch it with a arm bar!

[DropKix]

The instant her backfist met resistance, Jukiya knew she’d been baited. Keiko's guard snapped up just in time, her forearms absorbing the blow with a hard thud of bone on bone. Before Jukiya could recoil or reposition, hands closed around her striking arm like iron clamps. Her momentum was turned against her, twisted, redirected, and thrown for a whirl. She barely had time to adjust her footing before Keiko yanked her forward.

Jukiya stumbled, her feet skidding across the mat as she was dragged in a wide pivot and spun off-balance. She felt the shift in weight, the subtle trap being sprung. Then came the trip as Keiko’s leg snaked out low and fast, cutting across the backs of her knees. Jukiya's base collapsed beneath her. The fall was ugly. She hit the canvas face-first with a muted grunt, arm still wrenched awkwardly behind her. Keiko never let go. Instead, she followed her down and transitioned cleanly into a grounded armbar.

Pain flared through Jukiya’s shoulder and elbow as Keiko extended the limb, anchoring it between her thighs and arching back to apply pressure. Her spine jerked. Her teeth clenched. The angle was deadly tight. Her free arm scrambled for leverage, pawing at the mat as she twisted her hips, trying to turn into the pressure or slide her shoulder out of alignment before the hold could be locked in any deeper. But Keiko was disciplined. Her bodyweight was committed. The hold was snug and dangerous.

"Grrragh!" Jukiya’s lips parted in a harsh cry, sweat dripping from her brow as she clenched her core against the torque.

She didn’t tap. Not yet. But her fingers twitched with the threat of it.

Keiko was clearly after a quick win of her own, a submission to match the knockout Jukiya had tried and failed to land. And now Jukiya was paying for her daring, caught in a hold that punished every ounce of her aggression. But even under strain, her eyes stayed sharp. She was in trouble, no question. But unless her arm snapped first, there was no way she was giving up this early.

Gritting her teeth Jukiya would try and shift under Keiko, before turning to try and force the woman's shoulders on the mat, using her free hand to clasp onto Keiko's wrist and push back in an attempt to stop her from fully cinching in the armbar. There weren't any pinfalls in this match, but that wasn't the powerful martial artist's intent. If she was successful in getting Keiko into position, Jukiya would let out a guttural roar, muscles surging as she attempted to bridge upward. If all went well, Keiko’s body would be lifted—still latched to her arm—before Jukiya drove her back down in a modified powerbomb, trying to slam the wind out of her and dislodge the hold in one brutal jolt!

Spoiler

[Bare]

Keiko was thankfully successful in her attempt to catch Jukiya off guard. Not only managing to catch the woman's fist and get her off balance but even with the follow up armbar attempt! It was a clever play but had Jukiya managed to retain her balance or stop Keiko's momentum it could have quickly turned against her so Keiko was counting her stars that neither happened and that she was now the one in control of the hold.

Now while she would love to get an outright submission from her opponent with this painful and debilitating hold Keiko doubted she was that lucky, but if nothing else her foe's arm would surely be affected by this later in the match, not to mention if she could just keep it in a bit longer it'd be another point deduction. Either way it would work to Keiko's benefit if she could just keep the hold in for a bit longer.

However life rarely went the way you wanted it. As she pulled on her opponent's arm Keiko noticed the way she was grabbing at her hands making Keiko narrow her eyes in caution. 'That can't be good.' Keiko thought to herself already bracing herself for whatever Jukiya had in store. That apparently being a show of pure grit and raw power as she turned over and hefted Keiko into the air!

Eyes widening in realization at what her opponent was planning Keiko was utterly helpless as she was then slammed brutally into the mat with a make shift power bomb! "Gah!" Keiko cried out in pain as she made contact with the mat, immediately releasing Jukiya as she did so and giving a half hearted kick towards her foe in the process. But it was less by design and more so a desperate ploy to get herself some momentum to roll away from Jukiya and get some distance while also managing to try and get onto her knees, holding her back with a wince of pain if successful.