The T2 Trainer, Kenith

Introduction

My name is Kenith. By reading some of the other bios I understand what role I didn't realize I played in the lives of those who I T2'd with. I never would have thought that a textually-based fighting style on the internet would influence people I had no idea were, personally. Yet, by reading the individual posts and being in several conversations where I've been told "You were the heart of T2", I've been compelled and furthermore feel it is my responsibility to write my own piece of T2 history.

The Beginning

I started out as nothing much really. Just another guy out there on Yahoo Messenger wondering around trying to find good conversation and such. I was into Role Playing Games (RPG), so I decided to go into that specific type of chat, seeing at the categories ,and sub-categories on the list. What I expected was idle chatter about different games here and there, and people arguing about how they're superior than the other at various RPGs. Instead, people were creating their own RPGs. They were putting themselves in the characters positions and playing them out in different scenarios that would either follow or not follow the original storyline of that individual character. It was astonishing to see so many people doing it. I went with it. I had been watching a series for awhile called Rurouni Kenshin, so natually I made my first character Kenshin_Himura05. This is the name I learned the boundaries of T2.

His name was Matrix Bender Greg. Many knew him at the time he was on. To me, he is and will always be a legend of his kind. To find someone as understanding and level-headed in a match, while in training, is outstandingly difficult to come by. I picked up the rules of T2 just while sitting and idly watching a series of people fight back and fourth. I had the rules down to the best of my knowledge, and practice with what I had to go off of. 7-10-7. As explained in the "Rules" section of this site. I would practice these every day when I got home from school, and even during classes where the teachers dare give me a computer to sit behind. They'd just hear the constant clattering of my keyboard as I would practice as often as I could. The moment I would get hoome from school, as previously mentioned, I would jump on Yahoo Messenger and begin my session of T2ing with others that were of my same level, just to see where I stood in the ranks. I hardly even knew all the rules, or what actual speed even was, seeing as at the time I was only typing about 59 -75 WPM, and I still thought I was God. I'd beat a few people here and there, mostly just got my ass handed to me. After going on a winning streak for some time, I caught wind of a clan called "Overkill" and another group call "The Matrix Benders".

From what I understand this was at the end of the realm known as Jamucs Prime and into the beginning of Eden. There were clan wars all the time of mild T2ers and T1ers going at it, but the war I came in between was between Matrix Benders and Overkill. Each had a devistating team of skilled fighters who were brutal at what they did. Obviously the Matrix Bender clan won the war, but duing the end of the war I found myself in a user created room called "Vampire Inn" where I met Greg on another alias of his, Kayioz. I had no idea that it was him, and seeing him T2 some other guy, I jumped in and blocked an attack by parrying it away from hitting the fallen warrior. Greg and I swung back and fourth to each other, he mainly hitting me, I never hitting him once. Finally, just before I was completely beaten, I got this burst of speed, and blasted a right hook into the side of his jaw. After that needless to say, Greg vollied my body around the room for a bit, making it bounce off of different objects: bottles of water, toasters, tables...etc. After the humiliation in the room, I received an IM from Kayioz, were he said, "I haven't been hit like that in quite awhile, kid." He and I discussed T2 for awhile, where I finally just brought myself to ask for his assistance in training. I was accepted. He taught me that in order to become greater than anyone else out there, I'd have to look at the whole 7-10-7, and throw it out the window. He told me I was not allowd to fight anyone from that day forward, without his permission, with anything less than 10-10-10. I fought like that for quite awhile, realizing if I wanted to get faster, I'd have to suck it the hell up and just get faster in stead of complaining about the disadvantage. It was unreal how fast I developed speed-typing and the urge to just get faster, better, more intricate with my posts. I got rid of my Kenshin name after beating most of the Matrix Benders, realizing that by devoting yourself to simply one character, you limit yourself to power, which could be a weakness in the long-run.

In Training

I created Martial_Artist_Ken. With that character, I was able to change my fighting styles from primarily ground fighting to Tae Kwan Do with mixed Muai Thai, or any random combination of styles. Registering the endless possibilities of movement and counter abilities, I progressed very quickly, I thought. There were the few assholes I ran into such as: Will, Shawn, Damien (Not DamO), Peter, Josh, and a few others who constantly insisted on letting me know that I would never make it up the ranks in T2. This only drove me harder to believe that I was going to end up being the best and beating Greg, eventually leading to Greg's defeat 5-4 in a match just before he disappeared. Over a period of 3 months of constant T2ing I went from typing an average of 65 WPM to well over 130 WPM. I never thought that typing so fast was something a person could do, yet once achieved, I realized I was only just beginning in my career of a T2er.

The T2 Trainer

I've made various other names, which I will list at the end of this bio, but on to the one everyone knows me by, T2_Trainer. By the time I was well enough known by the entire T2 community and then some. I told myself "I no longer want to be apart of the clan wars...Random battles and conflict. I want to be that deciding icon if something gets out of hand. I want to be that last resort in the decision of win or lose." So, I went to create the T2_Trainer name, and didn't think I'd get it, seeing as most of the other names I wanted had already been taken. Sure enough, I got it, and it stuck. I would go into a room and simply ask for students, and have anywhere from ten to twenty students get into a conference with me, and only have no more than five make it out of the first day of training. In my time as a trainer, my students would never fail to ask "Have you ever been beaten?" "Are you really that fast, or do you just copy and paste?" "If your so fast, who do you train with. You teach us to train with people our speed and a bit faster, who can keep up with you?" I guess it never really made an impact until after reading some of the bios posted, but to answer some questions: Yes, I've been beaten on many occasion, but let it be known that it isn't the loss of the match that decides if you are the winner or the loser. It's how you present yourself after the match that declairs the winner. Anyone can gain the speed it takes to beat me, anyone can gain the skill it takes to over-power me, but I will still get up and congratulate them their victory along with the short note of, "Don't you dare slack off, give me one week and I'm going to tear you apart." As far as me being as fast as I once was, yes, I am actually a very proficent typist. At one point in time, correct me if I'm wrong, but I was clocked at roughtly 235 WPM while in a tournament. God forbid I remember who I was fighting, but after I had won the match, I got about six I.M.'s saying the exact same things for different people in the conference area. But to further prove this fact, I've also fought multipal enemies at the same time, so that it is virtually impossible to copy and paste names and attacks in the short amount of time I have between posts. I'm sure a few of the T2ers can testify on this, seeing as I used to do it on a regular basis. Now then, as far as how I got my typing speed up and who I trained with. In order to keep my prime, I would fight several people at the same time, and win or lose, I would continue to do it over and over again, until I did win that set of people. Once I beat them, I would go onto a faster group of people. Looking back, I remember challenging a room and getting slaughtered. I also remember in that match, out of the fifteen people who I was fighting, only six were remaining as having no less than three hits on them from me. As for one-on-one matches, I never met any individual that I was not able to be consecutively five matches in a row, but I fought the following to keep my game up: Greg, Nate, Rob, Trey, Kit, DamO, Aaron, Matt and a few others.

All of the previously listed are assholes. But all of them are like brothers to me. Sure, I might have only verbaly spoken to a few of them, but online, I knew they had my back in any situation at any given point in time. If I were in a room, and something was getting out of hand that I knew I wasn't going to win, some how one of these guys would happen to enter the room and have my back. Believe it or not, a few of these guys have saved me from getting completely owned by a group of people, but I couldn't let them know that at the time. All I could say to them was, "Why the hell did you interupt me for!? You ruined my plan!" If those guys didn't know it at the time, they do now, you guys saved my ass. At any point in time, they knew they could spar me, and I was up for it. They knew if I only had a few minutes of sleep for the past few days, I would go and train with them instead of going to sleep, just to see them progress in T2. Anyone in the T2ing community knew that I was more than open to advance anyone who had a desire not just to T2, but to better themselves physically and mentally when it came to being put under extreme pressure. I made sure I did everything I could to put each of my T2ing comrades under the most intense pressure I could, just to see how they'd react to the detailed post of nothing more than prepping of energy or a very drawn-out body placement of my entity. Teaching T2, though, stretched beyond just textually fighting someone into manipulation of winning the match. I would get to know my students well enough to understand their personallity so that I could better relate and understand where they came from, so my lessons to them didn't just stricly stick to online. Characteristics such as, not showing off your talent to people not as gifted, accepting others into a community, instead of rejecting them becuase they had some differences or lacked an ability, and other aspects I thought were vital to build as not just a T2ist but as a person.

In my classes I offered different levels of T2 courses. T2 Regular. T2 Royal. T2 Complete and my Tips and Tricks session. Only until the individual completed all the T2 courses could they have the Tips and Tricks session taught to them. This involved anything from, debris moving from the ground, flying into the air, and comming down later on in the middle of the fight. Kicking different objects around, and using them as prep attacks for a chain of events. Magic spells and casting preps. Elemental and Ki based attacks. The list just went on and on during that course, and although it was the hardest for the student to get to, it was my favorite class because of how creative you were able to be. My one rule was Accuracy before Speed, and if you ask any of my prevous students, any of them can tell you I enforced it very strictly. Never once did I ever ask for perfection from my students...I demanded it.

...to be continued

...continued

Once Upon A Student...

Only one student that I've ever had in my T2ing career, was able to make me sit back at my computer at night, and pound into the ground with every ounce of my person, just to make them better and have the "straight edge" appearance when they went into a T2ing match. He knows who he is, his name is Trey. I swear I would spend every ounce of energy just beating that kid into the ground, until literlaly he didn't even want to T2 anymore. Many times he would hint that he wanted to quit T2ing, but would never say it to me. During those times, as any good teacher would do, I'd ask him into a T2 fight, and fight almost as hard as I could, getting the score up to 4-4. That's when the pressure hit. I would make sure he wouldn't break his form, technique, or concentration when the next hit was win or lose. I would always distance myself from him, and make sure his entity was back on his feet before the next movement. His excitement was basically pouring online. I could tell he was so eager to beat me, being so tired of the "5-4 Ken wins". He would swing, and I'd deliberatly dodge his attack, and move out of his range again. This would make him second-guess on how to attack me, and what angle to approach from. Finally, I was off of the net for no more than a week because of home issues, thank you Mom, and when I got back on that following Saturday Trey approached me in an I.M. and very boldly challenged me. He insisted on telling me how great he was, and how, no matter what, he wasn't going to lose. We started. The match went. 1-0 Me. 2-0 Me. 3-0 Me. 3-1 Me. 3-2 Me. 3-3 Tied. Honestly, I almost couldn't believe it. At that point in time, I stopped being stupid, put down my XBOX controller, and turned off Halo. I faced the computer all the way, and he and I went at it for what seemed to be hours. The score stayed 3-3 forever, neither of us hitting the other, and posts scrolling up the screen at almost an unimmaginable rate. 4-3 Trey. I had been hit, and it was about this point where I realized this kid was going to win. Up until this point, I hadn't used any of my seven styles of fighting on my students, but in a win or lose situation with a very aggressive student, you really have no choice. So, I froze time using all proper posts and preps as well as his character in place. 4-4 Tied. He didn't like that very much. He cursed, and yelled, and called alot of names which I will not put on this bio, but the end result was 5-4 Me. This is when his hunger for the style of fighting, instead of the whole speedy fist, elbow, knee, and foot thing, skyrocket'ed. He'd ask questions about how certain types of preps work, what does he need for different types of energy-based attackes. He had more questions than I had the time to answer for in one night at a time. I'd tell him to jot down his questions,and first thing the next day, we'd get started on answering and reviewing anything he had for me. I'm sure you're asking yourself if Trey ever did beat me, and the answer is yes. He used one of my own techniques against me, and although it wasn't as proficient as one comming from me, the concept that he grasped from completing the attack successfully was more than enough to say "Good Game Trey, 5-4. You Beat Me." He about lost his mind from that moment on, progressing in different styles and asking more questions about scenery and such.

Some Insight

Earlier I mentioned my seven styles of fighting. Those who fought me on a regular basis knew them very well. 1. Neo Matrix. 2. Super Sayajin. 3. Rod Wielder. 4. Ninjitsu 5. Tae Kwan Do 6. Shadow Step 7. Twin Katana. At the beginning of any given match I would ask either the group to agree on a number, or the individual to pick a number one through seven. One being my most proficient fighting style, to seven being my oldest fighting style. Once it was chosen, the game began. The reaction I got from so many was priceless. As anything became a weapon. If someone posted they hit the ground hard, I would elaborate and say something along the lines of "with the plank underneeth the form of _______ being compressed with such force, wood debris entangled with nails flew up moving over to ______'s body" That messed alot of people up.

1. Neo Matrix- This style developed obviously from the movie trilogy "The Matrix", where Neo had those bad-ass special abilities. I wanted to harness those abilities and bring them into T2, so I did. In this style my opponents knew this was my most intracate style, thus involving the most posts and preps for any single attack outside a normal punch or kick. Special abilities were freezing time, explaining the 360 degree angle rotation from any completion of attack that I wanted. Bullet time for those in the surrounding area. This caused everyone in the fight to have to double post any given attack, dodge, counter, and connection for validation of the manuver. This did include myself.

2. Super Sayajin- Any of you who watched the whole Dragon Ball Z ordeal can probably guess what this style is just by seeing the name description. It was nothing more than using the channeling of Ki through the body and forcing it out into spheres of energy to launch at the enemy. Coordinating and "chasing" the enemy with one ki blast, teleportation, and finally the advancement into Super Sayajin. The big deal with this is, and why it ranks so high, is because it is another extremely descriptive style to do, requiring many posts and preps to do various attacks and techniques for completion. Just going from a normal fighting mode, into a Super Sayajin Level One, I believe I would post up to three or four posts, describing individual parts or composures of my body that changed during the process, until I finally was satisfied enough to complete the transformation.

3. Rod Wielder- This style, by far, was the most common used style out of all of seven. For some reason people were compelled to get the lucky number three when they came to an agreement or just randomly picked. As simple as it sounds, it involved the quick gesturing and rather complex manipulation of a simple metal staff. Aside to brute force of the weapon I would use this staff to do anything from hovering over the enemy, to using it as a boomerang, or as just as a projectile. Special manuvers of this fighting style was that I would use the element of wind as a basis for attack, from the sheer speed and accuracy of any given swing. If you ask any of those who T2'd me in this style, I was lethal.

4. Ninjitsu- Aside from Rod Wielder, this style ranked as another highly used style of fighting. This style consisted of non-stop movement involving flips, outrageous twists, and gestures that were completely unnecessary for the match alltogether. Many knew this style becuase through this style I would flip up and land on people's head and peer aound to view the other opponents in the area. Of course, I'd flip off before the subject had time to reach up and try an attack, but it was the fact and concept I wanted to portray that I did, indeed, stand on your head during the match, and there was nothing you could do about it. Aside from that, this style dealt with one simple blade, some throwing stars, and smoke bombs for confusion purposes.

5. Tae Kwan Do- Moreso than not, I'm not really sure why this style kept the name. It should have just been put as Kickboxing or something along those lines. Primarily in this style, I'd spend the entire fight keeping the opponent occupied with kicks, knees, and shin-based attacks. Anything from switching from left stance, to right stance, confusing the opponent with foot-placement and distance movement, so on and so fourth. Soon this style just faded out as no one really picked the number five very often.

6. Shadow Step- No, I did not get this style from World of Warcraft. I T2'd long before I even knew of the game, and longer still sat down and actually played the game. The only thing real special about this, other than the age of the style itself, was the advacement in literally stepping through shadow, and realitive dimension to advance on the opponent. The advantage to this technique is if I had hold of an opponent, and stepped through into either shadow or another dimension, soon to revert back to the natural earthly plain, the opponent would be stuck in shadow or in the other dimension. This would cause the opponent to lose instantly, considering I did the propper posting and prepping, which I normally did.

7. Twin Katana- This style dates back to my Kenshin days, as previously mentioned. I was so fast at spelling the word "katana" that I could literaly have that word, alone, three or four times in a post, giving me the advantage in words typed depending on the person I was fighting. I was always good at keeping up which blade was extended, and which one was retracted for defense. At any given time I could pull the "bullshit" card on someone who did a completely illogical move, such as moving their hand out to grab my wrist, and at the same time, with the same hand, attempt to punch me. This, in itself, would be considered a voided attack due to the illogical gesture. People hated me for it.

In summary, very few people developed as many styles of fighting styles as I did, simply because of the confusion and mixing of styles. For me it was all a visual thing. If I could visualize what I was typing, and the actions that were taking place as they were being posted, it just became a mind game. And once you realize that it was only a matter of word-play and confusion, the game became very easy to manipulate and progress in over time with experience.

Looking Back

Overall T2 was, indeed, a very real part of my life and will never be overlooked and needless to say never forgotten. Yes, to some you may only see this as kids on the internet wasting time to stay up and chat to people they'll never meet, but those who served as my fellow T2ers in my time know who I was and what we as a group stood for. We were those guys you had that uneasy feeling around, just by joining the room and looking at our font. We were the individuals who, at any given moment, could go from a mild 120 WPM friendly conversation into a very distinct-logical and furthermore complex conversation in a split second, raising up to 160 WPM plus, to put you in your place. As it stands, we are The Voices Of T2, we are what I consider to be the backbone of modern day T2, seeing as all the "Founding Fathers" left us to carry it on. In the event I could, I would recruit as many T2ers back to Yahoo and try this whole thing over again, just to give that experience to another generation of speed-typists. Thanks for all of your time, I'll be around. This concludes my bio, I wish I had the time to write more in-depth, but by now I'm more than positive you're tired of reading. If you take one thing from me, take this, "There are those who are, and those who wish they were. Who are you?"

-=Kenith=-

AKA

T2_Trainer
Just_Another_Oldbie
T2_Logic
Ken_The_Modest_One
Ken_Rod_Wielder
Matrix_Bender_Ken
Ken_God_Of_Murder
Tactical_T2
Anarchist_Ken
Martial_Artist_Ken
Kenshin_Himura05

Dude, you seem to get me and Damo confused alot. I never ever told anyone that they wouldn't make it up the ranks of T2. I prided myself in helping, before putting down. The only time I put anyone down is when they refused to learn. After all, you can't help those who refuse to help themselves, am I right? Damo was the type to put people down just because they weren't as good as him.

Can't say I remember it being that way, man. I specficially remember Matrix Bender Damien as just another one of those guys who saw a threat headed their way and was going to do whatever he could, textually, to prevent an uprising out of that person. Couldn't handle defeat...I do remember DamO and I got along very well though.

<_< I don't know much about how Damien acted then, but I do know that last time I checked Damien wasn't worried about a fight..

As mentioned in the Bio, during my time of T2, there was no one that I could not beat. Some could feel threatened by this, is all I'm saying. Regardless on anyone else's perception, this is how I distinctly remember it, I cannot help it if you do not agree.

-=Kenith=-

What time are we talking about exactly, anyways? The only time I remember that possibly being so is when I CAME BACK to Yahoo in about two thousand and six. When I left in two thousand and four I remember you were still in maybe the mid ranks of T2 hanging around us on your Martial Artist Ken? name(That is the only one I saw on the list that coulda been right, although for some reason something Neo Matrix sounds more about right.), and at that time I have never lost a T2 to you. I didn't lose one to you until I came back to Yahoo. Then you completely owned me, and I never once got defensive or anything. Bashed myself maybe, for losing the touch..but never made a bash on you, or anyone else for not being able to T2, unless like I said, they refused to learn to do it properly.

... I heart you, Kenith. <3. -=Poses.=-

As for the time period, man. I'm not even sure. It's been so long since I've been off and on. All I remember is as I was growing in T2, with Greg as my teacher, you Shawn and a few others continiously degraded me. Look man, it's in the past. This whole thing is about my experience as I remember it. I'm very sorry if you have any disagreement with anything posted...There are some who remember things the same way I do, though. I don't really mean to offend you, it's just how the record plays in what memory I actually have.

-=Kenith=-