It seemed she really had noticed.
Thinking this, Anjing Zhen nodded.
"Your strength is exceptional even among Japanese Horse Girls, but that makes your body harder to control than other people's. It's also the key reason other Trainers think you can only run short distances.
"To give you an imperfect comparison, imagine everyone else's fist weighs one ton, while yours weighs ten. After training, your fist would obviously hit harder.
"But without enough training, your fist would actually be harder to control."
"My fist... Ten tons is a bit much, Trainer."
She held up her little fist and looked at it. Kitasan Black gave a silly grin, then nodded.
"But I think I understand what you mean, Trainer. So how should I practice?"
"Good. I'm glad you understand."
Anjing Zhen nodded approvingly, then patiently explained:
"Controlling your strength is complicated. It involves a wide range of factors, so strength is only the outward sign of the problem.
"What I want to talk about is one of those factors: your gait and Running Stance."
He gripped the training-ground fence and lifted both feet off the ground.
"When I watched the videos over the last few days, I noticed that your gait was all over the place. Your rhythm was a complete mess.
"Most of the time, the gait you use in races is the 'Gallop.'
"Simply put, the front feet land, then the hind feet land, then the front feet again, then the hind feet. After that comes a brief airborne phase, and the cycle repeats."
As he spoke, he slowly demonstrated the gait Japanese Horse Girls used specifically for racing.
"If you use each airborne phase as a dividing point, one 'Gallop' has four instances of ground contact, so you can think of it as having a 'four-beat' rhythm.
"But the only gait you use in training isn't the Gallop. There's also the 'Canter.'
"Front feet, hind feet, front feet, then airborne—that's the 'three-beat' rhythm of the Canter.
"The rhythms of these two gaits are completely different. Usually, a Japanese Horse Girl will lose her rhythm or slow down when she runs. More often, she'll do both.
"And you, my Little Kita..."
After demonstrating the Canter, Anjing Zhen let go of the fence and landed on the ground. He gave an amused smile.
"You somehow managed a pretty decent training speed while randomly switching between three-beat and four-beat rhythms. Should I call you a genius, or a genius?"
Kitasan Black froze for a moment, then scratched her head and grinned foolishly.
"Ehehe, Trainer, you don't have to praise me so much..."
Wait, she can't tell I'm being sarcastic?
Feeling a little choked, Anjing Zhen rubbed his forehead, then fell into thought.
Extreme Acrobatics involved a great deal of fighting and martial arts. To master their essence, he needed a thorough understanding of the human body and injuries.
That knowledge might not make him the best in the industry at training Japanese Horse Girls, but it would certainly give him a lot of unique insights.
Especially since he had already roughly compared the timelines. This world was more than ten years behind his previous one, so many of his ideas could be considered quite advanced.
The overall level of Japanese Horse Girl racing wasn't particularly high, which gave him even more room to put those ideas to use.
Take strength control, for example.
If the other Trainers at the Academy knew how to help Kitasan Black fully control all her abilities, she would have made a name for herself in no time. There would have been no need for him to coach her.
Since that hadn't happened, and the records described Kitasan Black as "only good at short-distance races," he could only conclude that those people really had failed to recognize her talent.
His own weakness was also obvious.
In both his previous life and this one, he had no experience dealing with girls around Kitasan Black's age.
And the experience of an Extreme Acrobat wasn't exactly the same as a coach's. If he wanted to keep guiding her, help her fully realize her potential, and turn her into an outstanding Japanese Horse Girl, he would have to figure things out and learn as he went.
For example, now that he knew she was a straightforward girl with a somewhat careless streak, he'd better avoid talking in circles from now on.
"I'm not praising you. Don't forget that I said your gait was a complete mess from the start. Switching randomly between two gaits is not a good thing."
Having reached a new decision and understanding, he explained things directly. When Kitasan Black's smug expression instantly froze, Anjing Zhen thought for a moment and tried to sound reassuring.
"But don't worry. If I've pointed out the problem, it means I have a solution.
"Come with me."
He gestured for Kitasan Black to hand over the tablet and Stopwatch she was holding. Then he headed toward the classroom building.
Kitasan Black followed automatically, glancing back at the field in confusion.
"Trainer, are we... not going to keep training here?"
Scrolling through the tablet, Anjing Zhen answered casually:
"No need for now.
"You have basic training classes on your regular schedule, and I'll come watch those later.
"So next, I'm going to arrange some special training for you."
The Central Treisen Academy's schedule was similar to that of other high schools. Mornings and afternoons until three or four were filled with various academic classes, along with some outdoor lessons.
Besides regular subjects like language and math, academic classes also covered general knowledge about Japanese Horse Girl racing, such as the rules, racecourses, and the sport's history.
Outdoor classes involved athletic training like running and swimming, but they were only basic lessons.
After signing an agreement with a Trainer, a Japanese Horse Girl's assigned Trainer would arrange specialized training based on her individual needs once classes ended in the morning and afternoon.
It was training time after classes now. Quite a few Japanese Horse Girls had been doing specialized training on the field earlier, and as they walked through the area, they could see others working hard on the various grounds along the way.
Instead of going into the classroom building, they went to the Dance Hall in the multipurpose building.
The Dance Hall was huge. It looked as if more than a hundred people could exercise there at once without a problem.
There weren't too many people training—around thirty or so.
Three teachers were each leading a group of more than ten Japanese Horse Girls through dance steps, leaving plenty of open space.
As soon as they entered the Dance Hall, Anjing Zhen was about to greet the teachers when Kitasan Black suddenly whispered:
"Ah! It's Crown-chan..."
At that, Anjing Zhen couldn't help glancing at Kitasan Black, who had covered her mouth and was gazing at the other girl with admiration. Then he followed her gaze to a Japanese Horse Girl practicing dance.
The girl had long black hair and dark green eyes. As she stretched her waist and moved gracefully from one pose to the next, a faint, confident smile played on her face.
Judging by her arm movements and the steps she took, she was clearly the best dancer among the Japanese Horse Girls practicing there.
"Crown... Satono Crown?"
Thinking of the name Kitasan Black had just mentioned, Anjing Zhen quickly recalled a file.
"The young lady from the Satomi family?"
"Mm-hmm! She and her little sister are in my class. Oh, and Diamond-chan and I are roommates!"
Kitasan Black's voice unconsciously grew louder, and she sounded a little excited.
"Crown-chan is amazing. She debuted last year and even won twice in a row! She's just incredible!"
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