It seemed she really had noticed.
Thinking this, Yasui Makoto nodded and said:
"Your strength is exceptional even by Uma Musume standards, but that also makes your body harder to control than other people's. It's the main reason other Trainers think you can only run short distances.
"To use a not entirely apt comparison, imagine someone else's fist has the force of one ton, while yours has the force of ten. After training, yours would certainly hit harder.
"But without enough training, your fist would actually be harder to control."
"My fist... Ten tons is a bit much, isn't it, Trainer?"
She raised her little fist in front of her and looked it over. Hokubu Genkoma gave a silly grin, then nodded.
"But I think I get what you mean, Trainer. So how should I practice?"
"Good. I'm glad you understand."
Yasui Makoto nodded approvingly, then patiently explained:
"Controlling your strength is complicated and depends on a lot of factors, so strength is just the surface-level issue.
"What I want to talk about is one of those factors: your gait and running form."
He gripped the training-ground railing and lifted both feet off the ground.
"While watching the recordings these past few days, I noticed your gait was all over the place. Your rhythm was a complete mess.
"In most races, you use a gait called the 'Assault Step.'
"Simply put, the front foot lands, then the back foot, then the front again, then the back again, followed by a brief airborne phase. Then the cycle repeats."
As he spoke, he demonstrated the gait used by Uma Musume in races in slow motion.
"If we take each airborne phase as a dividing point, one Assault Step has four points of contact with the ground, so you can think of it as a 'four-beat' gait.
"But the gait you use in training isn't just the Assault Step. You also use a 'run.'
"Front foot, back foot, front foot, then airborne—that's the 'three-beat' rhythm of a run.
"The two gaits have completely different rhythms. Usually, an Uma Musume will either lose her rhythm or slow down when she runs. More likely, she'll do both.
"And you, my Xiao Bei..."
After demonstrating the running gait, Yasui Makoto released the railing and landed on the ground, chuckling.
"Somehow you managed to run at a decent training speed while randomly switching between three and four beats. Should I call you a genius, or a genius?"
Hokubu Genkoma froze for a moment, then scratched her head and grinned sheepishly.
"Ehehe, Trainer, you really don't have to praise me so much..."
...Did she seriously not realize I was being sarcastic?
Feeling a little suffocated, Yasui Makoto rubbed his forehead, then fell into thought.
Limit Special Skill involved a great deal of fighting and martial arts. To master its essence, you needed a thorough understanding of the human body and injuries.
Applying that knowledge to training Uma Musume might not make him the best Trainer in the field, but it would certainly give him a lot of unique insights.
Especially since he had already made a rough comparison: this world's timeline was more than ten years earlier than his previous life, so many of his ideas could be considered quite advanced.
The overall standard of the Japanese Uma Musume World wasn't particularly high, which gave him even more room to make a difference.
Take strength control, for example.
If the other Trainers at the academy knew how to help Hokubu Genkoma fully control her various abilities, she would soon become famous. There would have been no need for him to coach her.
Since that hadn't happened, and her file described her as "only good at short-distance races," the only conclusion was that those people really couldn't recognize talent.
His own shortcomings were obvious, too.
In both his previous life and this one, he'd had no experience with girls as young as Hokubu Genkoma.
And his experience as a Limit Special Skill practitioner and coach wasn't exactly the same as a Trainer's. If he wanted to keep guiding her and help her realize all her potential, becoming an excellent Uma Musume, he would have to figure things out and learn as he went.
For example, now that he knew she was a somewhat impulsive and straightforward girl, he should probably use fewer roundabout expressions from now on.
"I'm not praising you. Don't forget, I said at the start that your gait was a complete mess. Switching randomly between two gaits is not a good thing."
Having reached a new decision and understanding, he explained it plainly. Seeing the smug look on Hokubu Genkoma's face freeze, Yasui Makoto thought for a moment, then tried to sound reassuring.
"But don't worry. If I've pointed out the problem, I've got a way to solve it.
"Come with me."
He gestured for Hokubu Genkoma to hand over the tablet and stopwatch she was holding, then headed toward the school buildings.
Hokubu Genkoma followed automatically, glancing back at the athletic field in confusion.
"Trainer, are we... not going to keep training over there?"
Scrolling through the tablet, Yasui Makoto replied casually:
"Not for now.
"You have basic training classes, and I'll come watch those later.
"So next, I'm going to arrange some special training for you."
The schedule at Tracen Academy was similar to that of other high schools. Mornings and the hours before three or four in the afternoon were filled with academic classes, along with some outdoor lessons.
In addition to regular subjects like language and math, academic classes also covered general knowledge about Uma Musume races, such as race formats, racecourses, and the history of the sport.
Outdoor lessons included athletic training like running and swimming, but those were all basic instruction.
After signing an agreement with a Trainer, once the day's classes were over, each Uma Musume's assigned Trainer would arrange specialized training based on her individual needs.
It was training time after classes, and there had been plenty of Uma Musume training on the athletic field earlier. Along the way to the teaching area, they also passed other fields where students were hard at work.
Rather than go into a school building, they headed to the dance studio in the gymnasium.
The dance studio was huge. It looked like a hundred people could exercise there at once without any trouble.
There weren't too many people training, perhaps a little over thirty.
Three teachers each led a group of more than ten Uma Musume through dance steps, leaving plenty of space open.
As soon as they entered the studio, Yasui Makoto was about to greet the teachers when Hokubu Genkoma suddenly whispered:
"Ah! It's Crown-chan..."
At that, Yasui Makoto glanced unconsciously at Hokubu Genkoma, who had her hand over her mouth and was watching with admiration. Then he followed her gaze toward an Uma Musume practicing dance.
She had long black hair and dark green eyes. As she stretched her waist and turned gracefully, 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 Uma Musume practicing.
"Crown... Satono Crown?"
The name Hokubu Genkoma had just mentioned brought a file to mind.
"The young lady from the Satomi Family?"
"Mm-hmm! She and her younger sister are in my class. Oh, and I share a dorm room with Light Diamond-chan!"
Hokubu Genkoma's voice grew louder again, her excitement evident.
"Crown-chan is amazing! She made her debut last year, and she even won twice in a row! She's just incredible!"
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