>Is there an inconsistency here, or am I seeing things? Wouldn't Kate
>have to get permission from Gryphon-as-Sensei to take part in the IDS
>(above and beyond any permission the school might require from Gryphon
>and Kei as parents)? Wouldn't each member the IDS have to be screened
>by Gryphon-as-Sensei, as Utena was, before Kate is allowed to face
>them in some IDS activity? Where's the difference between the two
>situations, because I'm having a hard time seeing it. The difference, basically, is that Kaitlyn and Utena are training together, face to face, blade to blade, every day, usually for a couple of hours at a stretch. They're sharing what used to be Kate's daily solo workout, from 4 to 6 in the afternoon. As such, they're having a lot of martial contact, and that will inevitably cause a bleeding-together of their styles.
In the context of the Duelists' Society, there isn't nearly so much intermixing. Kate can hardly spend two hours a day training with each and every individual Duelist, nor would she particularly want to. The Society doesn't train together like, say, the Fencing Club or the school soccer team do; for the most part, they only cross swords for actual duels, which aren't all that frequent, nor do they last all that long. Occasionally a couple of Duelists will pair off for sparring - T'skaia and Juri, for instance, in A Question of Faith, but by and large they don't train together the way Kate and Utena do.
Kaitlyn's prospective opponents for duels don't have to be evaluated, since as a journeywoman she's expected to defend herself against any challenger as a matter of course. It's only fully-involved, regular-basis, high-time training partners she feels concerned about Gryphon's opinion of.
(It's also worth pointing out that Kate is more concerned with the issue than Gryphon is; he basically squared off with Utena to humor Kate, and because he was curious about her.)
--G.
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Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/