Kenko Nitai

Kenko Nitai - Ainu Brawler
Name: While she goes by Kenko, it is not her true name. Her true name is something she considers a closely-guarded secret.

Birthday: August 29
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Dark Brown
Height: 5'8"
Weight: Average
Handedness: Left
Hometown: Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan

Fighting Style: Boxer (Southpaw)

Boxing Style: Kenko is a Slugger, or Brawler, relying heavily upon her endurance and her strength to bash opponents to the ground before they do the same to her. She has often been characterized as a stone statue, standing firm under even the heaviest of barrages and hitting girls with punches that land like cement blocks. She has a limited reserve of speed that she can call upon for rapid-fire combinations during a critical moment.

Signature Moves:
Moyuk Punch - Named after the raccoon-dog, this is Kenko's term for her bolo punch, which she will break out roughly once per match. While she will use it offensively and defensively, she typically employs it while baiting her opponent to commit to their best punch, before using it as a devastating, often match-ending counter.

Yuk Style - Named after the sika deer, Kenko might change her guard to be looser and wider, leaning forward to keep her opponent close, seemingly leaving her own face exposed. But it's a calculated tactic that forces her opponent to settle for short, paltry jabs, while she herself wails on them with powerful hooks.

Kamuycep Punch - Named after the school of salmon. While Kenko typically isn't known for her speed, when the situation calls with it, she will summon up her resolve and unleash a lightning-fast flurry of incredibly powerful punches, aiming to completely overwhelm and break down her opponent's guard and leave her delirious, if not out cold.

Final Kamuy - Named after the brown bear. Kenko has taken an interest in understanding and harnessing the flow of energy through her body in a fight, and, though she's never had to use it, she believes that she can access another store of energy and use it up in one single, powerful left-handed punch, hitting her enemy with enough force to shatter bone.

Appearance:

Kenko Nitai:

Personality:
Kenko has been underestimated her whole life, and, because of that, she walks around with a massive chip on her shoulder. Being an Ainu in Japan has never been easy, and so Kenko has learned to be independent, self-reliant...and slow to trust strangers. She has a short fuse and a quick temper that can often get her into trouble, but if she ever warms up to someone, her loyalty is limitless.

History:
Kenko grew up in Muroran, a small industrial city on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaido. Though a large proportion of the city's population are Ainu, or of mixed Ainu and Japanese ancestry, life still wasn't easy, and Kenko always felt awkward, always felt like an outsider. Her Ainu name is something she keeps private between herself and her family, never sharing it even with her small group of friends.

Kenko was something of a runt during her teenage years, a late bloomer who was consistently one of the shortest children in school, even after hitting puberty. This prolonged awkward phase made it difficult for Kenko to make many friends, and she had a reputation as a loner. It wasn't until she was fourteen years old that she had her first true growth spurt, and even then she had gone from short and awkward to tall and gangly. But something clicked for her soon thereafter, and whereas she had once spent days at a time holed up in her room, she started jogging, then running, and visiting the school gym after hours to lift weights. Her first fight, a dispute with a volleyball player over equipment use, occurred during one of those late-night sessions, and ended with a bruised but triumphant Kenko claiming victory over the would-be bully. She knew immediately that the surge of adrenaline she felt during the fight was something she needed to experience on a regular basis.

Since then, Kenko's life has been largely dedicated to training in various disciplines. While she is a professional boxer, she also has MMA experience—but regardless of the competition she is a striker through and through. Undefeated in five fights in Hokkaido's top boxing league, Kenko has taken the opportunity to sign a developmental contract with AFW and come to Tokyo, knowing that the foes who await her there will likely underestimate her just as all those before did.

Trivia:
- Kenko's favorite meal is a traditional Ainu sampling of smoked venison and kampoca rataskep, which include mashed Japanese pumpkin, roasted pine nuts, and shikerebe berries.

- Her favorite guilty pleasure snack are pork rinds imported from the U.S.

- Kenko has a secret collection of very cute manga that she keeps hidden in her apartment.

- Kenko has never traveled outside of Japan, and has only learned English in the last year before she arrived in Tokyo.