5th bell on 23th of Fall, 513 AV Anthonious Fighter Pits Ethan got up this morning and felt tried from all the training around his hands and feet. Lucas and Ser Titus had taught him a great deal, but it was time to learn his weapon and shield. Ethan went over to the armor stand in his room, the stand contained all his armor and weapons. The fur-hide leather armor still shone with polish, even though small wrinkles were developing at the joints from his training. Ethan touched the skin on his body, several areas had started to toughen up from the wearing, his skin no longer chafing red by wearing the armor for long periods. He hoped to never have to sleep in the armor, but at least now while he did his running it didn’t feel like a horrible burden. Slowly, he undid the straps and buckles. His helmet he placed on the table and after placing a worn shirt over his chest did he go through the motion of putting on the leather breast plate and back. Buckling the sides well he placed the shoulders on next and strapped them in. Taking too long straps Ethan tied the steel round shield to the back of his armor. Gerald provided the weapons, but the shield and armor had to come from the client. Ethan had slowly been adding pieces of armor throughout his training, even now he couldn’t wear all he had and put in a full work out. The only thing that Ethan could think of was to continue practicing with the armor and one day eventually he would be able to do it all. Ethan took out five gold mizas from his savings, the price of one of Gerald’s training sessions. In a way, Ethan was jealous of the Knighthood, for Ethan had to work to make sure that he was able to eat and cloth himself. The Knighthood was able to focus on their training, and that was it. Sure they had to patrol, but for the most part they could focus on training. Ethan on the other hand had to dip into his savings to train as hard as he did. He had gone by Ros at the Ironworks and explained to him what he was doing. As a favor, Ros allowed Ethan to work a night shift at the foundry when he wanted to. It meant that one of the foundry guys got to work a lot more at the forge and Ethan was be making significantly less money, but if he was to go looking into old alloys and foundries, he needed to train. So here was Ethan, running through the corridors until he got to the Pits. Ethan looked up at the sky, three days ago a major storm had passed Syliras and Ethan had been force to stop training for a couple of days. Instead, he went to the Ironworks and took a shift at the foundry. See that there was no rain, Ethan took off his shield and began running laps around the pits. His normal routine was about six miles which took him two bells to complete. What made up for the long amount of time that Ethan took was the fact that he would run a quarter mile and stop to perform pushups, situps, pullsup and so forth. It was different with a shield, at certain locations Ethan was forced to put it down and start doing pushups, when he was done he would pick up the shield and run to the next station in which he would perform exercises. As the 7th bell rang, Gerald came out and started loading the weapon racks. Ethan had become such and common sight at the pits in the morning that Gerald allowed him to help. As always it was a silent endeavor, even though Gerald saw that today Ethan was carrying a shield with him. Once the weapons, were out Gerald did his own morning routine to work out his muscles and start warming up. Ethan on the other hand started early on the punching post, toughen up his knuckles and shins to sustain blows. As Gerald completed his routine, Ethan went over to him and asked the question, “You ready to accept students?” Gerald raised an eyebrow and nodded. “Then I would like a lesson in the Spatha.” Gerald seemed surpised at the choose, the Alahea Empire’s early soldiers had used the Gladius and because some people kept family swords Gerald had kept blunted copies of them in his weapon racks. Yet, the Spatha was a longer and thinner blade then the Gladius and was used as a cavalry weapon. Eventually the Empire replaced the Gladius with the Spatha as it had a longer reach and later changed it to the Longsword, trying to accommodate the longer reach with the thicker frame. On the upside the thin blade and longer reach for a single hand weapon was better than a lot of the shorter weapons. Ethan would need to practice the weapon like a Longsword without the two hand exercises, and constantly practice with his shield. Gerald went back to the store room and grabbed a Spatha. It was going to be an unusual day if his first lesson was any indication. Gerald carried with him a Longsword, without a shield. Ethan was a first time student and would have to go through the very basics before he could even really duel. Though hopefully he would find someone to drill with that wouldn’t beat him every few seconds and then humiliate him. Handing the weapon to Ethan, he began to speak. “The first thing about sword fighting is the feet. Just like Ser Maximus taught you when you were through fists, the same thing goes for feet. In the yard and on hard pounded dirt you can expect perfect footing, but on the street or in a field your feet will be uneven and possible be able to trip on something. So first understand where you are standing and what are some of the things that could trip you. As you battle don’t ever forget where you are fighting, your world is should never be bigger than the apartment you fight in. If you find you need more room then you are losing, additionally if you and the other person is evenly matched the terrain could very well give you and edge in the fight. So unlike fighting you want to make sure your stance is tighter then shoulder width. You will need a smaller frame to move back and forth. The feet needed to be able to glide across the terrain in half circles. So first we will work on the footing for a back and forth fight, for example a hallway fight and then we will work on an open area fight. So watch my feet as we start off.” Ethan watched the man’s feet as he moved backwards and then forwards. There were several different steps that Ethan couldn’t understand, but he kept working on it for five or so chimes, when Gerald began to move to his left and right. The leg movements were very similar to some of the fighting stances, but Ethan’s upper body was more tucked in to prevent backward or forward slashes. Gerald also told him that it was more effective use of the shield, since showing a smaller target presented less risk. After, ten chimes Gerald stopped Ethan, his footwork was sloppy, but the more Ethan practice the more he would get better. At least he has the basic pattern’s, Gerald thought. “Next, since you have chosen a lighter sword then your main defense will be the shield. First, we will practice with the shield and then place it down to work on your sword work. To understand how to protect yourself with a shield, you should know its purpose. The shield is a large blunt object that is meant to deflect and open your opponent to your weapon. In order for it to deflect strikes it is very important how you angle your shield. First, hold it straight in front of your body.” Ethan held it straight like a wall in front of him. Gerald stepped for with thrust of his dulled Longsword and struck the shield. The strike hit the shield hard and Ethan felt it hit high. His arm temporary numbed from the blow allowed the shield to tilt upward and the point of the sword came over the top of the shield and close to Ethan’s head. “Now hold the shield diagonal to our body in a comfortable angle to your shoulder. Allow the top of the shield to be about your mouth level.” Gerald helped adjust Ethans form a little bit. “Now when you see my strike coming tense up your arm and after the hit start moving the shield upward.” Gerald took a slow step forward and thrusted towards Ethan’s eyes. Ethan lifted the shield to protect his eyes, and tensed up his arm. Though the strike didn’t have a great deal of power, the steady force from the blow moved the tip of the weapon upwards and then Ethan began moving the shield up. His natural shoulder movement forced the shield to the left and Ethan saw Gerald expose for a strike. Gerald taught Ethan all the guard positions with the shield for another fifteen to twenty chimes. “Ok, Ethan put the shield down. Now for the blade, first lets work on the grip.” Gerald gave Ethan instructions on how to hold the sword so that the hilt was always at a certain angle to his forearm and hand. Next, he showed Ethan how to make eight slashes and how to perform a thrust. “The basic slashes and thrusts are the key to most victories. Most fighters out there only know those steps and basic drills of those steps. The thrust is a great tool for weapon you have a shield. Quick and decisive, a good thrust can stop the forward movement of your opponent and make them defend. Now, we will start with your sword point at eye level and your hand placed near your hip. See how the angle of the blade provides coverage across your body. So in order to do the thrust take a step back to your other foot, lower your point and push forward with your back foot extending…. Good. Now since you have been training with shield you expect your hand to have something in it to protect you. Go ahead and place it on your other hip or hold it backwards for balance. Might seem strange to you but the last thing you want is your other hand getting in the way of a strike. Now slashing is about using the blade to chop through your opponent. When the blade comes down it will need to be somewhere in the middle of the blade to impact the body of the opponent and as you continue with the strike, the bladed will go down and slide out to the top.” Gerald and Ethan worked for thirty chimes on the thrusts. Gerald took a moment and saw they he didn’t have any additional clients so he decided to extend the lesson a little more. “Lastly, how to defend yourself with the blade… Remember, how we started with the grip.” Ethan nodded. “As a person strikes and you counter with your blade, it’s important to make sure that you first hit the angled flat of the blade and then slowly roll onto the edge till the blade comes to rest on your hilt.” Gerald slowly showed Ethan the moved he was talking about by having Ethan perform a diagonal downward slash. “Watch as my backward step, brings the blade upward in an arc to catch as much of the area around my body as possible. Next, see how I roll my wrist so that the flat hits first and then rolls to the edge. This protects your blade from nicks or cracks. Finally, as I take the last step back I thrust the hilt above and to the side of my head. That way no one can continue with the strike and split my head open. Now I have an additional four parries to show you, they all contain the rolling to the edge, but from different angles.” Gerald and Ethan went back and forth for additional thirty chimes practicing the techniques. Finally, Gerald had Ethan practice with his shield striking and blocking, then he asked Ethan to put it down and try without. Ethan was tired by the end of the bed, his muscles weren’t used to the movement but he still had strength in his arms. “And that is the final lesson. Keep working on those stances and movements perhaps in twenty or thirty days you we can have another lesson. Unless you want me to look you over in a few days to see how your form is?” Gerald raised an eyebrow and Ethan shook his head. If nothing else Lucas would help him. Ethan unbuckled a few straps and reached into his leather armor to hand Gerald his payment. Gerald laughed, Ethan had been listening to too many ex-mercenary stories, but was glad for the business and left Ethan to continue to practice his forms and softly drill for the rest of the day. == 11th bell== Business in the pits was picking up as the rain was only a soft precipitation and the fighters were working out. Ethan was off to the side practicing his movements with the sword and shield. |