Closed When Fists Fly (Ashka)

[Samuel Longwell]

Although Ashka had not managed to block any of Samuel's strikes, it seemed that she had learnt from the experience. Most importantly, she did not seem dismayed by the lack of success. A hint of a smile could be seen on her lips, and it seemed to Samuel that she was still enthusiastic about continuing training. He nodded in response to her words and signs. It was true that she needed practice, but nothing new could be learnt immediately. He too needed lots of practice in order to become proficient, only the fact that Ashka was completely new to unarmed combat meant that he was coming out on top.

“Yes,” Samuel replied, “we will do that next. Every time you punch, make sure to pull back fists to defend again.” He paused, then signed importance. “In real fight there can be many surprises. Biting, spitting, clawing. You must beware of enemy doing this.” His hands shaped beware as he spoke it, reinforcing his point. “In a practice we will not do these things, but when in real fight...” Samuel trailed off, shrugging and signing stay alive.

Once the pair had recovered enough to continue, Samuel stepped away and pulled his fists up. He signed attack, defend, then a brief moment later ready. He waited until his student showed she was ready before he began his attack. While he was waiting he considered how he would try and beat her if his life depended on it. He was far taller than Ashka and he had a greater reach. It was though he wielded a longer blade than she. He wondered if it would be possible to keep her at the perfect range where his punches would be able to reach her but her own strikes would fall short. He shook his head and focused on the fight. It was more important for Ashka to learn from him than it was for him to beat her.

At her signal, Samuel circled to his left. He would wait until she moved to face him before he struck. Perhaps at that moment she would be less balanced. He stepped in and jabbed twice, but had forgotten his own instructions and forgotten to pull his arms back to defend himself and was therefore open to a counterattack.

Many thanks to Prophet for the box code.

[Ashka Windrunner]

Pull back your fists after you punch. Ashka made a mental note of his advice and put it away in her brain next to all the others he already gave her. It would end up being a great deal of information to review when she'd decide to pursue her practice, but the effort of remembering it all would be worthy. The grin on her expression faded slightly at his mention of biting,clawing and all sorts of low blows that could be encountered during a real fight, but her gaze focused anew, eyes narrowed in determination. She gathered herself and brought her clenched fists up in defence while taking note of her teacher's instructions – attack,defend – although the afternoon heat from an unusually dry summer started to affect her fitness. The Drykas' heart pounded inside her chest and her panting breath seemed more and more difficult to keep under control.

She answered his gesture with her own ready sign and watched as Samuel started to circle around her, seemingly looking for a opening to attack on her side. Ashka forced herself to take deep, controlled inspirations, bringing much needed oxygen to her muscles and her brain, trying to keep her senses on alert. Her heart skipped a beat as the man lunged forwards, giant warrior against slim grassland girl, but luckily her warmed-up body reacted fast enough. She turned aside, facing him, and rose her forearms as to make his first blow slide outwards and away from her head. The second jab she almost missed, reflexes not yet honed sufficiently to anticipate all of the Syliran actions, but a last-minute step to the side spared her from being punched in the ribs. Once again she brought her guard up and steadied her feet beneath her, eyes scanning the situation prudently. The grey, piercing gaze focused on the warrior, his feet and position, then his arms and fists, and that's when she saw what could become her opportunity to attack like he had instructed her to do.

Samuel's hands were not positionned into a guard anymore; after his strikes, he had forgotten to raise them in defence again, so the redhead decided to try her chance. She bounced forward, throwing her right fist into an uncertain but swift blow to the man's mid-chest. Although her strategy was decent, her lack of technique and strength would most likely make the punch a weak one, considering it ever landed.

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel was glad when his student managed to turn away each of his punches, there had definitely been improvement since she had arrived. As he stepped back she dashed forwards and threw a jab at the large man, who couldn't get his hands in position to block in time. Samuel twisted back, managing to move enough that the Drykas' fist struck him in his right shoulder. It wasn't particularly painful, but Ashka had managed a solid strike. The Syliran took several steps back, signing his approval with a small smile.

“Good job,” he said, “you took advantage of your opponent's mistake, always good.” He rotated the arm she had hit, shaking it out a couple of times before lifting them back into his guard. “We do one more drill. I hold up my hand. You need to step in, hit, then block or dodge my counterattack. Will be good to improve your reflexes.” Attention. “I will start slow and speed up every time you strike.”

Samuel held up his left hand in front of his body and singed for Ashka to begin. As soon as her first punch struck he threw a gentle jab straight forward with his right hand. It was very similar to the punches she had been practising blocking, so he didn't expect her to have much of a problem with it. After the second punch he moved forward after her, throwing two punches in quick succession in the same style as before.

Now was the time to see how well Ashka was paying attention. Samuel had known when he started the exercise what he was going to do. He was going to kick, something that the young Drykas had not practised blocking. However, it could be pushed aside in a similar way to a punch and the large man had already warned Ashka about how fights could be unexpected. As her third punch struck his hand, Samuel leaned back slightly and pushed the sole of his foot towards his student's stomach. He wasn't particularly balanced and the kick lacked power, but that wasn't so important as all he was hoping to achieve was knock the young woman back.

Many thanks to Prophet for the box code.

[Ashka Windrunner]

The blow landed and at the contact of her knuckles against the man's armour, Ashka's eyes brightened: success ! She had managed to put his advices in practice and felt a small swell of pride growing in her chest. For the Drykas girl, used to being defeated by her brothers in every fight, this was no small victory. She beamed with satisfaction at Samuel's approval and signed a thanks in return.

While listening to his next instructions, the redhead let down her arms and opened and closed her hands rapidly, stretching the fingers that had became stiff from being clenched tight for a long time. The Syliran now introduced to her a new exercise which would force her to use everything she had been learning during this lesson. Nodding once more, she motioned her understanding before bringing her fists back into a guard and indicating the man she was ready.

He rose a hand which would be her target and beckoned her to attack. The young woman made sure to have her feet and legs steady under her and then lunged forward, her left fist thrown ahead to reach the new objective. She tried as much as she could to keep her balance and avoid stumbling by not pushing too much of her strength in the blow. As soon as she touched Samuel's hand, she withdrew her fist back quickly and had time to see the man's slow jab coming at her. Remembering the previous exercises, she blocked it and let it slide along her forearm like she had earlier before readying herself for a new attack.

This time she used her other hand, unsure if it would cause any confusion for her opponent but wanting to train both sides of her body. Once more the fist reached its destination and was pulled back to protect the Drykas' head; with a bit of luck and a swift reaction she managed to blocked the two following attacks. Her third punch flew a little more loosely, the excessive heat of the season and the tiredness of her strained muscles starting to take a toll on the Drykas girl, not to mention her novelty to martial arts doing little for her consistency.

Maybe it was all of those circumstances together or a lack of reflexes, but the counterattack Samuel used took the girl by surprise. She had time to see the kick coming up at her for it was relatively slow and not intending to hurt, but she didn't find a way to block it in time, and the man's boot's large sole came thrusting into her stomach. Ashka took a few steps back, mostly pushed by the strength of the Knight and partly because she had no idea of how to deal with this type of attack yet. She retreated, panting again. With her hands on the knees to recover, she motioned at her teacher.

"Don't know this, new, ignorance, what do I do now ?"

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel wasn't too surprised when his boot made contact with Ashka's armour, he had hoped it would be something that would catch her off guard. The kick knocked his student back, but Samuel also felt himself falling. He managed to bring his leg back down in time to prevent an embarrassing fall, stumbling slightly before managing to rebalance. He looked at his student, who seemed quite tired now. Her breaths came in gasps, but managed to force out a question. He let her rest for a moment, then gestured for her to stand up straight.

“Legs are stronger than arms, often best to dodge kicks,” Samuel explained “but you can try and block like a punch.” He signed push aside, then demonstrated the motion with his arms. “Turning away kick with hands can hurt.” Caution. “We will try this a few times slowly to practise.”

He then stepped forward and pushed his leg out slowly towards Ashka. As she deflected each kick, he advanced and kicked out with the other leg. Once he felt she had had a decent amount of practice he signed halt and relaxed out of his guard position. He smiled approvingly at his student.

“Well done, we are finished now.” He stepped over and helped her out of the armour, throwing the individual pieces to the ground. Once she was free of the dubious smelling leather, he scooped it up and took it back over to where it was stored and dumped it. He made a note to remember to sort it out later, then returned to his student. “Good to meet you Ashka, make sure you practise what I teach you. Practice will make your body ready for a real fight. I have another student coming now.” He pointed over to where a Drykas teenager was standing with a wooden sword, then signed goodbye to the red-headed woman.

Many thanks to Prophet for the box code.

[Ashka Windrunner]

Dodging kicks is better, or block them like a punch, she repeated silently for herself. Ashka straightened up, shaking her arms to work off some of the tiredness while she listened to Samuel's instructions. When the Syliran showed her the correct movement to block kicks, she imitated his motion, wanting to get a little practice before the next exercise. Once ready, she put her guard up and waited for her teacher to start. His leg came up towards her slowly and gently enough so that she managed to push it aside using the move Samuel had just taught her, a gesture alike the one used to block punches. He attacked again, this time from the other side, and Ashka had to practice the movement with her other arm.

The practice went on for a few more chimes, Ashka focusing hard while she felt an increasing weariness in her body; her muscles weren't use to this type of exercise, and she could expect soreness for the days to come. After a moment, Samuel seemed to be satisfied and signed for her to stop, to which she complied immediatly, arms dropping to the side and exhaling deeply.

Hearing the training was over, Ashka smiled and motionned her thanks, gratitude to the teacher. He had been patient and encouraging to the novice who had never learn unarmed combat before, and the redhead appreciated greatly his guidance. She got rid of the smelly leather with his help and turned back to Samuel to listened his last piece of advice.

"I'll remember to keep practicing. Thank you for your lesson, help, grateful. Pleasure to meet you. Goodbye, until next time." The girl waved a last time and left the training area and the pavilion to return to her Strider who had been grazing nearby. With a final effort of her arms, Ashka lifted herself up on his back and set their course for home, a contented smile on her lips.

[Samuel Longwell]

Grading Complete Please edit your grade request thread so that it's obvious that it's been graded. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions/problems with your grade. Name: Samuel XP Award: Unarmed Combat 5 Socialisation 3 Teaching 5 Tactics 2 Observation 1 Lore: Ashka: Young Drykas Woman Ashka: Willing to help teach Pavi Ashka: Eager to learn Tactics: Yelling to distract an opponent Teaching: Finding the right pace for a student Name: Ashka XP Award: Socialisation 3 Observation 3 Unarmed Combat 5 Endurance 3 Tactics 1 Lore: Samuel: Knight of Syliras Samuel: Foreigner trusted to teach Unarmed Combat: A simple block Unarmed Combat: Keep your guard up Samuel: Reassuring teacher Unarmed Combat: Must both attack and defend Tactics: Expect the unexpected Notes: A good thread, I enjoyed writing this with you! We'll have to do it again soon!