[Flashback:Solo]Training Hits.

[Antar]

12th day of spring, 511 av

He arrived at the brothers in what was becoming a casual routine, coming in with his horse, and settling down to the day's task. Whatever that might be. He figured the Brothers felt they needed all hands on deck so to speak for a large order that was being cut for. A project of sorts within the town or so, and that meant more 'part timers' were put to use. It was a jumbling puzzle of confusion for the low man on the totem pole, trying to figure out who was there as permanent workers or just temporary ones, but at least this day the silent Brother was out supervising bringing in cut trees for boarding, while the other minded the shop.

Noth thought the pair were pretty easy as bosses went, and during the lunchtime the lumbermen decided to have their little bits of fun. In the meadow, a few were having contests of throwing hatchets and knives at the targets during their off times, keeping score and betting a few silvers as they showed off throwing a hatchet or a knife. However, the rogue wanted nothing from the betting, instead, he had decided to have a bit of fun at the other large target they had set up the day before; a training post they had lashed, wrapped in coiled rope, and padded with sand bags and drying pelts to cushion it. A real tool that already a man was wailing on in front of him. A man who had helped him get his footing the day before.

So all he did for a moment was sit back, and enjoy his lunch. A bit of cured possum meat and some wild apples another woodsman had shown him weren't poisonous. Antar was quite happy passing the time, as it was Big Herb's turn to have a go at the training dummy. The portly man was moving from side to side and putting a few quick jabs on the target as he talked back towards the rogue. "You see Nothie, the basics here you gotta keep is a good fist. Keep your fingers locked down in a completely clasped position, and don't dare put your thumb inside your fingers. You'll just get hurt that way! Don't put it tthe side of the rest of ya' hand either ya' hear? Bend it at the half and curl it to where it's next to the knuckles you'll be making contact with the target. You won't hurt yourself that way and still make the other bastard feel pain. Which..." Big Herb threw a jab towards where the head would be before following it with a right hand hook, "will let you start using combos like the one-two punch, and kicks. See what I mean Nothie?"

"Yes Ser." Noth said with a good natured smile as he saw the big man trying to duck and weave to improve his fancy footwork a little. It was an almost comical sort of thing to watch as it came from a man of such girth, until you remembered this was Sunberth and the giant of a little old man was putting his weight behind each and every punch.

Finally, 'Big Herb' ran out of steam and stepped back to motion Noth towards the pylon. "Alright Nothie, lets see what you got!"

With a slight shrug, Noth put aside his water flask, and eeked on the still too tight gloves and approached the training dummy. He curled his fingers tightly into a fist and threw a straight right. His hand hit the sandbags with a stinging smack, that echoed back to the others ears but he knew there was enough cushioning there to prevent any injury. Thinking to try the same punch again he moved legs a little, his lead foot about a half step in front of the back as he transposed his weight, two-thirds on the hind foot, one-third on the front. He took a small step forwards on the punch, putting his full weight behind the blow as he struck the dummy hard.

He was rewarded by his efforts with another dull smack from the sandbags below the pelts.

"Try it again Nothie, Get your full body into it. Always come back to guard your face too!" He duplicated the punch, this time twisting his body in line with his strike, moving his shoulders and his hips, all the way down to his feet. Power wasn't just coming from his arms, but from his entire body.

"Get your arms up for a good punch! If you strike at an angle you lose some of the power behind it." Taking the words to heart, Antar shifted his chin up a little and started to place his strikes at ninety degrees. He noticed the difference almost immediately as he could feel the rebound from his own strikes hitting with more force.

"Go on, two punches now. Jab with the left! Follow with the right. Step forwards with the left and follow with the right. But keep yourself at arms length!" Taking the directions to heart, Noth moved a step forward to release a left jab towards the target's head, just touching it lightly before following up with an immediate twist of his upper body to bring his right punch forwards with a resounding smack. The tilt of his body and the position of his feet was keeping his own core from the enemy's angle of attack.

He repeated the combo a few more times, weaving right, and left in small steps. Each time, he successfully completed the hit, he brought his hands back into a blocking position, his forearms almost rigid and about a foot from his head. He knew beforehand from brawls if you tried to block someone with your arms too close to your head it didn't do you any good. There was a natural give that would still let them hit you with the momentum of their strikes. So it forced you to ascertain the best distance, usually about eight inches. That reminded him of another question, "Hey, Herb. What if you want to punch someone as your blocking him?"

Herb smiled and said, "It's pretty much the same thing as the one-two if you block and punch at the same time. As you bringing your left forearm sideways to block, twist at the hips to deliver the right fist in the same motion. I can tell you from experience that on the streets you'd have to block and strike at the same time, Nothie! For more oomph in your block, twist your wrist at the last second!"

"Sweet!" Noth muttered to himself as he tried it, snapping his wrist around to block an imaginary punch before placing a right towards onto the targets face. He repeated this move over and over again, concentrating until he got the motion down pat. Then he switched things up a bit, concentrating on his stance and his footwork as he was told.

Herb shouted again, "Do you know what to do If someone's kicking at you boy? Block from the top down, crossing the arm your blocking with over your chest and using the momentum of your arm at the elbow to deflect it man! Then Kick out like your hitting 'em in the chest. Try it a bit!"

Imagining someone kicking at him, Noth brought his right arm across his chest, from his left shoulder down and across his body in one smooth, motion as he whipped the block from one side to the other, his right arm crossing his left mid motion to keep himself protected. He followed this motion with a forward kick, putting the heel of his boot upon the chest.

He did this, awkwardly at first, but soon after repetition he was placing his heel on target. It wasn't long before Herb was shouting at him again. "Alright, Go back to the one two and follow with a body blow, an underhanded left after the punch to knock the wind out of 'em!"

Still going through the motions, Noth jabbed with his left and followed with a straight right. At the moment it hit the dummy's head area he took a half-step forwards with a left arm strike towards the stomach. He didn't get it right the first time, the motion throwing him a little off balance, but after a few more tries he was hitting the target in successive, one-two-three combinations.

"Try a hammerfist Nothie! After the right punch turn at the shoulder and whip your arm down to bring it at the neck!"

With a left jab, and another right Straight, Noth could feel the recoil in his shoulder as he struck the second blow. Without waiting he stepped in further, blocking with his left as he whipped the right around , above where the head would be and back down into the training dummy's left shoulder. It was a little awkward of a movement, but he supposed if one was fast enough to have connected with the punch it would do a bit of damage to a staggered opponnent. Especially, if it was modified to be a straight snap back into their temple from the side.


"You're getting it... now switch it up from just using the arms a little, throw a kick from the side to the bottom of the pole where the legs are after the one-two. If you get good enough with a fast strike you can hurt the bastard and take their feet out from under them!

Following the direction of those shouting in the yard, Noth put all his power behind every movement. The repeated impacts stang a little but he was working himself hard. Left jab- Right punch combos were followed by a snap kicks to the legs. Each one made the point of contact on his shins hurt but he continued anyways, keeping at least an arms length away as he pivoted to lash out with his right, and then his left leg.

"Good, that's called a roundhouse. Now, work a bit on your own now, figure out how you're moving, and work it into your actions, Nothie. You're doing fine!"

Breathing a small bit of air into his lungs, Noth paused a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow. He took a few moments of rest more before he approached the dummy again. This time he was getting fully into the swing of things as he began his mock assault... visualizing with each strike, what an opponent might do, as he began to block and counter.

[Antar]

For a time, all Noth could do was keep practicing slight alterations of the most basic kicks and punches, but slowly his aim improved as he began getting them closer on target. Striking towards the vital points that were present on any human being and close to the same on any other type of creature. Vital points were places of the body one's strikes would do more damage if they were at weak junctures of the muscle and flesh. And, Antar knew from his previous experience, some vital spots were easier to strike at with the particular weapon at hand. The question bounced around his mind like a 'But what areas of the body would one strike with their fists?'

Antar wasn’t quite sure on the answer right now so decided to work a different angle of approach. He switched the side for his dominant strikes. Turning his right hand to the jab, with a straight punch with his left, the same thing happened with his feet as he began kicking with the left leg, and really wailing into the dummy. The pelts and sandbags were cushioning the blows, but Noth still felt the force of the impacts reverberate through his bones with every hit.

Not wanting to give up as he practiced ‘southpaw’ as some called it, Noth made every effort to continue, wearing a punishing pace that soon brought his muscles to a state of complaining against the abuse. But as his power decreased, his arms and legs felt more and more leaden, as his technique and form began to become sloppy.

That was alright though, even if his strikes were not as powerful, his fatigue forced him to pay extra attention to his accuracy. So Noth kept on punching, and kicking, switching up his roundhouses to do one, then two consecutive strikes in the same roundhouse combination to where the knee, and the side of the torso would have been. His aim was a little unsteady, but the rogue knew with practice the strikes would become easier and more refined. He kept striking at the target dummy, losing all notions of his surroundings as he focused on the task of honing each kick, punch and combo he had just learned. He kept on this way until a sheen of sweat dampened his skin as the exertion soaked through the back of his shirt.

The archer became this way sometimes in his training, becoming wholly focused on the task at hand that he blotted out the rest of the world. Luckily, he was called back into awareness by a shout from behind.
"Hey Nothie boy! Why don't ya' give it a rest awhile and let another guy have his turn. " Big Herb spoke as he waved Noth over. "Besides, you've been going at a right kyp for about five chimes now and are gonna’ wear yourself out if you don't drink something."

Too tired to spit out a curse, Noth merely nodded and moved aside as one of the other yardworkers stepped up to take his place. Walking unsteadily over the wagon back he sat down near Wiley and grabbed up his drinking flask again. He sipped at the water and looked over to the field where two of the other men were throwing hatchets at the wooden targets they’d set up the day before. Each time they knocked a few woodchips loose and stopped to regain their tools, they swept up every chip and sawdust bit up to dump it in a barrel.

To pass the time, he took another drink, and held his hands on top of his head as he regained a bit of his breath. When his lungs didn't feel as much sting to them, Noth turned to Herb to ask what was bugging him.“So Herb, where would you hit a man where he’s most vulnerable?”

Big Herb turned and stared at him for a moment, “You know, after that little bit of a show you just put on I don’t think I’d have to tell you any of that , would I? You already know if you got two coppers worth of thoughts inside your head.”
Noth smiled a bit and jokingly said, “Yeah that’s true Herb, I might know where to shoot an arrow, but could you at least humor me?”

The big man scratched his bald head once before looking at the man boxing with the target, and sighed a moment before he began. “Well take a look at Measles over there… see how he’s hitting the thing in different spots? Use your bloody eyes and tell me what you think he’d be aiming for.”

Taking a look at the man in question, Noth viewed a mop of sandy blonde hair and looks the girls would go gaga over. There wasn't a blemish on the man, that he could see, "So, he work here often, or just a temporary helper like you and Wiley?"

Big Herb snorted a bit, "Yeah, Measles' like us two, only brought on for big jobs. Bit of a snobbish bloke too. Don't cross him though."

Noth nodded at the warning, but his curiousity got the better of him, "So why they call him measles?"

Herb shook his head as a wry grin broke over his face, "Cause rumor has it, he's got sometin' like measles in places the girls don't like, Nothie! Poor bastard can't even get a date with one of Braga's girls, or boys for that matter, even if he pays them. And believe me, he says he's tried aplenty!"

All Noth could do was blink for a moment and mutter a polite word or two for the man's loss. "Oh... so that's why. Poor bloke." Even if he wished death upon another he'd never wish such a horrid fat upon another man. At least, not unless they really deserved it.

With a bit of a sigh, and a mental note not to mention it to Measles' lest he antagonize him a bit, Noth began to look at the man's form, as well as the specific points on the dummy where his strikes were hitting. His keen eye was already comparing and contrasting it to what he did before...

[Antar]

Within a very short amount of time, Noth began to notice differences in the man called "Measles' strikes and his own. Where he had been applying all of his strength each hit, with ferocity. Measles friendly display of his skills was the opposite, more of a series of quick strikes at differing points of the practice dummy at speeds similar to striking snake with little power he could tell. It was as if the man was just concentrating on withering an opponent down with swift taps instead of trying for a knock out punch.

For a moment, it confused him why this was so, but as he watched and thought about it the purpose behind the strikes were becoming more apparent. 'Measles' was targeting where the vital points of a human would be on the target.

The groin area was easy to figure out, and the sheer exuberance Measle took in aiming repeated kicks at where the nether regions of the target dummy would have been made Noth remind himself to never pick a fight with the man. But there were other areas Measles struk, using his arm in a side chop tot he neck, and the adam's apple with a follow up choke grab to the wind pipe. Then there were punches to the bridge of the nose and adam's temples. He even had this weird high kick that came up and down on top of where the skull would be.

On the body area the man seemed to take pleasure taking punches at the upper right chest area, sometimes circling around the dummy for a chop. It took a few moments pondering to realize 'Measles' was striking at an opponents collarbone, and then the sternum, the soalar plexus and armptits soon followed with punches towards the rips. On the cross brace of the dummy he made sharp deflections at the wrists, and followed up with low kicks to the kneecaps, and shin. Once he saw Measles even stomped on where Noth thought the poor training dummy's foot might be before circling aroung to hit with a backhanded fist to what he surmised would be the base of the skull would be and finished the combo with an elobw to the base of the neck and a knee to the coccyx.

The rogue rethought his idea about never fighting Measles again, and realized he never in a million years wanted to fight the man as he finished his graceful display with two kicks at the back of the target where the back of the knee and achilles tendon would be.

"Damn he's good." Noth muttered, and it seemed Big Herb overheard him."Yeah I reckon so myself, he ain't the prettiest mover and shaker by far but I wouldn't tangle with him lightly did, you see his hands where he chopped at the neck?"

"Yeah, I did. Though I couldn't make out how he was doing that exactly, could you?"

"Sure Nothie, anybody can make a good chop hand once he knows how. Make me a fist again, alright?" Noth did so, keeping a tight fist like he had been shown to do, and Big Herb showed his own hand in a fist as well. "The thing is, when you make a chop hand you gotta remember you want the fingers pressed together as they would in a fist but..." Big Herb straightened out his fingers, keeping the index, middle, ring, and pinky finger firmly pressed together. "You gotta straighten 'em up you see. But it don't end there, you still got the old thumb to work with. Now you got the same problems of breaking it wrong as if you put it inside your digits in a fist if you leave it all there flying about. So what you do is simple. Keep it in line with the rest of your fingers like this." Big Herb's thumb came slightly to the side and down so it was flush with his palm and the thumb joint lined up with the base of the index finger. Noth followed suit as the big man raised his left hand as well, forming it into a chop hand. "Now the most important thing to remember is when your hitting something with a chop, you don't hit it with the fingers themselves. Instead you want to hit on the bottom of the hand between the wrist and the base of the pinky finger. But if you absolutely need to strike someone using the top of your hand with a reverse chop you want to have the point of impact between the base joint of the index where it's flush to the thumb line all the way back to halfway between the base of the thumb and the wrist. If you hit something there like that, you're less likely to hurt your hand and more likely to get a good blow in. At least that's what's Measles said last time we had a kyp together."

With a resounding smack, Big Herb brought one chop hand into his palm one way, and then duplicated the feat for a reverse chop to demonstrate how Noth should hit with a chop."All these things are just the basics Nothie boy, but I reckon anyone can learn this in about an hour. Might have to practice to refine themselves, but yeah. it's possible. Hey, why dont' you take another crack at the post. Looks like Measles is done for the day and going on to throwing a few knives at the other blocks we set up yesterday."

Nodding in agreement, and figuring he had a good rest so far, Noth stood up and made his way back to the training dummy to have another go. This time, mindful of what he had witnessed and learned as he started taking more practiced hits. He was determined to go lightly at first as he tried to imagine which vital points his strikes would land. All the while remaining conscience of trying to isolate each movement over and over again, as he tried to concentrate on his not only where his hits were being placed. But the motions of what he was going through.

[Antar]

Noth started off this time by easing into his punches and kicks, taking the time to slow each one down and practice how each one struck the target. It was harder it seemed to make a proper kick slower, then it was faster. It was an almost excruciating strain on the muscles to hold a leg extended in a roundhouse, while balancing on the other. A couple of the watchers made fun of him for not putting his all into it this time, save he was. He made the punches and kicks slowly, targeting the zones he'd seen Measles attack.

Each one, Noth worked slowly, repeating the motions over and over again before he felt confident enough to begin to chain together a few combinations, a knee to the gut, followed by an elbow strike to the sternum that then turned the arm into a downwards chop to the base of the neck. Over and over he practiced, each time thinking of where each strike would be placed with a concurrent one.

By the time he was working his way towards the crush points on the lower legs, the back of the knees and interior ankles of the training dummy he had worked up quite a perspiration, and his breathing was shallow with the efforts. He stepped away, after his limbs felt like jelly and returned to where Herb and the others were to take a long drink. In the background noise, the sounds of knives impacting the stand alone targets could be heard, and he wondered something.

"So what happens tomorrow Herb, do we all still play around like this on our lunch break?"

The man just looked at him with a sidling gaze, "You know Nothie, you ask a lot of questions. So I'm just glad your asking about things here at work, asking too many questions in a place like Sunberth is bad for someone, ya' know?"

Noth nodded in agreement as he took a swig of water from his flask, he knew he'd lost a bit of water from his workout and he had to replenish it before they all went back to work. [color=orange]"Yeah Herb, that's true, but that's why I keep my questions to the job. You know? Doesn't matter what any of us does in the city, out here, in the Yard we just work to get the job done. Right?"

The larger man nodded an assent before speaking, "Well it's simple, For the next few days we keep cutting for this order, and then when its over we all take it into town. Keep it safe. You know? Tommorrow, if you want during the break, you can choose to work a little with yar' knifework, and maybe one of the other rascals over out by the target blocks might actually show you how to throw one or two. Or you can just continuing knocking away at this old training dummy here. We're all amateurs as it goes, but at least you can follow the old jamoura principle."

Noth spoke again, ""Thanks Herb, but what's the old Jamoura principle." Without waiting for a reply he took another sip as the older man guffawed a bit and clapped Noth hard once across the back of the shoulder. The water came out his nose, forcing him to cough and sputter.

" You know the old saying Nothie: Monkey see, monkey do."

For a time , Noth fell silent as the other woodsmen were finishing their fun. After every knife was put away, Herb and the rest got Noth and a few of the younger guys to help sweep up the sawdust, and wood chips to place them in a barrel for storage later as the rest went back to the heavy lifting. It wasn't the worst bit of work he'd done, far from it, and it was an easy enough task to let his muscles rest for the next half hour before turning back towards sorting logs again.

He finished the last three hours of work, just biding his time, picking up a few tidbits of information he began to organize into his mind to make sorting easier. A few differences in the leaf structure of White oak versus Red Oak. How different tree types had differing characteristics in their barks. And where different lengths of logs and stumps were sorted.

By the end of the day he was sore all over again, but still felt good enough about himself to get back on Dawnstride for an easy walk back towards sunberth. Concentrating solely on how his horse moved, and easing himself into its gait. Each horse he knew was slightly different, and each one was sure to have their own personality, but so far it seemed Dawnstride and himself were a perfect match.

That didn't mean there wasn't some trouble along the way back to camp when Dawn nearly stepped into a divot in the road. He almost spooked the poor creature with a rough jerk of the reins to the side to have the horse trot sideways to avoid it. It had taken over a minute and a half of just speaking to the mare to calm the animal down, but soon enough they were happily walking on their way back to camp.

When he arrived, he dismounted and removed the saddle and tack from his horse before tying her reins up by a pile of grass and thrushes he gathered to snack on. He had heard there were a few wild oats out in the forest and he'd try to see about getting her a treat. After taking a minute or two to stretch the stiffness of his muscles and water his horse he decided to turn aside the thought of any dinner. He knew he'd have to ration his supplies, and the possum meat would be good for two more days before he had to hunt again. Taking a few chimes to collect a bit of wood for the next morning's fire, Antar refilled his flask with the remnants of the morning's heated water and went into his tent. When he climbed into his bedroll, the rogue fell almost immediately into the welcome haze of sleep.

He knew he'd have to do it all over again the next day, after all: there were debts to be paid.
~Fin

Thanks for reading

skills Request :

Just Unarmed XP as the primary concern.
Maybe a point of riding or two.
Any others you see

[Cachet]

Gossamer Said I could Antar : Antar SKILLS Unarmed: 5 Riding(horse): 1 Animal Husbantry: 1 LORE Unarmed: combo's and knock out strikes(basic) Unarmed: Punches and chops(basic) Unarmed: Kicks: Roundhouse, front kicks(basic) Unarmed: Guards and stances(Basic) I Assure You, No Poison Apples Misc Notes: Interesting use of NPC's. I liked listening to them talk in my head. Conclusion: In all a nicely written training thread. Good job. Anything seem out of place? Any questions please feel free to contact me ASAP.