Continued from: Another Kind Of Love
Anir nodded. “Good.” Kavala could not see the nod being blindfolded, but she could certainly feel his approval. That made her happy. It was so slow in coming. Kavala had figured the man could never be happy. But he wasn’t done, not yet, and not that day. Showing her how to break grabs wasn’t enough. He was bound and determined to go over strikes and thrusts once more.
“Listen closely Kavala. You have no eyes to see, but in this blind fighting, I am teaching you how to watch with the other parts of your body. To complete a strike, you must slide the forward hand towards the forward blade while pulling to the rear with the rear hand. This gives you ultimate stability.” Kavala nodded, shifting her stance into that of a forward one and then moving her hands as he indicated, feeling the weight of the blade between her grip and understanding innately how little effort it took to do as he said. She had the length of the blade in a wide grip and was poised, ready to follow further instructions.
“Firmly hold the forward hand in position and slide your double bladed sword through the rear hand while swinging the weapon in whichever arc you wish to strike from. Step forward when striking. Then step back immediately. As always, you will have the option on each side to angle your blade towards the top, bottom, or middle. On the tips you can angle up or down. You can continue execute as many strikes as you wish, but when you totally follow through you should end up in a proper guard. Just like so... good.” He added as Kavala swung her blade forward, striking repeatedly at different heights, weights and angles. Then she brought the blade back in a defensive position with her feet planted in a rest but aware stance.
“Don’t forget about the power in your hips Kavala. Twist, bend, and add force to your thrusts and arcs. Your power does not come from your limbs but from your entire body. Let’s remember the true art of defense and offense comes in knowing about circles. When you swing your arc to strike, your blade is moving faster on the leading edge away from you furthest down your arm. The blade tucked by you, defending your back is not moving as swiftly nor with as much force. Force increases as you travel out the length of your blade. So give it length, as much as you can, without loosing your chambering and your balance.” Anir suggested, stepping away which to Kavala indicated he wanted her to practice. She did so, swinging the double bladed sword in a long arch around her, judging distance and choking up on the blades then releasing them in a looser grip to really let them swing. It was in that instant that she knew she could mow down multiple opponents with this technique and with this weapon. It was almost as if its reach was a great balancer and one that left her at an advantage for someone not trained to defend against blades that could move with such force.
Kavala smiled her face lighting up beneath the blindfold. Across the way at a safe distance, Anir watched his student get empowered and relaxed enough to he himself smile when he was certain she could not see it.
“So… like a wheel moves faster on the outside than at the hub, so does the double bladed sword as it moves in its circle. Therefore I always need to make contact with the blades a few inches close to the tips for maximum force and damage and not closer to the center where it will have a far less desirous effect.” Kavala reiterated having remembered that from a previous lesson.
Anir grunted his agreement and moved the lesson on. Kavala was still smiling as he started to speak.
“Now, let’s talk thrusts. Thrusting will place a huge force and weight behind a blow into a very small area. Thrusts are very precise attacks. You need targets to make them work. So always focus on slightly sensitive areas like a person’s eyes, the groin, neck, ribs and heart. The best places for thrusts are places that are not soft, meaning no soft tissue like stomachs or buttocks. You want firm tissues and bone that won’t absorb the impact of your attack. You can make quick thrusts at opportune targets without changing sides, or you can thrust as a part of a change in your stance. Always think… “Where can I penetrate this target?” rather than just causing blunt force trauma. If you aim for something like the heart, penetrate it between the ribs, because the body can and will stop you at a rib cage, busting a rib but protecting a major organ instead. Remember you can make one or two-handed thrusts, Kavala.” Anir said, and then backed away, indicating by his scuffing boots on the sand that he was going to expect her to move.
Anir called no encouragement this time. Kavala frowned to remember then the whole tragedy of a thrust presented itself neatly in her sash-blinded eyes. She uttered the words under her breath as she moved into a forward stance, faked a block, and then counter-attacked with a return to her guard position. She uttered the little phrase under her breath like it was a mantra.
“Block, counter attack, return to guard. Block, counter attack, return to guard…” She chanted, then moved on, changing up her game as Anir had taught her. She moved with a speed that was surprising for someone in the recovery mode she was in. She visualized a high attack coming at her so she blocked with her double bladed sword by thrusting it up before her, arms wide, gloved hands gripping at each blade buttress, then swinging in a counter attack that caused her to release one hand to give it as wide of a reach as possible, sneaking in her invisible foe’s guard and thrusting one handed. As soon as she stepped forward Kavala could feel the power in the double bladed sword and a look of pleasure crossed her face as she struck, retreated, and caught the spare space on the grip with her free hand.
She’d twisted tightly with her hips, generating a powerhouse swing between the action of her body and the reach of her hand. Then pretending a low attack, she dipped her point to the ground without pitching it in as if to block. She simultaneously moved her leg out of the way in case she was wrong about the distance. She didn’t over-carry the double bladed weapon in her defense. It was a common mistake but one she’d learned well from Riaris. If you moved your blades farther than you must to counter an attack… then if the attack was a fake, feinted, then you can’t recover in time to react to the real attack and meet it face on.
Even thinking of feints caused Kavala to try a few in her blindness, first dipping to do a low strike which came up short and was tipped to hit high at the last moment. Then she brought the blade around for a thrust that was immediately turned into a jab. Her body loved the motion, the extension, and having such a beautifully deadly blade attached to it.
Anir simply stood back and watched, a smile growing on his face.
Kavala switched hands frequently, getting both used to leading and being in charge of the rear. She didn’t want her right handedness to hinder her in the use of her weapon at all. If she engaged, the Konti realized she needed to seek to close quickly. Kavala also realized something quickly when closing in with the double bladed sword. Her unarmed combat would come in phenomenally handy to make up for the strength she lacked and the size she would never have against most other opponents. If she locked up with another opponent, she needed to move to kill as fast as possible, even if it meant sacrificing her blades. The Konti moved back, her joy increasing, making her pleasure known.
Anir just continued to stand back, watching her make an acquaintance with her sword as if meeting it for the first time and finally appreciating its versatility and power.
Count: 1,408
