Fighting the Blind [Stitch]

[Iasc]

He could feel his joints and muscles starting to loosen up. The awkwardness and nervousness that seemed to overpower him when he met a new person was beginning to fade away. The more he immersed himself in what Stitch said and did, the more confident he would become. Although the awkwardness did have a habit of coming back at unwanted times.
As Iasc landed on the ground after his big move, he couldn't help but smile. Nevertheless, he kept his guard up; feet light on the ground, ready to move, and his hands in front of his face. He was expecting Stitch to come at him and knock him onto the ground, not just feigning an attack this time as he had previously done.
No such attack came, just a small smile. Iasc happily relaxed out of the stance, but not before Stitch had lowered hid fists. He still wasn't sure if he should completely trust the man. He was very fast, too fast for Iasc's eyes. He could be on the young man quicker than he had time to blink.

As soon as he had finished talking, Stitch threw another punch. Iasc quickly snapped back into his stance, making sure he had enough time to make a decision for evading it. He decided to stick to sidestepping this time, unsure exactly what Stitch meant when he had said “catching or redirecting the oncoming fist.”
The punch was slow and sluggish, easy to evade. A small shuffle to the side and he would be fine. As soon as he was clear, Stitch pulled his hand back and went with the other one, faster this time, aimed at the other side of Iasc's face. With no time to think the hand grazed off the man's skin, a very light touch that didn't hurt at all much to his relief. He anticipated the next one, managing to just scramble out of the way. After the next dodge he noticed a pattern beginning to emerge in the punches. “If I can predict what will happen I shall be fine”, he reassured himself. The pattern was suddenly interrupted as Stitch's fist almost connected with Iasc's face. The blind man just pulling up short. He was sure that was a lesson.
He managed to avoid many of Stitch's punches but would have been hit a few times if the man hadn't been nice enough to pause just before contact was made. It seemed to always happen when he felt most comfortable and began to relax a little. All in all he was happy with his performance, his heavy breathing proof of the effort he had put in.

When all the punches had been thrown, Iasc grabbed Stitch's wrist as had been instructed. He took it in his right hand first, enclosing it until his fingers almost met at the other end, and then loosely grabbing it with his weaker hand from the bottom. He gave Stitch a strange look unsure what to do, waiting for the man to tell him.

[Stitch]

Stitch nodded, signaling his approval, flexing his arm lightly as Iasc took a good strong hold on it. "The wrist grab is the basis of my art, and is a good way to gain control of the fight. From this position, you can perform various throws, locks, or even simply break their arm." Stitch slowly began to bend him arm in a variety of odd ways, showing various positions that Iasc could easy push him into. "When they strike out with their hand, they are going to be putting the full force of their body into it, most of the time. You catch the oncoming wrist, and you don't try and stop it. You simply redirect it into one of the various holds, or locks. By the time their mind has moved on from the punch, they are already in a horrible situation." Stitch took a few more stances, showing Iasc a couple of different ways to use the wrist grab. Smiling lightly, Stitch signaled for him to let go, then pulled his wrist free, stepping back. "Another form of defense is just a simple deflection. It is a bit more advanced than the dodge, but not quite as difficult as a grab. For instance, if they punch at the face, you simply want to chop downwards at their arm." Stitch grabbed Iasc's wrist, and yanked it toward his face, simulating the punch. His other arm came down, and he pushed the offending strike to the side, giving the man an example. "So, deflection is a good way to start, then grab. Notice we are really only focusing on defense at the moment." Stitch paused, tilting his head toward Isac. "That is important. Your safety is the most important thing about it. This one likes to think Martial Arts were made to protect ones self, or protect the friends of that one. Protection. Not attack. There are plenty out there that would be eager to disagree, though." "But, the best way to learn, is to experience it yourself." Stitch stepped back, and waved on a few punches. "Fast, slow, whatever you like, milord. Mix them up, throw them wherever you like. This one can show you a few wrist grabs, or perhaps simple throws, and then we can through them step by step. If milord can, milord should find a partner to spar with in the next few days. Someone who can just throw punches at you. Part of Martial Arts is the repetition. Dedicating these moves to memory, and then acting them out as much as you possibly can. Practice the stance I showed you. Stand in it, move, then quickly put yourself back into it. Repetition!" Stitch paused, and flashed the man a bright smile, cocking his head to the side and beckoning him forward. "Why are you just standing there? Hit me!"

[Iasc]

Iasc listened to Stitch's explanations closely, trying to absorb the information, nodding his head along with the man's voice. He watched the way the way the blind man moved his wrist to simulate the different wrist holds. He tried to imagine Stitch coming at him and how he would execute these moves properly. Needless to say, it would be much harder in real life than simulating them in his head. Stitch was putting himself in awkward positions, seemingly very hard to escape from, and he needed to learn how to do this. As Iasc was pondering, the man had begun to talk again.

Iasc thought on Stitch's words for a moment, after he had finished. “They are going to be putting the full force of their body into it”, the man had said. “If I can grab hold of him and get him in an awkward position, one he can't get out of, I could control where he moves since he will not be ale to generate enough of a force to resist me with”, Iasc said aloud. He hoped he hadn't just voiced a non sensical thought, not wanting to seem stupid in front of Stitch.

Iasc sent a fist towards Stitch's face, as requested. Even though the man was blind, Iasc knew that he would not hit the man because of his brilliant skill in auristics. Even as his fist got close he did not pull away and then came the deflection. A simple, quick movement of his hand and the punch was averted to the side. It seemed to be a very effective technique to Iasc on his first view of it.
“Deflection, then grab”, He thought to himself. He very grateful that Stitch was taking the time to teach these lessons and, even though the man had refused anything in return, Iasc knew he would have to give him something.

“I agree”, Iasc said, during the brief break Stitch had taken. “Safety is paramount. I will also try to find a partner to practice with. There is no use letting these skills go to waste.”
He shot Stitch a smile after the over enthusiastic encouragement to punch him and jumped into the stance with ease this time. He had his hands up at his face and was light on his toes.
Iasc started to throw punches at Stitch. He tried to mix them up, as the man had said, but evidently fell into predictable patterns. He not only went for the man's face but his whole upper body as well hoping to catch him out. However, the main thing was to learn, and with every punch he watched how Stitch counteracted it, trying to store the information away.

[Stitch]

Stitch settled into the exact same stance as Iasc, almost at the exact same time. The smile fell from his face, and he assumed a serious look, one that Iasc wouldn't have seen on the man's face before. While the blind man had once been a calm and peaceful figure, radiating with joy and merriment... Now he radiated a odd kind of peace, along with an odd kind of danger. It was definitely a weird mixture, but Iasc would be able to feel it. The man look so comfortable and confident in the stance that he had taught Iasc just moments before, that one couldn't help but instantly believe he had some skill. The first punch came at Stitch's face, and he barely moved. Whichever hand was opposite of the punch, he used the back of that palm to smack the oncoming wrist aside, pushing it enough off course so it simply snapped past his jaw. His hand was back in place almost immediately, in the exact same position as before. The next punch came, and Stitch deflected in the exact same way, backhanding the offending fist to the side in a simple deflection. Hopefully Iasc's punches would get a little harder, out of frustration or anger, or simply out of a desire to just do a little better. Stitch would get a little more animated when Iasc amped it up a bit, rewarding his student for his efforts. Stitch seemed to bob and weave effortlessly, standing still at first, swatting and pushing oncoming wrists to the side. Sometimes he would simply shuffle to the side like he had shown earlier, quickly dancing out of the way, forcing Iasc to turn and face him. Sometimes he danced backwards, avoiding the fist that was thrown by a mere hair. Sometimes the fist was avoided all together, as if he knew it had been coming all along. Finally, when Stitch had noticed either frustration, weariness, or anger seeping in on too much of the man's Aura... he would make his move. Waiting for the next stomach strike, Stitch turned, catching the fist as it came in. Yanking on the wrist, all in the same motion, he tugged it back towards him, stepping back a litle bit, using the forward momentum of the man's punch to swing him around to face. Stitch already had a palm held high as the man would spin, and struck out, pausing the blow right before it collided with his student's face. "You see?" Stitch released the wrist and then stepped back, allowing Iasc a moment to catch his breath. "That was complete and total defense, and then a strike that was thrown right as they found their rhythm. You will catch them at the strongest point of their momentum, and if your move is successful, you will completely break that rhythm. Redirect, and if possible, redirect into a blow. Strike at this one's stomach again when ready." Stitch would catch the oncoming punch, and slowly perform the previous move. "Keep close watch. You are going to try it." Pulling Iasc around to face, Iasc would once more find that Stitch had a fist ready to meet his face. A few moments later, with a few more slow examples under his belt, Stitch pushed him away with a short smile. "Alright. Your turn, milord. In your stance." After Iasc had assumed the stance, Stitch shot out a punch, trying out a slow blow at the man's stomach first. Would he be able to pull off the relatively simple move?

[Iasc]

Iasc noticed a slight change in Stitch's disposition. The smile he wore fell from his face and a foreboding feeling began to creep into the young man's mind. Iasc, who was unsure what this feeling was, decided to ignore it as best he could but this was easier said than done.
His first punch was easily blocked by Stitch. He hadn’t expected any other outcome. The man didn’t move at all. It was just a block with the back of his palm and Iasc’s fist was directed off course. With lightning speed Stitch reset his position and was ready for the next attack. This one was blocked in almost the same way, a simple, yet effective deflection. It seemed to use minimum movement, minimum energy loss and give the opponent as little chance as possible to react and gain the upper hand. The next few punches followed the same pattern. Iasc watched closely as Stitch time and time again used the deflection. Soon he started to try and trick the blind man. He had been throwing straight punches to the face but then began with more body hits. Stitch was much too clever, however. Whatever Iasc tried the man seemed to be one, two or even three steps ahead sometimes. It was almost as if he was mocking Iasc as he danced around, although that could just have been the young man’s paranoia flaring up again. It was almost as if auristics let Stitch see into the future, let him predict Iasc’s next move. He was completely perplexed by this ability, determined to find out more about the magical art once this was over.
Stitch’s seeming ability to foresee what would happen made Iasc’s resolve to land at least one hit even stronger. However, his lack of skill made this near impossible. Soon an exercise for learning had turned into an infuriating chore. Frustration began to fill the man and his mind began to lose focus. He started to feel disconnected from his body and the punches were haphazard and undisciplined. Having little control over his fists, they were sent overpowered to Stitch, who either danced out of the way or swatted them to the side.

Iasc’s frustration was verging on anger when Stitch finally made his move. If the blind man had waited any longer Iasc would have walked out on the lesson, something which he was loathe to do. Another wild punch was sent to Stitch’s midriff. Suddenly, Iasc, who wasn’t paying much attention, was grabbed by the wrist and sent in an arc to face the man who had a palm sent straight for his face. Before he knew what was happening Stitch had stepped back and was explaining to a bewildered student what had just taken place. Contact had not been made and Iasc let out a sigh of relief. He listened to what Stitch said but most of it didn’t register since he was still trying to come to terms with what just happened. All he managed to hear was “strongest point of their momentum.”

Iasc slowing regained his stance. The confidence he had from before was diminished, being replaced by frustration and and unwillingness to fail. He was completely aware of his mood swings but felt he couldn’t do anything about them.
Stitch’s punch was slow and gave Iasc plenty of time to think about the move he was to do. He carefully deflected the punch with his arm and then attempted to grab the wrist but slipped as he did so and lost his balance, falling into Stitch. He ran a hand through his hair and focused on the task to be done. He knew he couldn’t let his pride be dented by his failure to complete this move.
Again, he deflected Stitch’s arm and, just like before, forgot to grab the wrist until it was too late. He was getting ready to let out a string of profanities when he remembered the children who were, presumably, still in the orphanage. For their sake he swallowed the curses down to the pit of his stomach and continued.
Another attempt yielded similar results as before, but this time he managed to get a hold on Stitch’s wrist but couldn’t quite co-ordinate it so they faced each other. It took a few attempts but Iasc did eventually manage to turn Stitch towards him and ready a punch.

[Stitch]

"Good, good." Stitch chuckled, giving the raised fist a light pat. He could easily see that the man was beyond frustrated, and that this would be a pretty good point to stop at. He had already bestowed a good amount of information upon the man, as well as a single defensive move that could be used in a variety of situations. The blind man stepped back, giving the man one last appraising glance with his Auristic gaze. Frustration and anger were creeping up on all asepcts of his Aura, like he had noticed before. It wasn't actually a bad thing, in a way. Along with all of that frustration, there was a good mix of stubbornness. He was likely so frustrated because he just wanted to quit, but then that stubborn part of him refused to let him back down. He was one of the best types to bestow martial arts upon. Where inbred skill obviously wouldn't get him anywhere, hard work and determination would. Stitch slowly gave an approving grin, switching off the advanced uses of his Auristics, satisfied that he had focused on the man long enough. The rather short lesson was pretty much over, for now. He would let the man go with this basic knowledge. He could come back later, if needed. "That is all, milord. Find a sparring partner, and practice that single move as much as possible. You may come back here any time you want to learn a little more, or search for some martial arts books within stores around the Castle. You have the basics down, though. Practice one move over and over, until you have commited it to muscle memory. Also, you need to work out. A bunch. Running would be a good place to start in order to tone your body. But, this one needs to cut this short, because..." Suddenly, a loud yell echoed out from inside the house, and Iasc would be able to tell it was a combined melody of two children fighting. Stitch grinned, cocking his head to the side, apparently able to predict that such a thing would happen. "...because of that. My apologies, milord. But remember, practice practice practice. And work out. You could use to get in shape." There was a slight teasing tone to Stitch's voice, and Iasc would get the feeling that Stitch would be winking, if he could. Then, just like that, the man was gone, back inside his Home.

[Iasc]

Iasc let out a sigh of relief as Stitch called a halt to the lesson. He had been out of sorts all day for some reason and couldn’t get into the rhythm of what the man was trying to teach him. It had been a chore he would admit, but a worthwhile chore all the same. He had learned many useful fighting tips in the short lesson and had a small introduction to the fascinating blind man and his uncanny ability to see. “I will research this so called auristics”, Iasc promised himself. “Perhaps I may get to learn it someday.”

He listened to what Stitch was saying with his eyes directed towards the ground. He felt slightly ashamed at the attitude he had shown and what made it worse was that he knew that Stitch knew his feelings, because of his auristic ability. Iasc had shown up on the man’s doorstep out of the blue and had agreed to teach him unarmed combat, dropping everything for a stranger, someone he had never met. Iasc could have been there to cause Stitch harm for all the blind man knew, yet he welcomed the youth like an old friend. This encounter was an eye opener for Iasc in more ways than one.

Iasc couldn’t help but give a shy smile to the blind man’s prophetic abilities just before he made his way into the orphanage leaving Iasc alone in the yard with nothing to do but reflect on what he had been taught. He stood for a few moments half listening to Stitch try and calm the seemingly wayward children inside and half in a world of his own, far from Mizahar. When he snapped out of his semi-trance he began to make his way to the side passage he had come through. He suddenly realised that he had not repaid the man at all for the kindness that he had shown. Before leaving he slipped twenty gold rimmed mizas from his pocket and laid them just in front of the door that Stitch had entered the orphanage through. He then left the blind man to his duties and wandered back to the lonely streets of the castle. Maybe they would meet again some day, then Iasc could repay Stitch properly and give him the respect that he deserved.

[Leviathan]

Thread Award! Stitch   Skills Skill Gain Info. Childcare 1 -- Auristics 2 -- Stealth 1 -- Intimidation 1 For Scary Greetings Teaching 5 -- Unarmed Combat/Hand-to-Hand 3 --   Lore Auristics: Sensing Anxiety (Basic) Scare Tactics (Minor) Combat: Defensive Basic Stance Teaching: By Example Iasc   Skills Skill Gain Info. Falling 1 -- Observation 2 -- Interrogation 1 -- Unarmed Combat 5 -- Philosophy 1 --   Lore Auristics (Minor) Combat: Defensive Basic Stance Combat: Evading Combat: Comfortable Patterns are Misleading