[Antinous Training Grounds] A Punch for a Punch

[Lorden Ladis]

4th of Spring, 515 AV

The air flew, like a loosed arrow from Lorden's lungs, as a cumbersome, unarmored fist, tried to force its way through the knight's abdomen.

Shyke, the raven-haired swordsman thought, as his torso bent in with the heavy punch, that he was now unwillingly receiving. Angrily, the knight attempted to raise his own right hand up in something vaguely resembling an uppercut, to hit the man who was hitting him; the knight didn't even manage to get halfway through the motion.

Holy Petch. Why did I agree to this?, Lorden thought, when a backhand quickly followed the gut punch, sending him stumbling backward, all but falling over his feet. The knight hadn't even caught the movement, of the hand he had just been slapped with; presumably it had removed itself from his stomach at some point.

"If you want to learn to fight, without that clunky sword, Ser Lordin. You're going to want, to not let me hit you," the weaponsmaster, and the owner of the fist that had just assailed Lorden, spoke heartily from a few feet off.

Lorden looked up at the brown-haired, stocky man, and opened his own mouth wearily.

"I'll keep that in mind, Ser," Lorden called back, the jest-filled response pouring from his lips, along with runny, water-like blood. Trying to think through the ringing that had been forced into his ears, the knight gritted his teeth.

Maybe one day I'll fight like him, but until then, this is going to be a petching mess, the swordsman thought, reestablishing his footwork, and dropping himself down into the only stance he knew. Lorden's right foot shot forward, and his left maneuvered back behind it; the knight held no sword in his hand, and it caused his stance to feel severely off-putting to him. It was almost as if his leg had been ripped off, and someone still expected him to stand, run even, Lorden noted. Irregardless of any symbolism, it didn't feel right, and Lorden's face framed a less than comfortable look, as he tried to ready himself, for whatever the weaponsmaster might throw at him next.

[Lorden Ladis]

4th of Spring, 515 AV

"What now?," Lorden asked, still bent in his akward stance, when the weaponsmaster made no move to attack him.

I hope he doesn't expect me to go at him first, the knight thought. If the swordsman knew anything, it was that he wasn't about to expose himself to another one of those backhands, not willingly anyway; and that meant staying out of range, for the moment at least.

"I want you to try and punch me," the weaponsmaster directed coyly. Lorden raised his brow.

Is he serious?, the knight thought, as he starred at the man inquisitively. For a few ticks, Lorden entertained the thought, of not doing what the weaponsmaster had directed.

I came here to learn but st-, Lorden's rebellious thoughts were cut short, by a prodding set of slightly irritated instructions.

"I'm not going to hit you for shyke's sake. Just get your arse over here," as the muscled man spoke, Lorden gritted his teeth, in an attempt to halt the reddening of his face. Stepping up to the man, the knight looked the weaponsmaster in the eyes.

"Go ahead, punch me, throw a cross, do something that involves using that thing on your arm," his instructor coaxed, sarcasm flashing in his otherwise blank brown eyes.

If only I knew how to do half those things right, Lorden thought.

The knight sighed and braced himself. Quickly Lorden bent into and threw a wild punch, clenching his dominant fist as it rocketed towards the man in front of him for a tick, his knuckles cut the air, and unfortunately only ever connected with yet more air. For, before Lorden's elbow could even extend all the way, he was met with something worse than the backhand he had been dreading, a set of sharp knuckles, that slammed mercilessly into his left jaw. With widened eyes, and ringing ears, Lorden crashed into the roof, that was below his feet. Dizzied and knocked completely shykeless, Lorden could swear he could see stars, and a plethora of colors arching across the sky.

"I hope I'm not the only one, who see's that rainbow?" Lorden inquired in a dazed state, pointing up to the clear sky, that was markedly void of any color but a soft baby blue.

[Lorden Ladis]

4th of Spring, 515 AV

"Can you stand?," the weaponsmaster inquired, as he hauled Lorden up to his feet. Feeling a rush of blood stream into his aching brain, the knight grasped fearfully for the shoulder of the man who was holding him up. Leaning against his instructor, Lorden blinked away a few random flashes of light, before speaking drearily.

"Ohhh...- I think so," the knight said, slurring a bit. As if to prove his point, the twenty year released his instructor's shoulder, and backed away slowly; he was forced to balance himself with his hands, but otherwise his senses were beginning to return to him.

With a thought occurring to him, Lorden glanced to the sky for a tick. The knight raised his brow, and frowned, before bringing his hand up to rub the left side of his face. As the man's hand caressed his jaw worriedly, soreness shot through the bone and muscle, where his so-called-teacher had rapped his fist mercilessly.

"P-please tell me, I didn't say something about a rainbow?," Lorden prompted the man who stood a foot or two from him, managing to draw out a wry smile from the weaponsmaster.

"You sure ye' alright?," by the time the words left the knight's mouth, his pupil was already nodding his question away.

"Forget about it. It doesn't really matter," Lorden admitted, as he closed his eyes and shook his head. No matter what he did, he couldn't get the incessant ringing in his ears to stop. Giving up trying to clear his mind, the swordsman opened his eyes and stilled the movement of his skull. Seemingly convinced at the knight's words, the weaponsmaster began to form words on his own lips.

"Alright...," the burly man trailed off.

"Can you tell me why I hit you?," his instructor asked. Lorden resisted the near-indomitable urge to cock his eyebrow.

Because you're too petching brutal, the knight thought, but refrained from saying.

"What?," the knight inquired of the weaponsmaster, instead.

"Drop down back into that stance of your's," the weaponsmaster commanded, seemingly dismissing all the previous questions, both his own and that of his student.

As the man spoke, Lorden slowly obliged. A part of the knight wanted to ask why he was getting into his stance, yet, the other part told him to listen to the man who had successfully floored him once, and come close to doing it another time as well.

Gritting his teeth a bit in a conflicted mass of emotions and notions, Lorden moved his right leg back, and positioned his left out in front of him.

The weaponsmaster nodded.

"Now throw a punch," the stocky man commanded, as he spoke, Lorden quickly obeyed. The knight took a raspy breath, and rocketed his hand clumsily through the air, to the best of his abilities. As his arm began to fully extend out to his elbow, a loud and sharp order made the knight jump.

"Now hold it!," the male who stood beside Lorden, ordered loudly. As the man spoke in his bellowing voice, Lorden all but fell over his front leg; in the end the knight just barely managed to hold himself flat, as he was left with his back leg stretched behind him, and his entire torso leaning toward his outstretched left arm.

Good gods this feels wrong, Lorden thought nervously, referring to his unbalanced stance, as the weaponsmaster ran his green eyes over the knight's frozen form

"All right, I see what yer doing now," Lorden's teacher said after a few awkward moments.

"Go ahead and drop back to your starting 'stance'," as Lorden moved to heed the man's words, the burly weaponsmaster tacked on another small sentence, that caused a mix of anticipation and embarrassment to wash over his pupil.

"We have a lot of work to do," the man informed matter-of-factly.

[Lorden Ladis]

4th of Spring, 515 AV

"First things first. If your stance looks like that, you're going to trip over yourself; your enemy won't have to do a thing," the burly, green-eyed man said to Lorden, indicating the knight's way of standing with his right hand, as he spoke.

So how do I fix it?, as Lorden mused to himself, his thoughts practically showed through his eyes, as he looked up at the knowledgeable combatant before him, looking for some kind of guidance. As the knight looked on at him, the weaponsmaster's emerald gaze casually drifted to the ground underneath Lorden's back leg.

"Try lifting your back foot up," the man prompted, as he spoke, Lorden looked down at his regimented lower body. Slowly but surely, the knight shuffled his two feet, off of their heels, and on to their toes.

His instructor shook his head.

"Just the back leg, always keep the front flat when yer' standing," the man directed. Lorden looked at the weaponsmaster once more, and pushed his left heel down, until it moved all the way down to, and butted against the stone roofing underfoot. The swordsman's fellow knight once more began moving his head, this time, it was being shaken in the affirmative.

"That'll do fer' now, but the back leg is too close to the front, spread yer legs a bit, knight," the weaponsmaster continued to give him commands, and as Lorden did, he clenched his fist nervously; he wasn't sure he could remember all this. Nevertheless, the knight shifted his dominant leg over to the right and back a bit, before looking at his would-be teacher for approval.

"I said to the side, you moved yer leg back...," the green-eyed fighter prodded, causing Lorden's heart to sink a bit. Sighing mentally, the knight tried to scuffle his leg 'back' forward, without moving said foot to the left any more than possible. When all his readjustments were done and over with, the novice-unarmed combatant felt a bit different.

I feel like I'm rooted to the ground, the knight thought, noting the solid nature of the stance he now found himself in. What Lorden was being taught differed quite a bit, from his more agile sword fighting techniques, and this fact wasn't lost on the man; who wasn't sure he liked the change.

"Anything else?," Lorden asked, genuinely curious, but hoping he'd be able to actually do some active training. The knight was getting tired of standing in one place, and he wanted to actually test out what he was learning; more importantly in his mind, he was hoping to measure the new stance up to what he was used to.

"For now, just lean back on yer' right leg. That's all," the weaponsmaster, who Lorden had addressed answered coaxingly. Lorden was quick to lean his back leg backwards, causing both his knees to fold forward as well, in the process.

"I feel pain just looking at you Lorden... Unbend and stick yer front leg out straight, and keep its foot flat. Yer whole front foots needs to be touching the ground, but you don't need to be leaning on it," Lorden's fellow knight explained knowingly. As the man spoke, the weaponsmaster's pupil unbent his front leg, and stuck it out straight in front of him, before shifting his weight more to his rear leg. Lorden couldn't help but lighten his eyes. Things were starting to feel more comfortable, the knight noted.

"Good, good; it'll start to look better with practice. I'll need to teach you how to stay in that stance next," the man who was directing Lorden proclaimed, with an ruggedly approving nod.

[Lorden Ladis]

4th of Spring, 515 AV

"Step back," the weaponsmaster directed calmly. Lorden almost smirked.

Nothing hard? I'm surprised, the knight thought. Yet, the blue eyed man's mental grin all but disappeared, when his instructor began to make another comment, before he himself could even begin to move his step back.

"And stay in yer' stance," the burly male said, stopping Lorden as his calves were already beginning to pump to move. As he spoke, the man's pupil sighed discretely.

I guess I'll just go with what he says, the twenty year old thought, unsure of how to follow threw with his thoughts. Framing a confused face, Lorden glanced below to his pair of booted feet. Slowly the knight watched as his own right foot lifted from its pads, and stretched back behind him; all the while his leading left foot stayed planted. In the end, the knight looked up from his legs, which now resembled those of someone beginning to attempt a split.

"Lift yer' front leg , and pull it back," the weaponsmaster directed, as his green eyes met the guidance-seeking azure orbs of Lorden.

The young knight nodded, and shot his front leg back quickly in relief, till his back was once again straight, and his feet stood beside each other. The weaponsmaster looked somewhat pleased, at his movements, Lorden noted; yet he also appeared as if he could easily frame a raised eyebrow on his visage, just as easily as an inspiring smile.

"Stay in the stance, that's the point of moving the way I just told ya' to," the man said, after a half-tick. As the green-eyed knight spoke, Lorden's lips contorted a bit.

Of course, the knight thought, berating himself for his lack of insight into the instruction, that he was receiving. Lorden took a breath, and spread his feet back into the way of standing, that as closely as he was capable, mimicked the stance the weaponsmaster had taught him previously.

Said weaponsmaster nodded.

"It's coming together, in a novice kind of way," the stout man said, somewhat encouragingly.

"Moving back and forth is about the hardest thing I need ya to learn,"
he continued, indicating Lorden with his hands, as he spoke.

"Just remember, one foot moves at a time, always. The rest is easy. When you move to the right, the right leg moves first. Yer' going to the left? You move ya' left leg first. Finally, moving forward is no different than what you just did. All you have to do is move yer front leg first, instead of the back one," Lorden's knowledgeable teacher finished his explanation, in the form of a long winded monologue. The blue-eyed knight just barely resisted the urge to whistle coyly, in recognition of all the information, that he had just received.

Truly, it was a lot to take in. But, Lorden figured he was at least picking up on the general gist, of his teacher's words. Really, the knight noted, all moving consisted of seemed to be shifting one leg at a time, and keeping your balance.

Almost as if the man saw the shaky light of understanding in Lorden's eye, the weaponsmaster spoke to direct him, once more.

"Moving is all I want to teach ye' today. Try going in each direction and staying in yer' stance, a couple times, and then yer' free to leave," as he spoke, Lorden eagerly began to move; he was already tired and sore and more than willing to depart.

"Next time we'll work on punching," the weaponsmaster informed, as his green eyes tracked his pupil's movements, in a hawkish manner.

Next time..., Lorden thought hesitantly, feeling the lingering sting in his jaw. The knight was glad his teacher hadn't told him when to come back.

Still, punching... I need to know how, the man's thoughts drifted, contradicting both his current emotions, and his aching body, at the same time.

[Devi]

Your Grades have arrived! Lorden Skills: Boxing - 5XP Unarmed Combat - 5XP Endurance: 1XP Socialization: 1XP Lores: Boxing: Basic Stance Boxing: Basic Stance Boxing: Moving in Your Stance Endurance: Taking a Punch Comments: Nice job - it was good to see you really focused on the basics for this. I think in new combat styles it's especially important to focus on stances and the like to ensure your character has a realistic grounding in the skill. +2 Shield Points for training thread. Let me know if you have any questions and don't forget to edit your post in the Grade Request Thread. Happy Writing!