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[Logan Storm]

The trainer explained, "Pair off and fight. Practice dodge, redirect, and block, each of you in turn.”

Man of few words, Logan thought.

Like an unsolved puzzle, Logan pieced together what the man wanted them to do. Watching everyone train also helped. So the trainer wanted them to dodge an attack, redirect an attack, and block an attack. Sounded simple enough, but Logan had a feeling it was easier said than done.

Logan evaluated his partner, his build and even the possible bruises on him. He recognized this man as the one who held onto the trainers equipment before he and the trainers fight began. Did that make this man a teachers pet, or did the trainer trust every one of his pupils to hold his things?

“Jon, you defend. You. Come at him... Half pace,” the trainer said to the two. Logan looked at him a little confused. Another puzzle he had to pick apart, at least this one was easier to understand.

Logan pulled up his defenses and faced Jon, the apparent name of his partner. As instructed, Logan threw a punch half its normal power and speed, but the pace could be assumed by everyone to be too slow.

Of course it would be too slow! After all, Logan never received the softest of training's. His father had always pushed him to better himself, to go above his recent skill's abilities. Not once did Logan ever slow a punch, so this new way would take some getting use to.

The first punch was easily dodged, the second was easily redirected, and the third was easily grabbed.

When Jon's blocking stance shifted a little to an attack stance, Logan prepared himself to defend.

The first punch came in and was easily dodged by a lean back and a shift to the side. Logan felt a small rush of wind brush against his cheek as the attack missed its mark. It felt good to successfully dodge, and also built his confidence a little.

The second part of the lesson came, which was probably the hardest part. Jon threw a punch and Logan, with full intentions only on redirecting it, missed the chance to redirect it. He was too quick and immediately thrust his palm into the air. Jon's punch moved passed Logan's back hand and nabbed Logan on the lips as a consequence to his fast actions. Sudden unnerving pain shot through both bottom and top lip, and Logan's front teeth.

Logan moved back to regain his form, but the training was not yet over. The next thing Logan did, out of pure instinct, was lean back and to the side, dodging the final punch, but not blocking.

He moved back again, more like jumped back, then placed up his dukes. He looked Jon in the eye with pupils of fury, like that punch had served to piss Logan off. He said, "Again," then waited for Jon to make a move.

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones circles about his students, watching each in turn as they did as he instructed. It was best, he had found, to keep moving, and to not focus on any student too long. The ones that had been around had however practiced much of this before, and so this new student would likely require a bit more direct assistance than the others. As he watched Jon and his other old students, he felt somewhat satisfied with what he saw. They were nowhere near where he was, able to react as needed without thinking by instinct, but they were making progress. Their motions were much cleaner, better executed, even if they were still full thought out and planned. But then that was what the drills were for, doing it over and over again, to instill deep in the body the knowledge at an instinctual level, so that they could react as needed without though, and thus control it better. Acting as a guiding hand on ones body, instead of a taskmaster directing each individual action. This would allow one greater speed and fluidity to ones motions and attacks, over what less experienced fighters did. It was also a clear demarcation between lesser fighters, and greater ones. Lesser fighters knew how to fight, and did it on purpose and through willing and thinking their bodies into motions and attacks. Greater one's however fought without thinking and on instinct or training, muscle memory, allowing them to focus on the fight overall instead of the intricacies of how one needed to cant ones arm to intercept the blow as such. When the minute details became ingrained, the greater picture came into clarity. Their bodies knew how to react for a given end, and did so on their own. this new fighter had potential, but was also not there yet. It would likely take several sessions of training before he was as fluid as his other students present, and many more for the drilled motions and tactics to become second nature. When the half speed punch managed to collide with his new students face, Bones let out a sigh, watching the interaction. “You over reacted. Move when, not before.” Turning to the two of them, Bones set out his next set of instructions, rewording it several times in his head before speaking it till he finally found a method of ordering them that he could say easily. “Run again, five over at half pace. Jon, at him.” Five runs at half pace of Jon coming at the new student would likely be enough for him to get the gist of it, and perhaps to make a small bit of headway into understanding. However it was a particularly tricky technique, and not something one picked up instantly. It would require patience and time to fully grasp it.

[Logan Storm]

“You over reacted. Move when, not before,” his new teacher said after releasing a sigh. He then said, “Run again, five over at half pace. Jon, at him.”

Before Logan could wonder whether this man actually knew common, Jon came after him. The first punch Logan dodged and the second he dodged. When the third came close to his chin Logan found himself redirecting the attack with the back of his hand.

That was easy, Logan thought. Now all I have to do is learn how to catch.

Jon came again. The first punch was dodged, the second redirected with the back of Logan's hand, but the third was not caught. Instead Logan slammed his palm hard into the mans fist, wildly redirecting it away from his face.

He sighed, shook his head, and prepared for the next attack. Everything he did was surely out of instinct. While he thought to catch, his body quickly moved to redirect. It was a habit, all that he did, which he needed to end before he could do what his trainer wanted him to.

The third round came. Logan dodged, redirected, then redirected. One more time, dodge, redirect, and redirect.

The man backed away as Jon was readying to strike one last time. He moved out of reach, willing Jon to move forward. This wasn't a taunt, as if Logan had the pride to taunt at this point. It was a way for Logan to clear his head before the final strike came.

Dodge, redirect, catch. Dodge, redirect, catch. He told himself this over and over again in his head along with move when, not before.

With his left thumb, he brushed the tip defining point of his nose, a way to wake himself up to the training. To focus his mind without thinking of focusing his mind.

The first strike came and Logan dodged, leaning back and to the right. It was a rhythm that Logan had to follow. Already he had made one, now he had to break it and make another. The problem wasn't that he couldn't do it but that he had to do it. If he didn't then he would not succeed in his training today.

The second punch came in and Logan deflected it with the back of his right hand. It was his most comfortable way of redirecting. Doing so with his palms as the instructor and all the other did would only bring more difficulty. At least he was beginning to understand how to redirect.

As the final punch raced towards Logan he began to lean back. From the looks of it, he was dodging. From the point of view of Logan, he was as well. However, his mind would not allow his body to act on its own. As the punch came, and Logan leaned back, he willed himself to un-instinctively grab Jon's wrist. Logan held tightly when his fingers and Jon's wrist touched, then he let go while thrusting the wrist back.

Slowly he moved away then dropped his guard. Twisting his neck until he heard a crack, Logan braced himself again.

"I never thought the hardest thing I would ever have to do would be ordering my blocks." Logan said to Jon. "Can we move faster?"

[Ssafirsotibones]

It was clear that the human was not truly getting the point of the exercise. He was in far too much of a hurry to get things done, without concerning himself over doing things properly. He'd done the routine over a dozen times, and yet still was doing simple things wrong, and thinking himself having performed all in the correct fashion. Bones was clearly going to have to intercede directly, and explain to him what he was doing wrong, and why, since he was instead doing things his own way. The foolish back hand maneuver was a clear example of this. That might sort of work at half speed, but in a true fight would only end in him being injured. “Enough.” Bones said simply, heading towards Jon and the new fighter. However his eyes were not on Jon, but on the new man. “Arm.” he said, also simply, gesturing at the new fighters mentioned limb, asking for him to give over the desired limb, or for him to hold it out. Bones however did not wait more than a moment for him to do as instructed, and took control of the limb, using both of his own hands to take over the offending arm. With one motion he pulled him forward, forcing the limb to extend, and then by applying pressure at the inset and the wrist, he forced the elbow to bend and the wrist to flex. “You want to go quicker, but you have yet to follow me at half pace. Learning will come when it will, not when you demand. You need to follow and do my action, not imitate half way.” Adding pressure to the wrist again, Bones made him move his hand so that in turn the front and back where shown, as he mentioned each. “Palm, not back hand, do what I do. Or do you believe you know better?” At this close distance, it was easy to stare the man in the eyes, judging as he asked the question to him. Next he gave a physical demonstration of why he used his palm to thrust for redirection, using the mans hand and his own. Bringing his students arm back so that the back of the hand showed, Bones punched slowly at it. However once his fist connected with the back of his hand, Bones kept adding pressure, imitating the strength of a punch directed and striking the back of his hand as such. Perhaps, Bones hoped, the simulation would show him the folly of not following Bones actions, and of trying to go against what he did. Though perhaps it would not appear as such to an outside observer, Bones motions were well trained and honed over time to find the correct method of doing things. Much of training was to allow ones students to skip this trial and error and wrong ways, using their teachers knowledge instead. This pushing action would force the wrist to try to bend in a way it could not, forcing the palm downward as if to touch the forearm, as the pressure on the back of the hand increased. The elbow would also bend, forcing the arm into a somewhat awkward shape, one that was not useful in a fight. However the elbow could only bend so far before it stopped, and forced the wrist once more into a painful motion of bending inward. Bones let up before any real damage was done, but it would likely still be painful. He made it clear in a few words his point, keeping his words simple. “Back hand bad. Palm good.” With another twist Bones brought the humans hand about, now with the palm facing out. Once more Bones punched at the hand, but to a different effect. With the hand in the position of palm out, when the punch added pressure and pushed on the arm, instead of causing an awkward bending it simply brought the arm in tight to the side and in, or pushed the arm out by the blow. Where the back of the hand block had met with painful bending and awkward arm position, the palm thrust when failing either ended with an arm in tight to the side, or with the hand being pushed away. Though neither of these were inherently helpful, neither were they inherently painful or hurtful as the reaction to force on the back hand was. Perhaps the back of the hand move might work against slow blows, or ones without much force. Perhaps it might work if executed perfectly. But with the palm even if things went poorly and did not work, as they often did for newer uses of Bones' techniques, it still ended well enough. Along with that the palm thrust also gave one the chance of turning the push into a grab. Bones showed this by holding out his own palm, and having the human's fist punch at him. The first slow blow he pushed aside, redirecting. The second he brought in his palm at the wrist, starting a push, and then grabbing once the punch finished its motion. “Palm, not back.” Releasing the humans hand, Bones motioned for the pair of humans to return to sparring, finished with his point making. Perhaps, Bones hoped, the human would actually pay attention now, and do thing properly and as Bones did, not half as he did and half another way. If nothing else the pain would likely be a helpful reminder of the impact of not following his actions to a T.

[Logan Storm]

"Enough," Logan heard. He relaxed his body as his tutor, who had probably been watching his training for a while, stormed towards Logan's side. He cared not for Jon, his eyes were only on Logan.

"Arm," the man demanded, not waiting for Logan to respond before forcefully taking his arm. The man was very angry wasn't he? He took Logan and made him bend his elbow.

"You know, you could just ask me," Logan said, but he doubted that the instructor cared.

“You want to go quicker," Bones said. "but you have yet to follow me at half pace. Learning will come when it will, not when you demand. You need to follow and do my action, not imitate half way.”

The word perfectionist came to Logan's mind when he looked at this man. Bones wanted Logan to do exactly as he did with the exact steps he asked for. If this man wasn't demanding then no one was. But it was his right to be demanding, as teachers should when instructing students. However, it wasn't his right to seem like a shyke about it.

“Palm, not back hand, do what I do," Bones said. He took Logan's fingers and turned Logan's palm to face him, then his back hand. Logan tried to control the rising anger inside his gut because of how this man was going about his teachings, but it became harder as the man continued.

"Or do you believe you know better?” Bones said.

Was that a challenge? Logan thought.

Bones was now close to Logan. Logan could feel the instructors breath hitting his chest as they spoke together. Logan looked him in the intimidating eyes and fought the urge to flinch again. The fact that he was angry helped him a lot.

Logan raised one eyebrow and said, "I know what I know and you know what you know." You controlling freak.

The last bit he kept in his head. He was growing to hate this instructor but he wasn't going to ruin his chance to learn, even if the instructor was beginning to be a bad one.

What Bones did next was very odd. Somehow he had managed to bend Logan's wrist to a point where pain became Bones' advocate. A sharp one shot through him from what his instructor was doing, but as soon as it became dire bones stopped.

Logan fought a new urge to shake his hand and rid the pain, partly because Bones still held his hand.

His instructor did the same thing to Logan, but this time Bones worked with Logan's palm. He did the same thing, but pain did not come with his actions. There was still a little, but not as much as when Bones used Logan's back hand.

The instructor finished his demonstration by saying,“Palm, not back.” He finally released Logan's fingers and gestured to both Jon and Logan to continue their sparring. Logan stared at the front of his hand then the back. He bent his fingers together to make a fist. He could steel feel what Bones had done to him.

"Actually, Bones," Logan called to his instructor. He looked past Jon to Bones, staring at his eyes again. "I think I might learn better if I sparred with you."

[Ssafirsotibones]

Bones could tell by looking at the human that he would be a problem. He had anger and fury in him, but not the control or direction he needed to use it. Bones knew from his own personal experience that anger could be a strong emotion. Letting go, allowing oneself to be carried by their emotions, by anger, hunger, could be strong. But if one let those emotions control then the end result would inevitably be ones own failure. He recalled long ago fighting in a fury, nearly blacking out in his lust, and when he came to finding the arm of a foe in his hand, one he'd ripped clean off one foe and used as a bludgeoning tool against another. Bones had since suck out a middle ground, between anger and control. He did not impede his anger, did not seek to stop it, instead he gave it direction, limits, and guidance. Similar to how he fought, using the foes force against, guiding their blows, Bones also fought an internal struggle, likewise guiding his own fury and killer instinct. A cold rational fury. Not a blind hot fury. When the human asked Bones to spar with him once more, Bones had already turned away and begun to walk off to the next pair. They'd already fought once, and Bones had won, but he wished to combat him once more. But Bones had come painfully close in the last bout to losing control of his carefully built restraint. He didn't doubt that if the two fought again, Bones would lose control, and his instinct would take over, and he'd not be as capable of stopping his own instincts the next time around. Bones answered without bothering to look at him. “No. One more round, each of you, practice. After, you go. Teaching over. Come back tomorrow.” With that Bones walked off to inspect the other sparring partners, after announcing that there would be one more practice bout amongst the partners, and then class would be over.

[Sayana]

Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request. If there's anything I may have missed, please PM me and I'll be happy to look into it.

 

Logan

Skills

• XP

Lores

• Lore:

Comments
Please update your ledger to include living expenses for Spring 515 AV. Typical expenses for the season are 135 gm (Common) and 45 gm (Poor). PM me when your ledger has been updated and I will award you grades.

Additionally, remember not to use information that Logan doesn't know. Not once did Bones say his name, so Logan wouldn't have known to say "Bones" in your last post.

 

Bones

Skills

• Inditimidation: 2
• Leadership: 2
• Subterfuge: 3
• Observation: 4
• Tactics: 3
• Unarmed Combat: 2
• Acrobatics: 2
• Wrestling: 2
• Endurance: 2
• Teaching: 4
• Rhetoric: 1
• Philosophy: 1

Lores

• Subterfuge: Careful pronunciation hides my identity
• Fighting: A Dance of Deception
• Wrestling: Yanking a leg to counter a kick
• Use Your Foes Energy Against Them
• Wrestling: Bear hug lift
• Exercising restraint: Keep calm and don't kill
• Newcomer has potential (Logan)
• Using Palms is Less Painful in Fighting
• Philosophy: Cold fury more controlled than hot fury

Comments: Great thread. I really enjoyed the detail regarding different fighting styles and techniques. I shamelessly tested putting pressure on my palm versus the back of my hand... It was a fun read.

Your Grader,

Sayana

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