backinthsaddle | Chapter Three: Combat Training

"Yeah. I read a lot of them. Still do. But, yeah. Reading so many comics has shown me where the fiction fails. Where the problems result, and what should rationally be put in place to fix it."

"Yeah, comics - especially the old ones - aren't always known for making logical sense. There might be things you'll have to throw out or adapt, but not until after you field test them to see how things hold up from theory."

"Totally. Mostly I've focused on the codes of behavior. Why is it right for Batman to smash skulls? Why would anyone throw someone else through a wall? Everyone thinks they're doing the right thing; that's why they do what they do. No one goes out thinking, 'Hey, I'm gonna be an evil person today for funsies'."

"Well. A vast majority of people don't, anyway." He used to think so, but he's seen things that make him doubt that, sometimes. Not very often, maybe once or twice.

"Yeah. I mean, there're always anomalies, but the vast majority of bad actions are done with intentions that are firmly based in logic and what's best for them to do, whether it's based on greed or need or fear. So I'm looking at my actions, flatly, not my motivations. For me... it doesn't make hitting someone any better if they hit me first. Hitting isn't right for me to do, no matter what my reason is. 'Cause it's a slippery slope. First I'm doing it to keep from getting hit myself. Then I'm hitting someone because they made me angry. And that's a bad reason."

"Is it okay to hit someone if you're sparring? Since, you know, we're not doing it to hurt each other."

"I don't know if I can," she says, after a long pause, redoing a stretch for her arms, moving them across her body. "I think I better stick to blocks and misdirections and stuff."

He nods slowly, thinking, revising his lesson plan. So to speak. "Blocking's good. I think we'll start with balance, and how to fall. It sounds silly and pointless, but there's ways to fall that keep you from getting hurt easily, or at all, and it's where most martial arts start."

"Thank you," she says, relieved, shoulders lowering, lips curling into a grin. She hadn't realized how freaked out the idea of hitting someone made her until that moment, and now she feels so much better. "Yeah, it sounds weird. But it makes sense, I think. From a physics standpoint."

"Exactly. I'll show you a couple of times before I start trying to push you over, don't worry. There's a bit of a trick to it, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy." He smiles back at her. "I think that's enough for stretching, if you want to start in on the meat and potatoes of the lesson today."

"Yummy yummy meat and potatoes," she chirps, flexing her puny/nonexistent muscles, shifting lightly from foot to foot. "I'm totally ready. Let's do this."

"All right. First thing, I think, should be balance. You're short and skinny, and that usually works really well for evasion and being quick instead of trying to go toe to toe with someone twice your size. But that doesn't do you any good if you step wrong and fall over trying to get away."

He examines her stance, the way she's already reflexively imitating what she thinks is a good evasion stance. "You've got the general idea already. Your center of gravity is your friend, if you know how to use it right. Try to keep it centered above your feet, or you can get off-balance real quick. Keep your feet apart a little bit, it helps you stay stable."

She moves her feet a little further apart, shifts her weight a little forward, tiny adjustments to the way she holds herself, but she doesn't really know what she's doing, she's just a copier. While she's a bright girl, she's lost with anything that has to do with her body. Her shoulders are too straight, too stiff. "Where is my center of gravity, anyway?"

"For women, it tends to be about five inches above your belly button. A man's center of gravity is at the bottom of the sternum." He indicates on himself with his hands for each, to give her a visual idea. "It's not an exact science since everyone's bodies are different, but you'll get a feel for it."

She looks down to imagine five inches above her belly button, to picture where that is, where she has to protect, and she looks at where his sternum is when he moves his hand there. "I'll remember that."

He nods. "Good. Next is your feet. If you're standing still, you can be light on your feet without rocking forward or back too much, since those could put you off balance too." He demonstrates, turning to the side so she can see what his bare feet are doing when he takes a step, not quite flat-footed, a bit springy more than anything. "Lots of people think that this sort of thing's all about fancy kicks, but try to keep both feet on the ground as much as you can. Within reason, I mean."

((Last post for tonight, gotta run!))

"Like how those waterbugs stay floating on their feet. Distributing their weight across a greater surface area. Yeah, that makes sense. I feel wobbly standing on one foot, I can't imagine it'd be easier if my foot were moving." She wiggles her feet in her socks, tries to get that springiness she's seeing in Cole, and she moves her weight to the balls of her feet, keeping her heels on the ground, too, trying to copy.

((Rest well; have a great evening!))

"Yeah, good. Your feet are the most important thing in a fight, because once they're out from under you, anything can happen. Always try to know where your feet are and what they're doing - it's not something you'll be consciously aware of after you get used to it. Kind of like... playing an instrument. When you start learning, you have to think about where to put your fingers to make each note, but after practice it becomes reflex."

"Okay," she says, thoughtfully, concentrating, thinking to herself, 'this is where my feet are.' She looks up at him, finally, eyebrows furrowed in concentration in a way that makes her look excessively solemn, and then she smiles and that seriousness melts away.

He smiles back, a little less nervous about trying his hand at this whole teaching thing now. "Right. There's some things you can try to help improve your balance, but we'll leave those for next time."

"In the event that you do get off balance and fall, there's a couple of things you need to do. Priority one is always try to keep your head up. That's the last thing you want to get hurt. If you're going over backwards and you can get your hand between your head and the ground, it helps. If you're going forward, turn your head so you don't break your face. Don't try to stop your fall by putting your hands out and leaving them there - slapping the ground with your palms helps absorb some of the impact, but if your arms are rigid, you can break them easily."

She gnaws down at her lip, nods her head. "That makes a lot of sense. I'll have to work on that. When I'm in a physical hand-to-hand situation that I can't talk out of... I tend to get squirmy, and panicky, and instincty, and then I just kind of flail and blank out. I think practicing it with you'll help a lot."

He nods. "It's a trick to get the hang of it. It feels like going against instinct, but humans are kind of stupid that way, evolution-wise. It gets better with practice, and don't feel bad if you don't get it right away. That's why we're practicing on mats."

"Breathing out before impact is another thing that seems a bit counter-intuitive. It makes you more relaxed, and less likely to get hurt. And if you can, it helps to kind of fold your body into itself." He demonstrates as he talks, in deliberate slo-mo of course. Bending ankles first, then knees, then at the waist, kind of a controlled collapse. "Doing this shortens the distance you have to fall."

"Like in kung fu movies," she says, with a smooth transition into a big grin, as she watches him, and goes to imitate, folding in at the waist like closing a book. It reminds her of interpretive dance, which she was never very good at. "So, breathing out helps. I'll remember that."

"Yep. The breathing thing also applies to if someone's about to punch you in the gut." He watches her imitate the collapsing move, watching limbs unused to this sort of thing trying to cope with the new ways they're being used. "This is something you can practice whenever you want, as slow as you need, and just try to speed it up until you're falling in real time. It might take months, but don't feel bad if it doesn't come right away. You're fighting instinct, after all."

"Okay. Okay, that sounds good." The muscles of her abdomen tremble a little as they move in an alien way, she pulls her arms in like the slow wilting of a flower, like she's protecting her middle.

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