backinthsaddle | Chapter Three: Combat Training

Chapter Three: Combat Training

Cole's managed to get signed up, last minute, for one of the self-defense courses at his college to use as a refresher, and to learn some new techniques. But for now, he plans to start passing along what he already knows, so long as he can figure out the best way to be a teacher.

He has the workout room outfitted with floor mats and cleared of machines so there's enough room to spar without tripping over or falling into things, and he has handwraps in case things stray into boxing type territory. But he's going to see what she seems more comfortable with first, then go from there.

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He's a little surprised that she did that, since she didn't want to try hitting anyone, and lets himself be shoved back. He holds his hands out to his sides, palms open, to make himself look non-threatening.

"Was that... did I do okay? Did I do good? I didn't hurt you or anything? I figured, I mean, pushing to redirect could be a good defence?"

"That's just fine," he assures her, especially now that he knows it was a deliberate, calculated move instead of a wild panic move. "Not a boxing move, but you won't really have people following the rules there, so that's fine."

"Good! So this way, I can do that, and for sure probably no one'll get hurt." She smiles widely. "You know, this is pretty fun."

"There are other moves I think I can teach you too, once we get there," he agrees. "One thing you might want to try for now is pushing at an angle. You got me pretty solid just backwards, but that can fail if you hurt your wrists or the person attacking you has too much momentum. If you push at one side and try to side-step, you can sort of push them past you if you hit them right."

((closing time!))

"Awesome," she says, hopping from foot to foot. It reminds her of a dance, of learning how to direct momentum, and it reminds her of that time she tried meditation and learned about the flow of chi. This is just as fun as watching movies, and helping him with homework (she loves homework, she's a freak).

((Rest well when you do!))

He watching her footwork, and although she still has a lot to learn, she's at least got the basic idea. "All right, let's go again." He's hopping a little bit too now, more like he would if they were really boxing, her growing enthusiasm a little infectious.

She grins like a cheshire cat, hands up, copying him. This is the first time in an altercation that she felt empowered, even if it's a fake altercation. "Let's do this."

He's beginning to enjoy himself a little now that she's responding in kind, now that she's gaining confidence, and he likes that he's helping her do that. Teaching is more fun than he thought it'd be, although it still remains to be seen whether he's any good.

He comes toward her just a little, a single hop, for another one-two pair of pulled punches.

She leans back a little and pushes his arm to the right with a block, more redirection than blocking (and if she gave him a solid push to his shoulderblade on his punching arm she probably could have almost made him fall, but that's a little tai-chi-y, and Vic doesn't have those kinds of skills). She misses the other punch entirely, and she stumbles a little, because leaning back was a mistake.

"Careful. Remember your feet. Try shifting one foot a little behind you for support if you lean back, or step back entirely."

"To keep a balance," she says, "because otherwise I'm not distributing my weight properly?"

He nods. "Exactly. And to compensate for the force you're trying to counter or redirect." He knows by now that she's a lover of science, so he throws in a physics term. "It's Newton's laws of motion on a practical scale."

"Yes! Okay, I was just thinking how Newtonian mechanics relate to physical fights. Hello, mind-reader."

"It's all physics when you get down to it," he agrees, flashing a smile. "If you don't have enough body mass to go toe to toe with someone twice your size, you can always misdirect and use your opponent's momentum against them, or simply not be there when they try to hit you. And their center of gravity can, sometimes, be used like a pivot point if you know how to use the right 'lever.'"

"Precisely, because Newton's Laws don't just apply to a direct square-on force acted on a person; it works for forces acted at angles too. And if I'm not there when my opponent swings for me, and he follows through with the swing, his momentum is going to continue, without a force acting on him to make him stop."

"The reverse is also true, which is why it's important to make sure your feet are where they're supposed to be. Otherwise he can do the same to you. Let's do that same move again, but this time, try to compensate for the balance change."

"That makes sense," she says, gleefully. When she can turn the panic off in her brain and fight and not run from every little cracking twig beneath her feet, she's not terrible. "Will do!"

He thinks he's found the key to helping her get a good grasp on this whole self-defense thing, so he's still smiling a little as he raises his hands up again, and does his best to duplicate the move before, little jabs towards her so she has something to react to and try to counter or avoid.

This time, because she knows what he's going to do, she blocks with her forearm for the first one (a little clumsily), and brings her left foot back at the same time, letting the next one miss her.

"Good! Side-stepping is pretty useful, and if you get your opponent mad, they might use more force than they need to and fall or stumble if their target isn't there anymore."

"I've seen that happen in films," she says, wisely, smiling the shiest, proudest smile over at him.

"Don't believe everything you see in movies, but a lot of fight scenes are... relatively realistic. Though not necessarily ones involving dropping toilets on people from the roof," he adds with a sort of wink-wink-nudge-nudge tone.

((finally got to see the movie, lol))

She tee-hees a little, wiggly-squirmy, a light flush settling over her face. "That could happen! It could totally happen."

((OMG WHAT DID YOU THINK?????))

"It could, but it's really unlikely. Not everyone gets as much luck as the MacManus brothers."

((it was made of wow, with a dash of wtf.))

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