Chapter Three: Combat Training

[backinthsaddle]

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.

Comments

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

She does, lowering one shoulder before the other, curling to protect her neck, and around she goes! She glances up at him from the floor, uncertainly, wondering if she did it right.

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"Good." A bit slow for if it was for real, but that's nothing bad at this stage, not at all. "It's okay to get your arms up a little bit more if you need to protect your head, but you did good."

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

She reaches up to clamp her hands at the back of her neck, elbows behind her, and she pushes off with her fit and spins again. That does feel better, and this time when she looks up at him she smiles.

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"Very good. In a real fight you might not get the chance, but let's get you used to having everything in your favor first before we start taking safety nets away."

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"That sounds like a good plan. Could we... could we practice, the hand-to-hand stuff? I'm a bit nervous of how I'll react in a situation."

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"Sure. Where do you want to start?"

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"I... honestly, I don't know where to start."

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"Maybe boxing? It's focused on evasion rather than blocking a lot of the time, and it'll help your footwork. You won't have to try to hit me, just avoid when I jab at you."

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

She nods her head. "That'll work." Mostly what she's afraid of is being overpowered in close quarters, but boxing is a good move toward practicing for that.

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"Okay. I've got handwraps just in case we decided to do this sort of thing. Even if you aren't trying to hit me, it can help support your wrists if you fall and try to catch yourself. Let me show you how to put them on." It's like a giant roll of not-quite-sticky tape, and he shows her how to unfurl it across the wrists and the bottoms of the hands, and once over the fleshy bit between the thumb and the rest of the hand, to hold it in place.

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

She touches his wrist, touching that tape, head cocked to the side, eyes following his motions as he wraps. She's noting how tightly he wraps, the direction. "That reminds me. I'm gonna have a lot of protecty stuff when I patrol."

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"That's a good idea, so long as it doesn't restrict movement too much." He holds up one wrist, the one she's not touching. "Might be good to do this underneath, for extra support. Are you thinking about Kevlar?"

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I am. But I've heard that doesn't have stellar flexibility. I'd have to do some hands-on research."

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"I think they make bullet-resistant fabrics now. They're expensive, though." He hands the 'tape' over to her, so she can try to mimic what he did to protect his wrists.

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"I'll see if I can get ahold of something. I might know a guy who knows a guy." She takes the wrap, pulls the tape, slips up her sleeves. It's a rare occassion that she does that. Some of the scars still look puffy and raw and new. And then starts going to work. At first she starts wrapping too tightly, and then she stops, undoes it, and starts again. It's too tight, again. Maybe, in a way, she's trying to force her body away, and she can't do that gently.

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"If you make it too tight, you won't be able to bend your wrists..."

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"I know," she says, a tad fretfully. "I'm having a hard time with it."

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"Here, let me help." He holds out his hands for the tape, but letting her make the choice of whether to insist on doing it herself or not. Though he gets the feeling that it won't wound her pride too much.

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"Thank you," she says, relaxing a bit, gladder now that she doesn't have to look at her arms anymore. She gives him the tape, easily.

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

He reaches out and holds her arm with one hand, turning it slightly when he needs to pass the tape over and around, to unwrap what she had done. Then rewrapping, starting towards the hand side first and working down to the wrist.

His cheeks are a little red by the time he finishes both, and he clears his throat, turning to toss the tape onto the bench where he got it from in the first place.

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"Thank you," she says, again, quieter, looking up at his face, until he turns, and then she looks down at her arms. "Sorry, it's kinda dumb of me that I couldn't... I still have a few issues," she finishes, lamely.

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"It's okay... how does it feel?"

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"It feels pretty perfect." She flexes her arm, fixes her sleeves, testing range of motion.

[backinthsaddle.livejournal.com]

"Okay. So. Boxing." He clears his throat again. "If you feel like you need to block, do whatever feels natural. But the main goal will just be to try to evade me, whether that means ducking or stepping back or trying to lean out of the way. Do you feel okay with that?"

[victormakesart.livejournal.com]

"I do." She takes a deep breath, links her fingers and stretches her arms out, and her knuckles crack a little when she does, and she shakes out her arms and legs. "Let's do this."