Two Words: Duck! (Hand-to-hand Repost: Rurak)

[Quibby]

OOC: I'm really sorry that I let this go for so long.

 

 

The training grounds were one of the places where Banders gathered to be around their friends... not to mention mock the green soldiers as they were knocked about by trainers and sparring partners alike. Mehrin loved the atmosphere, a combination of tenseness and humor all in one. "Thanks again, Beleo. I really appreciate your help."

 

"Don't worry about it, Mehr. You would have ordered me to do it if I'd refused, anyway." Beleo was about six feet tall and well-muscled, but not huge. It didn't really matter with all the padding that was wrapped around him, anyway. He had a sense of humor, though. The job definitely required it. Sergeant Beleo Ronas of the Infantry was affectionatly known as Punching Bag.

 

"You know me better than that, man. I wouldn't have ordered you to help; I'd have just made the next six months of your life miserable!" Mehrin said with a grin, which promptly left he glanced at the sun. "It's noon-"

 

"You know, I didn't notice," Beleo said sarcastically from beneath the thick padding.

 

Mehrin couldn't help but laugh at that, though he added more seriously, "Need I remind you that he was recently the recipient of a flogging? Give him a break, though if he isn't here in five minutes, we'll have him put on the padding and we'll demonstrate how each of these blows would feel."

 

-Mehrin

 

 

 

Rurak hustled up to the sparring area. He had barely enough time to wash and change after cleaning the latrines and stables, but he wasn't about to go into the citadel among all the rest of the people reeking of crap and urine, and only the light knew what else went in there. Mehrin was already there waiting for him with a patient look, and somebody else who looked like an overstuffed pillow.

 

"Sorry... I'm late... sir" Rurak managed to pant while attempting to swallow some air. "I .. Just finished the latrines... and I don't think... anyone here would have been... apreciative... of the smell"

 

-Rurak

 

 

The latrines. Right. Mehrin remembered that order, the punishment, and the amazing amount of alcohol that came after that. None of these memories came through in his voice, though. WIth something that strongly resembled amusement, Mehrin replied, "You're right. I doubt the others here would appreciate being downwind from you, and anyone who ended up working with the Punching Bag would have held it against you for quite some time."

 

Beleo chuckled at the use of his nickname, reminding Mehrin of his manners. "By the way, this is Sergeant Beleo Ronas. He's pretty dense, so the padding isn't all nessecary, but it's useful." At this, Mehrin walked over to the man, who was now bracing himself for what he knew was coming. Not wasting any time, Mehrin threw two quick punches with his right hand, one hitting the padding over Beleo's short ribs and the other hitting right below the first.

 

"In hand to hand combat," Mehrin began without any form of introduction or response to Beleo's quiet groans of pain, "an inch can mean the difference between a debilitating blow and irritating an opponent." Again, Mehrin approached Beleo, speaking as he did so. "Many trainers use a dummy for this course, and I'm not that much different." By this time, Mehrin was standing next to Beleo, who punched Mehrin as best he could for the comment. "A dummy, though, can't tell you if you've struck the right area, something that Beleo can do.

 

"Now," Mehrin said, finally reaching the beginning of the lesson, "I want you to find a comfortable stance. Not everybody is the same, so I cannot tell you what to do other than to center your weight between your two legs and keep your feet far enough for balance, but close enough to allow mobility."

 

-Mehrin

 

 

Mehrin quickly agreed with Rurak's assessment about other people's attitudes toward his stench then began by launching right into the training regimine. He threw two quick punches into Beleo's midriff, one right on top of the other. Beleo groaned in pain as Mehrin started his lesson right over him.

 

"In hand to hand combat, an inch can mean the difference between a debilitating blow and irritating an opponent." As Mehrin was saying this, he was slowly drifting back over toward Beleo. "Many trainers use a dummy for this course, and I'm not that much different." At this comment, Beleo threw a punch back at Mehrin. Rurak was surprised, but then again, Mehrin had said they were rather relaxed here. Still, it hadn't crossed his mind that he'd have to take a shot at his commander! Not that he'd be able to hit him, but it was the principle of the thing that mattered.. "A dummy, though, can't tell you if you've struck the right area, something that Beleo can do.

 

"Now I want you to find a comfortable stance. Not everybody is the same, so I cannot tell you what to do other than to center your weight between your two legs and keep your feet far enough for balance, but close enough to allow mobility."

Rurak quickly took up the stance that felt most natural to him. It employed many of the principles of archery. He stood with his left foot back, and right foot forward since, like his hand, he favored his left leg. He faced Mehrin an angled towards him so that only a minimum of his body was displayed as a target. The angle was such that his right shoulder was nearly pointed at Mehrin so that he would take most of his blows on his right side. He planted his feet only slightly wider than his shoulders so that the center of balance would be just right, Then merely stood there, wondering what Mehrin wanted next.

 

-Rurak

 

 

"Good," Mehrin said, assessing the man's stance. Now to test it. Mehrin tossed his cloak, hat, and vest to one side and started unlacing his shirt. "Don't move, Rurak. Hold that stance until I say otherwise." As he finished the sentence, Mehrin pulled his shirt over his head, turning his whip-scarred back to Rurak as he approached Beleo. "I'm going to demonstrate some basic attacks. If you don't understand how one is done, just tell me and I'll demonstrate again." With that, Mehrin squared off against Beleo, who braced himself again. Mehrin's punches came pretty quickly, one to the padding around Beleo's face, one to his belly, one to the groin, one to the short ribs on either side.

 

"The nose, if hit, will cause your opponent's vision to fail temporarily, not to mention the amount of pain that comes with it. An upward jab to the stomach will knock the wind out of your opponent, leaving them breathless and easy to finish off. The groin... well, if I have to explain that one, then you've never been in a fight before. A note, though: a groin shot will work well against a man, but not so well if fighting a woman. Finally, the short ribs. Anything there is so painful that anybody would speak all kinds of profanities at that. Besides, a powerful blow stands a chance of breaking ribs and puncturing organs. Always a plus."

 

Mehrin stepped away from Beleo, who was bracing again for Rurak. "Your turn. You'll hit each of those four areas until Beleo says you've got it right. He's going to try to defend himself, so make sure you're on your guard. A bit of advice: try to look through Beleo. It allows some to react faster than focusing on one's opponent might. If it doesn't work like that for you, don't bother."

 

Mehrin stood back a little and said, "Good luck."

 

-Mehrin

 

 

After assuming the stance, Mehrin ordered him to hold it. Rurak cringed inwardly as Mehrin approached Beleo and laid a series of blows to the face, ribs, stomach, and then, horror of horrors, to the groin. As beleo sat there groaning, Mehrin overrode the sound with a short lecture.

 

"The nose, if hit, will cause your opponent's vision to fail temporarily, not to mention the amount of pain that comes with it. An upward jab to the stomach will knock the wind out of your opponent, leaving them breathless and easy to finish off. The groin... well, if I have to explain that one, then you've never been in a fight before. A note, though: a groin shot will work well against a man, but not so well if fighting a woman. Finally, the short ribs. Anything there is so painful that anybody would speak all kinds of profanities at that. Besides, a powerful blow stands a chance of breaking ribs and puncturing organs. Always a plus."

 

"Your turn. You'll hit each of those four areas until Beleo says you've got it right. He's going to try to defend himself, so make sure you're on your guard. A bit of advice: try to look through Beleo. It allows some to react faster than focusing on one's opponent might. If it doesn't work like that for you, don't bother."

 

Rurak walked forward and took up his stance again. At first, he tried to lay the blows in as lightly as he could, but that earned him a stinging blow to the side of the head as he moved too slowly to counter it. He then tried Mehrin's trick about unfocusing his eyes, but that just earned him more blows to the head. Finally, he just used his own focusing trick from archery. It allowed him to hit his targets really well, and helped focus his mind on the battles at hand. Once he had that down, it was only a matter of finding the exact spots that would do the damage. He could tell when he got it right because beleo would grunt from the blow and slow down temporarily, even though he had padding on. After a few minutes of this, Beleo finally stopped, deeming his work to have been adequate.

 

-Rurak

 

 

"Okay, then. On to kicking. The basic principle of kicking is that your body will dictate what you can and cannot do. For instance, I could kick someone in the side of the head... if they're under five-and-a-half feet tall. Other than that, I tend to go for the ribs. One's feet have the advantage over hands in that the feet are normally in some kind of shoe or boot. This added hardness, combined with the stronger muscles in the legs, leads to much pain."

 

Again, Mehrin approached Beleo. "For the kicks, try not to kick the sergeant too hard; these are much more painful than most punches can be." Mehrin than kicked Beleo in the chest and the belly. "Those are the general places you should aim for. I did not include the knees because even a light kick could cause irreversable damage. I also did not include the groin. If you're going for injury, those are the places that most can actually reach. A good distraction technique, though, is the shins. It may seem childish, but it is very painful."

 

Without a word, Mehrin stood back and allowed Rurak to practice.

 

-Mehrin

 

 

Kicking wasn't something that Rurak was used to. Always in archery Rurak was taught to have your feet firmly planted for your shots. The stance seemed to be holding up though as Rurak could pivot from either foot to add the weight of his body to the force of his blows. not that he did so of course. He had seen how Beleo winced from the blows even through the padding, and as Kedyn said, Kicks were much more powerful. His first kick he attempted to kick as lightly as possible, but he had forgotten that Beleo was supposedly defending, and made himself look the fool when Beleo easily trapped his foot, causing him to dance around on one foot, till Beleo released it and gave him a shove that deposited him on the ground.

 

Chagrined at having been humiliated in front of the Commander, Rurak continued his workout with much gusto, though with a little less accuracy than he would have liked. He laid kicks to the chest and stomach that staggered 'the punching bag' and knocked the wind out of him, then just for good measure laid a kick to the shins that was imperfectly executed and hurt his foot probably worse than it did beleo's shins.

Laying on the sand to take the wait off of his foot, Rurak apologized and told Mehrin that he'd be fine in a second if he'd just continue with the lessons.

 

-Rurak

 

 

OOC: Due to my extremely poor writing in my section on holds, we'll just use that as a springboard for the end of the lesson, okay?

 

A slight smile flashed across Mehrin's face as he looked at Rurak, who was rubbing his sore foot. "What do you think, Beleo? Did he get the idea?"

 

Beleo's eyes moved from Mehrin to Rurak, and then back to Mehrin. "I'm reasonably sure that he understood. I think he also learned how not to kick a person." At Mehrin's nod of agreement, he began pulling the heavy padding off before addressing Rurak. "Okay Rurak, here's the deal: for the next two weeks, you'll have some time off from the kitchens. Instead, you'll spend the time in my loving care. I'm going to help you 'study' for the final test with the commander there in two weeks."

 

Mehrin nodded once at Beleo's words before addressing Rurak. "You're dismissed."

*************

 

Mehrin was finishing a series of stretches when Rurak arrived. Hmmm... he looks alright. I'll still have to be careful, though. Skipping the formalities, Mehrin said, "Here's how this is going to work: we're going to do three distinct sets. The first set involves you attacking while I defend. The second involves me attacking while you defend. The third will be a normal spar." Mehrin adopted a defensive stance, facing Rurak. "Whenever you're ready."

 

OOC: You can cover the first two in one post, as there would be no real break in between except for Mehrin stopping it and beginning the second part. The spar will be like something you'd see in the Red Trench, so I'll come in and start that off. I apologize again for the delay.

[Blade]

Rurak limbered up the next day, still feeling some of the bumps and bruises from the sparring the day before. For a man completely covered in padding he moved pretty quick. A quick round at the archery range loosened up his arms, and a jog around the citadel's walls helped finish up his legs. he didn't make it too long though, since he would probably need a lot of energy to go up against the commander. He may be aging, but in battle, that had benefits as well. The man was even more wily than an fox Rurak had encountered, and he wasn't about to underestimate him.

 

Rurak could see that Mehrin was already there waiting for him. He quickly stripped off his cloak and his shirt to allow more freedom of motion and dropped into his fighting stance. Mehrin just seemed to stand there waiting for him. Feeling a little foolish, Rurak through a couple of quick jabs at Mehrin which the man easily dodged, without even moving from his position. A quick snap quick was easily blocked with the palm of a hand and knocked Rurak off balance. Finally, a little frustrated, Rurak threw a jab in close, then continued with the motion, trying to hook a leg behind Mehrin's. The move was easily countered by spinning on the ball of his feet and Mehrin gave a little shove in the small of his back to send him sprawling in the dirt. This seemed to continue for a few minutes until Rurak, too tired to keep trying broke off sucking air in. He stood that way for a few minutes and then readied himself for whatever Mehrin was about to throw his way.