Don't think you're done yet (Melenis)

[Corwin]

The girls was getting better.  She could finally take some punches without Corwin holding back.  She was much faster than she was when she first same, and Corwin thought he was beginning to realize it and use it to her advantage.  She had begun to switch it up, sometimes holding back and then seeing a weakness and striking.  With that in mind, Corwin had called her to meet him yet again, only this time he was going to do more than test her endurance.  This time he was going to show her how to parry more blows.

 

This would be another area that her speed was something she would greatly depend on, since many times it would be sidestepping and letting the opponents momentum carry them forward, or finding a way to divert their blows.  But she wouldn't find that too easy until Corwin decided she was ready for bracers of some kind.  But maybe she was going to get a broken forearm or two before she learned that lesson.

[Jehaine]

As her skill without a weapon was getting better, so did her confidence in her abilities. Though there was still a wide gap between Corwin and herself, she was able to dodge some punches she was certain he had intended to land, and even though he could still parry everything she could throw at him hitting him wasn't an exception anymore.

 

Today, she believed everything would be no different. She'd get some heavier weights, or focus a bit more on certain aspects of hand to hand fighting she needed some more control on -- she still couldn't take a blow well, for example -- or both, but training had started to feel like a routine to her. Her ashandarei was -- as could be expected -- slung across her back, and even though she had made no attempt to use the weapon it was evertless a source of confidence for her. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself to whatever Corwin would have in mind, though she was already ging through the moves he had told her to practise the past week.

 

 

Melenis

Will make a fistfighter yet

[Corwin]

Corwin told the girl to punch him and as she did, he moved.  She didn't quite put her all into it, so Corwin's side stepping just avoided the punch.  Telling her to do it again with all she had, the girl nodded and threw it all in.  Once she did, Corwin sidestepped again but as she moved forward, Corwin let his right foot dag and watched her quickly recover her balance.  Good, most wouldn't catch themselves, then you have your opportunity to strike and end the fight.  Now again.

 

The girl threw it all in, but seemed to expect to be tripped.  When Corwin instead used forearm to come forward and knock her punch off it's course some, Corwin followed with a quick blow that he could have knocked all the wind out of her, but stopped just short of her stomach.  That is your other option, but I wouldn't recommend it too often.  It's hard to actually do in a fight, and if you miscalculate your timing, your either hit, or wide open.  Now I want you to practice, you better be quick on those feet.

 

Corwin sent a punch sailing in right away.

[Jehaine]

When he had told her to punch him, Melenis knew better than to give hit her all. There had been too many times Corwin would have countered it with a blow of his own, giving her some pointers on the openings she'd have. Though the bruises on her body had healed fine, her pride took a bit longer to recover. When was almost tripped the second time, she took this as a confirmation of what she had been wary of, and jumped back a bit as soon as she regained her footing again.

 

For the next punch, she had positioned herself closer to Corwin, in order to keep from moving her legs while still being able to put some power behind the punch. As soon as she felt her fist be knocked away, she braced herself for what would undoubtedly have been a painful impact, but was somewhat surprised -- and relieved, though she didn't admit that to herself -- to see that he had stopped just short of hitting her. Listening to the advice he gave, she dug her feet in, but still sidestepped the first punch out of habit.

 

Some time into the training, Melenis didn't feel particularly confident in her ability to block and deflect. Whatever she tried generally ended up hurting her more than it did him, and as much as fifteen minutes into training her forearms stung painfully, and the numbness in her wrists seemed to sap all power out of her punches. She tried to deflect another blow, but her arm offered preciously little stopping power. At least she had managed to keep some blows from hitting her body this time around, though it felt as if the bruises were just located on her arms rather than her torso this time. She didn't want to give up until Corwin ended this round, but it was clear that lifting her arms was the best she could do at that point.

 

 

Melenis

Not a great blocker

[Corwin]

Corwin could see the bruises on her arms and she would still throw them up.  This girl just wont give up.  Corwin was concerned that soon he would be damaging the muscle too much, or even break the bone, if she kept throwing them up.  He wanted to push her to her limits, but she needed to know what those were so she didn't do stupid things.  Luckily she began to side-step some more.

 

As she would step aside, her real speed seemed to come in, and Corwin still went as fast as ever.  She would get clipped every now and then, and she would be thrown to the side.  But the woman would get right back up and they would go again.  Unfortunately Corwin saw her begin throwing her arms up again.

 

Stopping, Corwin dismissed the girl.  You need to learn the limits or you are going to slow your training down even more.  Come back in a week when your arms have healed some.  Until then, I want you to learn the limits you have.

[Jehaine]

Melenis gave a relieved sigh when Corwin told her that training was over. Her arms hurt, but at least she had managed to bite through the pain long enough to make it to the end of it. The simple fact was, she didn't want to appear weak. For most of her life she had been fighting against her frail body. Sure, she was fast, sure, she had stamina, but she could only take a limited number of blows before she'd be disabled. The downside of having alight build, it seemed.

 

Nevertheless, Corwin's remark about knowing her limits made her wince. she had a basic grasp on when she would be unable to continue and when not, but sought to push her limits in training. As much as she regretted the occasional visit to the infirmary, if that would be a side effect of her training then it was a necessary evil. She made a mental note to drop by the infirmary anyway though, just in case. There was still her ashandarei training later tonight, and ending up with a more permanent injury because of carelessness on her behalf would end up doing more harm than good.

 

A week later, she was at the small clearing again. This time, Corwin was waiting for her though, and after greeting him she stood ready for what training he had in mind for her today.

 

 

Melenis

Alive and kicking

[Corwin]

Corwin had a dummy full of hay next to him.  Today she was going to learn to throw, but she needed to know how to do it without harming herself.  The girl was small, and if she didn't distribute the weight right, throwing the wrong person would crush her.  Today you're going to throw this dummy around until you wont hurt yourself.  Once your ready, you can throw me.

 

Showing her the way to grad someone and slowly, he showed the weight distribution, the legs carrying most of the weight and not the back.  This will all be easier when they have their own momentum, but I wont have you throwing me and screwing up your back.

 

Going over it a few more times, Corwin then turned her loose.

 

OOC: NPC Corwin as much as you want.  Just get her to throwing things well.

[Jehaine]

Melenis looked at the dummy for a bit, trying to imagine it flying over her shoulder, or being 'tripped' into the ground. She lifted the dummy, trying to get an indication of where its center of balance would be with the current weight distribution before adding that too in the calculations of how the dummy was going to react if she threw him like so. Knowing how it'd move meant knowing how she would have to move to avoid counterattacks, or an opponent dragging her down with him. Either way, a dummy wouldn't be as threatening as a live opponent, and she needed to get better at placing her own weight if she was even going to consider using it in combat.

 

Training with the dummy went rather well, all things considered. She still got an arm in her face on occasion, or needed to think in mid-throw about foot placement, but after a couple of hours she had managed to get rid of the most glaring errors, only leaving a number of rough edges to iron out. When those were gone as well -- or at least gone to a respectable degree --  Corwin told her to try practising with him now. Still a bit uneasy about switching to a live opponent, she placed her hands like he had told her to, and in what felt like Grapevine Twines threw him over her outstretched leg and onto te ground.

 

Though the throw itself was successful, she was still not satisfied with the results, and unless she missed her guess neither was Corwin. The man was certainly a lot heavier than the dummy had been, and it had been a close call to not let the leg she had tripped him with end up pulling her down with him. More attemts followed, but with only varying degrees of success, it was clear that she was having quite a bit of trouble adjusting to his weight. Being a good fifty pounds heavier than she was tended to have that effect.

 

 

Melenis

Having trouble with heavy people