Flashback Basics of Unarmed Combat (Stances)

[Rhyus]

Time Stamp: 30th of Summer, 485AV Location: The Training Gallery Who: Ssacariryhuss Summary: Rhyus learns three basic stances of his style. Ever since he was little, Ssacarirhyuss enjoyed watching the hand to hand combat of the vipers. When he finally learned his human form, the young Dhani was eager to learn the martial art of his people. However, it was a week since he included himself in their lessons, and he was quite overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that he didn't know about his body. The lessons often made the Dhani's muscles ache to the point where he could barely walk the next day. The student ahead of him warned the constrictor wanted his students to learn the proper stances today, so he was fairly sure that he wasn't going to be able to walk the next few days. “Alright, Ssacarirhyuss. When you make a fist, you tightly curl in your fingers and put your thumb over the knuckle of your middle and pointer finger. ” Rhyus looked at his instructor demonstration of a fist and tightly curled in his fingers and put his thumb over the middle and pointer finger. Looking up at his instructor, the tall constrictor look at his fist and nodded approval and said, “Now I want you to get into a left foot forward facing stance. You want your weight to be evenly distributed across both feet, so you will need to sink your weight into it. This forward stance is strong foundation for forward attacks; however, it is weak if you come at it from the side.” The instructor put his left forward and his right foot back. Rhyus looked at his instructors stance and saw his feet could be at two opposite corners of box. However, the instructors left foot was forward and right foot was back at a forty five degree angle. Sscarirhyuss mimicked his instructor and put his left foot forward, right foot back, and sank into it. It felt like he was screwing into the ground. The young Dhani felt the muscles in the top of his left leg and caff start to burn. When the instructor walked around him to check his stance, the male constrictor used his foot and moved the vipers right foot back a foot and over a few inches to the right. When he was in the correct position, the muscles in his left and right leg started to burn. The male constrictor nodded at his pupil and said with a smile, “I want you to hold that position for five minutes, Ssacarirhyuss than I want you to switch it up and get into a right foot forward facing stance for another five minutes.” Rhyus was in pure agony as he held the position. In the beginning, the Dhani could feel the pain muscles in his legs and caff as a dull ache, but eventually as the minutes started to tick bye, the pain increased into a intense burning sensation in his leg muscles. By the end of the five minutes, the Dhani felt like he wanted to fall over, but he knew that his instructor wanted him to switch, so he switch his foot position and got into the stance with his right foot forward and left foot back. Once again the instructor had to move back his left foot by a foot and left a few inches. This brought back the familiar pain that he felt in his left leg; however, now the pain is in the right leg. Because of the fatigue of sitting in the stance for five minutes, Rhyus could feel the muscles in the left legs start to spasm as he held his position for another five minutes. By the end of his final five minutes, Rhyus looked up at his instructor and saw the older constrictor had a smirk on his face. The viper started to wonder if he was enjoying watching the pain on his student's face. Rhyus asked his instructor, “Could this stance work for wrestling?” The constrictor looked at the viper, shook his head, and said simply, “No the mechanics of the stance are different in wrestling stance. This stance will give you optimal power striking or blocking forward a opponent in front of you.” The instructor smiled at the young a man and said with a nod, “Good question, Rhyus. Now you can get out of your stance and rest while I demonstrate the next stance that I want you to learn.”

[Rhyus]

Rhyus slow got out of his stance and started to shake the pain out of legs. The instructor waited for to finish and said with a nod, “This next ssstance is called the Ixam ssstanccce. Now I want you to pay attention, Rhyusss.” The viper watched the teacher in silence as he demonstrated the Ixam stance. The instructor cleared his throat and said while demonstrating, “When you get into a Ixam ssstance, you need to have your feet ssshoulder length a part.” Rhyus saw his instructor spread his feet a shoulder length part from each other than he lowered his upper body down, so he looked liked he was sitting on a Ixam. The viper looked at his feet and noticed his feet were straight and pointing in his direction. The stance looked painful to the novice student, but he waited for his instructor to finish his explanation before trying it himself. Keeping in the sitting position, the instructor said with a nod, “When you are in the Ixam ssstance, you need to keep your back ssstraight and your toes pointed ssstraight forward. Now this is good ssstance if a opponent is coming at you from the ssside. However the ssstanccce is weak if they are coming at you ssstraight forward. Understand? Now you try.” Rhyus looked at his instructor stance for a chime and spread his feet shoulder length apart. When his feet were in the right position, he sat down onto the invisible Ixam. The pain in upper thighs were screaming out in pain, so the viper did his best not to let his discomfort show, but the longer he sat in this position. The harder it was to hide the discomfort on his face. When the instructor walked around him, the viper tapped his back and critiqued, “Rhyusss ssstraighten out your back more.” Clenching his jaw, he nodded and straightened out his back. The instructor tapped his foot with his own and said simply, “You need to widen your ssstance a few inches and point your feet forward, Rhyusss.” Rhyus grunted loudly in pain as he widened his stance and pointed his toe forward. The leg muscles now in both his legs started to protest all at once, and the viper felt like he wanted to fall over in pain. However, the viper instructor must be fond of torture, so he nodded in approval and said with a smile, “I want you to remember for doing the Ixam ssstanccce feelsss becaussse if it doesn't hurt when you're first working on it. You are doing it wrong. Now I want you to hold thisss posssition for five minutesss, Rhyusss ssstarting now.” If Ssacarihyuss knew if he ever wanted to torture a prisoner, he would have them sit in this stance for five minutes. The leg muscles of his upper thighs were on fire as the hamstrings and caff muscles started to spasm. Rhyus did his best to block the pain from his mind, but he was fighting a loosing battle because all his brain wanted to do was stand up and stop the torture. A chime past and the viper was almost on the verge of whimpering outright, but he needed to show his instructor that he had the will to keep going even if his body wanted to give out. When the second chime past, the pain started to cloud his mind. All he could focus on was the pain and nothing around him mattered anymore. About a half chime later, the muscles in his legs gave out and the viper stood up and shook out his legs. Rhyus looked at his teacher and said with a frown, “Ssorry, I couldn't make it the full five minutess. The pain was to intensse for me. Let me try it again... By the way, what iss a Ixam?” The instructor stuck up his hand, shook his head, and said with a smile, “Don't be sssorry. You did about as good asss I expected for sssomeone who is just learning it for the first time. I want you to ressst, so I can teach you the next ssstance. It is a giant lizard that you can ride like a horssse.” “What iss a horsse?”

[Rhyus]

The instructor paused for a moment to think of explanation for this animal called a horse. The older Dhani said simply, “Horssess are beasstss of burden humanss and other barbarianss use outside of Falyndar ass their mounts. They are sskittish ssmelly animalss, and it poopss a lot. Honestly I would rather ride a myrian tiger than ride one of those stupid beasst again. Anywayss. Back to stancess.” Rhyus listened to his teachers description of a horse, and he wondered if the older Dhani didn't have vary good experiences with the outsiders mount. The viper didn't have much experience with mounts because he always went into the jungle either in his Dhani form or as a snake. The young viper could see the benefits of having one because he could head to places that would take to long to get to on foot. The Dhani could see himself riding a Ixam because he had no interested in riding a warm blooded creature. Besides, he didn't like the idea of being a animal that constantly smelled all the time. Rhyus dark eyes turn back to his teacher when he mentioned the cat stance. He hoped the stance was easy on his leg muscles because he doubt that he could keep up with this punishment. When the instructor demonstrated the stance, Rhyus cringed inwardly because the stance looked as painful as the other two stances. The instructor looked like most of his weight was on his back foot while his front foot lightly touched the surface of the ground. When the teacher started to speak, Rhyus turned his attention to the eyes of the teacher. “The cat stance is your most agile and mobile of your stancess. When you get into the sstance, your back foot pointing away from you at a forty-five degree angle. With your front foot, you will bring up your front leg and lightly touch the ground with your toess. It is import to sit on your back leg and sstay low in your stance because you sstaying low with help your balance when you are moving back and forth or sside to sside. About eighty percent of you weight will be on your back leg, while twenty percent will be on you front foot. Now why don't you try Rhyuss...” Rhyus put his right foot back in a forty-five degree angle while his front foot was in front of him. As Rhyus got lower into his stance, he brought his left leg up till only the toes on the left foot were touching the floor. Rhyus was surprised that the stance wasn't as he thought; however when the instructor walked around him. The older viper shook his head and critiqued his student, “Rhyuss remember eighty percent of the weight on your back leg and twenty percent on front. You are right now ssixty on you back foot and forty on your front foot. It might help if you get lower in the sstance.” While Rhyus got lower, he noticed it was much easier to get eighty percent of his weight on his back leg. However, the dull muscle aches in his legs started to flare up with throbbing pain when he did it right. The instructor smiled at Rhyus and said softly, “I want you to hold that position for five chimess. Go.” When Rhyus started his five chimes of staying in this position,the viper had to bit his lip, so he didn't cry out in pain. He could feel the back leg spasm as the last of his endurance was starting to fade. Feeling sweat pour down his face, Rhyus stood up after three minutes of holding the position and said in apologetic tone, “I don't think I can continue anymore, Instructor. My legsss feel like rubber, and I might fall over.” The instructor said with a nod of his head, “I want you to keep practicing your stancess becausse they are the foundation for your martial art. If you are out of balance, your opponent will have control over you during the battle. Also, the stances will build up your leg sstrength if you keep working at it. We sshould call it a day. I don't want to wear you out to much on your ssecond classs. I will see you again in two days, Rhyuss. Thanks for coming.” When the instructor turned and walked away, the Rhyus immediately made his way to the steam baths to soak his soar muscles.

[Una Tanta]

Rhyus :

Skills

Skill	Points
Unarmed Combat	+3

Lores
✦ Unarmed Combat: Making a Fist
✦ Unarmed Combat: Left Foot Forward Facing Stance
✦ Unarmed Combat: Ixam Stance
✦ Ixam: Giant Lizard
✦ Horse: Beast of Burden/Mount
✦ Unarmed Combat: Cat Stance
✦ Unarmed Combat: Importance of Stance