Open Free Lessons in unarmed combat

[Lo'campo]

He watched as she stood there as his fist came at her. Was she really going to stand there and take the punch? Did she not understand what he had said? Not wanting to strike the woman in the head he shifted his arm as she finally decided to move thus causing his fist to catch her jaw. It was sloppy, but he was still impressed. She followed through, her fist coming up, up, past his stomach where he pointed to. Bracing for impact, he flexed his muscles as her fist made contact with his chest. Was she really trying to hit him there? This wasn't a real fight, then again he wasn't training them on how to spar so he saw no problem in her actions. "Good job, but move quicker." he spoke shifting about in quick movements ducking, pivoting and punching the air. He gave a smile to the woman to show that he was proud of her actions. A tap from Minerva brought attention to another person wanting to learn to fight. "Hello my name is Lo'campo, one moment please while I help another student please?" This was proving to not be as easy as Minerva said that it would be. Walking over to the man whom he sent to attack the tree, he watched his form noticing that his stance had changed, and he was now dealing out better punches, but was still stiff. "Ky' is it?" he approached him not to catch him by surprise. "Loosen up, you are restricting the full power of your punches. Follow through as if you are pushing through a door with your fists." He didn't make any since to himself let alone to think that Ky would understand a word coming from his mouth. "Ok when you fight with a weapon, you don't go in stiff correct? A weapon is an extension of your arm whether it be sword, dagger, or what ever else one may use, so you want the strikes to be smooth, natural. Same with your fist only it is apart of your arm." His head hurt just from the play of the words. Taking the physical approach seeing that this was a physical lesson, he lead Ky back over to the punching back making room for them both. Doing as had did his other student, he took hold of Ky's arms from behind and punched at the bag in the correct manner. "Go through with them, you want to hurt who ever is on the other side of them." Student's hands in his own, he did a "1.2." combo to show how he was to move fluidly. "It needs to be natural, second nature as if you were breathing with your strikes." "Newcomer, why don't you show us what you got at the punching bag?, Be ready." Now speaking to his other students. Positioning himself so he was between the two, he tightened his robes. He held up his hands, forming fists at them both. Moving through his actions slowly, he went for Ky first sending an arm to the man. "There's a fist coming for you, what are you going to do?" He wasn't the talkative type, and far from a teacher. He didn't see the point in talking about a lesson that involved physical contact. "I am no longer your teacher, I am an opponent for the time being." Fist still going for Ky. he twisted his body to where his long arm could reach for the woman's face pushing it to the side in a taunting manner and then signalling for her to come at him. One way or another they were going to learn how to fight. "Are you sure about this Lo'campo?" Minerva piped up from the sides. With a nod, he focused on his two targets.

[Adrien Strade]

Adrien gave a nod as greeting to the people present when he was acknowledged by the instructor. “I’m Adrien. Sure, it’s no problem.” He replied after the man, Lo’campo, stated that he was going to help another student. Adrien pushed the sleeves of his coat to his elbows before he came closer to where the others were. He figured that he might as well listen to the lessons and pointers that the man would give to the other students so that he may avoid doing what was considered wrong. Adrien watched as Lo’campo went to the other man in the yard and told him to loosen up. He noticed that Lo’campo seemed to be a bit…uneasy, no, it was more like he looked like he wasn’t used to teaching or maybe just plain socializing with other people. Adrien really wasn’t sure which one it was. He did like the analogy Lo’campo used to get the other man to loosen up. He knew the analogy wasn’t that far off, knowing how to use a knife himself. “Newcomer, why don’t you show us what you got at the punching bag?” Adrien immediately snapped to attention at being addressed and grinned. He knew a bit about fighting without a weapon and couldn’t wait to learn more. He’s had to learn after the several times he’d been caught stealing as a child. Still, he wouldn’t consider himself an expert or anything like that. It was why he was here. He wanted to be stronger. Plus, he figured that he’d be able to let out some frustration after his unproductive day. He went to the tree where the punching bag hanged. He rolled his shoulders and stretched, trying to loosen his muscles up. He curled his hands into fists before bringing it up before his face and bracing himself into a fighting stance. He looked to where the others were still training. Oh, well, he could go for a couple of practice swings and see how hard the bag was. He threw a punch with his right hand and cursed under his breath at the pain but he didn’t stop, rather, he threw another punch with his left and even went as far as to kick the “punching” bag. After all, Adrien reasoned out in his head, he was still better with kicking than punching. Still, the heavy bag didn’t move as much as Adrien hoped it would. He scowled at the bag before looking back at the others, watching intently, trying to learn whatever he could. He still needed to be stronger.

[Sh'Ky Naes]

The Man in Crimson

The Akalak's explanation, however garbled and ambling, did make Sh'Ky nod. He basically stated that Sh'Ky wasn't using as much power in his punches as he could, and that he was too stiff. Trying to loosen up as the Akalak showed him, the one-two combo punch went almost exactly as it should, with Lo'Campo guiding it. Grinning, Sh'Ky nodded, and punched the tree as hard as he could, without guidance this time, knuckles stinging, even through his gloves. It was a decent punch, and this was apparent to even 'Ky. Trying it again, he performed a less successful one, but it was better than one that was completely without knowledge of a proper punch.

As Lo'Campo swung his fist at Sh'Ky, the black-haired man had barely any time to process what was happening, so he instinctively jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding the big blue fist. Laughing, Sh'Ky said, "I'm gon' ta jump back like a scared lil' rabbit." Listening intently to the Akalak's serious words, Sh'Ky nodded gravely. This man had meant business from the beginning, but he was even more serious than before, if that was even possible. Falling back into his squarestance, modified for punching, Sh'Ky edged forward, waiting to see who moved first.

If it was Kechaiya, then he'd wait until Lo's full attention seemed to be on the Chaktawe, and then he'd spring forward, fists close to his chest. As soon as he got within arm length of the Akalak, he'd try and throw an uppercut up at the man's face, but since he was so tall, even though there was only about a foot in height difference, it only scraped his chin, if it even hit.

If it was Lo'Campo, he'd do the same, except instead of a clumsy uppercut, he'd try to straight-punch him in the ribs. The punch was executed fairly well, although it was nowhere near the Akalak's level, and would barely sting the blue man.

[Kechaiya]

Kechaiya was not amused by her instructor deciding to take on both her and the other guy. He was so petching tall, and hitting him felt like hitting a brick wall. Did he want them to try and hurt him, or just go through the motions? She settled on the former as he stuck a hand in her face, keeping her well at bay as if she were an angry child. Her significantly shorter arms would not be able to reach him unless she did something about his massive one. There was no way she would over power him, or move faster, but she did know a little about the weaknesses of the body. And since he was taking her companion more seriously, she reached out with a hand, attempting to grab on to his pinky finger, and wrench it backwards in the joint. While doing this, she moved a step closer. She still wasn't in arm's reach, but she could reach with a leg. She hauled her left leg back, and sent it swinging forward, attempting to connect with his shin. Kechaiya hadn't bothered to explain her actions like her companion had, and honestly didn't expect them to succeed in any fashion. Her ebony eyes were too focused on her instructor to pay any mind to her companion. If she managed to get any closer, she was going to try and do a straight punch at the fork in his legs, being one of the only vulnerable places she knew, and could reach at her height.

[Lo'campo]

Turning back to Ky, he saw the man's fist go straight for the ribs. The Akalak was impressed with the man's thinking. "Striking while your opponent is distracted, a good tactic indeed." Lo'campo spoke going to pivot around the fist before an unexpected strike from the woman threw him off balance causing him to instead of pivoting, roll onto the ground. A bad situation for him yes, but even worse for his students seeing that Ky's punch was now aimed at another target. "Now what are you going to do ?" he spoke to the ebony eyed woman. "He is your opponent too. He is just as much a threat as I." Lo'campo watched to see what was going to happen. This was better than standing around and talking. He was a do-er, he saw no point in talking away for a lesson that required a person to be physically active. He looked to Minerva who had a worried look upon her face. "Don't worry, I'll make sure that they don't get hurt too badly" He teased receiving a look from his older sibling. He was really impressed with how things were going. Ky had good form, executing his punch near perfect, even adding the element of surprise. He had to admit if they were evenly matched in a real battle, that attack would have done some damage. He frowned a bit when he looked back to the woman. He knew she had the anger to fight, but it seemed that she was afraid to engage in combat, recalling where he almost had his fist to her face before she moved. She may have not had giant muscles or the toughness of an elephants hide, but she was small, agile, quick. She would easily be able to move around and disable her opponents if she practiced and fought hard enough. His attention was brought to the new comer who was standing, watching. Lo'campo had remembered he had told the man to hit the punching bag. "Hey." he spoke giving a light slap to his face to gain his attention. "First off, your punches need to be straight, direct and in sync" Lo'campo put his hands up now signalling for the student to do the same. "Never kick an opponent head on, especially when you are facing them and they are alert and ready. You will be put on your ass and probably killed." A look from Minerva this time ignored. "Come, I want you to throw a few punches to get the hang of thing while they spar." Lo'campo still had no clue where this was going, but he had the doing things. All he could do now was block, defend, and tell them what they were doing wrong. The rest were up to them. "Kechaiya move or you're going to get hit, Ky loosen up more. Remember smooth movements strong punches."

[Adrien Strade]

Adrien did as he was told and copied the stance the instructor took, putting his fists up like the man did. He imitated the actions, going through the motions slowly before doing it in a normal pace. He kept the punches straight and in sync as he had been told to do. He bit his lip, realizing his mistake with the kick. Now that it was mentioned, he realized that it really would have gotten him at a disadvantageous position had he used that moved on a person who was anticipating it. It wasn’t strategic, at all. Adrien nods at the instructor as he was told to practice the punches on his own. He turns back towards the punching bag, dealing the punches that he was told to do. He kept the instructions in mind as he did so, making sure he was in the right form as he punched and keeping the direction as straight as he could.

[Sh'Ky Naes]

'Ky wiped the sweat from his brow as he walked away, retrieving the bits of clothing on the ground. He'd need to take a trip to the Springs later today. He had bruises in places he didn't know could bruise. Looking back at the group in the setting sun, 'Ky thought, I learned a lot today. I was lucky to find this man. Knowing that these skills were necessary to survive in Sunberth, he felt satisfied. He'd be a great bit tougher than he was yesterday.

[Sayana]

Lo’Campo Comments : If you return, PM me and I’ll award you grades. Sh’Ky Skills: Skill EXP Observation +2 Socialization +2 Unarmed Combat +3 Endurance +4 Tactics +2 Acrobatics +1 Bodybuilding +1 Lores: Unarmed Combat: Knowing your limitations Unarmed Combat: Basic punch Unarmed Combat: Basic stance Endurance: Ignoring the pain in one's hand when punching Comments : Nice basic training thread. I liked how you included how it can physically hurt to punch something hard. Kechaiya Comments : If you return, PM me and I’ll award you grades. Adrien Comments : If you return, PM me and I’ll award you grades. Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request in the grade request thread. If you have any questions or concerns about your grade please feel free to send me a message (like really, I’m all ears if you feel like I missed something). Enjoy.