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 Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 1:22 pm
The last time Jack underestimated a female fighter, he'd been flipped on to his back and nearly ate the wrong part of a high heeled shoe. That was the LAST time. An earpiece attached to those hi-tech glasses alerted him when Owle was on her way.
"Hmm..."
Jack turned his head to the side, so only his peripheral vision was catching her. He took off his jacket, throwing it up shore to where his boots were with a bit of clunking from the clips lining it. He unstrapped his two holsters, throwing the two guns atop his pile of clothing. Next was the pouch at his side, all that was left was the satchel on his back belt.
"You might want to put the knives down by my stuff."
Jack suggested.
"When weapons are not being used, or aren't useful, it's best to always throw 'em aside. No point in being weighed down or made less flexible when you don't have too be."
It was all common sense. Jack also removed the knuckle plated gloves. He even removed his shirt to toss it to the side. Clearly cut mucles and a few scars here and there were visable. It was clear that Jack was a warrior.
Rolling his shoulders, and cracking his neck, he'd wave a hand to becken her forward.
"The sand feels great between the toes."
Jack smiled and waited for her to come over, letting his hands drop loosely at his sides.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 1:34 pm
"Right then."
She placed the weapons down where she was bid, kneeling so that she didn't carelessly drop them.
She understood the wisdom of what he was saying and had the feeling that was why she had lost many battles. Too preoccupied with using one weapon to think of the others...
Cautiously Owle stepped forward, feeling little of the sensation she was talking about. Her feet were completely covered in hard scales, and though they allowed some of the sand in, it wasn't quite the same. To make her stranger, blunt digging claws emerged from Owle's toes.
The water felt good though, seeping in through the cracks of the scales and washing her clean. She looked to Jack expectantly, unsure of herself.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 1:41 pm
//Eh. Forgot to mention I removed the kevlar plates on his shins, chest, and back. Been a long time since I played this character. ~Sweatdrop.~ //
"The first step is to be relaxed. So, stand across from me, take a deep breath and chill."
Jack spoke with a very obvious American accent, as though one from the Northeast who was used to speaking fast and had to slow himself down to be understood.
Jack's hands were loose at his sides, with his feet shoulder width apart.
"Keeping your body tense is gonna make getting hurt like a..."
Jack bit his lip, remembering to be polite in the presence of a lady. Though his eyes spotted those digging claws and cringed. He'd remember to avoid any kicks like his life depended on it later in the sparring.
"Like really bad."
Jack laughed and nodded.
"So, try not be so nervous. Just be open to what's around you and relaxed, try to pay attention to what I got to say and we'll have a bit of fun."
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 2:02 pm
((It's okay. I didn't notice you had them, anyway.))
"Chill. Right."
Owle took a deep breath and let it out again, trying to let her muscles relaxed. If anything, she had the very faintest of New Jersey accents...odd enough considering her mixed origins.
"You can curse if you want you know," she said, smiling. "It's not like I don't."
The claws were blunt, not sharp, but getting hit with them would probably still hurt. Unfortunately Owle couldn't remove them, unless she wanted to spend the evening tuckered out cause she'd used her shapeshifting in an odd way.
"You know, it's pretty hard to stay relaxed once someone starts throwing punches at you." She could stay relaxed for now, when nothing was happening, and maybe if he was lucky and she tried really really hard she could keep her body relaxed in this practice. But once it was for real, she was sure she would be scared, and once she was scared she would tense whether she liked it or not.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 2:12 pm
"Not if you get used too it... Just have a bit of confidence in yourself, huh?"
Jack spoke with a rather light hearted tone.
"I knew a girl, she laughed when she fought. It was a game. The person moves a fist this way, she moves her body that way. It was all a fast game of tag, and when the other person made a mistake, she could make him fall flat on his face."
The him, was actually Handy.
"You can't let yourself worry when you are fighting. It's just a matter of changing perspectives."
Jack knew it wasn't as easy as he was saying, he'd grown up in a rough neighborhood and became a sort of school bulley. His past sort of gave him an advantage in that area. And fighting wasn't a game so much for him, as a challanging competition.
"Alright.. alright... I'll take a typical boxing stance."
Jack rose his fists just below his chin, keeping them loose and stepping back with his right foot. He bounced on the balls of his feet without them ever leaving the ground and looked at her. His knees bent slightly and he looked rather fluid as his eyes bounced above his fists.
"Alright, now you don't have to do this kinda stance. It's just the kinda thing you might expect when fighting someone who uses thier fists and feet."
Jack moved his left fist, the leading side, slowly forward and rotated his hips counter clockwise. It was jab, in slow motion.
"Now if someone does this, what are you gonna do?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 2:24 pm
Quote: "Not if you get used too it... Just have a bit of confidence in yourself, huh?" "If you say so..." Owle sighed. She guessed she couldn't let herself worry, and, come to think of it, she didn't worry so much in life or death battles...it was just something she had to do. But a tournament was different, there would be people watching. When he took up a stance, she did so as well, her right foot moving backwards. The heels lined up, but her right foot was at a 90 degree angle to her left, facing outward. Her knees bent, and she brought her hands up loosely in front of her. Quote: "Now if someone does this, what are you gonna do?" "Um...shift into a cat so that their target disappears into something that's one foot tall and running behind them?" Owle answered. She was pretty sure it wasn't the thing he was looking for, though. "Well...I guess I could block..." she suggested uncertainly, staring at her forearms.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 2:34 pm
Owle Isohos "Well...I guess I could block..." she suggested uncertainly, staring at her forearms.
"If you don't mind getting punched..."
Jack didn't even bother responding to the cat thing, the whole reason they were doing this sort of training was in case Owle was without her powers.
"I want you to think for yourself Owle. When you are in that tournament, I'm not going to be standing over your shoulder."
The left hand would tap against her forearms and then come back.
"Now, don't lock your eyes on any one spot. Keep them watching my entire body. Particularly my hips, use the corners of your eyes to see the more out of sight places like my feet and knees."
His hips would rotate clockwise again, turning the lead side of his body right so his left hand could come out in a powerful jab. Though, Jack kept this all in slow motion.
"If you see a person's hips rotate clockwise, chances are that they are going to fire with their left. On your right side that is. If their hips rotate the other way, then they'll be firing with the other arm.
The best way not to take damage from a hand, is to not be there when it arrives. So if you see my hips moving this way, and my hand."
Jack nodded to his slow moving left fist.
"What are you going to do?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 2:42 pm
And here came the problem with Owle. She would think for herself once she either got over the awkwardness she felt, or he started throwing punches for real.
No telling when either of those would start happening.
She moved her eyes upward, trying to look everywhere at once. She soon gave that up, though, her eyes going back to their usual pattern of flicking from one spot to another. His hips, his shoulder, his hand, his hips, his torso, his hand...
All in all it probably gave her the whole picture, but here eyes were rarely still for too long.
She stayed quiet, soaking up the information like a sponge.
"Move to the left," she answered with some confidence, sidestepping to do so.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 2:54 pm
Hopefully after a few weeks of practice, Owle would learn what one does in certain situations and not need to think. It was all about instinct when it came to an actual fight.
"Think like a cat. Is a cat going to want to move into the direction I'm still punching? Is a cat going to be stiff? Is a cat going to want to punch, or scratch? You do got fingernails you know."
Jack was trying to bring her real life experience into sparring as a human. For if she moved to her left, all she managed to do was stay in the direction Jack was punching. For Jack had rotated his hips clockwise, meaning he was launching his left to his right. His right, was her left.
Remember that when you are standing across from a person, directions were mirrored.
So his left hand would tap against her forearms as he slid his left foot right and continued the rotation of his hips. He'd bring his right foot to the same position behind him, and stand straight with his hands back up.
"Fight as though you were a cat. A cat is going to want to be low, dodging stuff, and scratching when it sees an opportunity... right?"
He asked with a tilted head.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 3:07 pm
((I was assuming straight punches. sweatdrop So when you said you were punching with your left, I assumed you were punching at her right.
I'm sure that would have been silly of me if I knew more about how hips rotated when one punched, but I don't.))
"Thinking like a cat doesn't work though. I don't have the same body as a cat, I can't move the same way a cat does. And my opponent isn't smaller than me," Owle pointed out, all quite valid observations. "I may still want the same things, but I have to move differently to get them. If I think like a cat I'll never get anywhere."
Fighting a human was very different than fighting a squirrel or something. But...well...if she were hunting him...
If she could look at it like that, as a hunt instead of a spar, him as prey instead of as a friend she didn't want to even give a little love tap to...
Her stance dropped a little lower, her body relaxing. She rose onto the balls of her feet, and seemed to gain some confidence.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 3:44 pm
((It's alright, that's why I'm here. To help. :3 ))
"The human body is amazing in its versi... versi..."
Jack clicked his tongue, trying to remember what the 'ol sarge said.
"Versitility. It can be made to move and act as any number of creatures or ways. I'm not quite built or with the mind of a cat, so doing that would be nearly impossible. Less you are talking of a mountain lion, I'm more like a bear."
Jack laughed at that analogy.
"A cat doesn't necessarily run if its fighting something bigger. Surely you've been backed up against a tree or something where you had to fight a larger creature. Or, you have watch how a stray cat deals with dogs in a street? They are quick, agile, keeping their joints spring loaded and ready to get out of the way while offering a scratch."
What was that form called? Tiger Claw. Instead of having his fists balled loosely, he opened his fists and curled his knuckles, lowering his right hand to his solar plexus. He curled his wrists, and his hands looked more like paws than fists.
"A form called Tiger Claw uses motions much like a Chinese Tiger."
He still staid loose on his feet, and then offered a few lightning quick swipes of his hands before her without reaching her body. A few swipes with his hands didn't require nearly as much strength as jabs and hooks.
"Even small finger nails when pressed against skin and moved quickly, will leave nasty scratches. Now uh.... lets see."
He lowered his body more till he was nearly in a crouch, looking up to her.
"Something like this. I'm still loose, but my knees are sorta spring loaded so I can leap out of the way of an attack. I could offer a swipe of my hand in leaping away to scratch a person too. Try that kinda style for you, try and make your body like a cat's."
Jack rose once more, balling up his fists and getting into his more comfortable stance.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 3:52 pm
"See, that's the thing about being a shapeshifter...when I'm cornered as a cat I don't necessarily have to stay as a cat. Sometimes a bird can get away when a cat can't, or a threat to a cat is laughable to a human."
Owle blinked rapidly, but to her credit she didn't flinch as the flurry of blows came before her eyes.
"Alright..."
She imitated the crouching stance he had shown her, and the way his hands had been positioned. It didn't feel quite comfortable, as her human body wasn't used to this...but somehow it seemed familiar. As a cat she would similarly coil her body before striking or moving.
Huh. Maybe there was something to what he said after all.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 4:15 pm
"Hopefully in time you'll see what I'm trying to say."
Jack said with a bit of confidence.
"Now, I can tell from your looks that you are no body builder. So try to stay out of exchanging blows or hitting with your fists. Scratch, dodge, and parry. Parry means you knock away something if its coming at you. I dont want you bruising yourself up by trying to block things that have the force of a freight train."
Jack slowly brought his right knee up, bringing his right foot forward by the toes first.
"When you are low, a fighter is going to use his legs to try and knock you off balance or do damage. What are you going to do if a knee comes flying at your chin?"
Jack asked as he slowly moved his right knee from back to forward, gently coming to where her chin was.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 4:40 pm
Owle nodded, though she didn't see how doing all that would help her win. She could last a long time in the ring if she could master what he was saying, but it didn't seem to involve doing any actual damage.
"Um...move?" she answered, scurrying backwards clumsily.
She was sure it wasn't the best choice, but she couldn't think of a better one.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 4:44 pm
Owle Isohos Owle nodded, though she didn't see how doing all that would help her win. She could last a long time in the ring if she could master what he was saying, but it didn't seem to involve doing any actual damage. "Um...move?" she answered, scurrying backwards clumsily. She was sure it wasn't the best choice, but she couldn't think of a better one.
This all happened slowly, so Owle could see that if she did that during a fight, she'd likely have both a fist and an incoming knee to deal with after being unbalanced from surrying backwards.
"Yeah, but then you aren't useing any of that coiling that you just created. How are you going to do any damage by merely going backwards?"
Jack still wanted her to come to her own conclusions, planting suggestions and questions to make her think. If she came up with the answers on her own, she could use them in the middle of her own fights without needing Jack to tell her.
Such coiling would allow rather quick strikes with her hands, and with those Tiger Claws, she could rake them rather powerfully. She had so much power and damage loaded into her, if only she could realize it and bring it out.
"Be the cat."
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