Dec 04 19.41.44 107 PA - A First Day's Training
From Chronicles
Dec 04 19:41:44 107 PA.
HARRY'S GYM – SPARRING ROOM
When one is willing to work and eager to get a feel for the surroundings personal jobs are key. As such Valeriya replied to the add for a sword fighting tutor here in the gym. Now she waits to meet her pupil, warming up with some light ring exercises.
Knowing that for some mysterious, odd, and damn strange reason swords have made a comeback, Gabriel did eventually find it necessary to place such an ad, an ad which was responded to. When he walks into the sparring room, he's clad as normal, save that his outer jacket is totally un-clasped and hanging open. Across its front is emblazoned a black, stylized eagle with the phrase, "And the Truth shall set you free," beneath it. He is unfortunately sans-sword.
Valeriya stops her routine to take in the short graying Gabriel. "You placed the ad?" She asks bluntly with a straight face. Without waiting for the answer she walks over to the near by rack to take up two training swords.
The man turns toward the sound of the voice. Sure, there were many voices, but only one addressing anything that sounded like it was headed in his direction. Gabriel immediately begins to remove his outer coat, eyes briefly flitting around, searching for somewhere to either drop it or hang it. "Well, I placed *an* ad. I need to learn how swing a sword. If that's the ad that you're referring to, then sure, I'm your man. Gabriel. You, miss, you are..?" The open hesitation is a clear invitation of formality, and the fact that his arm extends toward her should also be obvious. The woman's size does not apparently bother him. But what happened to the lizard from the coffee shop?
Valeriya nods and tosses one of the swords to Gabriel. It's dull but rigid and accurate in form, designed to give a shock on a successful hit. "Valeriya, we met at the coffee shop, she reminds him with a dull tone. Taking a moment to watch how the man handles the instrument she asks another question. "Why do you want to learn the sword?"
"Why? Because for some reason they're back in vogue. Someone comes after me with one of those things, I need more than a bayonet, particularly considering I've yet to see a rifle equipped with a bayonet." Gabriel adds, "I'm proficient with a knife, but obviously bringing a 'knife to a sword fight' doesn't seem quite reasonable, would you agree?" The older man hefts the training sword, looking it over. "Actually feels like an axe from my childhood," he points out. "At least a little."
"Plenty of people wielding daggers have bested those with swords. Plenty with axes. The need for versatility in melee is obvious. Though I don't know what your reference to back in vogue is supposed to mean. No culture that I have observed has ever abandoned melee." Valeriya points out with a slight smirk. "So yes you need to be good at a melee weapon, why a sword?"
Gabriel shrugs. "Because unfortunately in this age where armor has once again come up to the standard of the weapon, it comes down to less skill and more brute force hacking. So far I've see little room for the subtleties of a knife blade in combat. Everyone from the First Crusaders, to Charles Martel, up to the death of the armored knight at Agincourt would agree with that." The man smiles, blinks slowly, and states, "Sometimes armor exceeds weapons, sometimes weapons exceed armor, sometimes they clash together in a case where neither one is superior." He then tosses the sword up a few inches - barely managing to catch the hilt again on its way down. "Thus, sword training. Is there a philosophy behind it that I'm missing? An intellectual nuance?"
"Just trying to understand your personal preference. Don't get me wrong I love the sword, elegant and refined, widely available throughout the universe. But learning a club would be more versatile, any table leg or tree branch becomes a deadly weapon, well until you run into armor. The point is the sword is popular, but lacks in special benefits unless you really go all the way with it. I don't want you to go through all this training and feel robbed because its not enough. So you should be aware of the options." Valeriya explains patiently.
The Kentuckian smiles and dips his head. "I appreciate that miss," Gabriel says with a drawl. "I would feel bad wasting your time with instruction if I didn't intend on learning and following through - even if you are teaching for a fee." He then grins, lips together and states, "If events become so drastic that I need to club someone, it would frankly be more useful to use other hand-to-hand melee skills. Perhaps more immediately lethal, of course, which would present a problem when simply subduing someone - my point is that your advice is well taken. If, after a lesson or two, I'm getting bored with the damn thing, I promise, I won't waste either of our time."
Valeriya smiles, looking more satisfied with things now. "Good, so have you considered what type of sword you will be getting?" She asks calmly as she walks over to Gabriel. Calmly she assumes a basic readiness stance. "Do as I do."
The man attempts to mimic the younger woman's stance. As per the question, "No, I haven't. Cart before the horse, and all that, right?" Gabriel is admittedly far from correct as per even just how to hold the weapon in his hand. More like swinging a bat one-handed as a warm-up.
Valeriya takes a moment to show Gabriel how she's holding the sword. "Well what type of horse for what type of cart actually. Different types of swords present much different styles of use. So more thought to give it."
"Thank you, miss," comes a drawl as the man resets his hand. "It's lighter than I thought it would be. Looks like a European sword, but without the same mass." Gabriel bounces it safely a few times up and down. "I was fortunate enough to tour some very interesting places in my time," he says as way of explanation. "Where's the center-of-gravity supposed to be?"
Valeriya says, "That training model is at the hilt. Some swords though use heavy blades for momentum and power. Others heavy pommels for precision and dexterity." Valeriya explains as she re-assumes the position. Then slowly she'll step forward into and advancing strike.
"Mmm," is Gabriel's only response as he very awkwardly shifts his hand's position on the hilt. Even takes a little bit of two-handed orientation until he seems happy with it. "There, we go. Alright, there goes the sword..." the weapon is extended in a poor mimicking of the woman's motion. He then looks down, and asks, "Okay, so foot forward, foot back, right?. Which one takes the weight?"
"Both when standing still, forward foot when advancing, back foot retreating." Valriya replies calmly before taking another slow step and strike. She will , slowly and patiently step and swing beside Gabriel about the ring until he he matches her movement proficiently.
The man follows his instructor as best he can. He's not a natural by any means, but decades of doing similar things and going through similar motions have allowed Gabriel to pick up the movements acceptably quickly. Still, the man is nothing but thorough, probably taking Valeriya around the ring more than she may want or expect. But there it is. Gabriel nods. "Okay. Advancing. Beginner's level. No, sub-beginner's level. I've a minor feel for it." He turns his head to look at the woman with a smile. "What's next?"
"Faster." Valeriya replies simply, slowly accelerating the repeated move with each new rendition until the reach full speed.
As instructed, Gabriel moves faster. He's not a dancer, but practiced military moves generally all have a similar starting point, no matter what the exact and precise end-result may be. Soon enough, he's moving alongside Valeriya, smiling as he does so. No speech, just following instruction.
Valeriya notes the smile and smiles herself. Then unexpectedly she changes moves without slowing or pausing and watches to see if Gabriel can adapt.
"Ooph, hey.. there we go," comes Gabriel's impressive vocalization. He sways and trips just a bit, but does manage to keep up with his instructor. "Almost had me, miss. Good one."
"That's nothing yet." Valeriya notes as she shifts to another single advancing strike. Again she'll repeat it with him until he has it, but then she'll really throw him for a loop with a combo of the three strikes shown so far.
The Kentuckian manages to keep up with the changing of the advance-style, but is admittedly thrown when the three-strike flurry whizzes out. "Okay, okay," he smiles, momentarily pausing his motion completely. Gabriel chuckles again. "Do that again, but without making me do the Charleston at the same time."
Valeriya nods silently and repeats the combo until Gabriel has it down pat. "Of course true master is the ability to do it all backwards as quickly as forwards." She notes before reversing the combo into a retreat trio of parries.
Gabriel is both very intent, and obviously very much enjoying himself at the same time. "The motion, does it come from the wrist, like it looks, or does it come from the elbow and shoulder where the strength would come from?"
"That depends on how hard you wish to slash. Most modern blades require little strength to cut so usually its the wrist. But when parrying you need to match or deflect the strength of your opponent." Valeriya explains calmly as she continues leading Gabriel through the backwards successions.
The Kentuckian manages to very slowly keep pace with his feet, without having to keep glancing down at this point. "Yes, about that. The fulcrum is here -" Gabriel's left hand comes free long enough to point at the guard "- so my lever arm is much longer than the power arm. If I need to block something, or knock it out of the way, do I push-pull with my under-and-over hands, or what. Because this lever really isn't actually so hot. At least, not for a mere human like me." Any insinuations otherwise, to anyone, are unspoken and probably not even thought of.
"Its not a club, if you go in to a sword fight intent on brawning your opponent into submission you will lose. Your objective is to deflect his blade while keeping the momentum of your own." Valeriya corrects before stopping the repetitions. "Enough warming up, I'll show you in the face to face part of the lesson."
"Fair enough. Good point," Gabriel allows, waiting for his instructor to face off as promised. "Maybe if I keep practicing, someday I'll be able to wear a black cape and carve a giant 'G' into walls and the chests of my enemies." A joke? Is he serious? Does this comment reference anything that people today would understand? Who knows.
"Hmm making them point and laugh would be a momentary advantage." Valeriya concedes as she moves to take position facing Gabriel. Assuming the stance she nods encouragingly. "Come at me, I will demonstrate how to parry. Then I will come at you and you will learn how to parry. It will be painful." She states flatly. Warm ups over.
"Okay," Gabriel manages to make a good show of going through the basic advance and thrust that he'd learned earlier. Slow and clunky, but probably better than average for a beginner. It slashes down from far too high over his head.
Valeriya easily knocks the blade aside with unabated prowess, letting it continue is descent beside her as she moves to counter. The strong woman is not holding back, having no intention of coddling her fully grown pupil. her strike lashes out viciously at where he would be most vulnerable.
Yes, his awkward blow was easily parried, basically as expected. Yes, his instructor's blow got right past his own defense, pretty much as should be expected. However, despite the enormous weight behind the blow that does actually knock him off balance, he is not cut in half, he is not bleeding, he is not shredded. "FUCK!" Gabriel exclaims, grabbing at his chest with his left hand, dropping the right hand holding the training weapon to his side. "Sonofabitch! God. Ahh. Ouch. Whew." He rubs the wound. "One bruise there. Gonna leave a welt." He then asks, "Look, I was in the Raiders, and this is exactly how we trained, no holds barred. But we trained against each other, with demonstrations by the experts. I'm not going to whine, 'don't do it so hard' but... I get your point." He pats at his chest, rubbing at it again. After a moment, he raises the sword two-handed once more. Despite the huge thrust, he seems surprisingly well. "Okay, hit me again. I'm learning." It carries with it a touch of Gabriel's Kentucky irony.
The blow did indeed get Gabriel at precisely the right point to do the most damage and knock him off balance. Even more so than Valeriya expected but she shows no remorse. "I said it would hurt." She reminds him succinctly before she shakes her head. "No, you attack, I counter. Come."
This time, instead of an overhand swing, it's a thrust toward the woman's chest, with the weapon raised high enough that the pommel is around shoulder level. Of course, when you're a 5'4" tall man and your instructor is a foot taller than you, it still means that the thrust has a fairly decent vertical component to it. Gabriel's eyes are intent enough, obviously remembering what he's learned today.
Again Valeriya easily deflects the blow, her wrist out-matching Gabriel's two arms with the aid of the chosen angle. Without hesitation she strikes at him again but will be courteous enough to make a new bruise instead of beating on the first one repeatedly.
Gabriel manages to swing his weapon slightly more attractively than the last time, coming up to meet the blade with his own training sword. Something is uttered under his breath in foreign languages as he tries to block. Unfortunately, the weapon crashes against him again, but not nearly as hard as the previous impact. Yet again, though he is obviously not entirely enjoying what his body is telling him physically, he doesn't fall over dead, or even lose his footing this time. In fact, Gabriel takes it with a smile and ironic comment, "Good one," before attempting a low slice at Valeriya's abdomen.
To err is human, eventually Valeriya will slip in some fashion. By now Gabriel probably will believe it is genuine as the training sword snags on the mat of the ring and is pulled from her hand to allow his blow to strike her leg solidly. "Not so bad yourself." She compliments before recovering the sword and attacking him without restraint.
Valeriy'a student dips his head with a smile, obviously pleased with himself, and also very obviously knowing that it was probably just dumb luck that allowed his blow to land. His instructor was clearly just unfortunate with her blade. Gabriel allows a polite "Thank you," right before the training sword crashes into his chest again. Once more, he rocks back, rubbing at his chest - where thank you, she decided to strike him a second time. He then attempts to slice the same place, when he recovers, since at least God was on his side last time as far as tripping went.
"You're getting too loose, or letting the pain of my blows get to you." Valeriya criticizes as Gabriel's swing misses her with no need for her to parry. "Keep it together." She advises as another one of her iron hard blows rains down to pummel Gabriel into profession.
This time, it lands square on his shoulder next to his ear, that uncomfortably fleshy muscle between arm and neck. "FUCK!" comes another exclamation. It wasn't really the strength of the blow this time, but rather where it hit. Gabriel shakes out his arm a few times, this time stating simply, "Thank you for that," before returning another thrust, this time at mid-chest.
Another swing goes wide of Valeriya and she shakes her head with lack of approval. "Is that the best you can do? Where this a real fight you'd be drawn and quartered, your wife and children too. That acceptable to you?" She mocks cruelly, perhaps more so than she realizes.
Gabriel is in the middle of explaining, "If this were a real fight I would have put a bullet through your head a mile away," when the blade lands on his upper-arm. Thankfully, his parry was only a tiny-bit off this time, and is more of an educational annoyance than anything else. Perhaps attempting to change his luck, he turns his nearly-successful parry into a single-handed thrust.
What better way to get some exercise than go the gym! It's even better when it's under your own power. Eddie winds his way into the room on a bicycle, feet pumping the pedals in the lowest gear. There's not much upper body to bicycling without sitting on your head, so he's also doing his best to keep five blue balls in the air at the same time.
"If that's this case this is a waste. We know it's not. An armored opponent can survive any single aimed shot to the head you can make. Giving them time to take cover and escape. No to ensure victory you have to be able to take the fight directly to them. Even that guarantees nothing. But you even the field as much as you can." Valeriya comments as another blow goes wide and she returns the swipe without mercy. "Can you not hit me unless I drop my sword?"
The Kentuckian actually manages to keep from getting bitch-slapped with a training sword this time! "That's not how it works where I'm from, but the point of this lesson is to cover the contingency." Gabriel allows himself half a moment to breathe before attempting a high slice, one which in theory would take the tip of the blade above and across his instructor's bosom. In theory.
Eddie comes to a stop and catches the juggled balls to drop them into his sporran. After that is a hop off the bike to trade places with it. Now, it gets a ride since he carries it to the wall to lean it there. He can't have someone steal or trip over it: it'd be harder to ride it then. It's easier for him to notice the practicing and fighting going on now that he's not not looking where he was going and trying to not fall over. "Uh oh. Somebody get mad?"
"How long are you going to keep living in the past?" Valeriya asks as something finally gets through and Gabriel makes it past her parry to continue into a solid hit to her shoulder. "Nice, but don't get cocky. The engagement can change in a moment notice, usually for the worse." She advises honestly before making her next attack.
The man from time past juggles his weapon around awkwardly as his instructor's own weapon shoots at him, but with a somewhat different motion than before. Whatever it was, Gabriel somehow manages to squirrel out of it. Whether he's chosen to stop talking about his life, or whether he's too busy to notice might be lost, but not his attempt at slicing Valeriya's knees.
"Or maybe not?" Eddie didn't get an answer from anyone watching or fighting, so makes up his own. Watching helps to try and figure out what's going on, too, so he also does that. To get the best view of the people swinging sharp pointy things, he bounces a few feet from one person's direction to the other.
Valeriya parries Gabriel's blow with practice ease but his increasing proficiency is clear. "You have to be able to not only recognize with you're very outmatched, but when you are slightly outmatched as well. The harder it is to tell who is the better swordsman the more dangerous to yourself you can be." She advises, taking another swipe aimed at sending Gabriel's sword into the arms of the juggler.
If he had something to say, there is no time to say it before Gabriel's sword is out of his hand, arcing up toward the ceiling, and barely missing a hanging lamp before descending in the direction of the newly arrived colorful fellow - a person the older gentleman is just now noticing. However, once it's in the air, Gabriel laughs loudly for a few rolls before pointing a finger at his instructor. "Good one." He then taps his temple - the training weapon still in the air - "As long as I'm alive, then my loved ones are alive, and I'll be with them, whether or not that seems to you like living in the past." There's a smile, and the sword should arrive at its destination soon after.
It's Eddie's hand, not arms. That what darts out to grab the flying sword, anyhow. "Woo! Can I get the other one, too? This's the first time I've gotten free stuff for watching." He tosses the sword from that hand to the other, then looks back to the sworder and swordless. "Or do you want it back?"
"Nah, I think that's enough of a beating on the poor old guy for one day." Valeriya replies to the colorful fellow with a smirk before looking back to Gabriel. "Your next step is familiarity. Buy a practice sword, and practice an hour a day. When you decide on a real sword, get a practice sword made to match it identically and practice that. Try every fancy move you can conceive of."
Gabriel allows a short bend of his waist and dip of his head toward his well-versed instructor. "Thank you for the lesson. I know that I have a vast distance to go, but I can tell that I'll be following through with this. Something that needs to be done." He waves a hand off to the side. "Can you suggest a brand? I live on the cheap, but at the moment I have more money that I need to support me for a year. I'd rather err on the side of caution and quality."
"Wow," Eddie blinks, "is it beat up on old guy week? Maybe I should've come here earlier..." Shrugging, he tucks the free sword into the waist of his kilt. "Do they have specials like that here all the time? Haven't been here in a while."
"You're welcome. Though your thanks is premature. We haven't yet discussed how much that beating was worth. I'm of the opinion skill is worth just as much as the blade that needs it. and i figure you'll need one more grueling beating to have skill. A basic modern sword is worth about 10 grand. So five thousand you owe me so far, sound fair?" She asks before smirking at the odd fellow, debating whether or not to inform him the gym owns the training sword.
The man's eyebrow arches and he looks at the much taller woman. "Actually, that seems a little steep, to be totally honest. Obviously you can demand what you want for this lesson, and I'll pay it. But I think that a few weeks of swinging a blade and bringing me to basic proficiency is no more than four-grand at best." Gabriel leans over the side of the ring and extracts his wallet from the coat that he'd leaned against the side. "So honestly, how much?"
Valeriya narrows her eyes at Gabriel looking quite shrewd. "Your concept of money in the past too? Things cost more that they used to buddy. 6 grand total, and only because I think you're a decent guy." She remarks rather coldly. Clearly money is important to her.
Eddie psahs. "You don't have to spend that much for a sword. I can get you one for two grand, tops. Even have an extra right here!" He pats the hilt of the one in his kilt. "Can't really teach you anything with it, though. You have to learn that all by yourself. That's why you have ten fingers and ten toes. Lots of leeway to practice."
After eyeing the apparently mercenarily-inclined woman for a moment - if someone had asked him for instruction, he would have done it for free, or no more than daily expense. But he lifts his shoulder, paws through his wallet and brings out the objects for the transaction. "And I appreciate your instruction." Something goes unsaid, but it probably isn't important. With his Kentucky drawl, "Six-thousand, all lessons and necessary equipment to bring me up to speed." Gabriel extends the credits: "Agreed?"
"Agreed, and thus far upheld." Valeriya points out, collecting the credits with a content smile. "Charity is nice and all, but it doesn’t get me top of the line gear to net good paying jobs. You're welcome to look for a better deal if you can find it." She notes as she pockets the credits with some satisfaction. "As for a good sword, in my shopping I've noticed a company called Wilk's makes a laser sword that can't be parried. Pretty sweet deal."
"There you are," Gabriel completes the transaction with a smile and satisfaction, apparently accepting that things that cannot be changed, cannot be changed, and there's no sense in worrying about it. "Miss Valeriya, thank you for today. Just glancing at my watch, I probably took up more of your time than expected. I do appreciate it, and while I still think your price is far too high, I look forward to our next lesson." The older adventurer extends his hand, clearly in genuine good cheer and friendship, even if perhaps his instructor is only in it for the money.
"That sounds like it'd be bad to drop on your foot..." Eddie voices his thoughts aloud, such as they are. "So... you sure there's no more beating on old guys today?" He looks from the tall woman to the old guy to the woman and back, hopeful. He even adds the puppy dog eyes, just in case.
"That's between you and the old guy fella." Valeriya points out with a grin before she moves to extricate herself from the ring. "Now if you'll excuse me gents, I'm gonna shower and go about my day."
