Jan 18 02:16:01 107 PA - Some knife play
From Chronicles
Logfile from Rifts.
(OOC: Knife training. Instructor: Erica. Trainee: Sage.)
The current game time is: Wed Jan 18 02:16:01 107 PA. Kingsdale - Harry's Gym
The Sparring Ring of Harry's Gym is even more spartan than the rest of the facility. It is geared towards non and lightly augmented individuals as Harry's is by and large a family facility. Nonetheless, the walls here are chemically treated and renforced and many cameras keep a watchful eye on the goings on. The actual 'ring' is a boxing ring, complete with ropes and nearby is a large open area with mats to practice martial arts and other hand to hand techniques. Of real note is that there are two armed guards here at all times -- and the place seems to ALWAYS be in use -- and a nurse's office is located nearby in the case of injuries. Apparently, Harry takes the safety of the public quite seriously.
Players- Objects- Exits- Vargus <O> Out Erica
Erica walks into the sparring area with two wooden knives. She has already stowed away her weapons and utility belt and has changed out of her fatigues into some sweats. Placing the two wooden props on the ring she starts stretching out. Bending low she touchs her toes a couple times before she starts stretching her arms and legs. A look of concentration comes over her face as she waits for her partner to arrive.
When Sage arrives, its in her typical workout clothes. She glances around as she enters the room before her gaze notices the lone woman waiting for her. A faint smile comes to her lips despite the matter of possibly being bruised in the near future. She wanders over, "Hey..." She greets simply as she slips into the sparring area before she begins to stretch herself.
Erica pauses her stretching for a moment to flash Sage a quick smile. "Hey there. I brought some props for us to use." She says before she starts her stretching again. Finally after rolling her head around her shoulders she seems to be finished. Grabbing the two props she hops up into the sparring ring. "Ok so I guess first off I'll show you a couple different grips. Then we can work from there."
Vargus is working out in the main area of the gym, but as he's doing is thang out there, he detects some activity in the sparring room. Curious, he pokes his head in and sees some familiar faces. He moves the rest of the way into the room and takes a seat off to one side, a smirk playing over his lips. It's very obvious that he's here to spectate.. perhaps reinforced by the fact that he reaches into a small sack at his hip, up to his elbow, and removes a pack of something, the contents he begins to munch.
Nodding faintly to the other woman, "I remember you mentioning them." Sage replies, without pausing in her stretching. When she finishes, she'll follow the other woman's lead. "Alright." She replies, before holding out her hand to accept one of the props that'll be used for the training.
Erica hands Sage one of the prop wooden knives while giving the other woman an encouraging smile. Seeing some movement out of the corner of her eye she turns her head to see Vargus walking in. She raises an eyebrow before shrugging her shoulders and turning back to Sage. "Ok so your most basic grip which is called the hammer grip is just making a fist around the handle of the knife." She says while wrapping her hand around the handle of her own prop.
Taking the prop with a faint smile, Sage will wait for the instruction to begin. She briefly follows the other woman's gaze, "You might be in for a show, Vargus." She comments simply, before looking back to Erica. She watches the other woman and orients the blade appropriately before starting to grip the handle. Whether she holds it well enough and properly is another matter.
"Well that is pretty good. You don't want to hold it in a death grip but not too loose either." Erica says as she watches the other woman grip her knife. Moving her thumb up so that it is on the top of the handle she turns the handle of the knife to show Sage. "Ok so this one is the Saber grip right? This one will give you a bit more thrusting force."
Nodding faintly, Sage doesn't show signs of being discouraged over such a small detail. She tries to get a sense of the weapon as she moves it about a little to see how it feels with her grip. Then when the other woman changes her grip, she considers it before trying to mimic it. "Just follow the thumb..." She muses softly.
Erica giggles softly in her soft little voice before nodding her head. "Good yah. Follow your thumb." Changing her grip again she rotates the handle around a bit so that her thumb is now against the flat of the blade. "Ok so this is pretty much like the saber grip. It is a modified saber grip. This one is good because when you stab with it, it can slip inbetween your opponents ribs instead of getting deflected." She holds out her hand so Sage can look at her grip.
A little amusement comes into her eyes as the other woman giggles, but it is short-lived as Sage tries not to get distracted from the lesson at hand. She considers the changing of the grip. She purses her lips, "Not sure I'll be using this one too often... but its good to know as much as I can." She again tries to mimic the grip. She likely has some minor things wrong but she seems to be grasping the basics.
Vargus watches and munches from the sidelines. "You know... I've always heard that the best way to survive a knife fight, is to not get into one." He smirks and brushes some crumbs off of the front of his sweatshirt.
Erica reaches out with her other hand and moves Sage's thumb a little bit and checks the other woman's grip. "Well of course that is the best way to survive, but if your going to get in one you might as well know." She says to Vargus before turning back to Sage. "I know that your claws are a little different, but hopefully these basics will help anyhow." Changing her grip on the knife again she reverse the direction of the knife so that the edge is facing away from her forearm and her thumb caps the handle. "Ok so this is the reverse grip. This is a great defensive grip. You can parry a little easier with this grip, and you can also slash as well." She swings out her forearm in a slashing movement.
Nodding faintly as the other woman adjusts her hold, Sage considers the adjustment. She gets a small smile at the man's interjection, "I'm not really planning on looking for a knife fight... just how to use something I recently acquired." She comments after Erica's own response. She nods faint to the next comment. "Yeah, the grip wont be much of an issue... but, I think the basics will be very similar." She comments, watching as the other woman as she shifts the blade around in her grip. This grip seems to be a little more intuitive and she tries to avoid the death grip on the handle.
"Ok so this grip is what we are going to be focusing on. Mainly because a lot of the same movements that you'll learn in this grip will transfer over to your claws fairly well." Erica nods her head to herself as she moves opposite Sage. "Because you'll be doing mainly slashing attacks with those claws instead of thrusting. So I think if we focus on this grip and spar with it. It will best teach you how to use your claws. OK?"
"That makes sense..." Sage comments, "I wont mind learning the other moves in time as well... but, likely better to start simple." She decides , before nodding to the confirmation question.
Erica keeps holding her knife in the reversed grip. She pivots her arm around in a clock wise motion across her torso. "Ok and this is how your going to defend yourself see. Use the edge of the knife to deflect any attacks. It is going to be the same motion with the claws. Protect your face and torso."
When its clear they wont be changing grips, Sage takes a moment to test how the blade feels as she varies her grip some before settling on what seems natural yet firm. When the other woman continues, she considers the motion before she begins to move her's. Not being overly familiar, she doesn't have full confidence on how to use the weapon properly. It is just the first lesson after all. She nods faintly to the instruction.
"Alright so I'm going to do some practice thrusts and slashes at you. I just want you to focus on your blocking motions. Ok?" Erica says as she changes her grip on her own fake knife to a hammer grip. "Ok I'll move slow so you can try to understand what your doing." She stands opposite you and slowly stabs in at the other woman with her prop knife.
When it seems the exercise will move towards the mechanics, Sage shifts her posture a little similar. Not being sure about a proper knife fighting stance, she simply adopts a general defensive stance. She gives a couple practice movements against air, but air is ever so much easier to defeat. She nods slowly, "Alright." The confidence doesn't seem to be too high as there is a little uncertainty how to hold the knife while she's waiting for the attack. Somehow holding it like a tool doesn't seem to be right. She looks to the attack, before she moves to counter. There is a slowness in her own motion as she tries figure it out. She's likely to have the blade in a poor position for her first attempt.
Erica nods her head slowly as she flashes Sage an encouraging smile. "Ok well that was ok. So with this reverse grip your going to want to swivel your wrist around and use the edge of the blade, backed up by your forearm, to knock the blade away. Here let me try again." She says before drawing back to her ready stance and stabbing in again moving slow enough for Sage to take her time.
Without having a true sense of what an experienced fighter would do, Sage can only go by the adjustments that the other woman suggests for now. She tilts her head slightly as she considers the other woman's words, as her gaze thoughtfully retraces her steps. She nods faintly, "Okay." She replies, before watching the other woman's movements. This time, she does a little better in her movement with the blade. It'll likely take a little time before she's comfortable with this. She chuckles softly once the blades have made comment, "Okay, maybe not that good of a show." She comments, in case Vargus is still around.
Erica again offers Sage an encouraging smile. "Good that is better. Let us keep practicing parrying stabs for now. Let us get you comfortable with that." She withdraws back into her stance and stabs again at Sage. This time her stab comes a little higher at the other woman's throat.
"Sounds good." Sage murmurs in response as she smiles faintly at the other woman. She resets herself in her own stance. It seems on this attempt, the discomfort of at the thought of something aimed at her neck causes her to act a little more reflexively. Certainly not a perfect defensive move, but its a little progress. Erica nods her head to herself licks her lips quickly as her fake attack is knocked away. "Good that was good. Lets try it again." She says as she resets her stance and lunges in again this time at Sage's stomach. Her movements come a little quicker this time.
As with any trainee, Sage isn't immune to having hiccups in her learning. This time appears to be no different. The quicker motion catches her a little off-guard as she's a little too quick with her defensive moment. She catches the fake knife in the gut with a soft grunt as she backs away a couple steps while leaning slightly forward.
Erica quickly frowns and drops the fake knife to the floor of the sparring ring. Letting out a squeak she quickily runs over to Sage and wraps and arm around the other woman. "Oh I'm sorry Sage. Are you ok?" She asks with obvious concern. "I guess we should try wearing pads or something so these things don't happen. It is my fault."
Using her free hand, Sage probes the sore spot on her stomach before she looks up to the other woman. As she recovers from the initial shock of the hit, she seems to get a playful idea in her head as she leans against the other woman after the arm is wrapped around me. "You... killed me..." She says in a poorly disguised dramatic voice, before deciding she better not lean too heavily into the other woman. Instead, she turns her body to give a light hug to the other woman. "Its fine... I didn't think of it either. And, if there's any real damage, I'll be fine after a little meditation." She replies softly.
Erica's look of concern soon turns into a bemused smirk. She rolls her eyes a little bit as she reaches back with her hand and gives Sage a quick smack on the bottom before returning the other woman's hug. "I'll just have to try harder next time then. Silly girl." She breaks down into giggles as she shakes her head. "I think that is good for a first lesson."
