Jun 13 109 PA - Punching basics

From Chronicles

Its another normal day in the gym. Sage has reserved a heavy punching bag by her presence near it. There are the expected boxing equipment for the task nearby. There are others workout in the area, including some wrestlers taking up the mat that they had been using last time to begin practicing footwork.

Tek has just finished getting ready for his session with Sage. He is dressed in a pair of gym shorts and has on a white tank top. He already has a pair of gloves on his hands, "Hey Sage, sorry I got hung up in the locker room. I have totally been practicing this whole time." he starts dancing in an appropriate fashion to shoiw he really has been practicing. He even is working in some hand work as he works his feet, "What are we going to work on today?"

Sage considers the man as he approaches, smiling faintly as she notices the more appropriate workout attire the man has this time. "Its alright..." She replies as she considers the man's footwork. "Yes, that does look better than the last time." She mentions, "But, dancing about isn't all boxing is about... you must make your opponent respect you... and there's no better way to do that than make sure your opponent knows that you can hurt them." She comments, "It is time to see how well you can throw a punch..." She gestures to the heavy bag. "You opponent will be our willing volunteer here. But, before your put on your gloves, let me see how you make your fists."

Tek takes off his gloves and makes a fist. At first he just instinctively does it but then he quickly adjusts it thinking it would be better though neither is probably exactly correct, "Umm like this?"

Sage lets the man decide how he wants to shape his fist before she comes over to consider them. "There is one important thing to keep in mind when using your fists as weapons... you can damage them if you punch something too hard or form the fist in a poor manner." She comments, "The placement of the thumb is among the most imporant..." She adds, before reaching over to lightly adjust where the man's thumb, "And your fist must be firm or you will lose some of the impact you can deliver to your opponent." She adds, before making a fist to demonstrate what it should look like. "The goal being to drive the front most part of the fist into your target." She punches her fist into her open palm the holding the impact like it is. "Notice that the thumb is out of the way ... and that your knuckles will likely take a battering when you don't have something to protect them."

Tek allows his fist to be adjusted and pays attention as you show him and even copies you hitting his other hand, "That makes sense. Like this right?" Seeming eager the meccanic really is trying his very best to learn from you the best he can.

Sage's gaze considers the man's demonstration, "It is a start, yes." She replies, "Now, put on your gloves... and while you do that, do you know what the three classic boxing punches are?" She asks, "Two of them, we will be able to practice on the punching bag but the other will not work so well against it."

Tek starts to put on his gloves as he conciders the question, "Umm the jab and umm upper cut?"

"Those are two yes, but you should not forget about the cross as well." Sage replies, "But, since you are aware of the jab, perhaps you would like to demonstrate one against the punching bag here." She gestures towards the bag. She doesn't move to stand behind the bag to hold it, but rather steps off to the side to be able to watch the man's form.

Tek finishes getting his gloves onto his hands and moves over to the bag doing the foot dance as he goes. After a moment he takes a jab and then a second and third right after but with the bag swinging the third one almost missed completely. Still moving Tek looks up to Sage for advise, "I know that was bad. Should I have done it different?"

Sage watches the man, "Well, you'll have to learn when you need to plant and when you have to dance." She replies, "If you're going to throw a punch that's worth much, you'll have to plant your back foot and direct your force through your punch... but there are times when you'll want to fake instead." She mentions, she doesn't move to the bag as she hasn't slipped gloves on but shadow boxes instead. She does move her feet a little bit, but when she throws the punch she makes to settle herself to be able to anchor her punch. "And, if someone isn't holding the bag, you can always imagine that the opponent is coming after you when it swings forward... but let me hold the bag for you..." She comments before moving behind the bag to hold it. She does let her head peek around to be able to watch him, though. "Try again."

Tek dances around a little bit trying to absorb what he was just told and then takes a jab. The first one was weak almost testing but then he jabs again and dances and a third time but the third one seemed like he put his whole strength (PS13) into it. "Is that better?"

"Rotate your hips a little more when you punch... keep your other hand up when you punch... be a little quicker with the plant and throwing the punch... keep working..." Sage instructs as the man takes a few practice jabs.

Tek nods as he gets instructions and tries to follow along. The first couple jabs are still pretty pitiful as it seems he is still forgetting to plant but then it hits him and his next jab is alot more solid. Feeling that he seems to pick up on it and dances around rotating and planting while jabbing the heavy bag getting into it he continues to throw jabs and dance back and forth.

"Plant." She reminds as the man as the man seems to struggle with the early jabs, "Better... good.... keep it up..." She comments as the man seems to start to get into the rhymthm, before she adds a quick little twist as she pushes the bag towards the man to see how he'll react to the bag moving a little from its expected position.

Tek continues his rythem but seems to be concentrating on his planting right now as that seems to be having a positive effect on how hard he is hitting when the bag comes forward and catches him completely off guard. Staggering back a couple paces Tek blushes in a bit of embarrassment before sucking it up and dancing back in to jab some more, "Didn't see that comming, even with it right in front of my face." determintation showing as he reapproaches.

Sage isn't entirely surprised when the man is caught by the bag as she steps out of its swinging way before moving in to settle it once more. "Yeah... this is just something to keep in mind for later. When you get more comfortable, you'll have to do less thinking about what you're doing and pay more attention to the opponent." She explains, "There is a different punching bag when you want to practice that." She adds, before making a head gesture in the direction of another piece of equipment. "See that bag attached on each end to a cord to keep it up?" She asks, "We'll be getting to that one... but, for now, let's move onto the speed bag." She suggests. Tek nods and follows along but continues to dance, "Thats the one we were working on last time right? I think I have a better idea of how that one works now, though I doubt I can go as fast as you or anythign."

"We haven't worked on that one yet." Sage replies, "And, for this one, you don't need to dance. This one is just about timing and speed." She comments as she slips on her gloves. She moves to demonstrate on the small punching bag. She shows the man without worrying about the speed at which she hits it - just to show the man how it works. Then she steps away from the bag. "I think the intent is to be able to take advantage of a opening and getting your punch there in time." She explains, "The better you get, the faster you can go."

Tek steps up to the speed bag and starts off slowly and lets the tempo build. He messes up a couple times but he does not let it deter him he just keeps going trying to get as fast as he can without messing up. Though when he does mess up he does not let it affect him he just gets the rythem back and keeps right on going.

"Keep at it... hit it back as straight as you can..." Sage offers as the man works away at the bag, letting the man work away at the bag at his own pace. Its the first time, after all. He's bound to have more frustration than success right now. "Good..." She adds when the man shows persistence, "Good..." She encourages, before she eventually calls a stop to the drill. Tek is breathing hard and slumps over a bit to catch his breath at the completion of the drill but he seem like he is proud of his forward progress, "So I'm hopeless huh coach?"

Sage considers the man, before giving a faint chuckle to the man's question, "Not entirely, no." She replies with a little humour. "Alright, you look like you might be done in for now. We'll get to the other punches later... but, right now, you have to get comfortable with moving and punching before we can move to the next step... and next time, I'm going to test your comfort level..."

Tek nods but is still catching his breath a bit when he asks, "Should I work on anything between now and then? You know like homework or something like that?"

"Yes, you need to work on moving around and delivering real punches..." Sage replies, "But, if you're feeling confident while working with the other bags, you can try that bag over there..." She gestures to the suspended bag. "I would advise against using full strength punches against it, though." She mentions, as she moves over to the bag. She quick demostrates why as her punch sends the bag flying back then springing back at her quickly. She's practiced enough that she's able to protect herself against the return as she expects it. "If you can make it through a session without getting clobbered by it, you'll have made good progress" she says as she moves away from the bag that still moves back and forth - only not as violently now.

Nodding Tek says, "I will do exactly that, though I can't promise that that thing is not going to clober me." looking to the still swinging bag with an amused smile as he talks about it, "We should get together so I gan show you the inner workings of using a radio in the field."

Sage chuckles softly to that, "We'll work on how best to avoid that fate." She replies, "I need you comfortable before we start the next lesson. This will likely be the last time I take it easy on you." She advises the man, "You'll probably need to wear protective head gear next time as a precaution." There is no malice in her tone as she says that. Then she nods to the man with a small smile comes to her lips. "Yes, we should. We probably would have already if I hadn't had some unexpected business come up." She mentions, "And, hopefully I don't accidently break too many things." She muses, "Anything else before we wrap up?"

Tek shakes his head with a smile, "Nope that shoudl do it. Thanks so much for showing me. I look forward to our next session even if there is a beating comming my way. Until then... thanks Sage."