Nov 30 12:12:42 109 PA - Giving Bob More Training with a Blade

From Chronicles

Nov 30 12:12:42 109 PA.

HARRY'S GYM - SPARRING ROOM

Lunchtime, and Gabriel is already up in the sparring ring at Harry's Gym, having rented it to conduct a lesson. A few wooden practice knives are out, as well as a selection of his own bladed versions - safely tucked against the corner rope. His clothes are slick and utilitarian, neither urban nor uniform; not really even wilderness. Just interesting. The gym is exceedingly crowded due to the combination of it being a Saturday and noon.

Bob eventually arrives, dressed in fairly form-fitting military clothing. He looks as though he isn't in a hurry, not that he's being lethargic either. Just that he's being relaxed and not stressing himself. When he does make his way to the rented room though, he is still on time. "Hello." He offers to Gabriel, moving towards the wooden practice weapons. "I've been working on my grip and my style a quite a bit." He begins. "You weren’t kidding about the different varieties of weapons. I'm having a hard time choosing a blade style."

Gabriel waves Bob up into the ring. "Yes, you'll have to pick not only something that fits your style and your motion, but also what the problem is at the moment. Like I said, they all have their uses. Show me some of the drills that I tried to teach you last time. Not at me, at the dummy." He gestures to a simple bundle of bamboo sticking up vertically. There's a picture of someone's face on it, but otherwise is a very poor stand-in for a human. But good enough. "Use the wooden blades, I didn't bring a whole bunch of these."

Bob nods; and is careful about how he keeps his feet. He's been lucky enough to get some training with other knife fighters during his practice sessions and one of them got it into his head that his foot work needed some improvement. He places the knife on the ground and then picks it up, running through the three grips that Gabriel demonstrated to him several times before following up with a couple of actual attacks at the dummy itself. Then back to the footwork and the grips again. He's an amateur, and not quite a hundred percent there but he's definitely shown effort at improving.

Gabriel nods approvingly enough. "Okay, so, what're we here to learn today, Bob?" It's a simple question that he asks while he pulls the long knife from its sheath. A stiletto, really, and not just a mirror finish, but a mirrored silver finish. He smiles blandly to say, "Don't worry, it's easy to black out."

Bob actually has to think about that. "A couple of guys have been going over basic footwork, attack and defense with me but . . " Bob shrugs. "What I'd honestly appreciate most are going through scenarios, or some simulated combat. I've got the drills down myself as far as I can go. The only thing that is going to make me better at those is repetition and if I'm going to go further, I feel like I need scenario work." He apparently doesn't mind the finish, because he waves his hand. "It's not like I'm going to be bothered." Truth is, he shines like that metal does.

Apparently the comment about the shine wasn't really a necessary one, as Gabriel moves on to quickly correct Bob's opinion. "No, we're not here to go through scenarios. Scenarios are things that might happen to you. You never know what might happen to you, so we're here to learn to kill someone. Not injure someone, not take someone prisoner. Kill them, period - this time, with a knife." He brings his hand up and the stiletto is soon flying through the air to nail the face right between the eyes. "Sometimes you don't even have to get close to do it."

"I was wondering when that would come in." Bob offers. "So, show me the grip and the point of balance." He steps a half step back to watch Gabriel now; lifting his arms to a cross. "You do keep assuming that I've never fought hand to hand before." He doesn't sound miffed in the statement, he's just making an observation. "Not that I don't appreciate the covering of the basics." He clarifies this, then looks to watch specifically what the other does.

As he retrieves his stiletto, Gabriel explains, "I've never questioned your fighting ability. I'm saying that if you take two men of equal ability and give one of them a knife, that man has the advantage." Still, to the rest of the statement, he seems confused - perhaps its relevance to the subject at hand. Based on his face, it's hard to tell. "We'll work on more attacks and defenses later, just don't forget that you can be quickly outgunned so to speak, and it's best to find another point of attack, if immediacy isn't an issue. Now, pick up the knife, and make a karate fist. You know what that is, right?" He demonstrates. "Point your fingers like you're going to make a chopping motion with your hand, then curl the second knuckles back, leaving the rest of the fingers straight. Let the thumb remain up, but loose for now. It should look like this, like a perfect, hollow rectangle." His right hand is raised for inspection.

"I would concur with that for the most part." Bob agrees. Does he know what that means? Karate fist? It's fairly immaterial, because he can tell what Gabriel wants by looking at him. It takes a moment or two, but he mirrors the posture as best as he can. He keeps his own hand at head level for the other to correct him if he has an issue with it.

Gabriel does. "Put the other hand down, Bob. Just let it hang loose. Like before, at least for now." He points his blade at the unknown-faced target. "If there is only *one* thing to be said about learning to throw a knife properly, it is this - be linear." The soldier allows that just a moment to sink in. "No rotation of your arm to the side. It moves like a nutcracker, forward and back along the single plane and line that will inevitably lead to the target. So it is all square, it is all a line, save for the shoulder and a small bit of wrist." Still, no knife has been asked or given.

"That makes sense." Bob agrees with what Gabriel has said, watching his motions. "If you were to have any sideways motion, it'd impart that to the blade. That is basic physics and makes complete sense." The silvery man's arm lifts, hand held the way he was instructed as he demonstrates what he believes is a good practice throw -- minus the blade of course. He manages the non sideways motion fairly well. It must be machine precision and all of that.

Gabriel watches the motion with a sharp eye, but makes no comment other than to correct where it starts. "Keep that form in your hand, then make a ninety-degree angle with your bicep and forearm. The basic mechanics. Hold your upper arm so that it's parallel with the ground, your hand should be raised and fingers in a position like you're about to pull the whistle on a steam engine. Straight up and down. Not that you'll move that way, but that's where you start before you start going through the motion that you don't know."

Bob listens; going through the motion as Gabriel walks him through it. He's taking his time and in many ways it is almost 'slow motion' when he does it. However, one thing has to be said for Bob. He follows directions quite well. "All right." He ends up saying once he's finished. He repeats the motion again, just to make sure he has it before he nods. "So, next step then?"

Gabriel goes to lengths to stop bob from going through motions. "No, no. Just hold the form. Raised arm, ninety-degrees, fingers hooked back and down from the karate grip. Do that and hold it there. Then drop the whole thing out, shake, and pick it up again, like we did with the different knife grips."

Bob turns his head to the side when he's spoken to. Gabriel catches him in the second going through of the motion -- and he does what he's told. He appears a bit perplexed, though, but he demonstrates that he's able to hold the form well enough, then shake it out and reassure it and the like. Once he's been shown, it's not incredibly complicated. At least to him.

The old colonel grabs one of the sharpened metal blades - not lethal unless a mistake was made - and offers it to Bob, hilt-first. "Think there's anything more to know, or are you ready to just wade into combat? Because you look like you think you're ready to just go into combat right now. Here, take the knife."

"Not especially." Bob says, being honest about it. "I've still got a lot of practice that I want to do before I feel competent at it. I probably have the forms right, but actually making the forms into reality isn't quite that easy." He smiles. "I'll need to drill, a lot." He takes the knife, and applies it to the grip as shown. Waiting for permission, apparently, to do something with it.

Gabriel steps back to calmly suggest, "Perhaps you should do better to not look like someone ready to fight, when you're not. Now, don't let go, but go through the arm motion. rotate at the the shoulder. Pull it back so that your hand is across from your head, then a smooth continuous motion -" he snaps his own arm up and down blindingly fast. "When the elbow comes down, it straightens. When you're done, your thumb should be pointing along a perfect axis with your outstretched arm."

That comment seems to puzzle Bob, but he makes no response. He can save that for later. Once again, he does as instructed. It takes several tries before he has the motion down properly the way he wants it -- which is hopefully the way that Gabriel wants it as well. Either way, he is no particular hurry -- that is to say he doesn't seem impatient or distracted or the like and takes the time that he needs to get the 'drill' right. He still needs practice, but that will come with repetition.

"Now," Gabriel says, walking toward Bob again, "Of this entire motion there's only *one* part that needs to be done fast. If you don't do it quickly and perfectly, then the entire motion that you've gone through makes no difference." He lifts the blade out of the other man's hand and tucks it into his belt for a moment. "Holding this fist, this rectangular karate fist - is the only part that needs to be fast. Your fingers *must* snap open from curled to perfectly straight in line with the rest of your arm, or the blade will be given all sorts of rotations on all three axis." His own fingers demonstrate the near-instantaneous action. Both hands, too. "This, this is a drill. You need to do it when you wake up. When you pick up a piece of silverware, when you drop a rifle, when you open a door, when you wipe your nose, when you make love to a good woman - or not such a good woman. If you can't get this, nothing else matters." Then, he steps back. Possibly an invitation to demonstrate.

This time it is not something that Bob picks up easily. The motion is done, but he frowns at the fact that he is just a little bit too late with it. He attempts gain, and it is too early. It is a solid ten minutes before he has it approximately right and Bob manages to look a trace aggravated, if a little bit satisfied when he finally gets it right. "I think I understand." He offers. "But, that's going to take some drilling as you said. I might set up a board on my wall at home, so I can practice my releases whenever I walk by it."

Smiling, Gabriel reaches out to slap the blade's hilt back into Bob's hand. "So, right at that instant that you've reached the maximum extension - no matter how fast or slow you've gone, is when your fingers - a trap which has been holding back the knife - spring open." He raises a finger vertically, swiping it side-to-side in a 'no' action. "You'll see it in the movies, and you'll see the local carneys do this. The knife does all sorts of exciting spins in the air. Like it's rotating on a central axis. It looks impressive, yes. But as soon as you start that blade rotating, that's less time that the point is going to be in a position to stick your target. So remember, it always goes straight. No rotation. The reason that the magicians and such do it is because it looks flamboyant and they always know the exact distance from which they'll be throwing, so they can put the correct number of spins every time. Obviously, combat doesn't have a luxury like that. So give it a toss. Right now, straight is more important than even hitting the target."

Bob is still an attentive listener, hand gleaming faintly as it closes properly around the blade. He adopts a ready stance and thinks for a moment while he takes all of this in. "I always wondered about that." He confides to Gabriel and then goes through the motions. His release is a little bit sloppy and the blade wavers quite a bit, rotating once before embedding itself a good four feet from the target. Bob grunts. and steps up to retrieve the weapon before returning to where he was standing before. "Going to take some practice. I know what I did wrong there, though. I was a shave too late to release."

Gabriel nods again. "You action was well enough. But your shoulder rotated as well. Remember, linear and straight. Again."

Bob does it again. He still misses, but this time his form is slightly better. As before, he goes and retrieves it and then steps back to the place. "I think that time I held on too long."

"It was better than the first time," Gabriel allows. "Now. There are other things to keep in mind." He walks over and lifts two of his simple wooden blades. "No matter how good you might be, you never know what you'll be approaching. Like those poor bastards in Minnesota. He didn't know what he was looking at. Now you know that I - can do this with two hands at once." He smiles, whether or not that comes as new information he doesn't seem to care, as long as the lesson is learned. "Which again is why I tell you to leave your bare hands out of it until your knife has gotten you inside of any possible use of his own blade. Because your hands might look like metal, but I'd be surprised if I couldn't take off your thumb, which makes it tough to hold a wooden knife."

"You would be hard pressed to cut off my thumb even with a vibro-blade." Bob seems quite sure of this. "But, there are certainly things out there that can, so." Does Bob react to the two knives thing? No. Though he does file that away for future reference. "So, you make a good point. Eventually, I'm going to have to see if I can't manage that. But I suppose, I'm more of a ranged fighter in general. I don't know." He throws the blade again, which he has since retrieved.

"Then another lesson to learn, specifically when it comes to learning how to kill with a knife?" Gabriel pauses. "Recognize when you're beaten, and get away from the fight. Never press a losing front. Good rule for general combat, as well. Now. Just how mean do you want to be with these things? I hear sometimes that despite my pleasant demeanor, the way that I go about ending fights isn't honorable enough. A stupid word, but that's what's said."

"Discretion is the better part of valor as it is. I try not to get into fights that I can't handle." He pauses. "It is somewhat difficult for me to get used to the idea of being evasive. I am used to relying on my durability rather than my agility." He pauses. "Be that as it may, whilst I do consider myself moral, I prefer my engagements ended swiftly as possible. Honor is an abstract concept and is highly variable depending on the person invoking it. Show me."

Gabriel chuckles and taps his knee with a blade. "There is no 'show' of how to win a fight. There's only to enter knowing that it's already over. My ways work well for me, you'll need to develop your own individual style for yourself, based from what I've shown you." A blade-point is wiggled Bob's direction. "Don't ever get into a fight until you realize that nobody wins. Don't get into a fight unless it's a genuine necessity. And? If the knife isn't really right for the job and you have a better option - wait for it. Now come, show me a thrust - just don't put a hole in me with that extra strength of yours."

Bob listens and then frowns; stepping back and adopting a defensive stance. "I really wish you'd wear armor for this." He says, taking the wooden knife in his hand as he locks eyes with Gabriel. "It will take time for style to manifest itself, probably based on my own unique abilities. Tell me as well -- do you know how to use a sword? You're a competent teacher and I'd enjoy carrying this a step further." He gives Gabriel a second to reply and then aims a solid thrust at the center of his ribs.

The old soldier laughs. "Competent? Oh, your words flatter me!" He steps aside and the impressive thrust hits nothing but air. He even has time to smack it with one of his blades as it passes. "But yes, I know the longer blades, too. Not with the same ability, I admit, but I'd still wager better than most or many. Now hit me."

Bob seems to look thoughtful. "Anyone taught you to use a spear, or a bayonet yet?" He says, the knife clattering slightly as Gabriel parries it away. Now, Bob adopts a ready stance and presses after the other -- keeping on the offensive and making a horizontal cut towards his throat. "Could repay you that way. Though, I love learning. I'll keep doing so as long as you are willing to teach."

As the knife comes for his neck, Gabriel chooses to once more simply step aside for it to whiz through open air. "Not a spear no. I used to know how to use a bayonet, and very well. But, ah... I actually kind of forgot how. Time travel's a bitch on the mind, I don't recommend it for fun." He moves his knives quickly in a slash-and-stab at his pupil.

Bob is a little slow to parry. In fact, the move slips past him so well that he doesn't even get the weapon up. It strikes his upper arm and . . it is as though Gabriel attempted to stab a refrigerator with it. It just does absolutely nothing at all. Meanwhile, Bob switches his grip and attempts to stab Gabriel in the gut. Bob adds, while he's doing it. "Sounds like my problem. Half the time I forget what I'm thinking."

Gabriel grins as the knife thumps against his chest - but doesn't look any too bad for the wear. "There, see? You got me. Now just keep coming back and working on it." Sure, he might look a bit the part of the father who let his kid win.

Bob doesn't let on that he notices, if he did. He thanks Gabriel, and that is in fact what he does -- spending time at the gym every day at it.