Step forwards

[Neela Garcia]

[html]

Neela smiled when Adelle accepted her advice easily, asking Neela to clarify. Neela strode forwards towards the girl, talking as he went, ”It’s not just energy either. If you try to punch full power you have less control and a lot of momentum; someone your size I could put you flat on your back just by ducking and going for your legs if you punched full speed.”

Neela stopped in front of Adelle and started miming some punches. In contrast to Adelle’s powerful swinging blows Neela’s were quick and light, her arm snapping out in a straight line and withdrawing in an instant, “Focus on technique and speed, hit your opponent in the face a few times and then go for the powerful stuff while they’re stunned.” Neela paused and looked speculatively at Adelle, trying to think of some easy targets to show her.

”The head is always a good place to start” she said and reached forwards to rub her knuckles against Adelle’s muzzle just below the nose, pushing the flesh into her teeth. “Muzzle’s a pretty painful spot as you just felt, even worse when it’s a full punch. You’re fairly likely to cut your hand up on their teeth punching someone there but it hurts like hell” Neela paused for a moment before tapping the side of her head, “This is another good spot, side of the head just level with the eyes. Give someone a good hit there and they’ll have trouble seeing straight for quite a while. I wouldn’t do it sparring though, someone as strong as you might well kill someone hitting them there.” Neela shrugged, ”There are a lot of places to hit someone to hurt them bad. Joints, face, arteries close to the surface, throat. Knowing where to hit isn’t the hard part, that’s keeping your cool in a fight, remembering the technique behind your attacks and where to hit when somebody is actively trying to hurt you.

Neela tilted her head to the side, smiling at Adelle. ”Here, lets try a game. Watch how I punch, a fast strike, in and out. Keep your arm straight along the joinst, especially your wrist; with your power you could snap your own wrist in half if you aren’t careful. You want your entire arm taking the force, not just your hand. Most of the force should be coming from your hips when they twist as you punch.” Neela demonstrated slowly, letting Adelle watch her movements, before moving into a guard position and smirking. “Try and punch just short of my face. I’m going to try and slap your hand, you want to be trying to withdraw it before I can. If it helps pretend I’m trying to spear it with a dagger rather than slap it, another reason to keep ya punches short that.” Neela leaned back on her heels, leaving herself plenty of room to dodge if Adelle accidentally put too much reach into her punch and waited patiently for her to start.

Word Count :: +500