Step forwards

Neela Garcia · 06-26-2012, 06:27 PM

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OOC Laughs

The weather was nice, nothing particularly interesting was happening and Neela had brought in a load of fish only the day before. Devoid of much to do and reasons to keep her at home Neela had, as she often found herself doing recently, wandered off from the fort, heading out towards the training circle she had claimed for herself recently.

After some stretches Neela quickly lost herself in her exercise, letting the sense of movement and the dull thump of her limbs against the sand filled bag fill her mind, only a small piece of her mind watching in pride as each movement, repetition by repetition, slowly became better. After just over a week of dedicated training Neela had almost successfully shaken off the rust on her skills and was starting to actually improve on her old abilities, picking them apart and improving them. The lack of a common partner didn’t help in this endeavour but there was still a lot that Neela could do with her punching bag, spare time and her memories of her lessons.

Surprisingly, considering what she was doing, Neela had also been thinking a lot. The collie found it easy to switch into autopilot when drilling kicks and punches like this and had done a lot of thinking the last week, going over in her head her reasons for doing this. At first her reason for training had been simple; to get back her confidence and live a normal life again, but things weren't so simple now she looked deeper.

Neela had lost almost everything in her life multiple times and she had precious few things left. The thought of losing one of those things, Tony, Jace, Casa, made her blood boil with a targetless anger. Up until now Neela had sought to protect those around her by ignoring her skills, by blunting her own ability to use her body as a weapon through lack of practise. But that didn’t work when outside threats presented themselves.

So she trained, not only her body but her mind. She wouldn't protect her loved ones from herself by blunting the knife that was her body but by taking care in handling it, and sharpening it for use against those who would threaten those she loved.

Still, thoughts of fighting for her home and family were faint and vague, worst case scenarios that would hopefully never play out. For now she would stick in the present, punching and kicking her bag.;

413+

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Adelle Vilhelmsen · 06-27-2012, 02:16 PM

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ooc murr

Adelle stretched with a yawn from where she was curled up. Morning had come, and that meant time for training. Lazily she made her way to the armory, grabbing the practice weapons that she used. The metal gloves she owned were briefly polished off, though they were tight around her hands at this point. They weren't truly comfortable for her to work with. Adelle loved them too much to admit they were getting small for her though, so she dutifully made sure they were polished and added them to the pile for her to take out to the ring.

Reaching the sparring ring Adelle moved in and began her warm up. Stretches didn't take too long, and she was about to begin her routines Adelle noticed someone in the ring with her. Blinking Adelle woke up the rest of the way, seeing a fellow Casa member working away with blows on a bag. It was different than the wooden post Adelle had set up, and probably hurt a lot less to hit. Wandering over Adelle stared. How'd you make that?

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Neela Garcia · 06-29-2012, 06:34 PM

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OOC Laughs

Despite the violent nature of her actions Neela found working away at her punching bag surprisingly calming; the routines she went through were old ones engraved into her muscles long ago and required little thinking on her part, allowing her mind to wander. As such she didn’t notice Adelle approaching until the large adolescent spoke, her voice startling Neela out of her half-trance.

"Hello Adele, I see you finally got your fur dry." Neela said, turning round and greeting the younger girl with a smile, her tail wagging behind her reinforcing her feelings. Neela hadn’t really interacted with Adelle much but going fishing with her a few days ago had been fun, if unfruitful, and she was glad to have another chance to talk to the younger hybrid. "Oh, this? Its just a leather bag filled with sand. Nothing particularly exciting, useful for training though." Neela turned back to the punching bag to demonstrate, sending a series of purposely hard kicks and punches at it , "You can hit it harder than solid stuff without hurting yourself, would you like a go?"

Neela stepped aside as she made the offer, stepping back to give Adelle plenty of room around the bag; with Adelle being as big as she was it would only take one accidental blow for Neela to be injured if she was hit in the wrong place, something she had no desire for.

230+

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Adelle Vilhelmsen · 06-29-2012, 10:28 PM

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ooc murr

The collie startled, immediately sending Adelle into a defensive stance. Whenever she was startled she tended to snap out defensively. She didn't want to be hit by Neela. Smaller than her or not, Adelle did not want to be decked. Neela didn't move to strike her though, just looking surprised. Adelle dropped her arms, tail swaying at her foolish grin. Shaking her head Adelle looked down. Fishing hadn't worked out so well. She was impatient, quickly getting soaked through her attempts at catching the quick creatures. Took ages.

Nodding her head Adelle bounced with excitement. She rocked on her paws, ready to test it. Balance was perfect, hours spent for this coming into play. She moved before the bag, forgetting Neela's presence. Eyes focused on it, seeing an enemy before her. Adelle stood still for a moment, measuring her strike. Feeling prepared Adelle swung forwards, hitting it as hard as she could. The satisfying smack from striking the bag echoed through the air. Her arm braced, absorbing the impact as her feet dug in. She wouldn't be knocked back!

The blow had landed in the center. The bag wasn't made for such a heavy strike though. Her hit would have been enough to level a canine that was smaller than her. The bag, as much as it weighed, still when swinging back. Crowing with triumph Adelle's eyes widened as it came back towards her, rapidly moving to hit the large dog. Ducking Adelle twisted, finding herself launched into a battle with the swinging bag. Each strike only served to launch it back in her direction, yelps escaping the female as she tried to figure out how to escape.

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Neela Garcia · 07-06-2012, 06:10 PM

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:!

Neela grinned, grabbing a bit of the long fur on her chest to point out to Adelle, ” Guarantee it took me longer, This stuff looks nice an keeps me warm but it takes a hella lot longer to dry out than normal length fur.” still her tone was light and she ended her complaint with a laugh; despite the inconvenience of how long it took her to dry out Neela had enjoyed trying to teach Adelle how to catch fish.

Neela was suddenly very glad she had stepped back to give Adelle space when the bulky adolescent started hitting the bag. The different between their strengths was immediately obvious when Adelle hit the bag full strength, sending it swinging back wilding at a speed that would have taken Neela’s head off if she had been in the way. Neela couldn’t help but giggle as Adelle got herself tangled in a fight with the bag, unable to escape because of the objects rapid movement and making the situation worse each time she hit it.

She let Adelle stew for a little longer before deciding to help, ”Dodge it!” she yelled to Adelle before leaping forwards literally jumping at the bag and wrapping her arms around it. Arms firmly in place she dug her feet into the ground and locked her muscles with all her strength. Her feet dug a pair of burrows through the ground but ultimately she was able to get the bag to stop, though she was forced to leave the ground entirely several times by the force of the swing.

"Y’know-“ Neela said to Adelle, panting from the exertion of stopping the bag, ”Ya didn’ need ta hit it tha’ hard, ya don’ need ta hit anything that hard! Just hit em in the right place, save yaself some strength and energy. Much better in a fight.”

309+

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Adelle Vilhelmsen · 07-06-2012, 10:48 PM

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ooc murr

Adelle laughed, seeing the thick long fur. Her own fur was thick and shaggy, but it still fell shorter than Neela's. She was lucky that way, gaining the warmth but less of the inconvenience that came from having long fur. Adelle's tail didn't seem about to stop, just happy with being around the short female. It was a little strange, really, but Adelle had decided that it didn't matter that she towered over her friend. Of course, right now she was wishing that she was the same size as Neela, and not stuck dodging back and forth from the giant bag.

The cry to dodge sent Adelle rolling over the ground, finally managing to escape the menace. Sitting up she watched Neela swing around on the bag, working to bring it to a halt. Giggling Adelle had a goofy smile on her face as Neela finally came to a stop, as worn out by the bag as she was. Nodding Adelle stood up. How do I do that? She was a powerful fighter, but she was always open to tips. Restraint was a lesson Adelle hadn't taken yet, only exercising caution where she could injure herself, not yet aware of the damage she could dish out.

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Neela Garcia · 07-31-2012, 07:26 PM

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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

Adelle Vilhelmsen · 07-31-2012, 11:08 PM

Her eyes widened, realizing how dangerous her strikes had actually been. Adelle had never really thought about how much power she was putting behind it. Told that doing so put her at a disadvantage definitely brought things into perspective. She nodded her head, thinking about how she was going to avoid being thrown with her punches. She wasn't going to let herself be used against her, as funny as that thought was. Adelle's tail wagged as Neela continued to speak, going more in depth with what she was to do.

Watching Neela's strikes Adelle stood beside her. Her blows altered, doing her best to mimic the quick light snap. It wasn't nearly as good, with months of habit to kick for this. It was an improvement over before though. Adelle jerked her head back as the teeth were pushed against her soft lip, fangs bared slightly at the discomfort. She didn't like that at all. Stepping back she nodded. A good place to punch then. Hitting most things hurt for Adelle, considering how she'd never had anything soft to practice against, so the pain of punching someone in the muzzle didn't faze her.

Adelle laughed at Neela's caution, nodding her head. She couldn't actually kill someone doing that. She took the advice to not practice with it anyways, filing away for future reference. The body sure sounded vulnerable as Neela spoke, exposing so much points to attack at. Again, Adelle followed along the demonstration. It hurt the first time, throwing out a little too far, but Neela's guidance was good. Invited to a game her tail picked up, smiling broadly. It sounded fun! Balanced out Adelle watched Neela's face. Swiftly she punched out and pulled back, trying not to get caught.

Neela Garcia · 08-21-2012, 04:41 PM

WC: 310
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Neela nodded happily when Adelle seemed to take most of what Neela was telling her in, though her mouth wrinkled in a slight frown when Adelle laughed at her warning. ”I ent joking.” she chided gently, ”The heads a delicate thing, specially when someone your size is rattling it around with punches. Only difference between smacking someone in the head with a mace and punching them is the force of the blow, same type of impact, same potential to kill if you aren’t careful.” She left it at that, hoping Adelle would listen this time; a child of Adelle’s strength walking around knowing kill spots but not actually believing she could kill with them was a scary thought.

Neela smiled as Adelel practised the punch a few times. She was far from perfect but she seemed to get the general idea, and perfection only came through practise. Adelle agreed to Neela’s idea of a game to practise and stepped over in front of her, ready to strike. To make it fair Neela stood in a neutral position, arms down by her side and eyes narrowed as she waited for the strike.

By instinct Neela’s head twitched backwards when Adelle threw the punch but the girl managed to keep to the range given and would have stopped short of Neela’s face anyway. At the same time as her head moved Neela’s hand snapped upwards, catching Adelle on her wrist with a snap. ”Not bad, you got the punch mostly right, though make sure you keep your wrist straight. Also make sure you shift your hips and weight back when you pull your arm, makes it faster and gets you ready for another punch.” Neela threw two punched towards Adelle, one fast and one slow, to let her see what she meant and then took her previous position, ”Give it another try.”

Adelle Vilhelmsen · 08-21-2012, 08:14 PM

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ooc murr

Adelle nodded, still not quite believing but taking Neela more seriously this time. Harming someone so easily was hard to believe. Neela was the older warrior though, so she'd listen to her. Neela seemed easy to hit for the game, posed as she was. Adelle's strike flashed out, trying to copy what Neela had said and break the old habit. It was easier said than done though, her body wanting to strike the same way she always did. As quick as she moved, Neela was used to this new style, and caught Adelle easily.

The flinch didn't go unnoticed, the pup wondering how close she'd been to striking the female. The sudden sharp closure around her wrist surprised Adelle, flinching at the touch. Her arm jerked, but she stayed still, watching. She flinched at the demonstration, but watched as closely as she could. Adelle practiced striking a couple times without aiming at Neela, concentrating on keeping her wrist straight. She didn't quite change her balance all the way, lost in thought in perfecting the blow, and snapped forwards again.

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Neela Garcia · 09-11-2012, 10:31 AM

350+ WC

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Adelle was still clumsy - at least compared to the standards of control which Neela held herself to, which were admittedly high since she lacked so much for brute strength - but that was to be expected for someone so inexperienced and she was improving fairly quickly, Neela could see as she watched the girl practising on thin air a few times before resuming the game.

This time went much as the last though Neela, more confident in Adelle’s ability to keep her range correct this time, didn’t move her head this time as Adelle’s fist came rushing towards her face, just lightly tapped the back of her wrist as it withdrew.”That was good.” she said, smiling, ”You’re getting the movements better. Speed will come with time and practise, power as well. You’re good at guessing your range as well, that’s good; trying to punch someone too far away to hit properly is a big mistake, puts you off balance for no gain and an experienced fighter will be able to tell the punch has no chance of hitting and take advantage, same concept applies for weapon work as well really.” Neela stepped backwards from Adelle, unbuckling and belt and weapons around her waist and tossing the whole thing off to the side. ”There’s more I could tell ya, places to hit and different types of punches, kicks and knees – you’d do good with them, got strong legs – an you could probably grapple fairly well. Would take ages to go through it all though, I’ve been learning for years.”

While she had been talking Neela was walking slowly and when she finished she was on the opposite side of the ring from Adelle. She stopped for a minute, rolling her shoulders to loosen them off, ”Doing too much at once isn’t a good way to learn though, and the best way to learn is doing; makes ya all the more eager and focused ta learn something new when you’ve felt how effective it is, so how about a spar? No claws’r teeth an no weapons, just strikes.” Neela grinned as she made the challenge, flashing ivory white teeth towards Adelle as she got into position.

Adelle Vilhelmsen · 09-11-2012, 06:02 PM

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ooc murr

Neela didn't flinch this time. That had to be a good step forwards. At least she wasn't flattening the smaller canine. The size difference was enormous, and not one that Adelle was likely to forget anytime soon. As rare as it was for Adelle to think about her size, she couldn't help having it shoved in her face when she faced it like this. Neela's words, actually, might be a little frightening...All thoughts about the need to be careful were snapped out of her as Neela tapped her again. Scowling Adelle pulled back, unwilling to give up.

She jabbed forwards again in practice, trying to up her speed. She wouldn't let Neela defeat her! Even if the dog was older and more experienced. Adelle nodded her head, thinking about balance. That concept was well trained into her. Even as young as she was Adelle knew to target where the balance was off and use it to get a good grip on the opponent. Invited to spar Adelle's ears perked up, grinning widely. Yes! Stepping back Adelle tested her weight, bouncing a little before she swung forwards to hit the smaller dog.

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Neela Garcia · 09-30-2012, 08:09 PM

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Neela grinned as Adelle charged forwards with abandon. The youngster was far better than before but the distance between a quarter hour training session and nearly 4 years of training was gaping and Neela dodged easily. Prevented from her usual tactic of meeting the charge with a kick to the stomach due to Adelle’s sheer momentum and weight – the pup would probably snap her leg without realising it – Neela instead kept higher and closer than she normally would. Her hands raised up to guard and throw a punch at Adelle as Neela passed by her side while her legs dealt the true blow, kicking out at an attempt hit the back of Adelle’s knee, which should send the younger wolf sprawling.

Hit or miss Neela leapt away soon after, the whole thing meant only as a distraction and to goad Adelle. Neela quickly skipped backwards, landing in a low position, one hand in-front of her and the other stretched out. Her hands were curled into claws that would normally be used to tear out throats and arteries but since this was a spar there were no actual claws to match the hand motion. Slowly and deliberately Neela started to circle, waiting for Adelle to move.

Adelle Vilhelmsen · 09-30-2012, 10:51 PM

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ooc murr

Adelle was dodged, but that didn't discourage her. She had been training all her life, and she surely wouldn't lose to someone smaller than her. Neela was much faster than she was, Adelle turning hard to try and keep Neela in her sights. It was a tough twist that put her a touch off balance, but not enough for it to be a problem. She was already shifting back into a balanced weight as the collie struck forwards. The double strike of the fists caught Adelle off guard, jerking her head back and trying to get away from the movement, using her arm to catch the blows.

The feint worked well, and Adelle found herself stepping backwards, struggling to keep her balance up. The hit to the back of her legs did the pup in, sending her sprawling in the dirt. Growling Adelle looked up, wondering how Neela had managed to take advantage of her like that. It shouldn't have been possible. Shaking her head Adelle straightened up, ready to try again. Adelle moved with Neela, circling her. Her eyes measured every part of the collie before she lashed forwards with her leg, kicking at the dog's stomach.

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