ManaLove97 -Training session: CQB T1 RM with Skallagrim

Mario coughed slightly; the temperature had dropped in the last few minutes to a chilly 39 degrees. It was never fun fighting at night, much less doing a training session but the best way to learn was to fight in all conditions. Turning up the collar on his leather jacket, Mario tried to nestle in the jacket more than his six-foot, athletic frame allowed him to. [Initial description of the character- note he is wearing a leather jacket, is above average in height and with an athletic build. It is cold and nighttime]

Toeing the frosted grass of the graveyard his heavy black boots gleamed in the pale light emanating from the solitary light pole, the condensation of his breath issued forward in a stream that ended fifteen inches from his mouth. Dark eyes scanned the area, somewhere out there was the trainee. Tapping the collapsible baton, he clicked his teeth as his hand instinctively fell to the hilt of the Bowie knife that hung off his wide leather belt. [Frost on the grass adds to the scene. The fight takes place in a graveyard, and there is a single light. These elements are important because they provide tactical advantages to whoever can use them best. His weapons are described here, a collapsible baton and a knife.]

Reaching down to the thermos of coffee he poured another cup, blowing on it a moment before he took a sip of the acrid black liquid. Inhaling to help cool the steaming fluid that ran down his throat he scanned the area again, the hairs on the back of his neck perked up. [Another element, a thermos of hot coffee that can be used as a weapon.]

Sliding his feet apart, the right one to the front a few inches ahead of the left, a perceptible bend in the knees as he lifted his heels ever so slightly, balancing the weight on the balls of his feet. Exhaling softly as he sipped again, he hadn’t much information on this trainee, other than they wanted to learn how to do what he did. Fight. [Mario is taking a stance here. Right foot is forward. Left back. This indicates he is right handed even without anything else you know he is predominately a right-hand dominate fighter. Weight evenly distributed means he the character can react both offensively and defensively from this stance. However, there is no guard established which means you cannot discern a potential offensive/defensive action.]

It was a chilly night, the town around her quiet as Mana made her way to graveyard where she was supposed to meet up with her new teacher. She wore a warm woolen brown jacket over her green top, black sweatpants that allowed good agility and black sneakers. A long wooden staff was strapped over her back and in her right hand rested a sheated japanese sword. Apart from knowing her master to be an experienced fighter, certainly more experienced than her, she didn't have that many informations on him. Although she was kind of disturbed by the location he chose. A graveyard at night; she was not sure what to make of that.

After another short while of walking, the girl finally spotted the church that indicated the graveyard to be close by. A few moments later she finally found the entrance and stepped into the graveyard's boundaries, the stones cracking beneath her soles. "Hello?" she called out as she walked past the graves and deeper down the cemetery. Fiinally she spotted a large, dark figure in the distance and made her way towards the person, expecting him to be the master she was looking for.

Once she was close enough for a comfortable talking distance, she grabbed the staff and pulled it off her back, resting it on the frosty grass next to her. Then she placed the sword in front of her and bowed her head towards the other person, showing her respect.

A faint “Hello” echoed from somewhere in the distance. Sipping the coffee he spotted a lithe form moving towards him. She, for it was evident it was a she, stopped just out the killing range of an experienced fighter; she was standing on the outer band of that range at a safe eleven feet. Eyeing her outfit, he pursed his lips a moment as he sipped more coffee. Sweats and sneakers, a staff and a sword, a Katana by the appearance but he wouldn’t be sure until she unsheathed it. [Here I acknowledge your character and where you are standing in relation to my character, this is important because many newer fighters fail to establish distance. Distance is one of the most important things in a fight because it determines what you can do and what you can expect your opponent to do.]

Examining her closely, “Cute kid…what demons are riding you to search me out.” Mario mused silently as he watched her place the weapons down. Exhaling softly he finished the coffee; at least she didn’t have pink hair he chuckled as the thought of her bopping about with a flash of hot pink. Bowing to her slightly, never taking his dark eyes off her he smiled, flashing a row of even Hollywood white teeth at her. [In this paragraph I note what you are doing and never take my eyes off you, this is important to establish because underhanded fighters will see an aversion of eyes and attack with what is called an interrupt attack. By looking away it allows them a natural break to interrupt and negate any following actions made.]

“Nice to meet you.” Mario murmured as he placed the cup down and slid his feet further apart, a slight body adjustment that placed his right foot and knee in line with her body, his left back with the weight dispersed as evenly as humanly possible, and his hands hung easily at his sides. [Here I am establishing my placement spatially towards you. My leading leg is facing you, my back leg behind, and the weight split between the two feet.]

“Alright you wanna learn to fight, let’s dance kid. You want to do this melee or hand to hand? Either is fine with me.” He said as he tapped the baton on his thigh in its tactical holster and the large Bowie on his right hip, shunted around towards his backside. [Here I indicate the placement of my weapons, this is important because it allows me actions to draw and use them as well as gives you an idea on how to stay away from them to your advantage.]

With that, he raised his hands into a middle guard, right hand up, a loose fist away from his face and slightly lower than his nose. His left close to his chest also in a loose fist, his chin dipped towards his chest as he watched her movements. The next moments would determine how this fight would go. [This is my guard, I state it clearly, and where my hands are place for both defensive and offensive actions. This is the classic hands in front boxing or hard hand martial arts placement. ]

Straightening her back again, Mana proceeded to pick the sword up from the ground and stared back at him. Her left hand reached into her pocket and pulled out a little, crumpled up piece of paper. "Graveyard midnight." she read, and stuffed it back in her pocket. "That was the answer I received to my training request. But I was wondering, why a graveyard?" she asked as she grabbed the handle of her sword with her left hand and swiftly pulled the blade out of the sheath. While it was in fact an authentic katana, the blade wasn't sharpened so there would be no real danger in using it. "I intend to use this blade, if that is alright with you." she proclaimed and slowly shifted into her fighting stance.

Moving her right foot in front of her left and slightly crouching over, she grabbed the handle of the weapon with both hands and moved it to her left, so the tip blade pointed diagonally towards the ground. "Ready when you are." she said, her eyes carefully examining him, moving up and down his body. He was clearly superior when it came to body strength and his speed was most likely greater as well; his stance seemed to be near perfect as well. The only advantage she could hope for was that she could somehow slip by him due to her smaller frame, however, that seemed to be rather naive. Not wanting to waste another moment on unnecessary thoughts, Mana quickly closed in the distance between them, gripping her sword tightly and slashing it from left to right in an upward diagonal arc towards his right arm.

"That was the answer I received to my training request. But I was wondering, why a graveyard?"

Mario answered softly, “Because they don’t mind if we make a ruckus.”

“I intend to use this blade, if that is alright with you." she proclaimed and slowly shifted into her fighting stance.

Watching her pick up her weapon his eyes narrowed a bit, she was using the katana, a good choice as it afforded her reach advantage over his own arms. Her movements told him she had some knowledge, basic at least on how to fight.

1-Then she advanced in a quick series of steps to close the distance, the sword up and across his body, clearly aimed at the proffered right arm. As she advanced, he backed away and to his right, using a fluid shifting motion so that his right foot slid back, then the left until he had once again established a distance of 6 feet between them. As he moved, the right hand dropped and snaked out the collapsible baton from its sheath, with a quick and forceful downward swing the tungsten carbide baton extended to its full length of 24 inches. [Your movement is good, the swing from left to right is accurate and aimed at the proper hand. That is a good opening gambit. In this response I back away, reestablishing distance, and draw a weapon.]

2-Then she advanced in a quick series of steps to close the distance, the sword slashing up and across his body, clearly aimed at the proffered right arm. As she closed, he moved in response, stepping with a quick side step to the left with a lean back so that the sword would sail past his body. His hands moved fluidly, as the right dropped to a low-mid guard palm down while the left rose to protect his face. His left foot now the lead foot with the right back and ready. As the sword tip sailed past him, he torqued into a savage kick to the inside of her lead thigh, the right leg launching out and striking at a point just above her knee. Should the strike hit it would be painful, perhaps enough to cause her to stumble. Time would tell on the durability of the girl.[This move has me take a quick step to the left with the right foot dragging back so the left becomes the lead foot, with the left hand up in a high/mid-guard the right hand in the low/ mid-guard. As the sword goes past me I launch a rear thigh kick to the exposed inner thigh, my target point is the spot just above the knee.]


Which response would you rather have me use? Either one opens up different avenues to attack and defense for both of us.

As Mana performed her slash she felt cutting nothing but air. Her opponent had moved out of the way so quickly that she was barely able to follow his movements. "Wha..." she thought in her mind surprised as she looked up at her blade being above him now. Too late she noticed his low kick that he performed the same instant he dodged her sword. Feeling his leg hitting the inside of her thigh, just above her knee, she stumbled to the side for a few moments, her blade flailing around in her hands. However, by quickly moving her left leg closer to her right she managed to regain her balance, hoping she hadn't given him enough space to attack her.

At this point her weapon was still up in the air, lingering above his head, although unsteady. Tightening the grip on the handle, she quickly performed a downward slash, this time hoping to hit him right on the forehead. Of course, due to their difference in size and her just having regained her balance she was unable to perform a truly powerful slash but she hoped to at least graze him a bit.

As the impact of the blow rattled through the girl’s leg, the offending foot returned to its prior position. The movements of both are quick and deadly and like the cobra and the mongoose, a fraction of a second separates the victor from the defeated. As the right foot landed with a thud, Mario’s weight shifted onto it, the girl had managed to regain her balance and redoubled the grip on her sword. “Pain is weakness leaving the body…” Mario hissed slightly as his hands slipped back to their prior position. A pity she had not taken the opportunity to allow the hit to shift her momentum and roll away from him. [Here I am setting up a follow up attack. As you can see, I am again in the same position I was prior to my attack. Left leg forward, right leg back.]

The downward slash came, and was met by a quickly rising left forearm as the weight of Mario’s body shifted from back to front, his left leg straightening slightly as he raised the left arm to collide against her descending arms just below the wrists. The right foot rose on to the ball, but the damage would come from the right hand. The right arm swung out in a whip like motion, hand clenched into a fist that arced out in an ax punch to the left side of the girl's head and neck, the devastating blow would explode against her head just below the ear, right on the temporomandibular joint. The pain should be intense; the potential for a broken jaw is great, as well as the sudden increase in nerve endings in the brain pulsing rapidly in a very short span of time as the brain smashed into the skull. Causing unconsciousness in an instant, for most human beings, however time would tell about the effects on this girl.

[This defense, the blocking of the downward strike, followed by the ax punch to head is a combination, where the defensive action leads to an instant attack, usually unblockable by the committed action of the initial attack. Every movement made in a RM fight can be deadly, that is why if you can master RM powers and abilities will only enhance your attacks because you are already able to look two or three moves ahead and finish the fight on your terms after the initial exchange.]

Mana was caught off guard by his swift block that prevented her arms from moving downward any further. She had hoped her downward slash would hit him on the head but instead it only left her more open. At this point it may be the wisest decision to back off a little to regain her composure and plan out a new attack pattern, however, before she was able to do so she saw a quick movement to her left. Just in time she managed to notice the quick jab that was flying at the left side of her face. Reacting instantly, the young woman let go of the sword and dropped down, barely managing to evade his right fist that passed over her head.

Now finding herself in a crouching stance right in front of him, her hands empty, she quickly curled her right hand into a fist and jabbed it upward diagonally, aiming for his crotch. She barely cared if he would consider this low or not, in a fight everything was allowed.

The girl did something he had not expected; she dropped her weapon in a desperate attempt to escape the blow to the side of her head. As she released the sword, Mario, his forearm up against hers, unleashed the clenched left fist and reached out, grabbing the now free left wrist of the girl as she began her drop. Since both his arm and hers were in proximity, and she no longer held her sword, as it slide betwixt them to the frost covered ground beneath them, it would be virtually impossible for her to move her arm in any way that he would not be able to grab his intended target, the wrist below the hand. [This is an interrupt because I am reacting as you drop the sword, I am grabbing your left wrist and arm, this grab attempt now negates your action of dropping and striking me in the baby-maker. ]

However, the axe punch would be offset by the changing conditions of the fight, the once beautifully arced blow aimed at her jaw and ear would now strike a much more vulnerable point on her body. Her left elbow, dangling and exposed by virtue of her move and Mario’s reaction, the torqueing blow would strike the extended arm with the point of impact just above the elbow where it would cleanly break it. The elbow would suffer more than twelve pounds of pressure, much more, as the axe punch would hammer the impact point with such force that it would splinter and break in less than a second. Since Mana no longer stood in a proper stance, where she was able to defend the blow, but in an awkward position held up by the single and vulnerable arm the outcome seemed inevitable. [The action with my axe punch continues but I have taken into account the changes in our relative positions. You are no longer in a logical place for me to strike in the head, but in the arm that I am or should be holding unless you can logically find a way to negate the grab based on prior posts and positioning. While I am, open to attacks and I grant that I am, you will need to find a clear, concise, and logically realistic way to escape a wrist grab and broken elbow in less than two seconds or so. If you cannot I will suffer what blow you inflict but will in fact break the elbow.]

The temperature had dropped considerably now, every breath was also accompanied by condensation, however the workout had just begun and should the girl manage to survive this predicament, the following activities would certainly keep them warm as their adrenaline pumped with wild abandon. Mario had a fleeting thought, “She is serious, she wants to learn the finer arts of fighting.”