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Post by Delilah A. Black on Sept 9, 2013 22:46:03 GMT -8
"AGAIN!"
The line of men and Heather in front of the first groaned in exasperation before they settled into an all-to familliar stance; the curled in, on-balls-of-your-feet posture of a knife fighter. Head up, free hand guarding the neck, occupied hand held at belly button height in a sabre grip.
"ICHI!"
The hands came up as one, arching down diagonally from right shoulder to left hip, where it remained. Every time the cut was made, the knife would stretch away from the body and once it completed the arc, would snap back against the body it came from.
"NI!
The same motion occured, the slash arching through the air this time from left to right. The free hand would push out away from the body protectively, as if to compensate for the suddenly open mid-section; a check.
"SAN!"
Up again came the knife, slashing horizontally in line with the breast bone from right to left. The free hand was drawn back to the neck to guard.
"YON!"
Horizontal slash, left to right. As the knife passed the body, again the guard hand would come out from the body again, as if to check a counter.
"GO!"
The knife hand dropped back to the right hip, slashing upwards diagonally to the left ear, as if in jumonji no kamae.
"ROKU!"
Back the other way, this time the posture resembling Doko no kamae with the knife held near the side of the head.
"NANA!"
Straight down, bodies crouched in a squat.
"HACHI."
This time, the knife and hand were turned over so that the edge was facing up. The slightly crouching bodies rose, dragging the knife up with it until the flipped-over blade was at eye level, with the guard palm braced against the butt of the hilt.
Delilah groaned. "Jesus Christ you people....you'd think you never held a knife before.
"..ooookay. From the top. ICHI!"
And again and again and again it would go, until the sun was nearing it's peak in the late November sky.
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Post by Marcus Prasad on Sept 10, 2013 14:41:56 GMT -8
As Delilah ran the crows before her through their drills, the rising sun would reveal the long shadow of a familiar man. Perched on the edge of the Crows nest roof sat Marcus as he watched. He wasn't trying to hide his presence, though he was mindful not to disrupt the class as he subconciously broke down each and ever movement Delilah introduced to the class, at the skeletal level as well as muscular. He would now be able to imitate the moves, but not perfectly. He would need practise for that.
That was why he was here.
Marcus knew the business end of a blade and had been in a fair share of knife fights in his travels, but his scarred body was the living testimate of his inexperiance compared to the likes of the Lady in Black down below. SHE was a proffesional where he was simply an enthusiastic amatuer.
And today that was going to change.
Because he knew for a fact that his luck would one day run out and he would be face to face with a real knife fighter. When that day would come he wanted more than just 'stab away furiously' in his arsenal.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Sept 10, 2013 22:43:29 GMT -8
Delilah stood there with her back to the sun as the Tengu worked slowly through the eight count drill. She'd had them slow down to molasses speed to give them better accuracy with their strikes and allowing them to find out which way their bodies would move individually.
A niggling little sense that she was being watched wormed it's way into her mind, turning her head in the direction of the sensation...back towards the 'Nest. Alright, so there were tonnes of people watching (it was rare that the mechanic let anyone see how she trained the Tengu), but there was one that was really standing out.
Delilah's eyes drifted upwards, fixing on the silhouette perched on the lip of the roof. A smil curled the corners of her lips.
Marcus.
Her left hand came up, waving him down even as she kept one keen, meticulous eye on every twitch and wobble in her team's performance. In fact, the only ones who seemed to be doing well were Cain and Sergei.
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Post by Marcus Prasad on Sept 11, 2013 11:30:07 GMT -8
Attentive as always was our Lady in Black. Marcus smirked with an amused snort before waving back at the young Mechanic turned soldier turned leader of the Crows.
My god imagine having THAT on your resume.....
Slipping fluidly down from the building, hands finding purchase in the least obvious places, he dropped the last few feet down and made a small show of dusting himself off before moving around the edge of the yard towards Delilah.
"Good morning good afternoon First Black."
He greeted her cheerfully as he approached, mindful to use her title infront of the rest of the Tengu.
"Was in the neighborhood and just thought I'd pop my head in for abit."
Concern suddenly crossed his face. Concern of the nervous type.
"Unless I'm a disturbance? I know I tend to get edgy letting others near the Pack when we're doing manouvers....."
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Sept 12, 2013 21:43:32 GMT -8
"Good morning good afternoon First Black."
Delilah tilted her head at the strange greeting at his approach, still smiling. "...Same to you, Grim Prasad." the Tengu had started to slow down what they were doing at his approach (Birch was waving enthusiastically); Delilah whipped her head around at them to give the seven a warning glare until they were back up to speed with their drill. She turned back to Marcus, smiling again.
"Was in the neighborhood and just thought I'd pop my head in for abit."
"Unless I'm a disturbance? I know I tend to get edgy letting others near the Pack when we're doing manouvers....."
Delilah blinked at his suddenly nervous expression, to which she responded by shaking her head. "Nah, I'm fine with it. THEY probably aren't This is stuff they're eventually going to be teaching to our corps, actually.
"I was just about to get into technique. Care to join?"
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Post by Marcus Prasad on Sept 14, 2013 0:49:14 GMT -8
Standing at the Firsts side, the man crossed his arms and surveyed the class. The nervousness came from the worry of intruding, something that Marcus tended to be self conscious of strangely enough. His smile returned when she gave him her blessing, lighting up his face as she invited him to stay and learn, which Marcus nearly jerked in surprise. He came prepared to plead his case, not have it dropped in his lap.
Making a show of thinking about it for a second, letting out a brief thoughtful grunt before making a one shoulder shrug.
"Sure."
He flicked his bomber jacket back, revealing the Trench knife at his waist. A Much beloved gift given to him be the Lady in Black herself.
"I figure If I'm gonna carry around a bitchin' dagger like this one I might as well learn how to use it right?"
He laughed Self Deprecatingly at that.
"Rather not have a repeat of what happened during our little adventure around the city first time we met."
He added with a wink.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Sept 17, 2013 20:17:27 GMT -8
"Sure. I figure If I'm gonna carry around a bitchin' dagger like this one I might as well learn how to use it right?" She chuckled with him, looking down at her own knives and the scars on her arms. That was as good a reason as any."Rather not have a repeat of what happened during our little adventure around the city first time we met." --And the chuckle turned into an outright, genuine laugh, "Oh God...yeah, that was a shit show and a half, wasn't it?"
Hooo...
She clapped her hands once, the Tengu ceasing at once with a grateful sigh. "Alright, people in a circle. Demo time. Cain?"
The man with the grown-out, faded red fauxhawk nodded brusquely and walked over to Delilah, bowing at the waist. Delilah bowed back at a shallower angle and turned towards the people now watching her.
"We're going to start with the mechanics of a knife fight. This might seem basic, but the reality of two people with blades in their hands is much more complicated. Even a small nick can get infected and cause sepsis. Nobody wants sepsis.
"So," she drew a knife, though not a bladed one; the edge and tip were metal, but it was dull and the body of the blade was made of rubber. She held it aloft in her grip and clicked a button on the bottom of the knife. The training knife began to hum. Cain would do the same.
"When you are engaging an opponent, you can either stand like so to hide the knife from view while holding it," she turned around so they could see the behind view; while the mechanic appeared to be standing with her arms at her sides, the flat of the blade was pressed against the back of her thigh. Then, she changed the grip to hold the rubber spine of the blade against the back of her arm. She turned back around, "--If you don't want him to know that you have a knife. If he has a knife, though, this is usually an invitation for him to attack, since you seem vulnerable.
"Showing your knife can be a deterrent to an attack to an experienced knife fighter who's just looking to take your food or your clothes or shelter; a good knife fighter doesn't get cut, which means he doesn't try to get cut, which means he avoids a fight if he can. If someone is determined to kill you, however...well. Flashing your knife provokes aggression in some, but it also shows that you're on a level playing field. He can expect injury if you two go at it.
"For that reason, we're using the training knives. There's an electric charge running through the metal part, so when it touches your skin, you're going to feel it. It mimics the numbing sting of a cut without actually drawing blood.
"Cain and I will show you what to do and what not to do before I show you the drill. For the moment, I will show you the difference between someone who knows what he's doing versus someone who doesn't.
"Cain, pretend as though you have little to moderate experience with a knife and you were in gangs for the early years of your life or you watched a lot of shitty action movies. How would you hold a knife? How would you attack?"
Immediately, Cain swiveled his hips so that is entire left side was facing Delilah. His free hand was high up by the ear on the right side, the way a boxer would hold his hands. He darted in with a series of wide slashes with his arm held way out in front of him, aiming indiscriminately.
Delilah turned slightly to the inside, where his range was more limited. She went down on a knee and her knife flashed out from behind her to strike him across the back of the knee. Then, she pushed up onto her feet as she twisted the knife so the edge was upwards, dragging it up from his crotch to his sternum with her hand braced against the butt of the hilt as he went down on his cut leg.
Cain shuddered and growled in pain, collapsing on his knees. The electric shock might not be lethal, but it fucking hurt.
Delilah turned back to face her class, smiling.
"Now, what Cain did was leave himself too open. He was so concerned with not getting cut that he wasn't committed to where he was cutting. He tried to create distance to prevent himself from getting cut, assuming I would focus on the knife. But, he left himself wide open, which I, as an experienced knife fighter, took immediate advantage of.
"Knife fights should last from zero to ten seconds tops. Any more than three, and you're going to get cut. Or dead. Actually, I believe this in the case of all do-or-die fights, but that's for another time.
"BUT, that demo was with someone who had no idea what he was doing. A guy who picked up a knife and tried to remember which part went where. Now, with someone who actually CAN use a knife...that is what I'm going to teach you. Because you should always assume your opponent is better than you are."
With an irritated grunt, Cain got to his feet, slipping into a stance that was low, with his body weight evenly spread out over both his legs with knees bent. His hand hovered between his throat and the arm that held his knife, which was positioned with the blade turned to the side, held at his center of gravity. His eyes were wide and focused.
A perfect mirror of Delilah's usual stance, which she also quickly adopted.
"Someone looks like that or something like it, you know they know what they're doing. Assume you will get cut. And if you're going to get into a position like this and then decide to bail, don't. Turning your back on a knife fighter is the stupidest thing you can do. Or turtling.
"It leaves few openings. If they lower the guard hand, it's a draw to get you to attack. Knife is held close to the body, to prevent the weapon hand from being controlled by your opponent. Also makes it harder to read; this could be a stab, or a slash from any direction. It also gives you full visibility to see what he's up to. This guy intends to fuck you up. Here's how not to get fucked up.
"San."
Cain shifted in quickly, hand flashing up for what would be a swift cut to the throat. Delilah shifted onto her back leg, leaning just out of the way for the tip to whiz under her jaw. Her guard hand came up just as the knife passed her chin, clapping his hand over his. Her knife came up in an upwards slash to the outside of his arm, following the length of his shoulder to his throat--where Delilah paused.
"Try not to cut eachother's neck, okay? This thing won't kill you, but you'll have a migrane for a week if you do.
"SO! Start to finish, all of you, cuts one through eight, at random, if you like. Defending partner, counter, fuck him up.
"Dozo, play. Marcus, you're with me," she beckoned him over, sliding into a stance again and tossing him an extra training knife.
"Onegaishimasu." |
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Post by Marcus Prasad on Sept 17, 2013 22:52:33 GMT -8
Stun knives huh? Marcus made a mental note to ask Del if he could get his hands on a few for Wolfpack purposes. While the young woman went through and explained the motions with Cain (Poor bugger, but nothing He wouldn't do to his own wolves. They have to learn after all.) Marcus would watch intently, Pantomiming Delilah's stance. It was alittle awkward and not was he was normally used to, but that went without saying for learning the basics of any style.
"Dozo, play. Marcus, you're with me."
Marcus felt a jolt of excitement shoot right up his spine at the thought of getting some hands on practice with someone of her Expertise.
"I'll try not to embarrass myself too much."
He replied with a smirk and a wink as he caught the knife. The one thing that made the man apprehensive was the shock. Marcus had a self defense mechanism where unexpected pain made him immediately lash out and go 100%.
Luckily there was a way around that. Without Ceremony, Marcus tapped the metal part of the training knife in the palm of his hand, letting out a sharp yelp at the sensation. Frowning, the man tapped each finger, drawing a sharp breath each time. Finally, after taking a moment to steel himself, Marcus gripped the entire blade in his hand. After a moment he began to tremble slightly as the current rocked his body, his mouth curling into a snarl before finally he released the knife.
"God Fucking damn! Aight, Ready to go. Ummm, Onigaishimasu."
Marcus pronunciation would have the tell tail slur of a non native speaker. Settling into the first stance Delilah demonstrated He nodded his head, signaling he was ready.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Sept 18, 2013 20:03:06 GMT -8
"I'll try not to embarrass myself too much."
Delilah chuckled, "You'll be--" she was about to say 'fine'...until she observed Marcus hurting himself with the zappy training knife. Her expression was one of deep concern (for both his physical state and his sanity) as he went about desensitizing himself.
Well. It was good then that the shock wouldn't bother him too much; but part of the pain would be the solid whack of metal on bone. Not fun, no matter how one looked at it.
"God Fucking damn! Aight, Ready to go. Ummm, Onigaishimasu."
Lips trembled as she resisted the urge to smile. At least he tried to pronounce it.
Delilah settled back into her stance, holding her pose for a moment while her eyes widened, seeming to focus directly on his (though, in reality, they were looking everywhere).
Beat.
She shifted forward, without a bob or tell from side to side to indicate she was moving. She went in for an over-hand cut for his eyes, blade moving from left to right, which would normally have exposed her midsection if not for her guard hand moving away from her body and out towards him, to put an object in front of her vulnerable areas.
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Post by Marcus Prasad on Sept 22, 2013 21:39:09 GMT -8
For the first time in a very VERY long time, Marcus felt uncertain in a fight. Shanking Barker drones had become a routine thing, requiring little thought or effort. This on the other hand was a fight against an opponent of equal strength. It would demand concentration, snap decision making, confidence.
All these things confounded by the knife he held in his hand.
Almost at once the man retreated. Leaning his upper body away and taking a step back. This would have a negative effect on Marcus psychologically. He did not make the conscious decision to retreat. There was no stratagem here. He was forced back, plain and simple. A Shameful thing in his mind.
Lips tightening into a thin frown, the mans eyes darted to the knife. A momentary glare as if it was the weapons fault he was off to a rocky start.
Taking a deep breath to find his center of calm, the man suddenly dashed without warning to Delilahs left side, pivoting towards her as he stepped, Striking for her waist, aiming for a spot vaguely close to her kidneys.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Sept 23, 2013 21:02:36 GMT -8
His eyes went to the knife, an elementary mistake.
As he darted in to her side, Delilah spun the knife around so that it was in reverse grip, and she turned with him as he aimed low. His mark would strike, jolting the mechanic's body, just as the electric knife in her hand plunged down toward his shoulder.
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Post by Marcus Prasad on Sept 23, 2013 21:13:53 GMT -8
He hit?
Huh. Imagine that!
No time to celebrate though. Delilah continued her assault, digging her knife into Marcus' shoulder, Jolting the Meat and shocking the nerves into uselessness as he let out a sharp bark of pain as his knife dropped from his hand. Working on instinct, Marcus aimed a Headbutt for the Firsts nose, hoping to at least knock her back enough to kick the fallen dummy blade up and catch it with his left hand in a reverse grip.
"So. Who won that little exchange?"
Marcus would ask, still prepared to defend himself if Delilah chose to surprise him.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Sept 24, 2013 19:29:05 GMT -8
Marcus' arm jolted and Delilah watched as he reared his head back for the headbutt. Already, her mind was following a path it would not complete; it would be easy to drag her knife across the side of his neck from this position. She did not, not wanting to hurt Marcus.
Instead, as his head closed the distance, she would duck herself slightly to the side and flick the tip across his cheek.
She darted backwards a bit, still in her stance and flipping the knife back to a sabre grip.
"So. Who won that little exchange?"
"Technically, you should have," she replied. "A kidney wound would likely kill me in this day and age. But, you did two things that were fatal mistakes; one, you looked at the knife. The knife is not your enemy, I am. Pay attention to what I'm doing. Use your peripheral vision to see all of your surroundings and not just me.
"Second, you didn't control the knife hand. You could have checked the shoulder or wrist with your free hand and then came in for the cut. You left yourself wide open by not doing this.
"Here, I'll show you. Make the same cut I just did."
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Post by Marcus Prasad on Sept 26, 2013 11:39:17 GMT -8
Well that made sense. Marcus nodded his head as he rotated his struck arm, wincing as the needle tingle intensified, telling him that he'd have it back soon.
'control the knife arm. Kinda like Jitsu and grappling but at least then I don't run the risk of getting cut up.'
This was an entirely different game than blendering Barker Soldiers.
"Step by step and keep it slow. Your dealing with a noob remember."
Marcus stated with a Self depreciating smile as he came at Delilah striking at her eyes much in the same way she did to him.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Sept 27, 2013 0:34:43 GMT -8
"Step by step and keep it slow. Your dealing with a noob remember."
Delilah nodded, "You got it."
Simple was always the best route for knife anyway.
Marcus came in for his cut, 'Yon', straight for the eyes horizontally. She tilted her head back just a smidge to avoid the tip of the knife; just enough so that it would appear to the untrained eye that she had barely moved at all. As the knife began to pass her field of vision, Delilah's guard hand came up and attached itself to his knife hand at around the wrist; not gripping or grapsing or anything like that; just her palm gently laid over the top of his arm with her thumb folded underneath.
Here, she slowed down as she pushed his arm away from her, following his momentum forward, so that he could see what she was doing. Her eyes were on his face, but they were...unfocused, as though she were looking elsewhere."Don't grasp, you'll get into a wrestling match over a knife. Which is stupid. He could have buddies waiting to shank you from behind." Things to be aware of.
She slid her lead foot forward into the space she had just created in the middle by holding his arm out to the side--and stabbed him in the solar plexus.
"See? It doesn't need to be complicated. Opening up the midsection like this gives you a lot of options, too. Like the heart for cardiac failure, the lungs for drowning in blood, the intestines for sepsis, the stomach for...well, you'll probably just bleed out. Or, my favourite, the liver," she tapped the right, lower side of his ribcage with the butt of her knife as she moved back into a stance again, smiling. "Really painful. If you can't get a clean kill off your opponent, a liver shot will defintely speed things along by critically wounding him enough so you can slash his artery.
"Any questions?"
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