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xp_logs Laurie invites Garrison to a sparring match and learns a thing or two about picking your battles.
Laurie peeked around the door to the gym area and smiled when she saw Garrison, she'd asked him to meet her here for a sparring match earlier in the day but she hadn't entirely been sure he wouldn't be busy, or just not be interested.
Apart from the fact that they hadn't sparred since the somewhat unfortunate incident involving her using her powers on him, he was a busy man and they'd never been what you called buddies. Why you couldn't just get some kind of manual on people's personalities and ways to relate them as you could on say, the way their body was designed and how best to treat them for a variety of injuries she didn't know.
"Hey there, thanks for showing," Laurie said, dropping her gym bag at the door and kicking off the flats she'd worn from her suite. "I wasn't sure if you were even around."
"I have an off day." Kane said shortly. Laurie... wasn't his favourite person. One of the reasons he was even willing to meet with her was that Vanessa liked her a lot, and Kane trusted her.
"Still, it's not like you couldn't have found something else to do, so you know, thanks."
Laurie stepped up onto the mat and paused, looking a little hesitant and uncomfortable. She wanted to ask why he didn't like her, it was on the tip of her tongue but was that for his sake or her own? Sometimes endless talking about things, much as she loved to talk didn't really mean much if you didn't back it up with actions.
"We didn't exactly get off to a good start when I was younger. I never really apologised to you for trying to manipulate you that time. I thought maybe we could try for something a little less student and teacher and a little more teammates with a side of pointers if you think I need it?"
"I'm not a twelve step course. If you want to spar and pick up some technique, that's fine. If you want courses, I'm booked up and besides, you'd be better off talking to someone like Jennie or Sharon who have similar body types."
"Of course,"
Laurie filed the information away, she'd ask Jennie later on if she was willing to do some one on one training. Just because she was a black belt in her chosen st
"Certainly. That's part of training. Learning how to disguise your intentions and make them think they know what's coming." He sighed. "Hand to hand combat is a process. It's not doing x because of y. It's about learning how to understand the flow of a fight and to make it work for you."
"How long did it take you to get it?"
Laurie came in fast executing a feint before following up with a quick combination of punches and kicks.
"Who said I've got it?" He slapped away her strikes easily, anticipating them. For all of her training, Laurie had never learned to be artful; to properly hide her intentions and go after someone. Maybe it was experience or her own instincts. As a kick came in at his leg, he stepped into it. His movement robbed it of power, glancing off his thigh as his palm struck her painfully in the chest, right between her breasts.
"There are no points in this, Laurie. It's not about just landing a hit. Taking a kick off one of the largest muscles in my body is easily worth it to break your ribcage or your throat."
"But I have advantages you don't, and every touch would slow you down if I were actively in a fight." Laurie pointed out, bowing against the pain in her chest as she concentrated on her breathing for a moment. "I want to learn how to fight without them, I know it's important, but sometimes it feels like I'm handicapping myself for the sake of an event that might never happen. Doesn't that ever frustrate you? How did you first train?"
"Laurie, in a fight against a trained professional, they only need one hit to take away your advantage." Kane said, ignoring her question. It was common knowledge that his trainers were Logan and Judd, neither of whom his advanced strength wasn't counted by. "How effective are your powers when the first blow you take snaps the bridge of your nose and blinds you? Or they shatter your kneecap and suddenly you're in more pain than you've ever been in your life? Your powers are there to enhance your effectiveness, not to create limitations in which to operate."
"I take your point," Laurie replied, pulling herself up straight and into a ready posture. "I have a lot more to learn about close contact fighting, judging from this but I'm willing to keep going, if you are?"
"I got time for one more round." He said, stepping back and bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"Excellent,"
Laurie moved to the left, giving Garrison a 'come at me' gesture as she moved sideways around him. She was glad she'd made the effort to do this, actually working with the man rather then against him definitely ratcheted down the intimidation factor.
Kane's movements in were deliberate, pressuring her to either step back or make a move, offering little in terms of openings and letting his size advantage force her into worse and worse positions.
Laurie had never been someone to retreat, a certain insane bloody mindedness that people who knew her family often described as her mother's influence. Certainly her father wasn't the source, he'd have had Garrison guarding him from all dangers by now.
She launched herself sideways, allowing her body to move with Garrison's rather then against it, attempting to use his strengths against him in fluid twists and turns.
The sideways move would have worked better if she wasn't boxed in on the mat. He pivoted, forcing her to move back on her heels, and then shot out a forearm. Her movements allowed her to dodge it, but now she found herself on the very corner of the mat, blocked by him.
Instead of backing away, or trying to find away around she pushed forward, going for a series of quick jabs at contact points she knew should immobilize if Garrison didn't counter them.
"Contact points only work with surprise or if you've got enough force behind them." Kane said as the first blow to his solar plexus was stopped by his tensing his abdominal muscles. Her fist felt like it was hitting stone, stopping her rush. He grabbed her shoulder and with twist, sent her tumbling to the mat on her back, tripped by his right leg and the force on her upper body.
As she lay there, he looked down at her. "You need to stop looking at every fight as a fair contest. You don't beat me the same way you beat, say, Marie-Ange, and trying the same techniques against me will get you killed. Against a bigger, stronger opponent with the advantage of height and reach, you need to completely change your approach. Throw out what you learned in the dojo for now."
"What do you suggest? You don't have that many exploitable weaknesses."
She looked up at him from where she lay on the ground, wondering why it was so important to her to be good at this. It wasn't like she didn't have other talents. But it was, and so here she was, trying.
"Don't face me in this setting. No matter what you do here, I can stop you, unless you're willing to hurt me." He hauled her up as if she weighed less than a feather. "Bridge of the nose, adam's apple, groin, instep, joints - that's where you need to strike because otherwise, I can snap you in half."
"Then this is where I thank you for the time," Laurie said with a wry smile, holding out a hand to shake. "And offer to buy you a beer if you're willing to run some danger room sessions for me with this in mind?"
Laurie wasn't willing to hurt Garrison, but that didn't mean she couldn't face someone with his advantages in a more appropriate setting. She did need to train, just not against a live opponent.
"I'll work up the DR programs but I'll have to take a raincheck on the beer."
"I'm good with that." Laurie smiled wryly. "Thanks, I think I need to go have a shower now and get ready for rounds, they've got me doing psych at the moment."
Laurie peeked around the door to the gym area and smiled when she saw Garrison, she'd asked him to meet her here for a sparring match earlier in the day but she hadn't entirely been sure he wouldn't be busy, or just not be interested.
Apart from the fact that they hadn't sparred since the somewhat unfortunate incident involving her using her powers on him, he was a busy man and they'd never been what you called buddies. Why you couldn't just get some kind of manual on people's personalities and ways to relate them as you could on say, the way their body was designed and how best to treat them for a variety of injuries she didn't know.
"Hey there, thanks for showing," Laurie said, dropping her gym bag at the door and kicking off the flats she'd worn from her suite. "I wasn't sure if you were even around."
"I have an off day." Kane said shortly. Laurie... wasn't his favourite person. One of the reasons he was even willing to meet with her was that Vanessa liked her a lot, and Kane trusted her.
"Still, it's not like you couldn't have found something else to do, so you know, thanks."
Laurie stepped up onto the mat and paused, looking a little hesitant and uncomfortable. She wanted to ask why he didn't like her, it was on the tip of her tongue but was that for his sake or her own? Sometimes endless talking about things, much as she loved to talk didn't really mean much if you didn't back it up with actions.
"We didn't exactly get off to a good start when I was younger. I never really apologised to you for trying to manipulate you that time. I thought maybe we could try for something a little less student and teacher and a little more teammates with a side of pointers if you think I need it?"
"I'm not a twelve step course. If you want to spar and pick up some technique, that's fine. If you want courses, I'm booked up and besides, you'd be better off talking to someone like Jennie or Sharon who have similar body types."
"Of course,"
Laurie filed the information away, she'd ask Jennie later on if she was willing to do some one on one training. Just because she was a black belt in her chosen st
"Certainly. That's part of training. Learning how to disguise your intentions and make them think they know what's coming." He sighed. "Hand to hand combat is a process. It's not doing x because of y. It's about learning how to understand the flow of a fight and to make it work for you."
"How long did it take you to get it?"
Laurie came in fast executing a feint before following up with a quick combination of punches and kicks.
"Who said I've got it?" He slapped away her strikes easily, anticipating them. For all of her training, Laurie had never learned to be artful; to properly hide her intentions and go after someone. Maybe it was experience or her own instincts. As a kick came in at his leg, he stepped into it. His movement robbed it of power, glancing off his thigh as his palm struck her painfully in the chest, right between her breasts.
"There are no points in this, Laurie. It's not about just landing a hit. Taking a kick off one of the largest muscles in my body is easily worth it to break your ribcage or your throat."
"But I have advantages you don't, and every touch would slow you down if I were actively in a fight." Laurie pointed out, bowing against the pain in her chest as she concentrated on her breathing for a moment. "I want to learn how to fight without them, I know it's important, but sometimes it feels like I'm handicapping myself for the sake of an event that might never happen. Doesn't that ever frustrate you? How did you first train?"
"Laurie, in a fight against a trained professional, they only need one hit to take away your advantage." Kane said, ignoring her question. It was common knowledge that his trainers were Logan and Judd, neither of whom his advanced strength wasn't counted by. "How effective are your powers when the first blow you take snaps the bridge of your nose and blinds you? Or they shatter your kneecap and suddenly you're in more pain than you've ever been in your life? Your powers are there to enhance your effectiveness, not to create limitations in which to operate."
"I take your point," Laurie replied, pulling herself up straight and into a ready posture. "I have a lot more to learn about close contact fighting, judging from this but I'm willing to keep going, if you are?"
"I got time for one more round." He said, stepping back and bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"Excellent,"
Laurie moved to the left, giving Garrison a 'come at me' gesture as she moved sideways around him. She was glad she'd made the effort to do this, actually working with the man rather then against him definitely ratcheted down the intimidation factor.
Kane's movements in were deliberate, pressuring her to either step back or make a move, offering little in terms of openings and letting his size advantage force her into worse and worse positions.
Laurie had never been someone to retreat, a certain insane bloody mindedness that people who knew her family often described as her mother's influence. Certainly her father wasn't the source, he'd have had Garrison guarding him from all dangers by now.
She launched herself sideways, allowing her body to move with Garrison's rather then against it, attempting to use his strengths against him in fluid twists and turns.
The sideways move would have worked better if she wasn't boxed in on the mat. He pivoted, forcing her to move back on her heels, and then shot out a forearm. Her movements allowed her to dodge it, but now she found herself on the very corner of the mat, blocked by him.
Instead of backing away, or trying to find away around she pushed forward, going for a series of quick jabs at contact points she knew should immobilize if Garrison didn't counter them.
"Contact points only work with surprise or if you've got enough force behind them." Kane said as the first blow to his solar plexus was stopped by his tensing his abdominal muscles. Her fist felt like it was hitting stone, stopping her rush. He grabbed her shoulder and with twist, sent her tumbling to the mat on her back, tripped by his right leg and the force on her upper body.
As she lay there, he looked down at her. "You need to stop looking at every fight as a fair contest. You don't beat me the same way you beat, say, Marie-Ange, and trying the same techniques against me will get you killed. Against a bigger, stronger opponent with the advantage of height and reach, you need to completely change your approach. Throw out what you learned in the dojo for now."
"What do you suggest? You don't have that many exploitable weaknesses."
She looked up at him from where she lay on the ground, wondering why it was so important to her to be good at this. It wasn't like she didn't have other talents. But it was, and so here she was, trying.
"Don't face me in this setting. No matter what you do here, I can stop you, unless you're willing to hurt me." He hauled her up as if she weighed less than a feather. "Bridge of the nose, adam's apple, groin, instep, joints - that's where you need to strike because otherwise, I can snap you in half."
"Then this is where I thank you for the time," Laurie said with a wry smile, holding out a hand to shake. "And offer to buy you a beer if you're willing to run some danger room sessions for me with this in mind?"
Laurie wasn't willing to hurt Garrison, but that didn't mean she couldn't face someone with his advantages in a more appropriate setting. She did need to train, just not against a live opponent.
"I'll work up the DR programs but I'll have to take a raincheck on the beer."
"I'm good with that." Laurie smiled wryly. "Thanks, I think I need to go have a shower now and get ready for rounds, they've got me doing psych at the moment."
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