Kane & Mel | Hand to Hand Basics
May. 8th, 2024 12:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsKane and Mel meet in the Danger Room for her first lesson.
The Danger Room was still in its default setting; a hall of dark steel cut through with tracks of small soft lights. In the middle was a twenty foot square of matting, just like found in any gymnasism, as well as a heavy bag suspended from a chain which didn't seem attached to anything else. By it was Garrison Kane, pulling on a set of padded fingered gloves from a nearby stool. He waved her over.
Mel padded over, taking in the room with a sense of awe. It was still so cool. She greeted the man with a smile. “Hi! Thanks fer offerin’ these. It’s awful nice of you.”
"Not a problem. I'm always amazed that people don't use the Danger Room more, if only just to see what it can do." He paused, looking around him. "Although, this is a pretty basic example." He passed over a second pair of gloves for her to pull on.
"We're going to start with the basics. You trained at all before? Martial arts lessons as a kid? High school wrestling? A couple of self defense classes at the Y?"
“There really ain’t nothin’ like that back home, but Sam made sure I could handle myself.” Aka the most painful places to hit a guy if he ever gave her trouble. “I did cross country n’ track at school, an’ Namor’s been showin’ me how to-” she stopped herself mid-ramble, a bit sheepish. “So um, no training in this sorta thing really.”
"Fair enough. Pull on the gloves and we'll start from the beginning." Kane said.
“Okay,” Mel obliged and put the gloves on, flexing her fingers inside them. She looked to him for further instruction.
"Ok, so let's start at the beginning. You'll have a lot of self defense classes, but the basic guideline is understanding how to protect yourself long enough to disengage and escape. This is not about turning you into Rocky ready to go the distance for 15 rounds." Kane said as she stepped on the mats with him. "First step is over here." He motioned to the heavy bag. “Throw some punches at it."
Eyeing the bag appraisingly, she tried to remember what Sam had said about throwing a punch. How close to her body were her arms supposed to be? Was the thumb tucked or untucked?
Overthinking wasn’t going to get her anywhere, so Mel approached the bag and threw a couple of hits. Right left right. It didn’t move much.
"OK, so we've determined that you're not the Hulk." Kane said, stepping over next to her. "I want you to lean into the punch, Your lower body provides power. Look, watch me." He stepped into the bag and hit it with authority.
“Huh, so twist into it a bit more?” She mimicked his movement slowly, emphasizing a rotation in her lower body that moved with the hit.
"There you go. Your whole body provides the power, not just your arm." He nodded. "Again. A few more times. Hit it like it was an unwelcome proposition."
“Alright,” Mel laughed- she had more than her fair share of those under her belt. Trying for more power, she struck the bag a few times in succession. It felt much more fluid with the lower body added. Mel supposed it was the same as with the staff, aiming to hit through rather than hit dead on. “That better? It definitely didn’t feel so heavy that time.”
"Better. See how the power comes from your legs, hips and shoulder, as opposed to just your arm?" Kane said, tapping the side of the bag. "Your foot or your fist is the end of a process, not the totality. In sports talk, hit the motherfucker with your whole body."
“Makes sense. S’easy when I’m flyin’ but on the ground… not so much. I ain’t had the chance to build much of anything.” Newton’s law of universal gravitation made up for a lack of upper body strength, but she was acutely aware now of how lucky she had been against the Cabots, and again in the VR. When the situation required she hide her powers, or she was without them, Mel was currently not much of an opponent. “Could ya show me again?”
"I'll be showing you a lot of times. And then, even more fun, I'll leave you with a bunch of drills to do over and over while I'm out finding a donut." Kane said, although true to his word, came over and threw several punches in a row, exaggerating his motions so she could see each part of the process.
Mel’s shoulders, already sore from Namor’s daily tortures, groaned at the prospect of drills, but she kept smiling. She watched carefully, cataloging the succession of the movements.
"Also, it is important to remind you. This is volunteer only. You don't want to do this, I'm not going to force you." Kane said. "If you want, the DR now has a scan of you. Come down every other day and it will start to train. I'll be down once a week to train you only if you want. The day you don't, I'm out and that's ok."
She nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. I do like to stay busy.” Busy and useful, even better if one led to the other. Maybe she’d finally get some decent arm muscles- that and being able to hold her own in a fight. Better a bit sore than hurt, or worse.
"Good. I always say end a session on a high note. See you next week when I introduce you to the strange and mysterious world of effectively kicking people in painful places."
“Sounds fun, see ya then!”
The Danger Room was still in its default setting; a hall of dark steel cut through with tracks of small soft lights. In the middle was a twenty foot square of matting, just like found in any gymnasism, as well as a heavy bag suspended from a chain which didn't seem attached to anything else. By it was Garrison Kane, pulling on a set of padded fingered gloves from a nearby stool. He waved her over.
Mel padded over, taking in the room with a sense of awe. It was still so cool. She greeted the man with a smile. “Hi! Thanks fer offerin’ these. It’s awful nice of you.”
"Not a problem. I'm always amazed that people don't use the Danger Room more, if only just to see what it can do." He paused, looking around him. "Although, this is a pretty basic example." He passed over a second pair of gloves for her to pull on.
"We're going to start with the basics. You trained at all before? Martial arts lessons as a kid? High school wrestling? A couple of self defense classes at the Y?"
“There really ain’t nothin’ like that back home, but Sam made sure I could handle myself.” Aka the most painful places to hit a guy if he ever gave her trouble. “I did cross country n’ track at school, an’ Namor’s been showin’ me how to-” she stopped herself mid-ramble, a bit sheepish. “So um, no training in this sorta thing really.”
"Fair enough. Pull on the gloves and we'll start from the beginning." Kane said.
“Okay,” Mel obliged and put the gloves on, flexing her fingers inside them. She looked to him for further instruction.
"Ok, so let's start at the beginning. You'll have a lot of self defense classes, but the basic guideline is understanding how to protect yourself long enough to disengage and escape. This is not about turning you into Rocky ready to go the distance for 15 rounds." Kane said as she stepped on the mats with him. "First step is over here." He motioned to the heavy bag. “Throw some punches at it."
Eyeing the bag appraisingly, she tried to remember what Sam had said about throwing a punch. How close to her body were her arms supposed to be? Was the thumb tucked or untucked?
Overthinking wasn’t going to get her anywhere, so Mel approached the bag and threw a couple of hits. Right left right. It didn’t move much.
"OK, so we've determined that you're not the Hulk." Kane said, stepping over next to her. "I want you to lean into the punch, Your lower body provides power. Look, watch me." He stepped into the bag and hit it with authority.
“Huh, so twist into it a bit more?” She mimicked his movement slowly, emphasizing a rotation in her lower body that moved with the hit.
"There you go. Your whole body provides the power, not just your arm." He nodded. "Again. A few more times. Hit it like it was an unwelcome proposition."
“Alright,” Mel laughed- she had more than her fair share of those under her belt. Trying for more power, she struck the bag a few times in succession. It felt much more fluid with the lower body added. Mel supposed it was the same as with the staff, aiming to hit through rather than hit dead on. “That better? It definitely didn’t feel so heavy that time.”
"Better. See how the power comes from your legs, hips and shoulder, as opposed to just your arm?" Kane said, tapping the side of the bag. "Your foot or your fist is the end of a process, not the totality. In sports talk, hit the motherfucker with your whole body."
“Makes sense. S’easy when I’m flyin’ but on the ground… not so much. I ain’t had the chance to build much of anything.” Newton’s law of universal gravitation made up for a lack of upper body strength, but she was acutely aware now of how lucky she had been against the Cabots, and again in the VR. When the situation required she hide her powers, or she was without them, Mel was currently not much of an opponent. “Could ya show me again?”
"I'll be showing you a lot of times. And then, even more fun, I'll leave you with a bunch of drills to do over and over while I'm out finding a donut." Kane said, although true to his word, came over and threw several punches in a row, exaggerating his motions so she could see each part of the process.
Mel’s shoulders, already sore from Namor’s daily tortures, groaned at the prospect of drills, but she kept smiling. She watched carefully, cataloging the succession of the movements.
"Also, it is important to remind you. This is volunteer only. You don't want to do this, I'm not going to force you." Kane said. "If you want, the DR now has a scan of you. Come down every other day and it will start to train. I'll be down once a week to train you only if you want. The day you don't, I'm out and that's ok."
She nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. I do like to stay busy.” Busy and useful, even better if one led to the other. Maybe she’d finally get some decent arm muscles- that and being able to hold her own in a fight. Better a bit sore than hurt, or worse.
"Good. I always say end a session on a high note. See you next week when I introduce you to the strange and mysterious world of effectively kicking people in painful places."
“Sounds fun, see ya then!”
no subject
Date: 2024-05-10 05:34 pm (UTC)Okay, I laughed.