fandomhigh | Energy and Fitness, Friday, December 8, Period 1

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fitness

Energy and Fitness, Friday, December 8, Period 1

The gym was already set up when people got there. There were several kick pads and focus mitts lying around. Zuko was waiting at the front of the class, scowling at the small bot that was currently humming 'Eye of the tiger'.

When everyone had entered the room, Zuko ignored the bot and spoke up. "Administration has asked me to take over classes until Yondaime returns. Apparently we're supposed to be studying about the chakra these weeks, but that's Avatar stuff and seeing how only Alfons can bend, it's a waste of time. I saw how some of you were fighting against the trolls, I think it is time that you learn how to defend yourself decently."

Zuko then launched into an explanation of how to do a front kick, center punch and the reverse backfist. When he was finished, he looked around. "Team up and practise."

((The last three links go to videos which will load immediately upon clicking. They're very clear explanations on how to perform the moves. Zuko's firebending style is based on Northern Shaolin and the moves he has done in canon are similar if not the exact same.

~~Please wait for OCD.~~ Go!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Grab a partner and try out the different moves. Please, don't kick each other unless you're very comfortable with these moves. Someone pick up a pad and let the other person try it out.

The reverse backfist is a new move to him, so Cameron was trying to recreate whatever it was that Zuko had done while he waited for a partner.

All the moves were somewhat different than what he was taught, and it felt a little strange to veer into something new. Alphonse figured he'd get the hang of it fairly quickly though.

Anders had no training whatsoever in unarmed fighting techniques, except for whatever he'd seen in televised boxing matches back home ~~(WTF, Unfinished Business? WTF?)~~ and the organized karate competitions that ESPN sometimes ran.

He was working on the front kick, muttering "Chamber, kick, recoil, back" to himself as he did.

Pip grinned at Anders. "Care to be my partner? You look like you could use a little help."

"Yeah, that's an understatement," Anders told him lightly. "All of this is new to me, so I'll take all the help I can get."

Pip nodded. He stood back in balanced fighting crouch. "Let's see what you've got."

"Chamber, kick," Anders muttered again, trying the most basic version of the front kicks that Zuko had demonstrated at half speed. Going for the crotch was probably not going to be kosher, so he aimed for Pip's stomach -- which meant he had to kick a little high -- and tried to "strike" with his heel.

Pip blocked it quickly. "Pretty good, but you shouldn't be kicking so high," he said. "I mean, I'm a zillion feet tall. There's some targets you just can't reach."

Anders nodded. "Yeah, that almost threw me off balance, and then I'd be in trouble," he agreed. "Maybe I should go for the knees."

That brought back memories of Kara's injury -- wasn't that about this time last year? -- for a moment, and he flinched before setting up again and targeting Pip's knee. Very gingerly.

Pip blocked again. "Very good. Don't worry about hurting me too much, by the way. I'm pretty quick."

"I'm not worried about that," Anders told him with a brief laugh, repeating the kick. "You're good at this stuff. I'm more worried about hurting me."

Pip blocked it again. "Well, I've been training since I was a wee one. Family thing and all. Wanna try those punches?"

"I've been training since I was just old enough to pick up a Pyramid ball with two hands, but that's something else entirely." Anders tried the kick one more time just to get the movement imprinted more clearly in his mind, then nodded. "Yeah. I'm having trouble working out that reverse backfist though. Help me out with it?"

Re: Practise

cyclopeanmerc.livejournal.com - 2006-12-08 22:33 (UTC) - Expand

Cally looked around, kind of hoping Setsuna would partner with her.

Girl solidarity!

~~Belated~~ girl solidarity, indeed.

Setsuna knew the moves would be rather easy for her, as she'd worked with similar things before, but she was curious as to how Cally would manage them. "Good morning, Cally," she said, by way of greeting to ease into practising them. "Think you might have them?"

"The moves?" Cally rubbed the back of her neck. "I dunno. I'm sorta shaky on most self-defense stuff."

"Why don't you give them a try?" Setsuna suggested. "And I can watch how you do them and maybe make suggestions? But, who know, you could end up being able to do them better than me." She doubted that; she could do those in her sleep. But she was trying to be encouraging, knowing Cally didn't have much experience in this kind of thing. Or at least, from their interactions, she got the impression that she didn't.

Cally took a deep breath, and shook out her limbs a bit.

She then attempted a front kick, and almost fell over backwards. "Whoa, eep."

"Eep!" Setsuna was quick to catch Cally a bit from behind, even if Cally was able to hold herself up without her help. Instinct, really. She chuckled a little nervously at her knee-jerk reaction. "Not bad," she said, "but don't lean back. You want to make almost all the movement below the waist, so try to keep a good, strong upperbody."

Setsuna demonstrated a simple front kick, paying extra attention to keeping her own torso still. "See?"

Cally nodded, and concentrated for a moment. She took a deep breath, and pulled off a rather awkward kick. But she managed to stay balanced, this time.

"Much better!" Setsuna beamed a bit. "Still watch that torso, though; you're putting too much energy there and not enough in the kick itself." She paused a bit, tilting her head slightly. "This all really new to you, Cally?"

"When I had a few lessons from Pip," Cally started, "it was mainly punches. And then I sorta completely fell out of practice."

She tried again, this time focusing a bit more energy into the kick.

Setsuna watched her next attempt carefully, thoughtfully. She nodded. "When Pip taught you punches, was it a lot like the center punch that Zuko demonstrated?" She crouched down into a position, and spoke as she executed the sharp, stiff jabs of the move. "Where everything's all contained like this? Or was it something more casual and applicable?"

"More casual," Cally said. "It was more about making sure I wasn't gonna hurt myself with the punch than anything else."