Tactics and Teamwork, Wednesday - Second Period

[worstofalltime.livejournal.com]

The dangershop was almost exactly the same amount if boring as it had been last week. The only difference this time being a shooting range against one of the walls.

"Last week a number of you expressed some discomfort with the guns." Which, you know. Weird. "So today we'll be training on them."

A beat.

"After laps. Get moving."

Did you guys think you could skip cardio? Because you couldn't. Don't be that guy at the gym who only does weights. Cardio is your friend.

Only after laps were done and teams once again sorted out did the actual lesson begin. Hope you kids liked that armor still.

"When handling a gun, always assume it's loaded. Your finger does not touch the trigger until you are ready to fire, is that understood?" No friendly fire incidents here. Again. "When aiming, face your target directly, knees slightly bent and leaning forward just a little bit. Leaning back will put you off balance when the gun fires. Squeeze the trigger, don't jerk your finger or the only thing you'll hit is everything but your target. Unless the target is a particularly broad barn."

Which, oddly enough, were pretty rare in space.

"Sight down the barrel and make adjustments from there. And keep your breathing even." No big deal. Not like that was a lot to think about. "It takes time, so don't be discouraged if you don't get it right away."

Washington gave the class a look that was completely obscured by the helmet, but it was indeed there. So deal with it.

"Get with your team and work together on improving. I'll walk around and make any corrections necessary."

Physical Education. Wednesday, Period Three

[atreideslioness]

"Oh good, you came back," Ghanima said, brightly surveying today's crop of students. "Excellent."

"If you're lucky, you'll never have to defend yourself through physical violence. But if that time ever comes, or if you're ever caught up in a fight against your will, would you know what to do? While I am sure many of you have seen punches thrown on the tee-vee or movies plenty of times, do you actually know how to throw one correctly?" Ghanima smiled, bouncing on her toes. "Today we'll make sure you do."

( Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick. )

After a minute of pulverizing the bag, she stepped back and regarded her students, blue-on-blue eyes taking them in. "The most important thing about punching is that it should be the last thing that you do," she said seriously. "If you can walk away from a fight, do so. If you are being mugged and they just want your possessions, let them take them. There's no sense in trying to be a hero or thinking you can take on the world. When a punch is thrown, the game changes—you could badly beaten, or worse. You could even land a punch on someone and kill them if they fall badly or there's something wrong with them, and then that life is on your hands. So always, always take that into consideration before you consider making that fist."

Pointy End AWAY From You, Wednesday

[saddeserthermit]

Class met in the Danger Shop today, largely on Obi-Wan's insistence: he had no interest in seeing anyone hurt using weapons that might be unfamiliar to them.

Laid out on a table at the front of the shop were several smaller bladed weapons, knives primarily.

"Today, we'll begin with a fairly simple weapon," he said. "Many of you might have held a knife at least once in your life."

"And not just for cutting up nerf in a fancy restaurant," Anakin added. "Knives are versatile and easy to conceal. They can be used as a mid-range and a close range weapon, or as a boredom alleviation tool, if you get good at flipping it."

ANAKIN.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "Do not start flipping knives," he said. "This man is also an expert in the realm of accidentally causing himself harm." COUGH. "Knives give you an edge in an encounter with a bare-handed fighter, but they are not toys. They are lethal weapons, and they can both harm and kill. Keep this in mind, both if you use one, or if you find yourself facing an opponent wielding one. Do not, for instance, attempt to grapple with a thusly-armed opponent, because you will be killed."

Anakin gave Obi-Wan a sour look because SOME OF THOSE harms had been on purpose from Obi-Wan. Jerk. (The fact that Anakin had been evil at the time was completely beside the point.) He then settled into a ready position. "We'll walk you through disarming a knife-wielding opponent, and how to win if you're both armed. If you're armed and they aren't...well, we don't really want to know why you're starting a fight."

"Before Anakin shows you the actual disarming technique," Obi-Wan said, picking up a knife and sliding into a ready position himself, "I should note that the absolute best way to avoid getting struck with a knife is simply to run away. There are very few situations in which running is not an option. That being said..."

He struck out at Anakin.

Anakin reached out, right hand at Obi-Wan's windpipe, almost faster than thought.

Obi-Wan's knife-hand kept going, but he was clearly slightly off-balance now.

Anakin moved to smack Obi-Wan in the forearm hard enough to make him drop the knife.

And the knife dropped.

"Don't think this is easy," Obi-Wan said, pulling his arm away. "It may look it, because we are used to it. But pulling off this maneuver is complicated, and reliant on some measure of luck. Again, run away, if you at all can."

Anakin nodded. "And be careful. I know what I'm doing, which is why Obi-Wan doesn't have a broken forearm or a slashed neck, but do this at half or quarter speed until you figure out the rhythm, okay?" He clapped his hands and a half-dozen knife-wielding holograms (that looked remarkably like Obi-Wan with a terrible mullet) appeared before the students. "We'll be walking around to correct your technique if you need it."

"And after that, we'll progress onward to actual knife-fighting techniques," Obi-Wan said lightly. "But we felt teaching you how to get out of a knife-fight was rather more important."