fandomhigh | Hitting Things With Big, Sharp Sticks; Friday, Third Period [07/26].

Hitting Things With Big, Sharp Sticks; Friday, Third Period [07/26].

Gladio had spent the previous day enjoying soaking in a Cup Noodle^TM hot tub, and so it probably went without saying that he seemed to be a in a pretty good mood today. Did that mean he was going to go easy on the class? Well, he sort of thought he was already pretty easy on them, so, no, not really!

He did briefly consider bringing Cup Noodle^TM into the lesson somehow, but....nah. He'd just save it for a treat for himself after a successful lesson, because there were important things to go over today.

"So," he began, "last week, we did a little partner work, and today, we're going to focus on solo techniques to help improve your overall swordwork. For the rest of the class, these are going to be drills we'll be starting every lesson with, so pay attention, learn them well, we're going to spend most of the time today honing and perfecting them as well as we can in the span of time we have, so take some time to stretch out and get ready if you haven't already while I go over them. We'll also set aside a little bit of time at the end to partner up again and see what you remember from last week. Maybe not the most exciting thing in the world, but it's training, it's all about repetition and consistency and building up both muscle and muscle memory. Alright, so...."

And from there, he plucked up his own massive sword, giving it a twirl to settle it into position, and started going through explaining the drills.

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Going solo!

Nell Ingram

Jonathan Sims

Gray

Arden

There are some solo drills that Gladio will be covering this week:

How to use your thumb rather than shifting your hands for a quicker grip switch
Then, continuing the thumb switch into throwing a basic strike
Moving on from that into throwing strikes with offline steps both forward and backwards
Then, the process of Gathering: stepping into a cut, stepping back, and transitioning into a different strike
Combine all of those into a circle around a general area
Now try thrusting first, and then stepping back and circling around
And then a bit more quickly and aggressive
Then clear out a space for yourself and just practice swinging the sword around to different guard positions while turning, focusing on making it a nice smooth and unbroken series

And now it's your turn! Gladio will go over each one again with the class as a whole, and then you're on your own to practice and get to know your swordwork through these drills a little bit. Take your time, especially if you're already experienced, because it's in perfecting these little things where the real expert work comes from. And if you're new, it's a good way to spot where you really need to focus before getting to that expert level!

Nell had learned this much before, so she worked carefully in getting all the steps correct and accurate. Take your time, do it right.

Jon was quick to learn it all - memory wasn't a thing he had problems with - but actually doing it was another thing. Especially because his burned hand didn't want to do a lot of strong thumb movement.

Also he very nearly tripped over his own feet once. But only once! He was making progress.

Do you remember the drills from last week? Gladio will remind you of them briefly, and then the rest of class is for finding a partner and practicing them again. Preferably with a new partner, but Gladio won't deny that there's some good in consistency if you want to work with the same person again, too.

When Nell finished up her solo work she looked around for a partner. Did she still smell a little like pork ramen? She hoped not. Not that Gladio would mind, but she'd rather smell fresh and clean herself and enjoy the scent of ramen separate from herself.

Jon nodded at Nell, who at least didn't look too intimidating. "Hello. I can partner with you if you like."

"Hi, Jon," Nell said with a smile. "Sure, that would be good. "Do you want to start off attacking or defending?"

"I suppose defending," Jon said. "Fair warning, I have no idea what I'm doing." Because Nell looked much more competent.

Nell carefully moved into the attack Gladio had shown them - not too fast and making sure to telegraph everything she was doing.

Jon met it with only a brief readjustment of his hands, his breathing less a concerted effort of being athletic and more a sigh of relief. Then he stepped back and readied for the next strike.

Nell switched to the next strike, again carefully telegraphing her move. "You're doing great," she said with a smile.

"I appreciate your dishonesty," Jon said with a laugh. "I'm doing well to hold this thing." He moved to block the strike; his sword was in the right position, but his hands were off, and he hastily moved to place them better.

"Hey, you're here and trying, right?" Nell said. "That's great in and of itself."

Jon nodded. "I'm admittedly mostly here because Gladio is a friend, but I will absolutely do my best. It's just that I'm not exactly an athlete."

He shook out and stretched his scarred hand. "Anything I can learn is more than I had," he noted in a rare bout of optimism.

"Very true," Nell said. "And you never know when something you learn may come in handy."

"Honestly I hope it never will," Jon said. "But given my life so far, I had better prepare."

"I'm not sure swordplay would have helped me back home," Nell said, "but the confidence that learning to fight has given me certainly would have."

Jon nodded. He understood that, even if he had his doubts he'd get good enough for it to help him.

"I'm glad it helped."

The man got to sit in a giant Cup Noodle^TM. He's doing great this week!

Nell was pretty happy herself. She didn't care as much that they had soaked in a ramen hut tub, but she had truly enjoyed Gladio's delight.

And as far as he was concerned, any lingering scent of broth was only an added benefit! Someone out there should really market some kind of Cup Noodle^TM perfume!

Oh, wait....

Gladio grinned at Nell as she came over as things were winding down.

"Good class?" he asked.

If Nell got that for a birthday present...

She'd wear it on special private occasions.

"Very good," she said cheerfully. "It was nice being able to do one of the parts I know fairly well before we got to the sparring."

"Yeah," Gladio snorted faintly, "I probably should have started with more of that in general, but a good foundation for sparring great, too. You learn best with other people, so I wanted you all to be good and comfortable whacking each other with swords."

"No, no, it's all good. And fun," Nell assured him. "It was just nice to be able to do something I felt confident about too!"

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Hitting Things With Big, Sharp Sticks; Friday, Third Period [07/26].

Sign In - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Sign In - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Sign In - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Sign In - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Sign In - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Listen to the Lecture - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Class Activity: Solo Drills - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Solo Drills - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Solo Drills - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Class Activity: Partner Work - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Partner Work - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Partner Work - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Partner Work - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Partner Work - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Partner Work - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Partner Work - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Partner Work - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Partner Work - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Partner Work - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Partner Work - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Partner Work - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Partner Work - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Partner Work - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Class Activity: Partner Work - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Talk to Gladio - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

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Re: Talk to Gladio - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

Re: Talk to Gladio - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

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Re: Talk to Gladio - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.

OOC - Big Sharp Sticks, 07/26.