A bit of teaching [attn; Damien]

[Avyra]

Avyra was having a few second thoughts, but then again, this was probably less dangerous than, quite literally, anything else she could have been doing. And, depending on how this went, it could be beneficial. She made her way to the Warder's Yards, where she had agreed to meet Danos for her first "lesson." Of sorts. She really didn't know what was in store. He had warned her to wear breaches and a shirt, and she had done her best to come up with that. However, she hardly fit anything at the Tower. The breaches had been five or six inches too long and the waist had been way too big for her own. She had managed to fix both problems, to an extent, but it hardly looked decent. She didn't even try with the shirt; it just swallowed her up. But she wasn't here to look pretty, luckily. Not that she would even look at way if she was supposed to look beautiful; she was well aware of how she looked in comparison to the other Sisters. Too short, too thin, not curvy enough to be considered pretty by most standards. But she could channel, and that was all she cared about. She paused, noticing that Danos was already there. "Hello!" She called.

[Damien]

Danos

Danos was setting up one of the wooden practice dummies, pulling it into place as he heard Avyra's voice call out over the training yards.

He was glad to see the Novice had decided to take him up on his suggestion, and had been wracking his brain all morning trying to think of ways he could teach the foundation he had obtained to Avyra. Even earned myself an extra chore when I wasn't answering fast enough in Battle Tactics today, but it was worth it thought Danos to himself as he had decided upon a course of action.

Hence he was finishing wrestling the practice dummy over when he saw his friend arrive at the sparring area. He kept a straight face, mostly to avoid pricking her pride, but the clothes she had on would clearly need to be taken in if she wanted to truly spar. "Good morning Avyra, glad to see you made it, and that you were able to find some breeches as well. I know you don't have any experience so I won't bother putting you through the paces to see where you sit. I don't know if you've ever thrown a punch before, but as odd as it may sound, the first place to start is your feet," Danos said, moving out into the center of the area, and settling himself into the guard stance.

"Watch my feet, the left foot slides forward, toes straight and forward, while my right foot slides back and turns to the side. Keep your chin tucked to your chest, and your body centered. Now try and push me," said Danos as he wanted to show how braced the stance allowed him to be.

"Next, take your right fist and raise it to your cheek, making sure to keep the elbow tucked to your side. After that use your shoulder to protect your left ear like so," said Danos as he kept his left fist at chest level and raised his shoulder to help block any blows from that side.

"As you feet move, keep them in pairs. As my right foot moves, so does my left. This will allow you to keep your body centered, and hopefully from over extending. It's kind of like a dance, if you move to much with one leg, you'll never bring the other one to catch up in time," said Danos as he demonstrated by moving through the circle in a random series of backwards and sideways shuffling steps. Luckily his spars with Dax Gaidin had given him excellent footwork, and he was able to do it almost automatically now.

"I know the stance will feel awkward, and the footwork will as well, but let's see you give it a go Avyra," said Danos as he motioned for her to join him at the center.

[Avyra]

Avyra nodded, taking in the information. Feet. Sounded right, seeing as that was the center of your body. She paused for a moment when he asked her to push him, raising an eyebrow. Even with improper footwork, she didn't think she could get him to budge. But she tried anyway, using her shoulder to slam right into the huge, brick wall of a Drin. Maybe a bit too hard; it hurt quite a bit for her, and she rubbed her shoulder after. He hadn't moved; she didn't think she had even came close to even tossing him off balance. He probably hadn't felt her blow. She listened some more, taking in what he said in continuation of her footwork. A dance, he had called it. She wasn't a bad dancer, honestly. Maybe she could get this. Stepping into the middle, Avyra stood up on her toes, trying out what he had asked. Her footwork wasn't bad, but it wasn't perfect either. Not enough to avoid being toppled over in a real fight, but enough to look like she knew what she was doing to anyone who didn't know much about fighting. She moved with her right foot first, following with her left, her motions a tad jagged, not smooth like Danos' had been.

[Damien]

Danos

Danos watched as Avyra began moving along the circle, and as he saw she was beginning to get the idea, he was impressed with how quickly she found her center of balance. It had taken forever for him to get the knack of that. Of course, being much smaller probably means she never grew up feeling like a gangly colt thought Danos as he recalled many summers spent banging into everything with limbs that seemed to never be the same length twice.

As he saw her movements, Danos shadowed her, using his hands to make corrections here or there and help Avyra smooth out some of the jaggedness of her steps. He noticed she was taking large strides, probably a balance to mostly walking with taller peers, "Shorten your steps Avyra. Better to take two smooth ones and get to the same place, then one awkward horse step."

Danos could see she was getting the footwork, and knew that it would come with additional time and practice. Unsure of how long Avyra had for this session, he decided to move ahead with the next portion.

"For you Avyra, the footwork will probably be doubly important, as it will be the reason you shorten the gap between anyone you face and you. I want you to stand in front of me, in your stance and I will show you what I mean," said Danos as he ran over his planned lesson in his mind.

"Good, now we will get to the actual punches and blows in a moment, but for you I thought showing you why it's important would make the practices seem less like scullery work. In a fight, each of you have reach, in our case the length of our arms and legs. What you probably haven't thought of is that there is a point where long arms and legs will work against me," Danos advanced with his arm outstretched till Avyra was easily contacted by his arm, "Right here is probably the best for me, I can strike you while you cannot strike back," Danos then moved inwards until he could tell Avyra would be able to strike him.

"Now that we are like this, you are in what I would say is close range for me, while I can still strike with my elbows and legs, they never get enough movement to truly be damaging. As well, it is a lot harder for me to sweep your blows to the side or away from my body like this. I would say for you, with your size, getting in close would be the best bet against an opponent like me," said Danos with a grin as he tried to mime how awkward striking at Avyra would be.

Danos then stepped back, and got into the guard stance. "Let's practice that, we will begin separated, and see if you can work with your footwork to close the distance between us fast and deliver a close in blow. I will not strike, but I will mime a punch or blow so you can see the timing."

[Avyra]

Avyra corrected herself, shortening her stride quite a bit. She would have to move faster, but it was a far smoother, and more comfortable, movement than before. However, she knew her reach would be an issue for her fighting ability. It was already a problem when it came to getting stuff off the top shelf. She would have to be quick, and get close. Staying on her toes would give her more speed, so she kept her body that way. She knew that, even in the proper stance, it wouldn't take much for Danos to knock her off her feet with those powerfully built arms of his. A blow from him could possibly break her ribs, maybe worse. So she considered her movements for a moment, sizing him up. Size: big. Okay, that was easy. However, his size meant he'd be slower, and there was more for her to hit. And if she could get behind him... not yet, she'd save that for later. She quickly darted forward, moving head on for his chest. She really didn't know where she was going with this move.

[Damien]

Danos

Danos waited as Avyra found her footing, and his eyes watched her closely as she darted in for his chest. He waited for the strike to come in close and caught her punch calmly with his hand. She had struck wildly, and he could tell there was little technique behind the punch. But he knew that could be fixed, and he was impressed by her willingness to engage.

"Good Avyra, that was great. Now that's something we can keep practicing," said Danos as he released her hand and motioned for her to repeat the attempt.

After several more attempts, Danos took her over to the practice dummy, and showed her his arms and hands, "Weeks of practice have given me calluses and bruises that have now faded as I got used to striking bone and flesh in our spars. Now I've padded the dummy to help you begin to develop those, without the need for all the bruises. I wouldn't want to interfere with Novice duties," said Danos as he stood before the dummy.

Danos stood and threw a punch, straight and fast at the dummy. "That's a straight forward punch, quick and aimed for head or chest. You can also pivot, drop your hip and punch lower like so," and with that he demonstrated a couple of quick jabs.

"Next is the hook, a much more powerful strike. Raise your hand to your shoulder and twist your entire body into the blow," said Danos as he hit the dummy with an audible thump.

"Finally there is the uppercut, take your arm and keeping your elbow close to the side swing with all your force upwards. Your target will usually be belly or jaw if you can reach it," said Danos as he again showed his attack. "As well, don't be afraid to strike with your elbows or knees, the moves are similar, straight and direct, or sweeping, you would be surprised how much force they can strike with," said Danos as he struck powerful blows with his elbows.

"Now you try," he said as he stepped back to make room.

[Avyra]

Not expecting him to catch her fist in his hand, Avyra gave a small, shocked huff, stiffening before trying to wiggle out of his powerful grip. It didn't work, and her hand wasn't free until he released it. However, he motioned for her to repeat, and she gritted her teeth, coming at him again, this time a bit differently. Each time he blocked, which was expected, but still annoying. But she was getting close, able to dodge through any hits he tried to land on her, save for a few near brushes. Now, she didn't know if he was going easy or not, however. They stopped after a few minutes, Avyra looking slightly exausted. She had never done this much physical activity for quite some time. Danos brought her over to the training dummy, then, explaining and demonstrating a few punches. Then asked her to try, too. She tried them out, trying her best to match his form to some success. However, her strikes lacked power; she could his quickly but with no substance with it, she knew she wasn't getting very far.

[Damien]

Danos

Danos watched as Avyra was committing each strike, and he was impressed by how much force she kept generating even as her body was tiring. "Here, let me help you," said Danos as he stood behind her, "For you, it will take awhile to get the strength. I was lucky in that my trade had me working long hours before this. You need to practice using your hips and body when you attack," said Danos as he held her hips and arms, and showed her the rolling motion he had obtained while attending Dax Gaidin's class.

"Try that till you're tired, and we will return to practice another day. I would also recommend asking the kitchen for some crushed ice, for the bruises you might get on your hands," Danos said as he finished helping her move and stepped back.

[Avyra]

Avyra continued her attacks under his guidance, striking where she saw fit. Her hands had begun to hurt, but she kept it up, blocking it out. It was easier to get power when he was behind her, walking her through it, and when he left her side she found her moves to be far weaker again. But she tired a bit, gradually stopping to catch her breath. She suddenly thought back to her flute playing and gave a thankful sigh; she would have been completely winded had it not been for her breath training. "We can continue, a bit. Maybe try to have an actual spar?" She had something she really, really wanted to try out. "Unless you're scared," she teased lightly.

[Damien]

Danos

Danos simply waved his agreement to Avyra.

As she teased him, he laughed, deep and hearty. "If you can still needle your opponent, we definitely haven't ended the workout." Danos then assumed the guard stance and waited for Avyra to begin