Unarmed Combat/Dagger (Attn: Locke)

[Leala]

Meriana pulled up her dull brown hair into a bun. She wasn't quite used to training yet, but she would get there. The uniform for female Drin'far'ji were...well, they would do. What she didn't like was pulling her hair back to train. She couldn't put flowers in it on training days, either. Today, she would learn daggers...or, was it unarmed combat? Either way, it should help with the wolf thing. Keeping her mind focused on things other than the presences in her mind helped when thoughts of what might come if she lost control cropped up. After she was satisfied that her hair was pulled back well enough, she headed out of her simple quarters to the Yards.

As Meri crossed the Yards, a smile spread across her face. The movement of the trainees and Gaidin had become a rhythm she could rely on, and offered an energy that she appreciated. Not to mention, quite a few of her male contemporaries were easy on the eyes. ...Her eyes that were lighter and lighter, and more golden every day, it seemed. She had been told to meet Ji'val Terric for her lessons today. She had been told that he was Aiel. The thing was...

She had never seen an Aiel before.

The Saldaean Drin'far'ji had heard that they were tall, and had pale skin with pale eyes and pale hair or...something. Searching the Yards, she looked for a Ji'val who looked vaguely like that, who seemed like he was waiting for someone. Men and women ran around, sparred with each other with all kinds of weapons, and none of them looked like that, except...

There was one fellow, standing by himself, who was taller than most in the Yards. He had golden hair with a tinge of red, and he was rather pale too. As she approached, she saw that he...was adorable. She wouldn't classify him as incredibly handsome, but he had an affable face. He was tall, but only a few inches taller than herself. "Good day," she said with a bright smile. "May I assume you are Ji'val Terric?" she asked, her smile spread into a grin. "If I assume correctly, I have a class with you today."

[Locke]

Terric

Since he was raised to Ji’Val, Terric had begun to take his part in preparing the next generation extremely seriously. Today, somebody had signed up for private lessons during one of his free periods. A young woman named Meriana Rayere. She’d requested to learn either to fight with a knife or with her hands and feet. For an Aiel, there was very little difference. There was almost not much more difference when it came to spear fighting. He suppressed a shiver as a cold breeze blew across the training ground. The seasons were beginning to change, and while he’d seen several “autumns” since leaving the Threefold Land, he still hadn’t come to enjoy these cold temperatures. Winters were even worse. His old roommate, Gaval Hanania, had always teased him and told that if he wanted a real winter he’d visit the Borderlands. Trees cracking in the cold? No thank you. When would Meriana Rayere arrive? Admittedly he’d shown up early, so it wasn’t quite her fault. He just knew the cold would feel better once they were actually training.

He caught sight of a woman crossing the Warder Yards. She appeared to be looking for somebody. Terric settled back to wait, wondering I she was Meriana Rayere. She was tall for a Wetlander with her hair pulled over her shoulder in a brown braid. She didn’t have a warrior’s poise yet, but that would come in time. After lessons like this in fact.

She stopped in front of him, asking if he was the man she was to take a class from. “Indeed I am,” he said, giving her a measuring look. “You must be Meriana Rayere. It want to start this lesson soon, but there are a few things I need to make sure you learn. I believe in learning fundamentals. They are like a child’s blocks, very simple by themselves, but capable of building upon themselves. Even If you never learn how to throw a proper punch or how to hold a knife correctly, I will make sure you learn to think like a warrior. This will save your life. First lesson: You aren’t dead until your heart stops. When we move on to sparing, we won’t ever pretend to be wounded unless that’s the purpose of the lesson. Same with death, we won’t do drills where you ‘die.’ This isn’t to sooth your ego, or because I want to go soft on you. I just don’t believe in teaching my students how to die. I don’t want to train you to already give up that arm if it’s hit, or to already fall over if you are stabbed. As long as you’re still a live, you have a chance to win, or at least to survive.”

He paused, watching her face for any sign of understanding. “Second lesson: The best way to avoid a blow is to not be there. Never be where the enemy thinks you are. This one’s very self-explanatory. Keep moving, try not to get pinned. Positioning is key, it allows you to fight on your terms. That becomes even more important when fighting in a group. Before we start our stretches, do you have any questions?”

Spoiler: show

Feel free to handle the stretching part yourself Once we start getting into the lesson I'm gonna start time skipping

[Leala]

Meriana nodded along as Terric began to tell her a bit about the theory of the class she would be taking. It made sense that she wouldn't act like she was injured or dead for these lessons. She would have to master how to execute these moves in ideal situations before, injuries and "death" were applied. She liked the idea of staying stubborn, until death, too. Fit her pretty well, really. Saldaean women were very proud of their stubbornness, after all. Keeping moving hadn't been part of the training she was given for swords, though she did use it. Not, completely, anyway. Swordplay was a battle of the minds at times. "No questions so far," she said, her smile gone, now that she was taking the lesson seriously.

She moved into stretches easily enough. It felt good to move her muscles, especially this early in the morning. She followed her instructor's movements as well. He might know which stretches were necessary for what she was about to learn. Once they were done, her muscles felt limber and ready to move. Bouncing on the balls of her feet, Meri looked to Terric. "Ready."

[Locke]

Terric

With a slight smile and stout nod at the young woman’s enthusiasm, Terric launched into the lesson. “We’re going to practice stances. This is Koyn’obiyar,” he said as he placed his legs just over shoulder width apart with the left in front. His right foot was pointed slightly out and he settled his weight back on his right. He brought his hands up to ward, left hand extended open palm facing inward, open right hand protecting his face. His shoulders were still square to her. “This is a very neutral stance that that translates extremely well to spear fighting or knife fighting. You will usually start from and return to this posture.” As he said this, he demonstrated a series of shift punches and vicious stomp kicks interspersed with fluid warding gestures. His feet moved through variations of the stance. Returning to the starting position, he said, “We will practice this and the other stances until they become second nature. Assume Koyn’obiyar, hold it until I say stop.”

Terric walked around her, occasionally adjusting the positioning of her feet or where she held her hands. He counted to thirty in his head before allowing her to stop. He let her shake out her arms and legs before explaining the second stance, “Dvoyn’obiyar is a more stable but less flexible stance.” As he explained, he shifted his weight forward, bending his front knee more. “This position is braced and it is much harder to push somebody backwards in this position. Come try to shove me.” He let her shove at him, throwing her entire weight at him. He let his knees absorb some of the force and leaned into it, unmoved. “Note that this stance doesn’t provide the same level of stability from other angles. Push me from the side.” She did, forcing him to shift his footing so as to not stumble over. “Remember there’s no perfectly stable or perfectly defended position. The direction you attack and the direction you’re attacked from matter immensely. Now your turn. Hold Dvoyn’obiyar.”

As she did, he repeated the process of making minor tweaks to her stance while he counted to thirty. After releasing her, and letting her shake out again, he explained the last stance he’d teach her. “The final stance is called Mist’obiyar. Outside of training you will rarely hold this stance for very long, you will find several techniques that require you to quickly drop into and out of it. Do what I do, feet shoulder width apart, now squat with your back as straight as you can make it. With your palms facing up, make fists and tuck your arms in by either side. Forearms parallel to the floor, at about the height of your ribs.” Again they repeated the process of holding the stance as Terric made corrections.

“The rest of this lesson, and several lessons hence will mostly consist of holding these stances until they’re as natural as breathing. If you have any questions ask now.”

Spoiler: show

Lets say about about three days of this until the next stage

[Leala]

Meri's instructor went right into stances. She wasn't familiar with the Old Tongue, but she assumed that she would be expected to recognize when these stances' names were pronounced, and to distinguish how each one was made. Well, she might not get it perfect on the first day, but that seemed like a simple enough challenge given training. She mouthed the word, and took in as much of the stance as she could in the small measure of time he presented it. When it was her turn, she placed her legs a little wider apart than her shoulders. She remembered his left leg was a little further ahead than his right, and she moved her own leg to mimic that. She shifted her weight to where it rested mostly on the right foot. She brought her hands up, left palm facing inward, and right hand close to her face.

Terric walked around her as she held the Koyn'obiyar, and nudged her right foot so that it was pointed out slightly. He adjusted the positions of her hands, as well, then moved her shoulders slightly, so that they were more even. She held the position, trying to implant in her muscles' memory how it was held. Terric indicated that it was time for the next stance, so she relaxed from it and moved her arms and legs a bit.

This second stance, Dvoyn'obiyar looked more solid than the first one. To demonstrate, her teacher even asked her to shove him. Obliging, she threw her body's weight into trying to move him from his stance. He held his ground well. She had a feeling that if he wasn't a rock-solid veteran warrior from the Aiel Waste, she would have at least gotten some kind of movement from him. When asked to do this from the side, she had better luck. She wondered how easily it would be to pivot in his stance. When it was her turn, she remembered the first stance, and mimicked it, but as Terric had shown her, she leaned forward on her left leg, allowing her knee to bend. She did feel more grounded in his position. Maybe the first one would be better for pivoting.

She almost didn't realize that he was making corrections to her stance this time. They seemed smaller, or maybe Meri was concentrating too much on holding her stance. It came time for the third stance, Mist'obiyar. She wondered idly what under the Light all these names were supposed to mean. Probably something poetic that Aureli would be too annoyed to explain. As she was instructed, the Saldaean stood with her feet shoulder-length apart, then squatted. It felt strange to make her back straight in this position. It wasn't completely straight, but she tried. She made a couple of upward-facing fists, and tucked them just so, as Terric had told her. It felt like she was trying to pull something that she couldn't see. But, with all the movements from one's muscles, she could see how this one might be useful in training.

When he offered to answer her questions, she thought she had a few, but one had popped up. "Well, I can see how uh...Ko-Koyn'obiyar..." Light, but that felt strange to say aloud, "and D...Dvy...er...the second one differ. Is there a way to pivot while in..." She thought back to the lesson. What was the second one? "Dvoyn'obiyar so that you have a more stable stance at different angles?"

[Locke]

Terric

Terric took a moment to give the Drin’s question some thought. Assuming Koyn'obiyar he said, “Each stance has its strengths and weaknesses. Dvoyn'obiyar is not very flexible, but it is sturdy. It’s preferable when facing an opponent head on whose force you wish to meet with force. If you want to change the way you are facing you step into it.” He demonstrated by bringing his hind leg up, moving is foot close to stationary foot and out in front and resettling his weight, pivoting his new hind foot. “The core of each stance is about foot work and weight distribution. As you shift your weight you’ll quickly shift between stances based on the situation.”

He capped his hands together in a single, determined smack, “Now we’ll practice theses stances until you can do them without thinking. Then, I’ll teach you how to fall. Terric spent the rest of the class, and several classes hence walking Meriana Rayere through the stances and making her hold them for longer and longer counts. After two weeks of constant stance training, Terric decided she was ready for her next lesson.

The two stood facing each other, under the grey sky. Brown leaves, that no amount of raking seemed to be able to tame, blew across the practice yards. “Today, I’ll teach you how to fall properly. It sounds silly, but once you’ve learned that, we’ll move on to more interesting training. At this point, I want to be sure you won’t be a danger to yourself in a fight.”

He directed her to lay on her right side, with her right leg extended, left leg bent at the knee so her ankles wouldn’t hit, right arm extended across the ground, with her chin tucked against her shoulder, and left arm along her body. “I admit this position looks rather odd, but this is pretty much the safest way to land. I want you to lift your arm and throw yourself to the left. Slap the sand with your left hand and throw yourself in to the opposite version of that current position. Make sure you don’t smack your ankles together. It hurts and that’s not the kind of distraction you need in a fight. We’ll keep this up, until I think you’re ready to learn how to drop from a standing position without hurting yourself.”

The next few lessons were a combination of stances and break falls. Terric wondered if his new student would become bored or frustrated wishing to learn how to punch things or if she would accept this slow fundamentals driven approach. Once she seemed to be catching on to the proper floor positioning, Terric showed her how to fall backwards from a standing position. He demonstrated by lifting his left foot in front of him and bending his right knee. As his knee bent, he let himself fall backwards onto his bottom, rolling back until his shoulder blades touched the ground, slapping the sand with his left hand. “Don’t try to reach behind yourself,” he said from the ground, “You will most likely break your arm. Just let yourself fall and properly absorb the impact. You’ll be able to easily spring back to your feet.” He demonstrated by kicking his legs into the air, and rolling over one shoulder, until his feet were on the ground. He came up from his roll into Koyn'obiyar, eyes locked on hers. “That is a bit advanced, but once you’ve learned these basics, it will all come natural. Soon, I’ll be able to throw you and your body will know exactly how to respond. Before we begin this phase, do you have any questions?”

He'll put her through a few days of this. Ask anything or jump ahead as you please. Next we'll move into a bit more direct combat types of things. Knives and unarmed

[Leala]

Meri mentally kicked herself as Terric explained moving while still in position. Of course it was just a matter of shifting one's weight. She tried not to make a face when the wolves found her frustration amusing as well. They were too far away for very effective communication, but she could almost feel them calling her names. Sometimes, it was like having a family of rambunctious siblings. Either way, she kept the stance in mind and moved on as Terric did.

The three days of practicing the stances were simple enough. She could take all three stances now, and had even practiced them in her quarters, testing out different ways to move and pivot. By the time the next lesson came around, she hoped the lessons moved on. She was ready for something new, to keep her mind sharp.

The Saldaean Drin turned a relieved sigh into a small laugh when her instructor explained that today would be about falling properly. She did as the Aielman instructed, lying on her side on the ground, remembering flashes of dreams with the wolves, the ground part of her feet. Letting Terric position her limbs, Meri began to see how this was a rather designed fall. The leg against the ground was extended, the other leg bent, so that further injuring didn't happen. The arm against the ground extended for support, and the other against her side for movement. Taking her left arm, she used it to turn her body to the other side. She felt the sand with her left arm as it hit the ground, and changing the positions of her legs took more concentration than she had thought. Her ankles almost hit each other, but only because she had remembered that bit of advice at the last second. She tried a few more times, trying to split her attentions on her limbs. It would definitely need work, but she could at least still use her feet.

While she entrenched herself in lessons, she allowed her mind to concentrate on her body's movements, rather than let it wander too far. Meri knew that ignoring the wolves would need to stop, but for now, she would concentrate on her training. After training in stances and falls, Terric showed her how to properly fall backwards. Knitting her brow and narrowing her eyes, she wondered if she could fall without instinctually trying to catch herself. Although..."Well, I suppose you'd catch yourself with your arm after you've rolled back far enough." She remembered every time she fell while she was in the forest, though. After she had acclimated herself to the terrain, it was easier, but falling on her back in the woods...

She decided to take that challenge on when it presented itself to her. For now, she would practice.

What was really strange was trying to make herself fall. She had seen Terric demonstrate, but every part of her body was railing against it. It took a moment, but she finally extended one leg, and made the other bend at the knee. The object was to fall on her bottom, not her back, really. After it seemed her body was convinced of that, the falling was easy. Hitting the sand was slightly jarring, but Meri continued the movement. With help from her leg, and the rest of her body weight, she rolled back, and when her shoulder blades hit the ground, she extended her right arm to turn. It felt more natural than making herself fall. Getting up, she scratched her head. It seemed there were some instincts to work through there.

Once she stood up, Meriana remembered what her teacher had said. "Uh...throwing...me. Well." She thought on that. "No, uh, throwing me seems pretty straight-forward, Ji'val Terric," she said with a bright smile and a laugh. "I'm sure to face more than that once I have someone to protect. Let's get straight to it."