Combat Training, pt. 1 [Open to Outsiders and masochists]

[j-y-d.livejournal.com]

Chase stands at one end of the room, left fairly blank for the moment, looking over those who've chosen to respond to the open invitation to get in some more training, watching for reactions as much as anything while he speaks.

"For those who don't know, I am Adam Chase, Chases-Parked-Cars. You can call me Chase. In fact, you will call me Chase. And regardless of ability, you will call each other by name while here. We are all soldiers in the same war. I am just a soldier with knowledge that can and will save some of your lives. I will teach it, and in the process, I will find out what you can do and learn from you too.

You can and will use whatever the hell kind of language you fucking want with me, and with each other. I do not like people censoring themselves without need. If you have something to say, say it, and say it quick. If you are offended by my fucking mouth, this is not going to work well.

While in here, I am teaching, you are learning. You will do what I say, or you will leave. However, if you have questions, any questions, or wish to question my methods, say so, godsdamnit. Always question authority - it is the only weapon soldiers have against stupid fucking orders. Be warned - if you question me, I will make you run, I will make you do painful but productive drills, and I may kick your ass - because any authority will do that or worse if you open your mouth when they think you shouldn't. This is not punishment, this is a lesson. Question authority, face the fucking consequences of pissing off authority, and do not stop out of fear of punishment. It may hurt, but unlike some authority, I will answer your questions, even if you piss me off.

That does not mean I brook disobedience. If you're going to learn, you'll do as you're told. Sometimes you have to suck it up, and believe me, I will not be doing anything for no reason. You just get to ask questions along the way.

This is not mandatory. Anyone may leave any time they wish. If you choose to leave because you're bored, or its too hard, good riddance. But I promise you, you make it through all of my classes, I will fight beside you, I will go to hell and back for you, and if necessary, I will die for you, the same way I would for any of the people I trained with back home.

Everyone is going to learn some basics, and everyone is going to learn some small unit tactics, some infiltration and some wetworks. After you know the basics, I will start working with each of you on individual combat styles. I know at least parts of a dozen fighting styles, armed and unarmed, plus long range weapons - but there are some things we'll be getting to first.

I will warn you. This will often not be fun. You will leave my training tired and bruised, and wake up with sore muscles in places you didn't know you had muscles. I do not go easy. There will be days where you hate me, to which I say, good. As long as you know there is a reason for it, and keep coming back.

Any questions?"

Comments

[ternaui.livejournal.com]

The Chancellor, having heard about this, stands in a corner. Having spent a few centuries as a bodyguard and a few helping run the war effort, he doesn't feel in the need for much training, but it doesn't hurt to see what everyone can do. Communication is, as ever, key to any military effort.

Even if he believes just as much effort may be needed against the Daligig as the Ohm.

[i-died-twice.livejournal.com]

Buffy was already a well-trained warrior. One had to be to fight back the forces of darkness on a nightly basis. Especially now, that she had found herself in a full fledged war - one in which she had even less of an upper hand than she usually found herself with.

She wasn't here to train, though. She was here to watch. To see.

She was curious. And, if she was being honest, she was just the slightest bit bored, and one could only hunt fake vampires in the Sensorium for so long.

[hit-girl-mindy.livejournal.com]

"So in other words, we'll be doing what anyone who's trained before has had to do," said a voice in the back. chase would recognize it: its the voice of the twelve year old in the costume, the one that had explicitly come to this meeting to see Chase in action. Now that he was on the Outsider's roster, she was more likely to come to these things. Training was definitely priority for her.

"I'm pumped," she said. "When do we start?"

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Kaya said she would be here and she was, dressed in her plant suit, her hair tied back. She had no idea how intensive training was going to be, so she had done some stretches before arriving here, looking energetic.

And the speech. A little rougher than she would have liked, but to the point, deliberate, brash. It worked with him.

[drowpaladin.livejournal.com]

In truth, Maydril hadn't much to actually say after Chase had said his piece. She had come armed and armored--though perhaps, in retrospect, that was a little advanced for all of them.

Well, she had the plantsuit underneath, she could divest herself of the extras.

She just made a noise of assent and bowed, eyes never leaving Chase's form.

[j-y-d.livejournal.com]

"No questions? That's ok, you'll learn. We'll get started right now then.

No matter how different every style of martial arts in the world, every one ever created in fact, are, there is one thing all of them have in common. Every single damned one teaches you hot to fall. And that's what we're going to get started with. There is no more helpless feeling in the world than being stunned and in pain, on the ground in front of an enemy. Well, unless you know Brazilian jiu-jitsu or capoeria, in which case you have your enemy right where you want them - we will get to those much later.

Most of you are combatants of some stripe, therefore, you've had some basic training, and have some idea of this. For most of you, we're going a step beyond. I'm going to teach you three techniques and two exercises. You will not like them. They will hurt. You will practice them inside and outside of training, because I guarantee them, they will save your life as much or more than anything you will learn in advanced training.

If you do this, within a week, you will be back on your feet with a moment's thought. Within a month, it will become reflex, even when badly hurt, and you won't have to experience that feeling.

The techniques are - the falling roll. This allows you to not only end up on your feet again, but gain some distance from your enemy. If your enemy is bigger and stronger than you, or you know gun kata, this is to your advantage.
The second, when the roll is not possible, is spreading out impact to reduce damage taken from a fall. When you do it wrong, it will suck, you will bruise, it takes work. Especially in week two when we do it pro wrestling style, and you learn to fall from the top rope. Eventually, you'll learn to do it right, and falling won't hurt near as much.
The third technique is the instant stand. From your back, this is a kip-up, from your front, this involves more upper body work. This is also what you'll be working on at the start of all training until you're doing it by reflex, no matter how hurt you are when you go down.

The two associated exercises, I will demonstrate right now. Watch carefully and get used to them, as you will be doing them a lot. They will be warm-ups before most training.
The first..." he lays on his back, demonstrating first crunches, then the rolls, and finally a kip-up. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2Xz9WyugU0] "Crunches... and practicing the rolling motion increases your core..." he pats his stomach muscles, "...body strength. This will help with kip-ups, and a lot of other things. We'll do some crunches in here, I recommend a lot more, and if you see a theme here... do them til they hurt. It will pay off in the end."

He shifts posture again, demonstrating first army push ups, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihvdd0rPTiU&feature=fvwrel] then push ups with a clap [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC-0tvn9sE4], and finally, muay thai push ups, doing ten of the latter. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvsunVcE1Q4]

"Army push ups build strength, and let you work up to the others. Army push ups are for reps, and you will also get used to those. The others build explosive strength and speed, and build the strength and reflex used in the instant stand. Once again, odds are you will hate them. Most of you also will not be able to do the latter well right away. That's ok... you'll be doing them til you can, over time.

Once again, any questions?"

[drowpaladin.livejournal.com]

"Ah...Chase? Sir? Do you mind if I am in my armor for these exercises?"

After all, the Warmaster had made them do no less--and often, much more.

[j-y-d.livejournal.com]

"One, do not sir me. I called my teaches 'Jack' and 'Kain'. I have no fucking official rank. We are both soldiers in a war, recruited to the same place for the same reason, to save the world. If you have things to teach me that will help me kill the motherfucking Ohm, I will learn them - but I will not call you ma'am. I want to teach you all to fight beside me, not become little tin soldiers." Despite the profanity and insistence of his words, they're not spoken like a rebuke, with at least some respect for anyone putting themselves through this obvious in his tone.

"Two, if you're going to fight in your armor, you can drill in your armor. In fact, you should. Learning how to fall down and instant stand when you're buck naked - while entertaining to watch possibly, will not help when you strap the metal on. Train the way you plan to fight."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Kaya had no questions. She started with the rolls, since it was actually one of the signature things she was good at. These she breezed through and relished that, knowing that the other exercises were going to be much harder.

And they were: she was already breaking a sweat when she went for the army crunches, and once she was doing the claps she was definitely feeling the burn. The Muay Thai push ups were the most exhausting of all to her, but after she was done with these, she returned to the rolls, then the kip ups. She was definitely starting to feel an ache, but she was also smiling.

[j-y-d.livejournal.com]

"Not bad at all. Knew, from talking to Nima, that most benders have some martial arts training, but wasn't sure how much. That's solid work... just make sure on the push ups you get all the way down."

[hit-girl-mindy.livejournal.com]

Hit Girl had no questions, but she WAS going to do something she never did, if only because it made more sense than anything. She took off the wig, the mask and the suit and laid it neatly by the wall. She was already in shorts, a tank top and low top shoes, getting started on the exercises at hand.

The army push ups were easy enough, but the others were pretty strenuous: if she had been in her Hit Girl clothing she would have been overheated as hell right now. Practicing the kips were good though: she could manage kips, but they had never been in a way she was fully confident, and she tended to do them messily and lost time righting herself. So she pressed on, saying nothing but making the occasional grunt.

[j-y-d.livejournal.com]

Chase makes his way around to all the students in time, talking to people, offering suggestions and anything else he can do to help, keeping his tone even, trying to sound more helpful than critical, without taking it too easy on anyone.

"If you're struggling with something, go backwards. If you can't get up smmothly on the kip-ups, stop fighting it and do more crunches and rolls. You'll find its easier to do kip ups in a week or two when you build up your core. Same with push ups. Not many people your age can do one muay thai push up right... and that's fine. Go army for a couple weeks, and work up. There is absolutely no hurry here, and everyone is better off doing everything right than doing things too fast. I'd rather take months to teach someone to do it the right way, then work up to making it reflexive than have someone fight through and learn bad technique. The fact you're getting to your feet on day one is impressive... but remember, you're not competing with anyone in this room. You're training to be the best teammate you can to them, however long that takes."

[riseupnchargem.livejournal.com]

Jamie said nothing throughout Chase's lecture, glancing periodically around the room at the others in attendance but always returning his attention promptly to their instructor. When Chase had finished speaking and it was time to get to work, Jamie dutifully started in on the exercises.

Crunches and push-ups were nothing new to him, since he did them every day with the rest of Rogue Squadron as part of their PT regimen, and the push-ups-with-a-clap weren't too much of a stretch either. The Muay Thai exercises took a little more effort, though, and several times he only narrowly managed to avoid faceplanting. He was anxious to move on to the kip-ups, something he had never attempted before and which he therefore knew were likely to give him trouble and would require as much work as he could possibly get in, but he wanted to get the Muay Thai push-ups figured out first. He continued doggedly, jaw clenched in concentration as he went on.

[j-y-d.livejournal.com]

"Don't think we've met, which is a shame. A for effort. Slow down for a bit though. Don't try and power through everything... like I told someone else, we'll slow things down a hell of a lot more going backwards and have to retrain bad habits. Practice what you know how to do, get it perfect, build up the muscles, then work up. If you're not able to get a little more elevation and speed on the muay thai push ups, do more of the claps - within a week, do enough of those, you'll find the others easier."

[puny-parker.livejournal.com]

These were, honestly, ridiculously easy for him. Inhuman strength and agility certainly came in handy at times, and the exercises, especially the kip-ups, were second nature to him. Doing them until they hurt was likely going to take a while.

[j-y-d.livejournal.com]

He can recognize that. Their strength is close, and while he isn't quite up to the famous spider-agility, there's some superhuman speed and agility in the trainer too. He can recognize when things are getting too easy.

"Not bad. What kind of combat training do you have?"

[ronnae.livejournal.com]

Ronnae arrived a bit later than the others, she had several projects to work on at Engineering and she couldn't find anyone to keep watch over the place while she was gone. With the recent pop a lot were still helping the new crew members. Finally she just decided to close shop, it was almost time for her lunch and she thought she might as well work up an appetite (Not that she wasn't hungry already considering how much she needs to eat.).

She had run home to grab a change of clothes, donning a long sleeved red shirt and long black shorts. Her hair done into a single much longer ponytail reaching below her rear.

[j-y-d.livejournal.com]

Unlike your average drill instructor or stern teacher, there's no rebuke for being late. Not to the first, non-mandatory meeting. Instead, a lot of the introduction gets repeated, profanity included, for Ronnae's benefit.

Shit happens, people are busy, and if he's going to alienate people or make them feel out of place, its going to be because they aren't up for hard work and dealing with the pain of masochistic workouts - not because he wants to make them feel bad for having shit to do before showing up for a voluntary exercise.

[ronnae.livejournal.com]

Ronnae nodded and took her spot where she'd be doing the exercises. She was more than used to this sort of treatment from the Horde officers, and she was way past this type of exercise, which she now welcomed. It would feel nice to get back to basics.

She didn't wait to be shown, or carried through the routine, instead she began doing it all in an easy stride, doing three times what was asked without really breaking a sweat.

She did always feel at ease in a battlefield or the rough training exercises of a hard Horde regimen.

[governorkang]

Kang leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, watching with an unreadable expression on his face. Listening to Chase's opening, he had to say he was impressed; the man sounded like he knew what he was doing. And, watching the lesson itself, that was being proven several times over.

[ternaui.livejournal.com]

The Chancellor watches as well eventually speaks very quietly. "I am not familiar with some of the terminology, but the exercises are familiar. And I expect I may know what a 'gun kata' is, though I have never heard the expression before.

[governorkang]

"I've... heard some of the terms, but I have no idea what exactly they are," Kang said carefully, wings rustling slightly.

[nokosi.livejournal.com]

Well, better late than never, right? In truth he'd been looking for something both active and productive and this certainly fit the bill! Still, it took far much more commanding convincing to get his companion to join him.

While the elf looked positively cheery doing push-up after push-up, sweating as he was, the large wolf next to him merely watched with a sour expression.

[j-y-d.livejournal.com]

"Good to see you again." Chase offers first to the trainee, then addresses the wolf, oddly, in lupine, approximating the sounds as best a human throat can manage, greeting it, bidding the animal welcome to the show, effectively.

"You've obviously had some training, seem to be getting on fine."

[nokosi.livejournal.com]

Fontaine regarded the man with an amused look and simply nodded his head in greeting.

Nokosi paused in his push-ups and pulled his legs under himself, sitting back on them. "Greetings Chase! It is good to see you as well," he replied with a grin.

He nodded his head in agreement to Chase's second statement. "Yes, like the other denizens from Azeroth and probably most others on this ship, I come from a world at constant war, et cetera, et cetera."