Participants:
| Scene Title | Still A Long Way To Go |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Rebecca finds the physical demands of training to be rather frustrating, as Monica puts her through the paces. |
| Date | July 8, 2010 |
Today the gym is full of sweaty, smelly men, much like any other day. But the ring has been taken captive by a young woman, dressed in a black tank top and yoga-style pants, her wrists wrapped for the occasion. Monica appears to be waiting, though, leaning against a corner with her bag resting just outside the ropes.
Rebecca has been coming for a few sessions now and is starting to get some semblence of athletic shape. When she first met Monica, she went through her history of non-athleticism and the desire to get into shape, since she's going to be working with Cardinal and Elisabeth now. She wants to not only be able to take care of herself, but be able to eliminate a threat if necessary. Elisabeth has been helpful at the firing range, and Monica was pulled by Cardinal to help Rebecca with the hand to hand aspect.
She finish changing and steps out of the locker room and finds Monica already waiting in the ring. She's not late, but she doesn't like the idea that someone is waiting on her. So she trots on over to the ring and slides in, reaching behind her head to make sure her ponytail is securely in place.. though as has been typical of these sessions, it doesn't stay that way. "Sorry, if I held you up."
"Hey, nothing to worry about. You're right on time." Monica straightens, holding the ropes out of the way to help the other climb in. "How are you feeling? Stiff or anything?" Guiding her toward the center of the ring, the teacher of the pair does seem concerned with her student's state, but Rebecca already knows, it doesn't mean she's going to go easy on her.
"I've done everything you suggested from icing down to Icy/Hot, as well as taken a Tylenol each night. That seems to be helping, though these bruises are a different story." Yes, Rebecca's been tossed around a few times this week, with one on her thigh and one on her rump. She's wearing an athletic grey tank top and black lyrca biker type shorts. "Where do you want to start today?"
"Good! And yeah, the bruises will take a while. But it's good! It means you're learning." Monica faces her there in the ring, and she tips her head as she says, "Kicks. The double edged sword of fighting. You have to learn how to be fast enough that your opponent doesn't have tIme to counter. Alternatively, learn to strike when they're distracted. Also… balance." She crouches a little, bringing her arms up to block either side of her face. "Why don't you land a couple."
Rebecca gives a nod, a stern expression coming over her face. Her warrior face. Rar. She lifts her hands up in defensive posturing and begins to move around a little as she comes close and lifts a let up to tap it gently against the side of Monica's glove. It's not a hard kick at all. She does it again on the same side, just as hard.. or soft as it may be. This has been her problem from the start. Afraid to hurt someone else, and probably the thing she needs to get over the most.
And Monica straightens there, frowning a bit. "Rebecca… You can't be hesitant. Give it all you've got. Always. You want to toughen up… you've got to toughen your spirit, too. You gotta kick me like you mean it. Cause out there? You've got to mean it. Understand? Try again." And she gets back into position.
The problem may be that Rebecca has never really been angry at anyone or anything. At least not angry enough to want to kick someone right in the face. But she nods and kicks again, harder this time but still not as hard as she probably should. She is, however, kicking harder with each kick. The smacking sound against the glove getting louder. There's a tad bit of frustration beginning to cross her expression as she knows this isn't enough yet.
"Come on, Rebecca! Don't make me pull out the 'yo mama' jokes," Monica says, probably confirming that it isn't quite there yet. And after a few more tries, Monica stops her for a moment. She takes a moment to pull off the gloves, tossing them aside. "Don't lean so far back," she says, as she comes over to correct Rebecca's posture. "The body shouldn't move too much. You want to be able to snap that leg up, back down and move onto the next move. When you lean, it makes coming out of the kick that much more difficult. Your strength comes from your center, and it's using your leg to transport it to your foot. Bam! Forceful. Strong. /Quick/. Show me a few more."
In all her life, Rebecca has always excelled at everything she did. Of course, everything she's done has been academic, not physical. For the first time in her life, she's struggling to do even to the point of it being called 'well'. She can get the posture, but.. She nods to everything Monica says, and then gives her a few more kicks, these are harder. Firmer. Better. She switches to the other leg and starts soft, but with each kick get progessively better. Faster. She's starting to sweat now and it feels good. She glances to Monica as she kicks her again and again.
Monica lets her work through it on both legs, nodding as her kicks get firmer. And then, Monica grabs her leg mid kick and gives it a yank to pull Rebecca off balance. It's pretty clear the girl is holding back at the moment, and it seems to make her a little itchy.
Rebecca is starting to get rhythm here. And a predictable one at that as her leg get caught and she starts to fall back and land on her back, the back of her head bouncing off the mat as she winces. "Oh God.." It seems she was not expecting that at all. She blinks her eyes up at her trainer and shakes her head. "Okay, I guess I deserved that."
There's a chuckle there, and Monica holds a hand out toward her. "We have to start training your mind to think defensively and offensively at the same time. When it gets to hand to hand. Or hand to foot, as it were, you can't forget one or the other. So, now it's a rule. When we're in practice, I just may throw out a punch or a grapple. Watch and see if you can pick up how the body moves before it moves. It's something that'll become second nature, although at the beginning it feels a little strange."
Nodding, Rebecca reaches up and grabs the hand and is pulled to her feet. She winces as she feels another bruise coming on. "I think I get it." The problem with Rebecca is that she has this fantastic memory for detail, but now in this, she has to apply this detail to actual physical movement. Contact. Something she's never really had to do before. "Try again?"
"Of course. Let's try sparring a little. Feel free to mix in punches and things from before. And try some low kicks, too," Monica says, stepping back a bit to drop into a fighting stance. "Whenever you're ready!"
Reaching up to wipe her gloved hand over her brow, pulling some sweat away before it runs into her eyes, Rebecca places her hands up and nods. "Okay. Ready." She tries to move her feet like Monica does and she throws a couple of jabs, some with the left, then some with the right, then she tries to trick her with a kick towards the hip. She's definitely improving, but yeah, still leaves plenty of openings.
And Monica keeps her moves at a slower pace, so Rebecca can watch. She blocks most of what comes her way, seeming to be focusing on defense at first, as she doesn't throw any hits until that kick comes toward her hip. She twists then, landing a punch just above Rebecca's knee. Given that she doesn't actually want to hurt her, it's only enough to jar her balance rather than do any damage. "That was good! You're getting there."
"Thanks," Rebecca huffs. She's going to have to keep working on her cardio too. She's finding that she's losing steam quickly, her stamina fading. She staggers back from the blow and flexes her leg a couple of times to shake it off, though it wasn't a very hard hit, it was enough to get her attention. She moves again, and her moves are very similiar to the first time.
Letting her take that moment, Monica doesn't reengage until Rebecca's moving again, but noticing the moves being repeated, she grabs Rebecca's wrist and twists her arm up against her back. It's just on the verge of being painful, like if she moves the wrong way… it'll twist just a little too far. "It isn't a dance recital, Rebecca. It's improvisation. Thinking on your feet. Throwing things they won't expect. Surprise is half the battle." She lets go of her arm, motioning for Rebecca to come again.
With her arm twisted behind her back, Rebecca is once again on the receiving end of the situation. She huffs again and turns around, listening intently to Monica so that she can learn from the experience. The next four hours are spent with Rebecca doing something predictable and Monica catching her with it and using it to prove a point and Rebecca learning from the situation. As the lesson ends, Rebecca is once again feeling a little better about her situation and about her chances of being able to take care of herself if the need arises.
She's getting better, but she still has a long way to go.