Description: Lita finally gets free of her duties in Delta Red. Or at least free long enough to continue training Brett in self defense. What's in the works for today? A brutal workout regime and a few modifications on hockey grabbing techniques.
It had been awhile but with her missions for Delta Red, she wasn't able to get away long enough for giving lessons on how to fight for anyone except maybe the new recruits for Delta Red. Eventually the missions slowed down and she was finally was able to take a leave. This resulted in Lita immediately calling Brett and arranging a time for lessons.
She told him to come to the beach and bring skates. And then she prepared the fighting surface which would be interlocking mats. Sure it would probably have more give than Brett would be used to having on a skating surface but it carried two advantages. First it wouldn't hurt as much when either of them fall and it wouldn't ruin Brett's skates by getting sand in them. She's wearing a Nottingham Panthers(yes Britain has Ice Hockey) jersey over her Delta red uniform while she waits for Brett.
The beach. It's a far cry from any ice rink, that's for sure. Constantly shifting ground vs. steady, smoothed out gliding surface. The heat vs. the cold. The smell of salt water vs. the smell of frozen water. It's definitely not a place Brett would've bothered to fight on if he had the option (something he didn't have a few years back before his hiatus, which went as predtictably bad as you might expect).
But perhaps that's why it's a good place to start to train. Of course, he brought the skates just as asked, but he wasn't expecting the pads laid down at the meeting place they agreed on. It's...well, it's definitely better than trying to skate on sand, that's for sure. "Hey!" she calls out toward the Delta Red agent, smiling over to her and glancing at the sweater. "...huh. EIHL?" he asks, taking note of the team. "So....um..." That usual awkwardness comes to bear as Brett drops his bags aside before scratching at the side of his neck. "What's on the plate today, coach?"
When she hears the young hockey player call out to her, her lips form into a bit of a smirk. "Ahh it's good to see you Neuer. Don't put on your skates just yet. We have some physical work for you to do and for this, you'll want to be barefooted."
She points to the edge of the ocean. "First we have that ocean. Go out into ocean until it's knee deep and then I want you to run back and forth along that area using this mat and the lifeguard tower over there as your guides as far as how far to run in either directon. We'll start with 10 laps." She pauses for a moment before continuing. "After that, we'll discuss the next activity."
Her plan with this is to build Brett's leg power. Between the resistance of the ocean and the body weight sinking into the wet sand, it should give him the opportunity to build those leg muscles.
To be honest, he figured he would be training with the actual sand, which is why Brett was a bit surprised she suggested him to bring the skates anyways, and the pads laid out. "Right," he said, not asking any questions: after all, she's the one that knows the score. He's a bit surprised though when she tells him to run out into the ocean. "...huh?" Well...if that's what she wants. Good thing he's wearing shorts right now.
Sure, all that skating probably worked his leg muscles pretty dang well, but even with that, the slog of running through water is a new beast for Brett, obvious by how difficult it is for him to make even the first lap at any decent clip. "This...haahh...the kind of training you do back at home?....Coach?" he asks, stopping himself from using her name to maintain that teacher-student separation.
Even if his mind does go the kind of places a young adult male's does when the beach and a pretty woman are involved.
"No. I wouldn't touch the River Thames with a Ten Foot pole and headquarters isn't close enough to a beach. But if headquarters was closer, I'd probably be doing 15 laps. Minimum." Is she telling the truth? Is she exaggerating? She's not giving any indication. "I've had to find alternative training methods."
Like slogging through obstacle course mud pits for several laps. "Anyway, I figured we'd take advantage of the unique training opportunities that current environment provides." And then she continues to watch the hockey player go, occasionally shouting out encouragement. "C'mon Neuer! Pick up those legs! Move it!"
It's tough, and...well, Brett can feel where the training is going to already. His legs already feel heavy by the 4th lap. But he's dedicated for sure. He's slowing by the 5th lap, but, the slower he gets, the more stony his face comes and more narrowed his eyes get. A much more gradual shift from his usual personality than you'd see in a fight, but the same sort of shift either way.
Finally, despite finding his legs feeling heavy enough that he can barely lift his knees up above the sloshing surface, Brett finishes that 10th lap. Trudging back up the beach, he allows himself that small expression of fatigue before his entire body lurches over, hands on his knees as he starts to catch his breath. "Wow....this is....guh...."
Truth be told, Lita saw the decrease in speed and she had been estimating he'd give up around the 8th lap but the hockey player shows his character and manages to impress the Lieutenant. "You know what, Neuer? I like you. You've got grit."
"Now you maybe wondering why I chose this training method." She pauses. After all he'll still need time to take a few moments to catch his breath. "First, It's a test of character. I wanted to see how hard you were willing to work. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. Second, it's to build your leg muscles in a way it might not be used to. This will not only add to your power and explosiveness when you perform checks, it will probably increase your skating speed a bit. Also it will build a better foundation which will help you resist attempts to take you off your feet. Third, it would give you an opportunity to move around in an evironment you might not be used to. You won't always be able to pick your fighting ground."
She moves towards her own things and grabs two water bottles out of it and tosses one to Brett. "Now get some rest and we'll prepare for the next activity."
Brett allows himself the weakest of smiles...but only just, his expression disappearing as another cough comes while he catches his breath. "T-thanks...coach." After a moment to finally get air back in his lungs, the hockey kid straightens up, slowly trudging back up the beach toward Lita and the pads. As she talks, he absorbs what she says, even as he tries to fight the temptation to massage the soreness out of his legs. "R-right," he says after the last point. "I...kinda noticed that before." Then again, hard to abandon his skates, dependent on them as he is, even with uneven ground to tend to.
When she finally gives him a break to rest, he doesn't waste time dropping back to the beach, catching the water bottle and setting it aside in lieu of kneading at his sore legs, starting with the quads and hamstrings. "Um...if you don't mind me asking...how long have you been an agent?" he asks...a small bit of small talk while he works on the other leg.
She leaves Brett alone to rub his legs. It's ok as far as she's concerned. That type of work out is a shock to the muscles if it isn't something they're not used to. And not everyone is used to the same work out regime that she is. In time, she could see Brett being able to do this type of work out on a regular basis.
What comes as bit of a surprise is the question that Brett asks. She opens her own bottle of water and with a dead pan expression says, "I could tell you but I'd have to kill you." She takes a swig of water. "I'm kidding." A mischievous smile forms on her face. Delta Red humor at its finest. "I've been in the military for 6 years however I've been with Delta Red for about 4."
Brett's face blanches a little, stammering when he apparently stumbled onto a (nationally) sensitive subject. Which just makes his sheepish look when she tells him she's just joking even more embarrassing. "R-right....wow, 6 years. That's a while. Has it been tough?" he asks warily, working down to his calfs known in his leg massage, taking occasional breaks to get a sip of water. "I mean...I had guys back home sign up for the Army, but most 'a them were doing it to pay off school rather than being really gung-ho military guys.
"Actually, that was my initial reason for joining." She crouches down as she places her water on the ground before continuing. "I joined to pay for college since there weren't many scholarships for women's cricket back then. Oddly enough, I found myself liking military life and my mates in Delta Red. And yes it's a challenge but a lot of the time it's worth it."
Ok. Break time is over as far as the Lieutenant is concerned. She reaches into her things and pulls out a small hand towel that she tosses to Brett. "Wipe the sand off of your feet and put on your skates. I'm not going to take the blame for you getting sand in your skates."
She then laces up her own skates and moves onto the mat. Notably absent are the hockey stick and the sword which is left with her bag. "I have to admit, when I was watching footage of hockey, some of your sport's fighting techniques were interesting. We're going to be doing some grappling some of it will be familiar since it originated from your sport. Some of it will be coming from other martial arts."
Brett nods. "I...I don't even know about hockey scholarships. You know, it's all about football and basketball at most colleges these days. I mean...I'm lucky the junior leagues were there," he says, looking a bit introspective as he finishes off his water. The towel ends up smacking him in the face and out of his reverie. "Ack, thbbhtbhthbb..." Faltering before he finally pulls it out of his face he looks back up to Lita, then back down to his feet.
A minute later, his sand-caked feet are wiped off, and his skates laced up on the mat. Standing up, he gets his stick at the ready...and freezes when she brings up grappling again. "Oh, right." The stick is summarily tossed off to the side, landing on his bag again. "Um...I know what you mean, but most of that's just to keep a guy in place or to keep from sliding away after a punch, that sort of thing."
"Indeed. But what I saw was a potential to do so much more." She skates on the mat right in front of the actual hockey player and smiles. There's a certain amount of imagination required to be able to take almost any object on hand and weaponize it or take a technique seen and modify it to suit their purposes. And when it comes to imagination, Lita has that in spades.
"For the first example, grab this shirt as though you're trying to hold me in place for a punch." She stands there with her hands to the side. She makes no attempt to get out of the way or resist. She wants to make it clear that those techniques have possibilities beyond what Brett is thinking of.
Brett nods. "Well...whatever you can teach me," he says...though he's oddly hesitant when he's asked to grab at Lita's jersey. "Um....you sure?" he asks, a small tinge of red on his cheeks before he clears his throat. "Um...alright then," he says. Truth be told, he never actually got into many fights in games. Sure, he held his own in the ones he did, but he was a mostly clean, if hard, checker.
Still, she's the boss. Reaching out, he grabs at that Panther's jersey, yanking on the collar on the right side of her neck, fingers hooking at the fabric and tugging with his arm cocked back. It doesn't come forward though, just...waiting to see what she's trying to demonstrate.
Lita waits patiently for the hockey player to grab her shirt. She in turn grabs his shirt with her left hand at the right hand collar of his shirt. "Good. Now if I were to throw a punch you could tug the shirt in the direction of my free arm to interfere with my punch."
She throws her punch slow at first since now this is more about getting the technique right than actually landing the punch. She'll pick up speed later on. "Not many fighters in any of the hockey league videos I've watched utilize the shirt grab in that fashion."
Brett is a little apprehensive when the slightly shorter woman grabs at his collar, breath held as he waits for her suggestion. His eyes flit from her hand on his collar, to the drawn back free hand. "You mean...like this," he says. With a sharp tug, he tries to pull her aside forward and to her right, tugging on the collar of her sweater.
Yes, the smaller woman moves but not all that much because of the way her skates are pointed. No. The most important part is that the forward momentum of her punch is turned to the side because of the hockey fighter's fist connecting her bicep and the fact that if she tried to change the path of her punch, her jersey would be in the way. Every subsequent attack is either turned away or not delivered at an effective depth.
"And it's still a form of grappling if not conventional." Lita shifts her body position so she can change her approach. "Now there's another way you can modify that technique." While she still has her grip on the collar of Brett's shirt, she twists it and pulls herself in closer while holding her fist on the larger man's jugular and applying pressure to it. "Air flow while not completely cut off is significantly reduced making it hard to breathe. It makes it harder for them to get their energy back if they have been exerting themselves. It also attacks the psyche of most people. If they have trouble breathing they tend to freak out which allows you to gain or retain a psychological advantage over them."
She holds it there a few moments before she loosens the grip. "Now how about you try it?"
Brett keeps hold of Lita's sweater, watching the way that one yank helps neutralize much of her attack attempts with her right hand. Releasing the grab, a small glimmer of recognition comes to the hockey kid's eyes. I see," he says, before Lita moves on. He watches the grip on his collar suddenly twist, eyes widening when her fist presses against the arteries in his neck. "Grrk..." His face gose a little red, this time from his air flow being shorted. "Nghh...I see..." he manages to get out barely before the hold is released.
He gasps, coughing a little and reaching for the side of his neck. "Wow..." he groans out, another cough before he reaches for Lita's collar again. He pauses, retracing it step by step before he twists at the collar, and presses his fist against her neck just like she did to him. Not quite as forcefully, mind, but hopefully enough to get the concept.
It's clear that Brett gets the concept however she wants to make sure it's done correctly. "A little more pressure. You want it to be slightly more than uncomfortable. Other than that, the technique is sound." She will give Brett a few more moments to work on the technique before she taps on his shirt grabbing forearm twice as an indicator that he should let go.
She has a few more things in mind but she's realizing the time she has to work on them is starting to run out. As a result, her mind is on overdrive attempting to figure out which lesson she's going to finish out with.
Brett nods, twisting it a bit more and putting enough pressure finally to get her to tap. He promptly releases the hold soon as he feels it on his arm, though his hand remains slightly clenched even after he pulls his hand completely away from her sweater and neck. "Right. So...what do I do then, if the guy doesn't have anything with a collar like that? Like a vest, or nothing on there?"
"You'll have to perform a one handed clinch like so." She reaches up, cupping the back of his neck with her left hand, and placing her forearm on his neck, and pulling downward. This results in his body being pulled towards her, and the pressure being put on the sides of the neck. "This will keep them from moving away from you and will free up your hand to punch. You lose the ability to cut off air flow with it but it still allows you fight in your usual manner."
"Now for something completely different." She releases the clench and reaches for his back with one arm, grabs his elbow and turns pulling him up and over her hip and throwing him down on his back. "And this hip throw is yet another way of keeping someone from moving away from you."
Brett lurches a bit when the back of his neck is grabbed...while that's not much different from a normal clinch either, the use of the forearm for extra leverage is different...and effective, judging by the way his body lurches downward when she adds in that pressure. "Erk...I-I see...." he says, swallowing a bit once the clench is released. All stuff he's going to have to keep in mind eventually.
The young winger braces himself when the next lesson comes, watching her arm reach toward his back and grab at his elbow. He looks quizzically...until he's suddenly flipped over with a twist of her body, finding himself face up on his back with a shocked look. "...wha...."
"Hip Throw" She offers a hand to help the hockey player back to his feet. "Now I want you to use that technique on me. After all, putting someone on the ground is another way of keeping someone from moving away from you."
When Brett is back fully on his skates, she verbally walks him through the move. "First put one hand on my back and the other on my arm. Turn towards the inside of the hand that's holding my arm with your hip pushing towards mine. Lean forward and twist."
She then waits for Brett to demonstrate the move and throw her onto the mat.
This is a much more awkward technique for Brett to try for...obvious reasons. But he does as he's asked. His left hand comes to her back, while the other grabs at her forearm. "So...like this?" he asks, before twisting himself around, pushing his hip out, and trying to use it for leverage to turn Lita onto her back. It's obviously nowhere near smooth, especially with the size difference. But...well, he does his best on it anyway.
"Whoomph!" While it isn't as smooth, there's a lot to be said for difference in size. Thankfully, Lita is good at breakfalls. She hits the ground and soon after, she's back up on her feet with a big grin. "Not bad. Not bad at all. Put in some hard work for a bit and you'll have that down soon. You have some things to work on and then we can see where you are the next time we meet."
She skates over to Brett's bag and reclaims her towel and puts that in a plastic bag. After that she's skating to and fro gathering her things and getting everything ready to go. While she would like to continue training the hockey player, there's simply not enough time.
Brett scratches his head, watching as LIta gets up from the hip toss. Definitely something he's going to have to work on the technique for, but he looks happy he managed it. "Thanks. I...think I learned a lot today Li...er...coach," he says, scratching his neck now, a small goofy smile on his face. "Um...hope we can train again soon." His skates come off quick, tossed on top of his bag so they don't sand jammed, before hopping off the mats. "Thanks for teaching me all this. Really."
Log created on 11:16:47 06/15/2012 by Lita, and last modified on 22:28:55 06/16/2012.