Cadence and Control - Jacali Danner (complete)

[Dasquian Belargic]

One of the Orders basic combat training rooms was currently being re-arranged by Dasquian, who was setting everything in order for the second lesson with his apprentice Jacali. So far she had conquered the tasks he had sat in their first Sense lesson well and he felt that a more active lesson needed to be taught. Having sent her a message to come, and to come in attire fit for physical activity, he sat and awaited her arrival.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali bound in smiling at her Master, dressed in a tan pants and and loose-fitting tank top, she was ready. "Good morning, Master." She said as she came up to him and bowed.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian returned the bow and the smile, nodding in greeting.

“Good morning, my apprentice. I hope you’re ready for a good work out today.”

The Knight pushed away his outer robes, leaving him with a looser, cool training outfit on.

“Do you know how to fight, Jacali?”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

"Jedi fighting? No. Fighting between sisters, I'm pretty good at." Jacali smiled for a moment. Then, her expression went serious. "I have no idea how to fight as a Jedi, Master. But, I can learn and I'm very ready for a workout."

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Well to be able to fight as a Jedi you must first have a knowledge of a fighting style, even if it is only basic self-defense.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

All her attention was on her master as she nodded. "Okay."

[Dasquian Belargic]

“So if you do not have any prior experience with combat, which is where we should start. You need to learn to have good balance and control over your own body… have you ever practiced any acrobatics, Jacali?”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

"Some, when I would have to help clean Lord Picheta's gym, there was balance beam in there for his daughter. I took a stab at it every once in a while, until I got caught. That's about it."

[Dasquian Belargic]

“I think that is what we should practice first then,” Dasquian replied with a nod.

He strode off to the side of the room and pushed a button on a console on the wall. A panel slid away from the ceiling and out of it unfolded, first, a thin beam, suspended by poles and second a taught tight wire. The Knight looked back to Jacali with a bit of a grin.

“I love this modern technology.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali laughed a bit as she stepped back and saw the equipement coming out of the ceiling, it looked very interesting to say the least. "Oh, my...." was all she could utter as she glanced at her Master.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian hoped up onto the beam and landed, wobbling for but a second before he caught himself. He stood with his feet spread apart, and arms folded behind his back. It was only a few feet above the ground, but was still quite slim so required a bit of concentration.

“When you feel confident enough on here and have brushed up on fighting skills, we’ll see if you can combine both. Join me up here.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali nodded and climbed up. She wobbled quite a bit, "this is a lot slimmer than the one was used too." Once she got her balance she stood in the same position as her master, but there was no way she could have even tried to put her hands behind her back.

She needed their use completely to keep her balance. "Okay, Master...I think..." She wobbled again.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian turned to face Jacali, with one foot in front of the other.

“Isn’t it amazing how some people can manage to do cartwheels and flips across these things?” he said with a bit of a smile.

“I think just walking will do for us for now, however.”

Edging a few paces backwards before dropping down onto the ground.

“First, we need to just get a basic feel for having such little ground beneath us. Walk to one end and back. Then, when you feel comfortable that you will not fall off, try bringing your arms in, or even moving them at your sides as you walk.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

The Padawan nodded as she answered. "Okay, Master...here goes nothing." With a deep breath, she turned carefully and was now looking at the beam, longwise.

Her training shoes weren't going to be much of a help on the beam, she silently wished she could take them off.

Her arms moved awkwardly to steady herself. Once in position, she took a step forward....Steady, Jacali.... She told herself and then took another.

Okay, this isn't so bad... She wasn't exactly sure how to draw on the Force with this particular exercise, but she was too busy concentrating to keep her balance to mess with it.

Two more steps and she was at the end of the beam, which she made slowly and carefully. Now, came the problem. She needed to turn around and go the other way.

With another deep breath, Jacali lifted herself up on the balls of her feet and began to pivot to the right...but lost her balance.

"Ack!!" SLAM!

"Ouch, " she said as she ended up on the mats below. It only took her a second to pick herself up off the floor. She smiled. "Oops, gotta practice more on that, Master."

She climbed back up and tried again.

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Remember, this exercise is not about using the Force but about using your own natural abilities. We all have balance; it just takes a little honing and perfecting to steady it.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

"I was wondering about that, Master." She commented as she continued the exercise. Finally, after a few more falls and half an hour later, she thought she had it down pretty good. She even managed a couple of times with her arms down at her sides, but not always.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian had stood patiently through it all, simply watching.

“Excellent, I think you’ve picked up walking on there well. Do you feel ready to have a go on the tightrope? I don’t imagine for a second you will be able to walk it for more than a few seconds, but there would be no harm in you trying.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

"This oughta to be a hoot, Master." She replied as she jumped down from her perch and walked over to the tight rope. "Can I take a flying leap and run across it to make it further?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

“You can approach it however you like,” Dasquian chuckled.

“Just try not to get yourself hurt, hm?”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali smirked slightly. "You're right, that might be a bad idea. I'm awfully clumsy...probably break my ankle." She walked around the tight rope studying it for a brief moment.

This, by any means would not be easy.

Stepping up to the small platform that rope was attached to, she took a deep breath. "Okay..." she sighed, knowing full well, this wouldn't last too long.

Placing her right foot out, she got a 'feel' for the rope and stretched her arms out to the sides for extra balance. Once confident with that, she moved her other foot off the surface of the small platform she had been standing on. She stayed there all of about two seconds and hit the mats. But, she did land on her feet, which was a change. "Okay, now what, Master?" She grinned.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian clapped his hands together, “Bravo. A whole two seconds.”

He took a few steps forward, pushing the toe of his boot against the taught wire.

“Over time we will return to this exercise, and eventually, after long enough, you will have no trouble with it, but for now…”

He approached the controls for the training gear and lifted the beam and wire.

“Now, aside from balance, foot work is important,” Dasquian continued as he gathered something out of one of the supply crates.

“You must be able to twist and place your feet to respond to an attack as quickly as you need to,” he knelt down and rolled out what looked like a ladder on the floor, with slim space between each metal rung. Another identical piece was laid out parallel to it.

“A lot of these exercises you can practice without me, at any time – you will always be able to check out this equipment to use it. This one is aimed at improving your footing. Allow me to demonstrate.”

He smiled and put one foot between the rungs of one ladder, and another in the other ladder then moved with tiny fast steps forwards through the full length of the ladders.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

The Padawan watched as he finished, then stepped up to the ladders.

Placing her feet in the same position as Dasquian, she took a yet another deep breath and began to proceed. Only to find halfway through, she started laughing...and tripped.

Jacali crashed to the floor, but was laughing so hard that she didn't even seem to notice.

Oh, what a day....

Calming herself, she stood up and went back to the beginning. "I'm sorry, Master. I'll do better this time."

He had to think she was a nut.

The next time she attempted, she completed the task. Perhaps, not nearly as quickly as Dasquian, but this time she didn't laugh and she didn't crash. It seemed to have gotten out of her system.

"Whew," she panted and leaned over to catch her breath. "I'm going to have some major bruises."

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Ah, but they will all be worth it in the end.”

Dasquian was beaming, “I’m glad to see you’re enjoying this, Jacali. Though training is meant to be strenuous and arduous, it is helpful if you are having a little fun whilst doing it.”

With Jacali’s help, Dasquian pulled out three benches from the sides of the wall. He lined them all up parallel to one another, with about a foot between each.

“Now this one is where most people will fall, so I think your bruise collection will be getting larger.”

Stepping up to the first bench, Dasquian bounced on his toes and pushed off with both feet. The aim of the exercise was to do a two footed jump over the bench, landing in the space, then immediately bounce onto the next. It improved leg strength and also reaction time. The Knight hopped through it fairly easily, finishing on the other side and looking back to Jacali.

“Off you go!”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

"Oh, boy..." Jacali replied as she took her place up by the first bench. "This is gonna hurt...."

Trying not to think of the pain she was about to go through. She tried to evaluate the correct distance, but knew she really had no idea, so she just jumped.

She over-compensated, hit the second bench only partically on it's edge, but enough to topple it over and fall on it. Both her shins hitting it at full force and her head just missing the third bench.

"OW!!" she groaned and tried to roll out of the way, but couldn't see to do it and lay there tangled up in the mess. "Oh, that hurt!"

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian winced and moved over to Jacali’s side, helping her to her feet. He shook his head and sighed a little.

“Are you alright? Perhaps we shouldn’t have tried that one.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

"I'm fine," she grimaced, though her shins still hurt tremendously. "Just over-judged my distance a bit."

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Do you want to rest a while before we continue?” he asked, hazarding a look back at the benches.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

That was the best suggestion she'd heard all day. "Could I? I think, I could use a break." She admitted, wondering if she'd already taken one, with the pain in her shins.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian motioned for Jacali to sit down on the benches, and he did so too.

“As you can see, we haven’t even reached the actual combat training yet and already it’s quite trying. Unfortunately it is all a necessity – I could not allow you to go out into the world without these skills on your belt, knowing that you could be attacked at any time.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

The tone was quite serious and Jacali didn't take it lightly. "I am tryng, Master. I'm just not very coordinated yet, I've never really had the chance to work on this kind of thing. I've been a servant all my life and this kind of excerise was never a part of that. I'm sorry, if I disappoint you." Her words were genuine, she was trying.

[Dasquian Belargic]

“You don’t disappoint me, and what is more important is your opinion. This is not for my benefit, but yours. You yourself must be happy with what you accomplish.”

He brought his hands together.

“Remember, this is all a learning process. We are constantly learning, even the Jedi Masters find new things each day. None of us find everything easy, but the important thing is that we stick at it – and not for our mentors, but for ourselves. Do you want to be able to do this, Jacali?”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

"Very much so, Master." She told him. "I will try harder and I'll practice out of sessions...a lot. I'll just make sure I tell someone before I do it...just in case." She smiled widely and rubbed the raised areas on her shins. "That'll be pretty." She looked back to her Master. "I'm ready to continue...benches again? Perhaps, only one to start with?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Yes, you could try a different exercise that is just as effective.”

Dasquian got to his feet on the bench next to Jacali and put a foot on either side of it before jumping his feet up onto the bench, and then back down again. He repeated this, then smiled down at Jacali, nodding.

“Not so dangerous… I’ll set some mats up at the side,” he added, pushing the other two benches away and laying down some protection on the floor.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

That didn't look so bad as the Padawan straddled the bench at on end. With a deep breath, she jumped and landed where she was supposed to on top of it. Then, jumped back to her original position, she continued this all the way down the bench.

Jacali definitely felt new muscles doing this exercise. Once she finished. She turned and did it again.

Breathing somewhat heavily, once she finished her second time she looked at Dasquian. "Again? Or something else, Master?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Well as I said, I’m mostly just running through these so that you can come back and practice them by youself. It is very important for a Jedi to stay physically and spiritually fit, so I would say you should practice this sort of thing every couple of days, if not every day.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

"I'll add that to my list of exercise, Master." Jacali answered as her breathing returned to normal.

[Dasquian Belargic]

“How about we try a bit of the actual combat now then? I suppose that is what I called you here for,” Dasquian chuckled as he rose back up to his feet.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

"Excellent!" She beamed and waited to see what they were going to do.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquain stepped onto one of the mats and nodded for Jacali to join him.

"A lot of combat is natural reaction. If you are attacked from behind you instinctively would try to kick backwards at a person, or if you were to be assaulted front on you would go for a persons eyes. Though it sounds terrible, you have to try and see things in terms of sensitive and vulnerable areas of a persons body and defence. If you remove, even temporarily, a persons ability to see you have the chance of detaining them or escaping, if need be.

I am quite an agile person myself, so taking out my ability to move around would be a sure way of lowering my chance of overpowering you. If you were faced with a larger more physically powerful person, however, how do you think you would stop them?"

[imported_Jacali Danner]

The Padawan thought about it for a second and then answered. "I would have to make a hit for the groin area. I think, that would be a good place to start."

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian nodded.

"Yes, I would say that would definetly imbolize them for a moment," he said, laughing faintly.

"You see, you already know a fair bit about combat without even realizing it. Most of what we teach, for basic combat, is just strengthening your body so that any blows you do land have power behind them. A lot of Jedi will go on to study more intricate combat styles... martial arts, and then carry on to meld these with their lightsaber skills, but for Form I saber skills you need only learn simple combat and sword play."

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali paid very close attention, the mention of swords sounded even more interesting. "I'm ready, Master." She nodded, her voice was serious. All kidding and joking aside.

She'd never actually seen a lightsaber in use, heard of the things the blades could penetrate, but never saw one in action.

[Dasquian Belargic]

"Alright, I'm just going to throw you a few punches, slowly, and I want you to show me how you would block them."

Dasquian lifted his right hand and motioned a punch towards the center of Jacali's chest.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali raised her right arm in front of her, quickly so he hit her forearm. She was impressed with herself and smiled. "Cool."

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian nodded but did not reply, instead raising the other hand for a blow that would impact with Jacali's cheek.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali caught it with a block with her left forearm, but almost missed.

Her concentration was on her master, completely. Waiting for the next blow.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Good, he thought, as he feigned a jab at the Padawan's chest, before aiming the actual shot at her gut.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Without her really knowing why, Jacali's first reaction was to block Dasquian's advance towards her chest, but instead her right arm went under and as he went for her stomach, she pushed his fist out towards her side. She was stunned.

What the heck?

[Dasquian Belargic]

“It’s seems we’ll make a fighter out of you yet, Jacali,” Dasquian beamed.

“How about you try throwing some shots at me now?”

The Knight picked up some padded gloves – two rectangular padded thigns that slipped on over his hands. He held them up to Jacali and motioned for her to take a shot.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali nodded, knowing full welll it didn't matter where the punches would be thrown, he would stop them. But, still it felt strange trying to hit her Master.

She drew back with her right, aimed for his gut and threw the punch...

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian lowered the pad to meet the on coming fist.

“I just want you to get a feel for throwing shots. You can use the punch bag, but its much more beneficial, I think, for you to have a live moving target. I’ll stay put for the moment but after a while I’m going to start moving and I want you to keep on throwing what you have at me – without getting carried away. Control, remember always control.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

"Control," she breathed and brought her fists back in front of her, then jabbed with her right towards his chin.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian bobbed backwards and raised one of the pads up to meet the shot.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali withdrew her right hand and set her fists in a protective stance near her face...a move learned from watching holo-vids.

She began to reel back with her right again, but at the last second, threw her left towards his chest....another move from a holo-vid.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian brought both hands down into his stomach to meet the hit and, without warning, twisted Jacali’s hand so that she would be forced off to the side and fall if she didn’t act fast.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

The position she was in wasn't one that held good balance. When Dasquian forced her left hand to the side, her balance shifted more and she tried to counter it. Throwing her right towards his stomach, but falling at the same time.

Unfortunately, her punch headed towards an area below his stomach that it hadn't meant too.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian let go of Jacali instantly and ducked himself backwards, bringing up the pads just in the nick of time. He chuckled and beamed a grin at Jacali, casting off the training pads as he took a step back and motion for the Padawan to stop.

“Show me a kick.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

The Padawan was up on her feet in no time, blushing slightly. "Sorry," she merely whispered and stood back. With all her weight on her left side, she kick out her right foot in a sideways angle as high as she possibly could. Which was about chest height for her.

[Dasquian Belargic]

“You don’t want to totally throw yourself into a kick… having all your balance on one side will make you quite vulnerable.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

She brought her foot back down to the floor. "Ummm, Master I've not really ever practiced on kicking...except in the shins. I've seen kicks on old holo-vids, but that's about it. Perhaps, you could demostrate?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian nodded and rolled his shoulders a moment before bringing his hands up into a ready defensive position in front of his body. Then, with deliberate slowness, he lifted his right foot and struck it out so that were it to connect, it would do so with the whole sole of the boot. His body was shifted back slightly onto his left leg, which was bent at the knee to give a greater angle for the kick itself.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali studied his form and could very well see where she'd gone wrong. Stupid holo-vids...

Once he was finished, she stood in the same defensive position. Hands raised before her, she took a relaxing deep breath and concentrated on the form of the kick. She struck out fully with her right foot just the way Dasquian had and kept her other leg slightly bent, she felt the power behind it. It was definitely a different kick than before.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian watched and nodded, “Good. Good form. Try this.”

Repeating the same motion as before, Dasquian continued on after the first kick so that a second was delivered, with his body twisting the opposite direction so that his opposite foot could trick the same point in the air.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali administered the the same second kick, though may have kicked a bit too high.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian watched and again nodded.

“Good, now,” he took a few steps backwards, “As Jedi it is not in our nature to attack, but for this one time I want you to come at me. Spar a few blows with me, at a slow speed, and we will slowly pick up.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali nodded and took a deep breath as she got into position, a ready stance, her arms up and fists protectively in front of her. With a jab from her right, she aimed for his gut.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian lowered one hand to meet the jab, pushing it away to the side.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali brought herself back into position and this time led out with a kick towards his left thigh.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian twisted out of the way and lashed out with a back-handed swipe at Jacali’s chest.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali halted it with a her right elbow and pushed it aside, quickly. Then, she jabbed with her left towards his chest.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian grabbed Jacali’s wrist as the jab was thrown, and twisted it so that the Padawan wound up with her back to the Knight, held in a tight wristlock. How would she react?

[imported_Jacali Danner]

She grunted for a mere second and then did all she knew to do and stomped on his foot with the heel of her training shoes.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian flinched and his grip loosened for a moment before he locked the vice once more.

“No, try again.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali gritted her teeth and grunted again. With a deep breath, she tried again, but instead of stomping on his foot. She lifted her right foot and slammed her heel into his shin, waiting to be slammed to the floor.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquians body jerked forwards, but he didn’t let go.

“Use your own body weight to throw me.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Throw him??? My wrists will snap... Jacali took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She drew on the Force this time, she'd need to it give her the strength she needed.

Dasquian was quite a bit taller than she was and he was all muscle...he'd be heavy.

She hesitated.

It only lasted a few seconds, then she quickly shoved herself into him to knock him off balance. Even quicker, she leaned over and was actually able to pick him up with her back and rolled her right shoulder to the side. Waiting for both of her wrists to snap in two as he went over.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquians grip was forced loose as Jacali vaulted him over her body and onto the – thankfully – soft floor ahead. He rolled and halted quickly.

“Good,”

Catching his breath, he got up to his feet and stretched some.

“That brings me to another point… falling. There is a right way to fall and a wrong way to fall. Can you think of a wrong way?... You don't need to demonstrate.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

"Anywhere on your head or neck, would not be good." She answered with a nod.

[Dasquian Belargic]

“That’s right. When you’re falling you want to try and drop just a little onto your side, so that you roll with the fall. It’ll take out a lot of the actual hit of the drop and allow you to rise more quickly to your feet.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

"I understand, Master." Jacali nodded as she listened to him carefully.

From the sound of it, more bruises were in store. Her lower half was probably already a mess, might as well make her upper half match too.

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Alright then, let’s try it.”

Dasquian took a few steps back then moved off at a jog. He jumped up into the air and it looked like he was just going to plummet painfully back down, but inside he hit the ground just below his shoulder and rolled with an ‘oof’ on into a crouch.

“You can just try... from standing still if you want,” he said, laughing a little breathlessly.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

The Padawan raised an eyebrow for a moment at her Master. She took a deep breath and exhaled. "I'm just warning you, that at this moment I'm kinda nervous. You know, I'm not the most graceful person in the universe. And the thought of breaking my neck doesn't sound too appealing."

With another deep breath, she blew it out and looked at the ground for a moment. Well, here goes nothing...

Jacali felt the wind around her as she jumped forward slightly, her roll that was aimed for her right shoulder was off slightly. So, it hurt and the rest of her body fell in suit with a 'thud' to the floor.

"Oh...that hurt..." she groaned, "I was just off a milimeter..."

[Dasquian Belargic]

Dasquian crouched down by Jacali.

“Would you like to try on the crash mats first?”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

"Probably wouldn't be such a bad idea..." She grimaced as she looked up at him from her spot on the floor. "This is turning out to be quite a day, Master." She eased herself up, wincing slightly.

[Dasquian Belargic]

“I did warn you,” he replied as he helped her up and pulled out one of the large, yielding crash mats.

“Here we are, this should cushion your fall.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

Jacali nodded and took a deep breath. She tried again, this time she did a little better, even came halfway back up to her feet.

But, then fell on her rear. She smirked slightly. "Well, so much for that. I'll try again."

She stood up and did it again, ending up in the same position as she had before.

Jacali sighed and did it yet again and again and then finally put a lot more force into it and ended up on her feet. "It's about time." She said aloud.

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Excellent. It may be hard to remember to do that when you’re in real combat, but if you practice enough it should become second nature, as with all things.

I believe, until we approach bladed combat, we are done. Once Mylia’s combat training is finishing, we will be departing on a mission of sorts, so I would advise that you keep practicing and don’t let any of this get rusty.”

[imported_Jacali Danner]

"I will practice, Master." She nodded, as she rasied an eyebrow. "Mind if I ask where we're going, Master?"

[Dasquian Belargic]

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you, but you’ll hear from me regarding the trip soon,” he replied with a smile.

[imported_Jacali Danner]

"Very well, Master. I can't wait." She nodded with a smile and then bowed.