(Necropolis) Training Day

[Connor OBrien]

Connor arrives back at the Necropolis after hitting up a sporting goods store early in the evening. He had promised to teach Jennifer to defend herself more efficiently in exchange for her assisting him in bettering his powers of obfuscation, so he went out to purchase some punch pads so that neither of them would get hurt while the Priscus perfected her form.

Tonight he dressed down quite a bit, wearing a tee shirt and some athletic shorts for mobility. This being the first time Jennifer has seen him without long sleeves, she will notice some tattoos on his left forearm, with some more poking out just under the sleeves on both arms.

The Haunt makes his way to the seating area Jennifer had constructed near the Caldarium, and takes a seat, waiting for the Priscus to arrive for her instruction.

[Jennifer Hazelton]

"Good evening, Connor. What do you have planned tonight?"

Jennifer reached up and unwound the vintage green scarf, pausing to unpin the fabric from the protective linen wrap. She set the fabric on the wooden side table. Her horrible, disfiguring wound on her neck created by her Sire's deformed jaw was visible. Here, in their haven, she didn't hide her flaw.

The Nosferatu wore grey athletic pants and shoes over a loose fitting white shirt.

[Connor OBrien]

The Haunt stands as Jennifer approaches. "First, we need to work on form. Maximizing power while conserving energy." He slips the pads onto his hands as he makes the way over to her. "So first thing's first, lets have you throw a few punches at the pads so I can see your stance, and see how you throw a punch." The Haunt crouches down a bit, loosing an inch or two from his overall height, as he brings the pads up to an even level for Jennifer to throw punches. "This will help you work on precision and power as well... So aim for the pads and try not to hit me."

[Jennifer Hazelton]

"As you wish. I am only going with natural instinct," She warns. The Nosferatu had no formal brawling training. Until now. "- and I am to hit the pads." Jennifer confirmed.

Jennifer approached Connor, taking in his boxer's build to try and determine how he was standing. Her eyes linger on the tattoos, yet she makes no comment. After attempting Connor's form, she makes three punches to the pad on Connor's hand with her right hand.

She does not strum her veins to call up the strength of many men that lives in the Nosferatu line. This was about learning, not a fight for survival that would provoke Jennifer to do so.

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-01 22:08:21	Jennifer Hazelton rolls 4 to Self defense lessons (10 Again)	4, 8, 1, 3	1 success

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-01 22:08:33	Jennifer Hazelton rolls 4 to Self defense lessons (10 Again)	2, 5, 3, 5	failure

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-01 22:08:41	Jennifer Hazelton rolls 4 to Self defense lessons (10 Again)	4, 10, 3, 3, 5	1 success

Two hits. Yet one swung wild, off the mark. Jennifer stepped back, watching Connor and listening for advice.

[Connor OBrien]

"Good, good," the Haunt starts, standing from his crouched position and removing the pads from his hands, "I should have let you know not to copy me, I'm a whole head taller than you at least, so I was just making it easier for you to hit the pads without reaching too much. I wanted to see your basic abilities."

He sets the pads on the table nearby and makes a lap around the Priscus, checking all aspects of the form she's currently in. "I'm going to touch you to physically move your body into a proper stance so you can see how it feels, I just wanted to give you fair warning." Then he goes about his business, raising Jennifer's fists further up in front of her face, straightening her back a bit more, and helping her get the placement of her feet and the bend of her knees correct. "We keep our hands up in front of our face to protect our head, not to mention it's the optimal position to store potential energy in your arms. There may be a slight natural bend in your back, just because of the way your hold yourself, but lowering our center of gravity comes mostly from our legs, hence bending our knees."

He gets into a proper fighting stance in front of her, but far enough away that he won't hit her if he throws a punch. He leads with his left side. "We always lead with our weaker side for two reasons. One, the side you lead with is more open, so if we get hit it's not going to happen where most of our power comes from. Which brings us into reason number 2, with our stronger side back, it gives us even more power in our swings. In my case, I'm storing more potential energy in my right side. Not only in my arm, but also in the muscles near my waist. Your hips are a pivot point for you body, and the extra pivot coming from your dominant side supplies more energy to your punch."

He then lets his body relax. "Lastly, aim just behind what you want to hit. It helps ensure that you follow through to your arm's natural stopping point. It wastes so much energy to have to stop your punch and pull it back, so the most efficient way to do it is to let your punch stop naturally. Why don't you put those pads on for a moment and let me show you what I mean?"

[Jennifer Hazelton]

"I know I am not very good at this. I plan on continously improving." She was hoping that was possible.

"Good to know." Jennifer replies to the information about her form. The Nosferatu made a conscious effort to raise her hands in front of her face, considering the best way to protect her face. It was interesting to think about storing potential energy in her arms. She had not thought about that. She glances to her arms, considering if they looked to be in the proper place. It looked alright to her untrained eye. The Lady then focussed on her knees. She studies Connor as he demonstrates leading with his left side. She adjusts her form so that she is leading with her left side as well. She practices throwing a punch out with her left, focusing on following through with the punch. It seemed to go alright. It still felt like swimming underwater.

Jennifer moves to the pads and picks them up. She strides to Connor and holds up the pads.
"Alright, lets do this."

[Connor OBrien]

"You can get better, it just takes practice. The human body takes a minimum of 7 repetitions to even begin to commit something to muscle memory, imagine how difficult it is for our more stubborn bodies." The haunt says, half jokingly.

He gives a nod at Jennifer's newly corrected stance. "It looks good, now you just have to train yourself to go to that every time you go to fight. Repetition is key."

Then Jennifer puts the pads on and holds them up in front of her face. Connor moves into his boxing stance, his knees bent slightly, his face protected, and leading with his left. He throws a left punch at her right pad.

4 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-04 17:09:57	Connor OBrien rolls 5 to Left Punch (Strength 3 + Brawl 3 + Boxing Spec 1 - offhand 2) (10 Again)	5, 8, 9, 10, 8, 4	4 successes

He connects soundly, his punch pushing her hand back slightly as he follows through and his left arm springs back to its original position. After a small moment he follows up with another left to the right pad, then immediately into a right swing to her left pad. All 3 punches force her hand back slightly, showing that his intention is to finish his swing just behind the pads themselves.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-04 17:10:30	Connor OBrien rolls 5 to Left Punch (Strength 3 + Brawl 3 + Boxing Spec 1 - offhand 2) (10 Again)	2, 7, 6, 4, 10, 9	2 successes

3 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-04 17:11:09	Connor OBrien rolls 7 to Right Punch (Strength 3 + Brawl 3 + Boxing Spec 1) (10 Again)	9, 3, 9, 3, 4, 7, 9	3 successes

He stands back straight, rolling his shoulder a bit. "I'm a little rusty, gotta work all that out before our next training session." He says, smiling. "Now you see what it looks like, and what it should do to the pads. Hand them back and you can get some more practice, you'll be a professional in no time."

[Jennifer Hazelton]

Jennifer observes Connor closely as he demonstrates the skill. Dark brown eyes watch him closely.
"I can see why you were such a boxer in your day. I imagine you had natural talent?"

Jennifer hands the pads back when Connor has completed his demonstration. The Nosferatu smiles. This has been a change of pace from her normal evenings.
"I have been enjoying this." The Nosferatu admits. "I believe that I will be able to defend myself in no time at all." Although she would be practicing in the months to come. It would not do to become rusty.
"I imagine that this skill could be honed by practice. Which I intend to devote time to reliably."

As Jennifer focused on putting all of Connor's teaching into practice, she managed slightly better.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-05 17:36:22	Jennifer Hazelton rolls 4 to Brawl (10 Again)	5, 4, 10, 4, 8	2 successes

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-05 17:36:29	Jennifer Hazelton rolls 4 to Brawl (10 Again)	9, 3, 3, 6	1 success

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-05 17:36:36	Jennifer Hazelton rolls 4 to Brawl (10 Again)	1, 2, 9, 6	1 success

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2021-09-05 17:36:43	Jennifer Hazelton rolls 4 to Brawl (10 Again)	6, 3, 9, 5	1 success

[Connor OBrien]

"You could say that I had some natural talent, yes. It started as all out brawls, but as I got better I moved into more 'formal' fights." He says as he takes the pads back and puts them back on.

"There's something that can be said about being violent sometimes. It's both exhilarating and calming to some degree." He takes his crouched form once more and raises his padded hands. "You're going to do great, I'm sure, perhaps I'll get you a punching bag to practice on when I'm not around." The first hit lands and his hand is pushed back ever so slightly. Followed by another, and another, and yet another. "An-mhaith! Well done! One demonstration and you're getting better already!" He couldn't help but let his pride slip into his voice. "You've corrected your form, now I want to see that stance every single time you train. With me, with a bag, it doesn't matter that form." He stands straight once more. "Normally I wouldn't recommend this, but we should take a small break. I want to see if you can move right back into that stance after not thinking about it for a time. Once we get back into it, I'll let you hit me all you want." He smiles and laughs a little. "I was also wondering if you would assist me in learning to mask my beast? A possible distraction from the fight, to get your mind off of it."

[Jennifer Hazelton]

" Thank you. I will enjoy returning to the practice."

She was pleased to hear that her efforts were rewarded. It was nice. It made Jennifer all the more determined to improve, thinking of the lightning quick Mekhet and his skill with knives. She could be formidable one night, if she continues.

" I would be glad to assist you in learning to mask your Beast. You know some of the Discipline. Practicing with obscuring small items is where I began my study.
Then there is the focus on hiding the Beast, of obscuring our Nature.

I would focus on imagining covering your Beast with a cloth. As the cloth drapes over your Beast, strum your Gift and tie the cloth tight."
Jennifer encouraged. The Lady folded herself into a refined, lady like pose in one of the chairs in the sitting room.