Hugh arrived at the gym at two, for the fourth Sunday in a row. He felt he was starting to get a hang of this fighting stuff, even if he and Christian had had to excesice some discresion to avoid giving the guards any ideas of what they were doing.
Christian had given him a lot to think about. He certainly didn't agree with some of his opinions, but they still lead him to reassess much of what he had been taught growing up.
Hugh casually made his way over to the corner of the gym that they had been spending time and messed around with the equipment while he waited for Christian to arrive.
Christian
Christian waved to someone down the hall as he made his way into the gym. He made eye contact with Shane in the right corner before spotting Hugh down the back.
Pursing his lips, he eyed a guard before walking over and dumping his calico by the wall.
"Your weights are coming along well," was his introduction.
Hugh
"Thanks," Hugh replied. "Figured I may as well get started."
He put the weights down as gently as he could, although he left his hands on the handles.
"So, where did you want to start today?"
Christian
Christian threw some hair out of his eyes before warming his arms and legs a little.
"I think we should spar a bit and go from there," he suggested.
Hugh
"Okay," Hugh said agreeably.
He got up from the machine and headed out to the matts, doing some additional stretches on the way to loosen up his arms a bit of doing the weights.
Christian
Christian finished his warm up and followed Hugh over.
"Alright. Hit me," he indicated for Hugh to bring it on.
Hugh
Hugh took his position, then lunged forward, his hand headed towards Christian's chest. He tried to keep in mind everything that Christian had taught him so far.
Christian
Christian frowned the split second before he grabbed Hugh's wrist and twisted it behind the boy's back.
"Too slow and predictable there. You don't want to give them time to not only devise ten different ways to relocate the many bones in your wrist, but decide what they're having for dinner that night too."
He let him go, spinning him to face him in the process.
"It's an idea not to go for the chest first. I mean obviously there's not much else to go with because of the height difference, but usually you can reach the face, right? The best pre-fight offensive manouvre is to clock them across the jaw," Chris put his fit to his jaw as a demonstration, "if it doesn't knock them out - and I know you've been weighting but you're probably still a long way off achieving that goal - it'll daze them long enough for a tackle or whatever the heck you wanna do next. Cool?"
Hugh
"Cool," Hugh replied.
If his father knew how much he was starting to use human slang...
He made another lunge, this time to the face.
Christian
Christian ducked, stepping past him so he had room to gain his footing.
"That was better," he nodded, "could have been faster, but it was good for a first shot. If I hadn't been expecting it you might have even got me."
Hugh
Hugh's face lit up. He took a deep breath and made to grab Christian's arm in order to twist it behind his back.
"Quickly," he told himself.
Christian
Hugh did get a hold of Christian's arm, so Chris responded by taking hold of the wrist of that hand. A careful jab at the right vein in Hugh's wrist and he'd already let go.
"Let me teach you that," Chris offered, holding out his wrist and pulling Hugh's closer to him.
"Feel beside that bone there," he indicated, "feel the small lump there? You just press that for a split second and half the hand instantly goes limp unconsciously."
Hugh
Hugh felt as directed and his eyebrows went up as his fingers found the lump.
"Interesting," he said thoughtfully. "So small, and yet so obviously effective."
Christian
"And there's plenty more pressure points like it," Christian took a glance at a guard before letting Hugh's wrist go.
"There's another here," he demonstrated on his own elbow, "and one just below the arm pit. That's about it for the arms."
Hugh
"Pressure points," Hugh repeated, trying out the unfamilar term.
He felt his own elbow and arm pit, attempting to locate them while he kept an eye on the progress of the guard.
Christian
"Alright," Christian sighed, "now before we attract some unwanted attention, come and throw me some punches."
He went over to the nearby punching bag and held it ready.
"And don't forget the way I showed you. Hook it, put your back into it."
Hugh
Hugh nodded. He steeled his jaw, hooked his fists and landed some punches on the punching bag. All the while attempting to "put his back into it". He wasn't entirely sure how you put your back into a punch when you punch someone with your fists, but he was giving it his best, trying to feel how his arms moved from his back.
Christian
"Good, that's good," Christian encouraged, keeping the bag steady.
"A few more weights and this baby should be harder to hold down."
Hugh
Hugh allowed himself a grin at the unexpected praise. Must be doing something right.
He paused for a moment to gain some breath before launching into a flury of blows.
Christian
"Hey hey hey!" Christian cut in.
"Energy management, that'll be our next course. You can't let it all go at once, there'll be nothing left to back yourself up with."
Hugh
"Oh," Hugh grunted.
He fell back to some more slower, thoughtful punches.
Christian
"And it's also legal," Christian smirked under his breath as he kept an eye on Hugh's progress.
After a moment he pulled him aside and taught him a few hooks before letting him at it again.
Hugh
Hugh posed himself, and then began trying out the new hooks that Christian had taught him on the punching bag.
"Thanks," he said.
Christian
"No problem," Chris sighed, leaning in to the bag a little.
He began eyeing off the weights, before looking Hugh up and down and guessing how much further he could tone up.
Hugh
Hugh started to feel some sweat run down his forehead and there was a moments pause in the punching while he awkwardly tried to wipe it off with his arm.