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Kelley’s right hand snapped out to strike the mitt on Jacen’s right hand with a nice pop. It lingered there a second too long and she dropped her right shoulder as she brought the hand back. Flex quickly tapped the CO on her unprotected right temple with the mitt on his left hand.

Kelly’s head bounced slightly to the left from the impact. It was definitely meant for her to know she was struck but more of the annoying nature than painful. “So first impression, I am really starting to like you Jacen. It took you less than a second to take a swing at me.” Her comment was tongue in cheek about her being his superior and the fact right now he only saw her as an opponent. While this sounded obvious, few people would have acted the way he had.

He laughed. “With all due respect, you’re a grown woman who knew what she was signing up for.”

“So first impressions, if you’re only throwing a single punch… it has to be a devastating strike that ends the fight.”

“Have you seen me? Unless I have a crowbar I am not sure I will have the power to knock someone on their ass in a single punch. So how am I going to do that?” The comment was more than just an observation about her. Every officer on the ship needed to be trained and recertified tactically once a year. No one in security wanted to deal with the scientists and doctors at times so maybe instead of the job being a punishment, Jacen would be the right man to deal with it.
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” To do that, you’re going to have to drive through the entirety of your back foot, not just the ball. Being light allows you to move, but when it’s time to deliver power that comes from the ground it’s about transition. In most cases a single strike won’t do the job, so work combinations.... and never let your guard down. Strike and bring the hands straight back to the shoulder.”

Flex

Kelly nodded and adjusted her stance. Bringing her hands up she threw a quick one-two punch letting the power come from her shoulder more than her foot but it was counter to how she normally fought. Dropping her hand she bounced on her feet for a second. “This is so opposite to what I am used to. I am used to getting in close to disarm. Not striking and moving back.” Kelly tucked her chin and threw two quick jabs before trying to distract Jacen with a left hook.

Kelly Bordeaux CO

The two punch combo connected solidly with the mitts and Kelly bobbed under a right hand meant to remind her that she had to play offense and defense at the same time. “Better…” Flex said almost to himself. Upon hearing her comments about boxing being different than the fighting she was used to, Jacen nodded knowingly, “I’m assuming that’s because you don’t fight recreationally very often. In self defense you’re trying to end the conflict as soon as possible and by any means necessary. Boxing is fundamentally different because of the limitations that rules place on the sport.” Jacen caught the jabs and hook with the mitts. “Throwing from your shoulder like that telegraphs your movements. If your hands and feet aren’t connected, the motion doesn’t flow naturally.”

Flex

His comment brought a strange smile to her face. “Never really thought of fighting as recreational. Learn something every day. So how do I fix this shoulder thing? You have said I keep throwing it so is it my posture?” The more Kelly practiced with him, the more she could see how wrong she was approaching this. Most of her fighting involved bar room squabbles, escaping from danger or breaking up a couple of crew that had imbibed too much on shore leave. “So what are some of the rules in boxing? No offense but from what I can tell, boxing always seems like two people trying to knock the crap out of each other and a ref making sure it doesn’t turn into a homicide.”

“I don’t know that I can adequately describe the difference to you, so watch my left shoulder and don’t let me hit you.” Jacen moved lightly on his feet, weight easily transferring between the two. If she watched closely on his first strike, his shoulder rotated slightly outside followed by his elbow before his hand came around on the left cross which she would be able to easily block or avoid. “It’s not always an issue, but on strikes like this one you want to build it later into a combo so it has a better chance of getting home. If you open with it, the external rotation of the shoulder tips the movement.”

The second strike would be on her much more quickly. Jacen stuck his right foot into the ground and drove himself forward. His left shoulder stayed closed with his elbow in line, it wasn’t until halfway through the strike that his left shoulder rotated internally. “Strikes get their force from leg drive, and then they get additional pop when you can snap off late rotation.”

Kelly threw several more punches. It was very therapeutic in the sense hitting something felt good, not caring how hard she hit something felt even better. The more she hit the pads, the less tight her form became. Her blows hit the target but not as square on and not with as much power as she was more worried about the number of blows rather than the intensity of the blows.

Kelly CO

“As for rules, the big ones are keeping strikes above the belt and no grappling. There are rules in place for excessive bleeding and such, but if you’re not in an actual match it’s not that big of a deal.” The CO’s strikes were becoming more fluid as she went along, she was receptive and adapted quickly. Reassuring traits to have in a commanding officer for sure. Every few strikes, Jacen would take a swipe so she could work defense in as well.

Flex

Kelly stayed light on her feet while she threw a few punches and jabs. Half of Flex’s blows landed while the other half she deflected. Kelly could only vaguely wonder how much of her blocking was due to her talent and how much was due to her teacher. What she was most surprised about was the physical exertion. Kelly felt like she was running a marathon. Throwing five more punches in rapid succession, she bent over and placed her hands on her knees breathing hard. “Wanna ring that bell for a time out or whatever you call it.”

Kelly Bordeaux CO

Flex relaxed while Kelly tried to catch her breath. “Sorry about that, I forget about the conditioning element while training. I tend to get lost in my own thoughts. Rounds last three minutes. Beginning fights generally run six to eight rounds, but big time title fights run a maximum of twelve.”

Jacen made his way over to the bench where his duffle bag was sitting and returned a moment later with a bottle of water for the CO. “Is this how you saw your evening going Cap’n?”

Flex