Posted by Lieutenant Charles Fordham (Security Chief) in Hand-to-Hand Training
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Inappropriate moves? What was Randy going on about? How would she know? She wasn’t an expert in boxing and as far as she could tell Anderson knew a lot more about it than she did. And if it was wrong Ford..Lt Fordham would take care of it. She was concerned her brother might have hit his head on a weight bar while he was messing around with the free weights earlier. Inappropriate moves? Really the boy needed his head checked.

At first Rand was moving so little that he didn’t really have to move much, and it felt awkward, like he was overstepping. But then she seemed to realize what she was doing and correct herself without him saying anything, so George stayed silent while he did his footwork, sliding left and right and circling around his training partner.

Then she started talking in a foreign language.

Anderson, Sci/Sec

Rand saw the strange look and had the grace to look sheepish. “I’m sorry.” She nodded towards Randy, “Little brothers.” It was an excuse one she’d used a lot and that Randy didn’t care if she used either.

Ford watched the exchange between the siblings, cocking an eyebrow, then both eyebrows as Randy spun. “Am I going to break out a translator?” he asked them, then shook his head. “Switch partners!” he yelled.

Rand had simply meant to help Randy, not cause a problem and she’d spoken in Gaelic to her brother out of habit. She shook her head, “No Sir.” She’d obviously done something wrong, she knew what it was, but she’d done it without thinking. She felt her stomach start to churn sickeningly. This was a bad idea. She couldn’t get out of it now though, without drawing more attention to herself. She was breathing hard, but hopefully people would just think it was the workout.

“Whatever she told you seems to have helped,” he told Randy. “The first thing to move should be the fist - otherwise you’re telegraphing. Then your shoulder, and then your hip.” He showed the motion he was talking about. “Try that a few times on the pad.” He held the square target up for him.

COS Ford

Rand handed the pad to Anderson and brought her fists up. Her hands felt clammy and she felt her heart rate pick up, why did she do these things to herself? She’d really wanted to come to this class, but it was looking like another failed attempt. She waited for Anderson to nod that he was ready and she started punching. It was okay at first, falling into the motion they’d been practicing, but then he started to move. Her aim was off slightly as she compensated for the distance he moved compared to herself. Normally a simple adjustment as it had been earlier, but it took a bit longer this time. Her mind focused on the task but racing through a myriad of other things as well.
Once she got the steps right her aim fixed itself but she found she’d lost some of the power she’d had earlier, her stance not readjusting quite right.
Yeoman Rand

Ford’s eyes swept the room as he held the pad for Randy, trying to scope out any corrections that may need to be made. “Maderia, don’t forget to rotate your shoulder,” he called out to a science officer. His eyes next fell on Rand beside them.

“Looking good, but let your stance settle before you throw the punch,” he told her. “Otherwise you’re losing power. Both feet should be firmly planted.” He continued to watch her to see if further corrections were needed.

COS Ford

Rand nodded, the cacophony of her inner voice still going at warp 9 inside her head. She slowed her pace, making adjustments to ensure her stance was firmly planted before punching. She resisted the urge to apologize to George for having to slow down. She discovered a long time ago most people were either annoyed at whatever she was apologizing for or annoyed at the apology and so she just continued on without verbally commenting. After a few more minutes she finally worked out the rhythm of it and was back up to speed. Though she probably wasn’t going as fast as the rest of the class. She reminded herself that the purpose of a class was to learn not to already be accomplished. Luckily no one had commented (not that anyone would) about her holding the class up she’d probably have panicked and left already. Rand continued with the set making sure, after hearing Ford correct Randy and Mederia, to lead with her fist and rotate her hips and shoulders completely.
Yeoman Rand

“Good, Randy,” Ford said. “Alright, everyone, relax!” he called out to the rest of the room. “If you’ve got a pad, please bring it up here.” He dropped the pad he was holding beside the bag he’d removed them from and waited for the others to return theirs. “We’ll call it a day here, ending with another couple of laps around the deck, meet back here for a cool down. George, care to set the pace for us? I’ll take the rear.” He gestured with one hand for the security-slash-science officer to lead the way.

COS Ford

George stepped over to Ford and dropped his pad where instructed. “Alright, time for some jogging,” he said with a small grin, heading out the door and into the corridors at a steady jog.

Anderson, Sec/Sci