[PKMN OPEN] The Pokémon Trainer Academy (T) [Best Veteran 4Q '11]

Samantha Felicity Cooper

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"Well, you're right. Everyone that comes at you will do it in a different way, and may have different reasons too. If someone wants to mug you, they'll be attacking you very differently than a killer would. So preparing for the different ways different people attack different parts of your body... you get the idea, we'd be here forever. We'll keep it simple for now."

Sammy tapped Mark on the forehead to demonstrate her point. "Number one. Don't headbutt people - it's stupid. You keep all your important stuff in there, and if you knock yourself out you're finished. Also, we've got a lot of the vulnerable areas I talked about there too. Thrusting it at your attacker just doesn't make sense, you wouldn't try to hit them with your groin, so don't try and hit them with your head. The only real exception to this is if you don't have any other choice, if your arms and legs are tied up or something."

"Number two," she said, reaching out and tapping his arms, "hit your opponent's upper body with these, and their lower body with their legs. Don't try and kick people in the head - chances are you're not good enough to pull that off. And don't punch people in the kneecap either. The exceptions are if you're in an unusual position - so it's easier to hit their legs with your fists than your feet. Which brings us to number three."

Taking a half step back Sammy stretched her arm out and was just about able to tap Mark on the nose. "From this distance, I can reach your nose, but not your ears. So I would try to strike your nose from where I am, I would not move closer so I can get your ears. Never move closer to your attacker, that's what they want. Remember, fight smart and use the least amount of energy possible, okay? All this stuff is different if you're really good and a black belt or whatever, but when it comes down to an amateur defending themselves these are the rules. Got it?"​

Samantha Felicity Cooper

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Sammy laughed and leaned back a little, just to make sure Mark didn't catch her on the chin by accident with one of his jabs. He was certainly eager, she had to give him that much.

"Okay, calm down killer. First of all we need to get you standing right, you're like a brick wall. Now are you right or left handed? Because that'll define which way round you stand. Which hand you have forwards, which foot. I'll show you the most basic boxing stance there is, it's pretty good for attack and defense. You might see some people on the TV, or even me if I'm feeling cocky, use other stances than this, but that's for advanced stuff. I'm right handed, so I do it like this. If you're left handed, just reverse everything."

She backed up from him a little so he could get a good view of what she was doing. She turned her body slightly to the right, making herself a smaller target, and placed her left foot forwards and her right foot back, so that each foot was more or less underneath the shoulder on that side.

"See? You want your feet underneath your shoulders, and the heel of your back foot lined up with the toes of your front foot. If it helps, think of a painted white line on the ground. You want it to be running right underneath the centre of your body, with your back heel just touching one side of it, and the toes on your front foot just touching the other side of it. Once you get this I'll show you how to hold your hands and your head, then we can start looking at your punches."

She had never taught anyone before, always having been a student, but she hoped she wasn't doing too bad a job. She just had to make sure to keep slowing things down, Mark wanted to race ahead and she was tempted to let him just so she would have someone to spar against. But all that would do would teach him badly and give her someone she could knock out easily. Where was the fun in that?​

Samantha Felicity Cooper

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"That's not bad, but relax a little. You're too rigid. You want your body to be in this stance, but not locked into it. And raise your back heel a bit, it'll help your balance. In a real fight you're going to be moving around a lot. Okay, so your hands. They should match your feet. Your dominant hand - whichever one you use the most - is actually the one you hold back."

Sammy lifted her arms up to demonstrate. Her left hand was in front of her face, while her right hand was beside her right cheek.

"So. Elbows down, but hands up. Just like you see on TV. You want your head to be behind your hands to keep it protected, with your chin tilted down towards your chest. Your eyes should be just above your hands so you can see whats going on. Give it a try. Once you've got this nailed, you've pretty much got your stance sorted. You should practice getting into this position again and again when you have time - while you've set your Pokemon some training would probably be a good time. It'll make it easier, practice makes perfect and all that."​

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