Jakar's Basic Gladius Training (MOD Please!!)

[Jakar Anan]

TS: 5th brightening of Cryxatum Spring

Jakar had left the counter and had now entered his training room. He kept his Gladius in his sheath and looked about for his instructor who was not present yet. He unsheathed his sword and studied its features as he had done at the forge, and reassured himself of his choice. "It's a fine blade," he spoke aloud to himself. He twirled it around in his hands as he had seen his father do but to no good as he soon accidently cut his leg a bit. It wasn't fast enough or at the right angle to make him bleed more than perhaps a paper cut however it was still painful. He decided to sheath his weapon and sit quietly waiting for his instructor to arrive, there was no reason in embarassing himself further.

[Viskyia Crow]

ooc: Hope you don't mind, I'm gonna have some fun with this. And I'm going to assume Jakar pays him, cause if he doesn't I will edit the post accordingly... just thought we could get it moving.

The instructor soon arrived. He barged into the room, glanced about grumpily, and stomped over to Jakar. It was a dwarf. A beefy little fellow with a great long blond beard and a jagged scar over his right eye. He looked Jakar up and down a moment, then coughed slightly. "Yea know Gladius training ain't free don't you? It will cost you 100 crowns just for basic, and if you want to know more, it doubles and triples on up. I ain't no charity trainer. I'm good. I know the Gladius.. but I ain't training people for fun. So.. cough up the crowns, or I'm outta here." The instructor said.

Once Jakar paid him, the somewhat formidable dwarf would introduce himself. "Now, thats more like it. Name's Flanily Magrinat, and I'm to be your instructor. I always like to start my students out on safety and the parts of a Gladius. Safety with the blade is paramount. Its a strong formidable blade, and you want to make sure you are aware of where you are pointing it at all times. If you don't want to hurt someone or defend yourself, don't ever point it at anyone. Keep it in its sheath. If its sheathed it stays clean, sharp, and no one gets hurt you don't intend to get hurt. Always be aware of where the blade is, even when your cleaning it. Keep it in a belt sheath or shoulder sheath always. Gladius' are persnickety blades. They don't take well to sun, rain, or abuse cause most of them are made of good metal, dwarven steel to be exact. And dwarven steel is stronger, but finicky. You aint got no stinkin longsword or shortsword there, lad. Your sword has been folded hundreds of times, and its stronger, sturdier, but in being so it deserves respect." He grinned, then gestured for Jakar to unsheath his sword.

"I'd like to start out by asking you to tell me all the parts of your gladius.. and what they are used for." Flanily wasn't prone to be an instructor that regurgitated facts. He was in fact one that wanted his student to think. If his students didn't have a brain, they had no business wielding a sword.

[Jakar Anan]

OOC: No problem Vis. Thanks again.

IC: Jakar was understandably taken off guard when the stout dwarf marched into the cramped room. He fumbled childishly for his coin pouch from which he procured no more or less than 100 crowns. He tried to give a friendly smile however, Jakar realized that manners were certainly no luxury of this man. He somewhat rudely scanned the dwarfs face, tracing the scar out with his eyes. Jakar jumped a bit when the dwarf began to speak again. He tried constantly to jump in but it seemed that he was inaudible to Flanily.

Jakar unsheathed his weapon as he was told. The blade shimmered in the light from the window, he could see the elegance and nobility in its craftmanship of which Flanily was speaking. Upon the request he scratched his head and then thought hard back to when his father had tought him the blade.

"Starting at the the base of the hilt," he began hovering his hand over each bit as he spoke, "there is the pommel, then the grip. Then we have the crossguard conected to the rain guard. Also the core of the hilt is made up of the tang which is ultimately an extension of the blade and is meant to anchor the blade itself into the hilt. Then with the blade there is the fuller, which runs up the middle of the blade about three fourths of the length and protects it from breaking during blocks. Once the fuller ends there is a central ridge wich brings the two edges to the point at the end." Jakar finished with a grin, proud of his memory. He looked at the dwarf in anticipation of further instruction.

[Viskyia Crow]

Flanily was surprised. Mostly his students were of the simple sort that didn't know the business end of a sword from the end one held onto. It impressed him that the young man seemed to know his Gladius anatomy. So, he reached out and slapped the young man on the shoulder, the blow somewhat forceable...

"Well done lad! Surprised me you did! Who'd have thought you were a budding blacksmith knowing all that. We never fear, I have more questions. Then we will get on with the training, righto?" He smiled, his bellowy laugh filling the whole of the training room with a booming echo of mirth.

"Now lad.. lets talk about the Gladius' strong and weak points. Do you know what they are? Whats likely to break in a fight? Where do you thrust, and where do you block? These things you always gotta be aware of. If you don't understand this as well as you understand breathing in a fight, all will be lost." He waited for Jakar to answer the next question before he moved on. If Jakar answered incorrectly, he'd be quick to straighten the lads' thinking out before it got

"Now, basic things first... stances. We gotta talk stances. Always stand tall, shoulders straight, eyes on the enemy. Your legs need to be spread out...." Flanily gestured that Jakar should be doing all these things as the dwarf bellowed them out. "Feet apart... " He toed one of Jakar's legs so it was exactly shoulder width apart. "Now, when you want to attack, you need your right or dominant foot forward. Defending, your dominant foot back, your lesser foot forward. Got it?" Flanily grinned, demonstrating.

[Jakar Anan]

Jakar was slightly taken aback by Flanily's praise. He jumped slightly at the booming laugh of the dwarf that seemed to rock the room where it stood. Once flanily asked his question Jakar thought for a few seconds then answered, "well the forte part of the blade where the fuller is laid is the strongest part of the blade and should be used for blocking where was the foible part of the blade is where the fuller ends and the central ridge begins, this is the weakest part of the blade and should only be used for offensive strikes." Jakar paused to take a breath then stated, "as for where I am to thrust and where I am to block is beyond me, perhaps that should be integrated into this lesson."

Jakar then took in Flanily's lecture on feet positioning and soon spaced out his legs to shoulder width. He immediately felt his weight become centralized at his core. He then switched between his leading feet, pretending he was on the offense when his right foot was forward and the defense when his left was forward. He then nodded at the dwarf to continue.

[Viskyia Crow]

Flanily shook his head. "You are right about the weakest and the strongest parts of the blade, but as for advantages and disadvantages? No boy. I need you to use that big brain you got perched on top of your head. I need you to be telling me why you picked the Gladius. Why is it an advantage in a fight? Why can it be a disadvantage. If you really think about it and you still don't know, I can tell you. But you really need to know this for yourself.. I mean really know it deep down so you are aware on more than just a conscious level." The dwarf barked, less pleased now that his charge didn't answer his question clearly and concisely immediately.

As he said this, and after Jakar had answered, Flanily thumped Jakar's stomach and slapped him on the rump. "Breath deeper, suck the gut in, lift with your legs so your weight is equally balanced. Float about the ground when you start thinking of sword fighting. Use the balls of your feet, lighten your body weight by lifting yourself up.. get up there higher where the air is clearer, breath deep..." He said, watching the youth awkwardly hold the sword and try to talk about it.

"Now, for holding the sword... grip it tightly with your thumb and forefinger, but leave the hilt loose in your hand so your wrist can move, bend flex. Firm steady grip, no lax fingers, not too tight now.. you don't want to restrict movements...."

He barked, walking around Jakar in a circle, critiquing his appearence, the way he held is sword, the way he stood with his sword.

[Jakar Anan]

Jakar wasn't surprised of his wrong answer. Obviously he wasn't taking this training because he knew it already but because he wished to know it. Jakar thought momentarily then looked down to his trainer. "The advantages of the blade consist of its size and weight. Its very light compared to other weapons you would find on a battle field. Its length is great for close combat where manuevering the blade with flexibility is essential. Its disadvantages are that it is small and therefore less powerful than other weapons. Its length also leaves the fighter at risk when he is at a distance from his enemy." Jakar finished, a bit proud of his answer. Perhaps, he hadn't been so confident in his last answer however, he felt this one had to be right.

Jakar then fallowed the dwarfs instruction and altered his stance so that his breath could enter his body easily and his weight was squarely rested on the balls of his feet. He took in deep and long breaths immediately feeling the calming effects. Jakar then fallowed Flanilys instruction on grip. His fingers qluenched the hilt strongly but at the same time kept his wrist loose and flexible. He then combined all of these techniques into a cummulative stance.

[Viskyia Crow]

Flanily smiled. His student was coming along nicely, and picking things up quickly. He liked teaching those kinds of students. It meant the lessons they learned with their weapons would save their life in battle because the teaching would stick with them.

So the kid knew how to hold his blade. Now it was time to teach him to know what he was holding intimately. "Now that your holding it, lets talk about inspection and maintenance before we get into combat. Your gladius should be free of any and all weaknesses. Weaknesses can be caused from poor care, or storage. They can also be caused by poor workmanship. A dull gladius is also a weak gladius. You must ensure that the surface of your blade is smooth, rust free, and all the nicks and cuts in the edge are carefully smoothed out at all times. The surface of your blade should be smooth. If its not, it could be that your gladius was not tempered or folded properly. This makes your sword more vulnerable to breaking." Flanily said, pulling a whetstone out of his pocket, an oily rag, and a strip of leather glued to a large paddle of wood.

"Do you know what these things are and how to use them?" He asked, carefully handing them over to Jakar's free hand.

He moved on after he gave Jakar a chance to answer. "Look at your blade there. Is the edge razor sharp? If its not, the blade will look slightly rounded to the edge. A rounded dull gladius is absolutely useless. Its critical you inspect your blade, especially its edges, every day if you are using it daily, and never put it away without cleaning it... now... lets talk about sharpening..." He said, taking a breath and letting Jakar absorb what he'd said so far.

[Jakar Anan]

Jakar listened intently as the dwarf instructed him on the importance of blade maintenance. He nodded his head in obvious agreement as Flanily lectured him on how a damaged Gladius was worthless. As Flanily pulled out each item Jakar looked at them dumbly. Never had he seen such things although after such a lecture he had an idea of what they were used for. "I'm guessing that the stone is for sharpenig the blade, the rag is for removing impurities that would be attained during battle or sharpening such as mud, water, or bits of metal." He sighed slightly, "The leather though I am unsure of." He frowned at his own ignorance, feeling a bit inferior even as he stood a bit shy of two feet over the dwarf.

Once instructed Jakar raised the blade up to eye level and inspected the blade. He searched both its edges and surface for imperfections. He had learned from his father, who had been a blacksmith, that a dimple or bulge in the broad side of the blade meant that an airbubble had founds its way into the metal, and that if such bulges ore dimples existed, the blade was completely useless. He also scanned to edge for an knicks or rough edges, not expecting to see any. After a while of close inspection he concluded that the Gladius seemed fine considering it was only a few hours old from the shop. He listened once more as he peered down the blade, noting to himself to remember to clean it daily. He looked up at the mention of sharpening anticipating some hands on learning.

[Viskyia Crow]

ooc: Yet again, sorry for the delay. Argh, computers stink sometimes.

Flanily nodded. "Good lad. Always inspect your weapon every time. You never know when something will happen to it that you aren't aware of. Now, as for these little beauties... its sharpening basics for you. Come, sit on the bench with me." Flanily said, leading Jakar over to a nearby bench designed for sparring partners to rest on.

"First here, we got ourselves a whetstone. You use it to sharpen your blade. Hold your blade across your lap with the edge where its not going to cut anything and start down on the base. Stroke the stone gently against the edge of the blade, working upwards towards the point with it. Never hold it directly against the edge, you will dull the blade. What you need to do instead is stroke it across the surface, in the way the metal flows, bearing down slightly towards the sharpened edges of the blade... thats how you get a nice point going." Flanily demonstrated, then handed the large whetstone to Jakar for him to practice with. He watched the lad for a while, nodding and offering encouragement until the boy seemed to get the gist of it. "From the hilt to the tip, both sides, flip. From the hilt to the tip, both sides, flip." He chanted softly, then finally nodded. "Your blade is already fairly sharp, but we will practice sharpening it again later after we've broken it in properly with a spar."

Flanily grinned, then handed him the wooden paddle with the thick layers of leather bonded one on top of each other were fastened. "This here is a leather paddle, and its almost as good as a whetstone. Not only do you use it after the whetstone, but it keeps finely sharpening your blade even past what the whetstone could do. Plus it takes away all the tiny metal dust that still clings to the blade. You use it each and every time for the fine details. Then, take an oily rag.. this one is fine, and wipe the blade before sliding it back into its sheath." Flainly stated, handing him over the rag after he'd had a chance to try the paddle on the blade as well.

"Those are your things to keep. Its all part of the class. Now, thats enough for one day. Come back bright and early tomorrow and we will learn our sparring." The dwarf grinned, then headed out, already late for his next student.

[Jakar Anan]

OOC: Don't worry about it I understand. Oh, and I'm not really sure how to handle how the days training has ended and all so feel free to say what I do IC.

IC: Jakar sat on the bench, his gladius lain upon his lap. he took the whetstone and began running it down the side of the blades edge starting at the base and progressively working to the tip. After one edge was finished he rotated the blade laterally and began working on the other edge until once again he arrived at the tip. Jakar then flipped the blade and did both edges once more. He noticed a bead of sweat role down his own face after he had finished with the whetstone and had accepted the wooden paddle from Flanily. He used the same technique he had with the whetstone to sharpen the blade. It felt smooth as it ran across the blade, much smoother than the whetstone atleast. After finishing with the wooden paddle. Jakar took up the oily rag and wiped it across the face of the gladius and along the sides of the edges. He examined it a bit, noting how it gleamed in the light from the window, the tip offering a sparkle of light that played across the ceiling as the blade moved. He looked over and sheathed his weapon. "It looks great," He stated.

Jakar was pleased with the gift of the instruments. Surely they would be paramount to the effectiveness of his blade,and if worst came to worst he could sell them for a few crowns. He stood with the dwarf, nodded his head in uderstanding, and headed out on his own, perhaps to do a bit of shopping before the days end.

[Viskyia Crow]

ooc: I do worry about it... and promise I will make it up to you other ways if you ever need another peer mod. Looks like I will have my computer monday. If you get to this tonight or tomorrow, I can post multiple times this weekend and maybe we can finish it up.


The next day Flanily was waiting for him bright and early. He was also geared up in safety gear. A second pile rested on the bench. Flanily was grinning. "Well lad, ready to get to the heart of it?" He questioned heartily, going to thoroughly enjoy this next round of training. "I mean, you know how to hold the thing, you know the weak points and the strong points... and you know the foot stances. Assume your foot stance right now.. and gladius up. Lets work on slashes, then parrying. You have to really learn how to slash first to parry well."

"These attacks are very basic very generic. Once you get further into your gladius training, you will be encouraged to develop your own style with your own finesse. These attacks are slashes, meant to cut down your opponents. I will teach thrusts later... thrusts are quick kills. I hope you like dancing with the ladies, Jakar... because fighting with swords is a lot like dancing with the ladies." Flanily grinned, and beckoned him to watch closely.

The first one Flanily showed Jakar was a slash across his body, called the horizontal slash. "Horizontal slash lad... try it." It followed the line of the horizon across an oponents body, designed to open up his guts. The next slash was a vertical slash. Starting at his imaginary opponent's right shoulder, Flanily slashed down and across an invisable opponents torso. "Vertical slash, boy.. try it." The final two slashes were from right shoulder to left hip, and vice versa... "Cross slash, boy.. right to left, left to right... try it." Then once Flanily had demonstrated all of them and had Jakar repeating them, they stood side by side repeating the patterns.

Once Jakar had the hang of it, Flanily was ready to move onto parrying the learned slashes.

[Jakar Anan]

OOC: Really its not a problem here. I hope your new computer is fantastik though.

IC: Jakar arrived the next day with drooping eyes and messy hair, it was a bit early for his taste. He replied to Flanily's greeting with a mere grunt and then proceeded to unsheath his Gladius lazily and assume his foot stances. He welcomed the idea of finally learning a bit of combat skills however he was a bit reluctant of the ominous muscle straining he would be recieving this early morning.

Jakar understood that the attacks and defenses he would be learning would be very generic and basic. He also understood, however, that such fundamentals were the backbone of the art of swordsmanship and would play a key role as he advanced through future training sessions. Jakar grinned at the dwarfs analogy, he had never had a mother in his home, and dancing is simply not something a man teaches another man, or a boy for that matter.

Jakar practiced each slash individually, acting each one out slowly then quickly before moving on to the next. His hands gripped the hilt strongly as he used his wrists, forarms, shoulders, back, and waist to deliver the blow as quickly and as powerfully as possible. When he was finished practicing his thrashes Jakar turned to Flanily to recieve further instruction.

[Viskyia Crow]

"Alright lad... time to parry. Parrying is just a fancy term for blocking. There are lots of different types, but for now, we are keeping it basic. Remember, use the strong part of your blade down by the crosspiece, and block perpendicular to your opponents blade position. Now, we are going to learn... upper block, lower block, and the side block from both directions. You always parry a slash by directing a blow away from your person...turning the energy of their attack against them and forcing them to expend it uselessly. Parrying takes less energy than slashing, so its always a good idea to work some of the spunk out of your opponent by dancing with them first and wearing them out a little." Flanily grinned, as usual in his good humor.

The blocks were all very very simple. Flanily was able to demonstrate an upper block, a lower block, and both side blocks. Basically all the did was bring his blade up, have Jakar strike at him with a particular slash... and he'd catch the slash with the cross-piece of his gladius and deflect it away gently first from attack from below, using an upper block, one from above using a lower block,a nd off both sides.

Just for fun, he also showed Jakar how to spin in place and counter his enemy's attack with a neat 180 degree spin block designed to counter most attacks from behind, combining in the upper, lower, and side blocks all around.

When all the blocks had been demonstrated, Flanily slowly began attacking Jakar, giving him a chance to practice what he'd just been shown.