Open!

[souille]

Who: Abigail and YOU
What: A day in the life of a new prisoner
Where: Around Obsidian
When: July 23rd



i. Common room

[ Abigail hasn't taken to coming in here often, but this afternoon it was relatively quiet, so she ventures in, sitting in a corner with her back to the wall. She glances up at the television for a while, in relative disinterest, before something else catches her eye - a ragged page from an old magazine. Through the stains and scribbles on the paper, someone's left her a half-finished crossword. She lights up a little - this will the time for now, at least. ]

Five across: Hillary's challenge as first lady: to do nothing (7).

[ She frowns a little, then quirks an eyebrow up at whoever's nearby, in case they want to have a go at the answer. ]


ii. Bathrooms

[ It would be just her luck to be assigned janitorial duty. At least it's something to keep her occupied, even if it's pretty grim work. She tries to finish up quickly, though she's worried she'll be reprimanded for not being thorough.

She jumps out of her skin when someone bangs on the door, but before she can scurry out to let them use the facilities they're already off down the corridor, laughing at having startled her.

In another stall, she finds someone's drug stash hidden under the rim of the toilet bowl, and frowns as she turns it over in her hands, wondering whether to flush it, or whether that would end up getting her in trouble with whoever it belonged to. ]


iii. Meal room

[ She's managed to queue up early today, hoping for a shot at the better selection of food. When she's nearly at the head of the line, however, a rather burly inmate sees that she's about to get the last of the good stuff - and that she's rather small and unintimidating. Without further ado he storms up and grabs Abigail by the scruff of the neck, dumping her unceremoniously on the ground and taking her spot in the queue. ]


iv. Recreation area - Closed to Rook

[ She's slowly walking circuits of the running track when she sees Rook, and saunters over to him, offering a small smile. She doesn't spend too much time outside, but it makes a change, and that's as much as she can ask for here. ]

Hey, how's it going?

Comments

[souille]

[ She watches him get up, not relishing the idea of doing push ups even if she knows she should probably be more active. ]

I can't really complain.

[violenti]

[ Rook chuckles at that. ] I think we all have reason to complain. —Not that it would do us good, but still.

[ He places his hands on his hips. ] You wanna join me? [He gives her a knowing little grin, almost playful. ] Or are you here for that self-defense lesson?

[souille]

[ She wrinkles her nose a little at the idea of joining him in push ups, though she's glad the offer of self-defense training is still there. ]

If I'm not interrupting - is now a good time?

[violenti]

Well, you know, I'm terribly busy, what with... everything.

[ He manages to keep a straight face for all of about four seconds, then smiles again. ] Of course, it's fine.

Now, first thing I guess- do you have any experience with self-defense or martial arts, anything like that?

[souille]

[ Abigail shakes her head, offering an apologetic smile. ]

I can shoot, but that's not really much help in here.

[violenti]

[ Rook snorts. ] No, can't say it is.

We'll start with basics then. I'll warn you, what I was taught is some bastardized mash up of Krav Maga, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and sort of? Judo. So don't think you'll be earning any black belts out of this. [ Another smile. ]

Since you're probably not going to have a weapon that you have to worry about retaining-that's one of the biggest things cops have to worry about- there are four main things: disarming your opponent, escaping holds or grapples- which covers a lot, honestly-, what to do if you end up on the ground, and subduing your opponent.

When you're attacked, the best thing to do, honestly, is to get away by whatever means necessary and run. But being here makes that a lot harder. So what you need to know, to really take to heart: you want to subdue your opponent with the least amount of effort necessary. The last thing you want to do is to get into a battle of attrition, and not only because you're at a physical disadvantage to a lot of the people in here right now.

—And I don't mean subduing as necessarily on the floor unconscious. People will pick on you because they see you as an easy target. The majority of folks will not grab or start a fight with someone they're not sure they can beat. So if you throw them off or hit them where it hurts, they very well might leave you alone, and that's enough.

[souille]

[ Abigail listens intently, nodding along but feeling a little daunted. It would be easy for the vast majority of the inmates to overpower her, and she'd need to make sure that the methods Rook is advising her become second nature to give her every possible advantage. It was something easier said than done. ]

Can't just rely on the old kick to the groin, I guess.

[violenti]

[ Rook chuckles at that. ] It's definitely one of your most useful 'tools', if you will. No matter how musclebound a guy is, a kick to the balls will still put him on his knees. There are situations where it's not practical, though, or trying will put you at a greater disadvantage. Most dudes are smart enough to protect that area. [ Most. ]

Here, we'll start with something easy. [ He offers his arm. ] Grab hold of my wrist with one hand, hard as you can.

[souille]

Okay.

[ She steps in toward him, gripping his wrist. At first it's only kind of tight, then she squeezes harder when she reminds herself that a wisp of a girl grabbing him isn't going to hurt him too much. ]

[violenti]

[ Rook waits just a moment, as Abigail grips his wrist. And... there we go. He nods. ] Nice grip.

[ He moved in a fluid, practiced motion, stepping forward into her space to settle himself into a wide stand, turning his wrist so that the narrow side is pointing towards her open thumb and fingers. He pulls his wrist towards his ear, elbow bending and moving beneath her arm, with the intention of pulling her arm into such a position that she's forced to let go. Not in a painful way, merely that her hand can't maintain grip. ]

{ ooc: what he's doing is shown here, it's hard to put into words lol }

[souille]

[ Abigail tries to tighten her grip as he moves his wrist, but it slips right out of her hand. She initially looks disappointed, thinking she wasn't that weak, but then realises this is what he's trying to teach her. ]

What's the trick?

[violenti]

The actual escape is just making use of human anatomy. Your wrist doesn't bend that way, no matter how strong you are. The second thing is, usually if someone is grabbing your wrist, they're trying to force you to go somewhere. So- [ He widens his stance again, knees bent, though back a step this time, so Abigail can see. ]

This is called 'base'- or I guess my teacher at the academy sometimes called it 'rock solid'. It makes it a lot harder for someone drag you around, which allows you the chance to actually escape. The downside of this is any other movement- trying to punch or kick, what have you- makes you lose that base so someone could easily pull you off balance. Wanna try it? We can go step by step so you can see for yourself.

[souille]

Sure, let's have a go.

[ She tries to copy his stance, planting her feet firmly with her stance wide and her knees bent. ]

[violenti]

Good. [ He grasps her wrist much as she had done to him, firm but not enough to hurt. ] Take it slow, step by step. You'll want to step into me, and remember, move your elbow under my forearm, bringing your wrist back to your shoulder. This isn't about strength.

[souille]

[ Abigail isn't the best at taking things slow. She tries, but she ends up yanking her wrist back quite sharply. It does the job, though. ]

Like that?

[violenti]

[ Rook grins at her.]

Yep, that's the way. Want to practice a few times, make sure you've got the hang of it?

[souille]

Probably a good idea.

[ She holds out her arm for him to take again, hoping that the more they do it, the more instinctual it will become. ]

[violenti]

[ Rook reaches out, grasping her arm again. He doesn't offer any advice to start this time, seeing instead how she handles it to give instruction from there. ]

[souille]

[ Abigail gets it perfect with the next couple of tries, then finds she can't quite manage it, stumbling and nearly pulling them both over. ]

Shoot, I really thought I had it there.

[violenti]

Whoa-

[ Rook reaches to stabilize the both of them. ] That's alright, you're doing well. Just take it slow. Remember the first thing is that solid base, so you're a lot harder to pull around.

[souille]

[ She steadies herself against him, still looking annoyed with herself. ]

How can I make it more solid? Most people here are a lot stronger and heavier than me, it'll be easy to drag me around.

[violenti]

It's harder than you'd think, especially for someone not expecting. The point isn't to get into base and then just sit there waiting for them to figure out they need to use all their strength, it's just long enough to get out without being thrown off-balance in the process.

[ He offers his wrist for her to grab again. ] So you'll want to plant your feet far apart, knees bent and posture upright. When you're going into base for this move, you want to step into your opponent's space so you can maneuver your arm where it needs to go. Like this.

[ He moves one foot forward, stepping nearly between her feet and bending his knees, torso mostly faced outward, rather than towards her. He steps back into a normal posture. ] Try again, just the base part. Foot forward, wide apart, drop your knees a little. Think about like old Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan movies, if that helps visualize it.

[souille]

[ Abigail takes his wrist once more, watching closely as he steps in toward her. She shuffles her feet a little further apart, dropping her knees slightly, trying not to think about whether she looks ridiculous. ]

Like this?

[violenti]

Yep- you could go a little deeper, if you wanted- not squatting obviously, but the lower your center of gravity- to a certain point- the better.

[ He shifts, returning to his own base stance and slowly repeating the motion of drawing his elbow under to her forearm, and pulling their hands back to his jaw so that his hand slips out of her grip. ] Just like that.

[souille]

[ She repositions a bit lower, then tries again. When she's successful, she repeats the action a couple more times. ]

I think it's going to take a lot of practise to get used to it. If I'm being attacked, it doesn't feel instinctual to make this kind of move, you know?