11551/Morning Time Training

Morning Time Training
Date of Scene:	25 May 2020
Location:	New Hope Shelter, East Harlem
Synopsis:	Duncan and Nick train over at New Hope. Lucius stops by. Punisher is discussed.
Cast of Characters:	Phantasm (Drago), Duncan MacLeod, Zeitgeist (Julius)

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Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
While other early risers may be making use of their Memorial Day mornings making panicked runs to the grocery store for their respective cookout needs. There are some who are instead welcoming the day a different way.

While not a traditional YMCA as discussed at their last meeting, the thought of New Hope came to mind eventually. After getting permission, a training place was secured.

Now the pair find themselves in one of the unused, reinforced training classrooms. Tall windows to one side of room allows for light to come in through the gaps in the added, and padded bars. Tumbling pads which can easily be pulled out and stored away where needed have been set out and the metallic whrr of the high up air vent sets the mood between the quiet attendees. Off to the far end,against a wall, a stuffed bookbag and a reinforced guitar case sit. Likely not a building feature but personal belongings of one of the pair in the room.

Nick is dressed a bit differently than he normally looks when coming by here. In lieu of his usual knit cap, the hair making its transition to it's original length is pulled into a nub of a ponytail. There is no jacket on so the gray T-shirt does nothing to hide the long and old defensive scar on his right forearm. And instead of jeans, he's wearing some old worn athletic pants. Likely a Goodwill special.

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
     Duncan agreed to meet with him and to train him. There is only some much that can be taught in a short amount of time, but he's been training for a lot of years now so he is able to modify a few things.

     Currently he's wearing a pair of classic kung fu gi pants and a light weight tank top. His hair is pulled back into a pony tail as well. His movements are always smooth and never does he commit to one without another in mind behind it.
     "Jeet Kune Do is the art of the intercepting fist. Rather than typical punch and techniquese it focuses more of parry and counter strikes. Rather than hard punches, more quick and loose wrist strikes making the impact past your target as opposed to the target itself."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
While not getting into a more formal training until recently, the years of constant fighting back in self defense could, probably count as training. Maybe. But if anything was apparent to Duncan when they fought alongside each other, the musician's approach that time tended towards using the other's momentum against them.

Perhaps that's what triggered the slight head tilt of interest at the usage of the word 'parry'. As Duncan gives his introduction to the lesson for the morning, he doesn't interrupt, instead he is watching the movements of the instructor.

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
He had to spend a little money for this, but he doesn't care. He brought with him a kung fu wooden training dummy and starts to demostrate, passing his arms between the different "arms" sticking out. He wraps and passes his hands and around it with a speed and precision that is slightly dumbfounding initially,"Intercept the strike, redirect the enery away from you, and then direct your own energy into them." He strikes the center of the dummy a few times past the arms again,"Close with your opponent and use the loose strikes. They require less energy." He snaps his wrist into the center of the dummy with only a few inches distance and the sound is almost like a rifle shot. He looks back to Nick,"If you learn to strike like this it will increase your abilities and lower the opponent being able to head hunt."

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
Lucius Primus is putting away his gear, he actually lives in the Shelter, one of the rare permanent rooms in the place. He heads into the Shelter proper and hears some noise from the training room, he heads over casually, a glance in the window to check on who may be using it, though he already knew from the various 'whispers' in the shelter that Nick was there.. and someone else as well.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick's brows raise a bit at the speed along with the rapid clacking of the wood. "Intercept, Redirect, Bring close, loose strikes-" He pauses, "Can you do that again?"

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
Nodding, Duncan starts again, slow at first and then gaining speed,"This way you turn the energy away from you and keep it from connecting with vital areas." he contiues and the speed gets faster yet,"There is more to learn of course, but this is a way to build from the ground up fast."

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
Lucius Primus enters the training room, avoiding opening the door while the two are near it. "Hey, hope you don't mind. Always interested in seeing technique being taught." He wanders along the wall and makes his way to observation spot.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick watches attentively, trying to imagine the extending arms as punches. He's not used to the practice dummy portion. Most of his were of the flesh and bone variety "Ok so that one is for when they're trying to punch twice, and then you're making sure they can't throw more? It's kind of hard to visualize with the dummy.

Hearing Lucius come in, Nick turns his head, giving a smile. "Good Morning Lucius! I don't mind. Just don't go putting this on youtube." He gives a slight grimace.

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
     His attention moves to the new arrival and nods since Nick seems OK with it. He looks back to Nick and replies,"Practice slow a hundred times to learn a technique fast once." Considering he tells Nick,"Come in with the first punch, go slow for now and prepare the second to throw when you want to."

     The punch comes in and Duncan turns his opposite hand just enough to change the course of the punch, the other hand rolls through and pushes the attacking hand down and in....right into the path of the next punch while Duncan rolls the first hand through again and makes the slow wrist snap that stops just short of his cheek, body positioning off to the side and away from either punch.
     He smiles a little,"Following that you can drop hand to palm strike the groin and then then the left hand over to drop in the middle of the opponents chest." he explains,"Or you can kick out the weight bearing knee. Grab a handful of hair to drop them backwards because where the head goes the body follows."

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
Lucius Primus says, "Ooh, no worries, I'll make sure the videos go for a premium." he chuckles and watches as Duncan advises and teaches Nick. He nods with the instruction, "always options in any fight.""

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
There's something about knowing someone's going to mimic striking you that really dislikes sticking with the plan. It's very hard to override the instincts. But the benefit of it being slow is that he has time to process the hand coming towards the cheek. His eyes look to the hand closest to his cheek for a few moments before nodding. "Alright."

When released, he steps back, righting himself, hearing Lucius's commentary. "I like having options."

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
     Looking at Lucius, Duncan smirks a little at the comments. He nods when there is talk about the options. He letes Nick go and takes a step back,"Before we set up another technique for tonight I was wondering. Have either one of you heard of a guy calling himself 'The Punisher'? I have a little bit from the news, but I don't know what I trust there anymore."

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
Lucius Primus didn't know who that was but suddenly he gets the feeling of mix of dredd and also protection, an odd mix truthfully, he honestily shrugs, "Not certain heard things about the guy, not met him."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
At the inquiry regarding the Punisher, Nick's expression darkens as a firepower side chat comes to mind, "That guy is crazy. Don't EVER end up on his radar if you can help it."

The slowing frown deepens, "Why are you asking?"

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
     He shakes his head and admits,"I was following up on an antique purchase. It was shady to the point of stolen." he explains,"Apparently this Punisher character decided the crook needed dead."
     He sighs and admits,"I considered it, but there were too many other people under foot. Someone really should stop him in some ways."

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
Hero or Villian, if he's careless that's not good." He looks over Duncan, "Your a good trainer, must have alot of experience with your hands. Nick definitely sounds like he needs the help defending himself.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Hearing the explanation, Nick is feeling a bit uneasier. Considering what he found out. "Dammit." He mutters, frowning. Got to get ahead of this see what is being dealt with. "Ok. Um. Were you NEXT to the guy when the crook got dead, was your name mentioned at all around him, or is there a chance your name or address is going to end up on police reports involving this?"

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
There is a nod to Lucius and he replies,"Thank you. I've had some practice yes." He turns his attention back to Nick. He turns his attention back to Nick and shakes his head,"No. I was gone before the police arrived and there wasn't anything in writing. About the time I realized that the artifacts were stolen, The Punisher...Castle shot the man. We stared at each other for a while and had a brief exchange. He went his way and I went mine and the people that didn't run to begin with wouldn't look up to run for safety. I called 9-1-1 on a burner phone and made sure my tags were covered on the car until I was away from there."

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
Lucius Primus says, "Handle yourself well in a sticky situation too. From the stories Nick has been telling me, I think him meeting you might be a very useful thing.""

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick considers the information, giving a slight nod. "Ok, so long as there's no way he can track you." The frown remains. Dang it, he forgot to ask Angel to check the condo for weakpoints.

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
"I do well enough." Duncan admits to Lucias,"I was glad to help him out. I have a hard time with bullies." He looks to Nick and offers,"I'd say you manybe know more about him than most. I don't think he can track me no. He didn't seem to interested in me otherwise he likely would have shot me too." It's maybe a little unsettling the way he says that with little regard for getting shot."

Zeitgeist (Julius) has posed:
Lucius Primus looks to Nick, "Yeah, he seems to have little regards for people's health.. considering he probably feels himself judge, jury and executioner. At least that is what he tells himself."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"Yeah, you can say that again." Nick replies giving a half nod to Lucius's assessment. Before looking over to Duncan, "He's not all that great asking nicely for follow up questions to witnesses either."

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
Duncan smirks a little and shrugs, giving Lucius a wave as he goes. He turns his attention back to you and replies,"If be comes looking and there are no witness to look out for...he might find it a little less one sided. It's clear he's a violent man with military experience, but I do as well. It remains to be seen if he comes looking for me."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick nods. "Well, best I can tell you is that he apparently has a guy who can get into sealed and unsealed police records easily enough. And when he can't figure out things, he likes to ask questions at gunpoint and while holding a grenade."

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
He nods and assures Nick,"I'll be wary. If it get too hot I can go home. They follow me there I promise you I can turn the world on them." He shrugs and admits,"He made an interesting comment about...watching out for super powered people. He was something."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"Wait." Nick pauses, glancing to the door that Lucius went through, "What did he say on that?"

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
There is a shrug and he admits,"Basically he said the city is ripe with super powred types." He stretches his arms, back, and legs as he talks to you,"I didn't give him too much consideration. The man seemed unhinged and waiting to blow."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"Oh. A generic statement." Nick assesses, tone a bit disappointed, "Well, he's not wrong on that. There's a diner over in Mutant Town where the line cook is a living flame thrower. Plus you have superhero teams that are based in New York and there are probably more that aren't as publicly known."

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
"The Avengers and the like." Duncan comments,"There is a group from Canada as well, Alpha Flight. I have just never given it a lot of thought. It tells me he might be mindful of some of those "super power types" as he put it."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"Well, of course you wouldn't if you don't have reason to interact or fear interaction." Nick replies, "But if he was hinting you might want to be mindful, maybe there's someone with less restraint than him out there playing vigilante."

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
"There's always something worse than the other one. The universe puts something out there to counter the forces that overwhelm." Duncan muses,"If you're right I don't think either one of us wants to see it."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"No. Not really." Nick agrees, he sighs. "I've seen enough already and honestly it gets tiring. Seeing something worse than Punisher is laible to put me in a coma."

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
     "With all these super powered types around, how is it The Punisher continues to walk free?" he muses aloud,"I am guessing it wouldn't be easy, but someone that can't be hurt by bullets and explosions should be able to stop him. Maybe."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"Let me repeat." Nick starts, "He likes to ask questions at gunpoint and while holding a grenade. I will also add while located in a residential building with no vacancies when most everyone is asleep and the building is in a densely populated area. Do you want to be the super that makes him let go of that grenade?"

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
     "I'll keep that in mind." Duncan assures you,"Negotiations with a weapon. Never dull." He frowns as his phone buzzes and he walks over to get a look at it, see what is going on."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"Yeah." Nick replies, giving a slight nod, growing quiet as he looks to the training dummy. "...Ok I know that what's being trained here won't stop a bullet or keep a grenade from exploding but...I'd still like to continue." He glances to the immortal, "Shall we?"

Duncan MacLeod has posed:
     Tossing the phone back where it was Duncan nods,"Let's go a little longer yes. I have to meet someone in two hours, but we have time." He indicates the training dummy,"Try it and see how things progress."