riverviewlogs | Catch-all post!

Osomatsu flinched when Ivar came near him with the knife. Hey, he knew what a knife was, at least! But he didn't know how to hold it properly, until now. He mimicked the movement without getting close to Ivar, but practiced the swiping motion.

"What other vulnerable areas are there?"

"Anywhere there's an opening. The eyes, nose, ears, and mouth are all good if you're aiming for the head. Don't try to aim for the throat right now. People generally block that on instinct, so you have to work to overcome their arm or own blade coming at you."

He flips the blade around in his hand with an ease that looks almost careless. The blade is now pointing downwards towards the pinkie finger. "This is the reverse grip. Sometimes people call it the ice pick grip. This is what you use if you want more power and to really drive home the blade. People tend to instinctively use this when panicked or really angry."

Osomatsu also flips the blade around, until he's copied Ivar's grip. He's fairly good about following instructions, at least when he's not lazy. He isn't really thinking too aggressively now, since there is no one in Riverview he wants to kill. But there are monsters outside the walls, right? It might be good to know these things in case one of them ever got inside the quarantine.

Which reminds him, "Oh, yeah, what do you do if an opponent is bigger than you? I'm pretty short..."

"I have the same problem." Being either in a wheelchair or on the ground, Ivar was at a distinct disadvantage in the height department when it came to his opponents. However, like everything else, Ivar had learned to overcome and adapt.

"Go for either the midsection, or if they knock you down before you have a chance to do that, stab at their ankles and lower legs. Bring them down to your height." He demonstrated the first move he was talking about. He really was going to stop using his student as the demonstration dummy, lest he give the poor man a neurotic complex.

Made sense, though, Osomatsu moves away again once Ivar's dagger gets too close. Stabbing a person in the ankles seemed like a great way to overcome adversity! He would remember that. Hopefully it worked against monsters, too. What about monsters that did not have ankles? Well, never mind that.

"Okay, what else?"

Oh, he was going to have a find job teaching (and corrupting) Osomatsu. "Now we get started on how to properly fight. Try to stab me." That hand that Ivar has his knife in hangs loosely down by his side, though the fingers remained curled around the handle.

He's not going to go easy on Osomatsu, but he's also not going to give him any unnecessary hardship. Ivar's gotten where he is in life by being the best at what he does and he intends to pass on what he knows.

Osomatsu looks a little nervous at the idea of trying to stab Ivar. Not because he thinks he can, but because he knows Ivar is going to kick his ass. He hesitates for several seconds, before finally settling on the fact that Ivar won't kill him. He thinks? He hopes!

And then he goes in to stab him in the face.

Ivar's hand moves without him ever taking his eyes off Osomatsu and his own knife. It comes upwards, blocking the blade before it ever reaches him. His other hand comes up and grabs Osomatsu by the wrist in an iron grip. His own blade comes up and rests lightly on the NEET's throat.

He lets it rest there for a moment before he removes the knife, letting it rest by his side again, blade resting against the inside of his wrist. "Alright. What do you think you did wrong?"

Um, wow! Ivar's knife was suddenly at his throat. Osomatsu gulps, trembling as the blade is pulled away from him. "Uh..." That's all he can manage at first. Then he tries to answer. "I... Hesitated. I was too slow." Actually, that was probably the least of his problems. His form was all over the place, and he wasn't taking it seriously because he knew he would lose right off the bat.

"That's part of it. You can't hold back during practice because it will make you hold back for real. If you've got something with lots of sharp teeth baring down on you, you're not gonna have time to think about what to do. You just have to react."

He wheeled over to where the knife had been flung and picked it up. "The other thing you need to do is make the blade a part of you. You're treating it like it's something different rather than an extension of your body. Pretend it's just another part of your hand or arm." He shows, in slow motion, a more fluid jab with the blade.

Then he gives the knife back to Osomatsu. "Now let's try again."

Osomatsu nods, taking the knife. He looks at it, trying to get a feel for it in his hand. He needed to treat it like it was part of his body, huh? After that, he aimed for Ivar's shoulder. He was a bit quicker this time, and looked like he was really trying.

Ivar waits to see how Osomatsu is holding the knife. He's pleased to see that the man can follow directions. Ivar has no patience for people who can't follow things designed to help them improve.

He deflects the blow again, but this time, he lets Osomatsu pull his knife away again. "Good! Now you're getting it better. But remember, aim for the soft parts of the body. Even if you hit the shoulder, there's a lot of bone and muscle up there. It won't injure someone very much and you might lose your blade. Try again and aim for my eyes." This was the point at which the 'Do Not Attempt This At Home. Trained Viking At Work' warning would flash across the TV screen if this was a show.

Ah, right. Well, Osomatsu was simply trying to see if he could get closer. He switches his grip and goes for Ivar's eyes this time, actually aiming to do some damage.

When Osomatsu comes at him again, Ivar is glad to see he's doing what he's been told. The jab is deflected, but this time, Ivar locks the blades together, pushing back towards Osomatsu with his own blade against his. As he pushes, he gives out instructions. "If your blade gets caught against another like this, there's only two ways to get out of it. One, you overpower your opponent enough to unlock the blade. Since you don't have enough upper-body strength for that yet--" Simple fact, Ivar's a lot stronger than the NEET. "--you have to slide your blade down and away quickly."

He demonstrates, pulling his knife down in a swift manner, leaving Osomatsu's blade there by itself for a moment. He turns the blade at the last second so he doesn't end up cutting Osomatsu's hand. "See? Now, you try." He places his blade back against his student's.

Osomatsu's learning a lot of cool techniques! He tries to do what Ivar does, but messes up the first few times. Either the blade stays locked, or he pulls away sloppily because he's not thinking of his blade as an extension of himself. But, about the fifth or sixth try, he gets it, successfully pulling the blade back and away from Ivar.

He blinks, amazed that he's actually doing this right. Well, Osomatsu prided himself on being a good fist-fighter (he's not, really), so it was just natural that he took to blades well.

"Alright, I think we're at a good stopping point for the first lesson. We're not moving onto any new techniques until you've refined the basics. What I want you to do over the next week is practice the stabbing techniques I've just shown you. Find a center like this one with a practice dummy and go for the vulnerable areas I've told you about. Remember, act like it's a part of your hand." He demonstrates the technique again.

Then his smile turns a little evil. "Or, you know, practice by just going after one of your brothers when they start to drive you crazy." Please don't. Ivar doesn't want to be interrogated by the police because the Matsunos all end up in the hospital.

Oh, Ivar is encouraging Osomatsu to stab his brothers. Careful, Ivar, don't give Osomatsu ideas. He laughs and tries to flip the blade through the air, but he gets scared of catching it wrong and lets it drop to the ground instead. Way to go.

"Thanks for the lesson!" he says as he picks up the dagger. He's just trying to gloss over the fact that he did something incredibly stupid. Oh, and payment! He's got cash that he hands over, too. "I'll be sure to practice on my brothers."

Oh boy. He's going to create a monster here, isn't he? Oh well. As long as he's paid, Ivar's got very little worry about Osomatsu testing out his skills on the other Matsunos. He takes the cash and tucks it into his pocket.

"Till next week then." Just to show off for a moment, he takes the blade in his hand, and with a casual flick, throws it through the air. It lands in a nearby dummy right between the eyes. A little taste of where one can get to with the proper training.

He's about to wave goodbye when Ivar shows off that trick, and Osomatsu stares at the blade sticking out of the dummy and shudders. "R-remind me to never get on your bad side!" He will be thinking about that all week... hopefully, he doesn't try to replicate it.

In any case, he holds up his hand in a wave, tucking his practice dagger into his hoodie pocket. He's tired now, but he'll probably practice later.

Catch-all post!

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