Sergeant Moreno looked directly at Travis. "Trainee Miller, do you know how to fight?"
"Sergeant I've been in a few street fights and the like but I'm not formally trained."
"Well allow me to show you what you can do with said formal training. Oh and I already know what you can do so don't hold back."
With that, the instructor got into a well balanced stance and raised his hands up to head level. He stepped onto the mat and got in a similar position, the only difference being that his arms were considerably farther from his head.
Travis looked into the future seeing all the different paths sergeant Moreno could take. He was overwhelmed by all of the information. 'I'm looking too far, I need to dial it back to a few seconds' He thought. As he did, the overload stopped.
The instructor stepped in and threw a basic 1-2 which Travis dodged before counter attacking with a hook aimed at sergeant Moreno's chin. However the instructor just leaned back to dodge then jumped out of range.
"Impressive. For someone untrained you're holding up well Trainee Miller. Now let's turn up the temperature."
Suddenly the instructor stepped back into range, executing a front kick that Travis barely pushed to his right. The instructor used his forward momentum to immediately follow up with a brutal gut punch that Travis couldn't avoid.
As Travis doubled over in pain, the sergeant's left fist slammed into his jaw, immediately followed by an axe kick to the back of his neck that slammed Travis into the ground, leaving him dazed and out of breath.
"Trainees, this is the difference training makes. Even against an opponent physically superior to you, it gives you the tools to come out on top. Do you have any questions?"
Kiara spoke up. "Sergeant, whats the point of learning this when hand to hand combat is practically non-existent these days."
"Trainee Campbell, an excellent question, I'm sure you'd rather be with your companions on the range, however for you four, this is important. Unfortunately you won't be permitted to know why until after you graduate. What I can say is that the reason has to do with your assignment after you leave here."
Victor spoke up next. "Sergeant, will be be learning armed combat too or just hand to hand?"
"You will be learning both, however hand to hand will form the base for your armed combat skills, so for now this will be your sole focus."
Justin asked the next question. "Is there any specific weapons we will be training with?"
"There aren't any specifics Trainee Turner. You'll train with any weapon you have an affinity with."
The confusion was evident on his face. "Sergeant, what do you mean an affinity?"
"Any weapon you have the ability to grasp handling it without any intervention or training. Of course once you get to your units you'll hone these skills further and have the opportunity to train in weapons you don't have a natural affinity for, but in this class we will only be focusing on the ones that come naturally to you."
Travis, having finally regained the ability to breathe, sat himself up. "Sergeant, how did you do that?"
Sergeant Moreno smiled down at him, clearly pleased Travis showed a willingness and desire to improve. "Trainee Miller, your abilities are outstanding, however you lack the instinct that comes from experience. Once you have that instinct you'll find it much easier to use your abilities to their fullest potential. Any other questions?"
He looked around, but all four trainees shook their heads. "Good. Then trainee Gonzales, you're up next."
After about an hour or so of each of the remaining 3 getting thrown around like a rag doll. Sergeant Moreno gave each of them feedback.
"Gonzales, you're strong and your instincts are better than Miller's, but they still need work. You also have a lot of unnecessary movement that telegraph your attacks and waste time and energy.
Campbell, you're quick on your feet and your instincts are passable, but your punches lack bite and your constant second guessing leaves you open to attacks that shouldn't have an opportunity to hit you.
Turner, your basic foundation is good, but you don't stand out otherwise. Its like you learned the basics and then never tried to improve outside of that. Is that what happened trainee?"
Justin blushed out of embarrassment but didn't lose his bearing. "Yes sergeant. I took a few classes when I walked 8 but dropped it because I wanted to play soccer."
"Hmmm, well its good that you have a foundation. We can build off of that. Now everyone on the mat, even though Turner has the basics all of you will participate so we can hone your skills further."
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They spent the rest of the day(with a break for lunch and a water break every hour to hour and a half) learning the basics. Proper stances, how to fall, how to recover from said falls, and how to move. After that they learned how to use the chain of the body while striking, and proper form while striking.
They practiced over and over slowly drilling the movements into their muscles. When they were finally done, the sun was just starting to set.
Justin looked at the three of them. "Man that sucked, I hope its not like this all week."
Victor turned towards him "Shut up Turner, youre gonna jynx us dude. Besides at least you already knew most of it. You barely struggled unlike the rest of us."
Kiara put her hands on both of their shoulders. "Boys boys, save that energy for class. Lord knows we'll need it."
Finally Travis walked up beside Justin. "Come on, let's hurry to the DFAC. I don't know about you guys but im starving."
They ate dinner and turned in for the night praying that Justin was wrong about their futures.