Boxing 101

"And the winner, by knockout, Darren 'Spitfire' Nash!"

Darren wakes as the ring announcer call his name and realizes he was dreaming of his last amateur boxing match, 6 months ago in Chicago. He knows exactly why he dreamt of that specific fight; it was after that fight he had to flee the city when some major player in the criminal underworld lost a lot of money due to Darren's victory. He was hunted for days after as he was forced to survive before escaping the city and the dogs that were set on him.

Now, that same feeling had returned but this time, Darren wasn't alone and couldn't just up sticks and leave. He had a responsiblity to Aurelie and he wasn't going to leave her to fend for herself.

Moving through to the rest of the apartment, leaving Aura in the safety of her pitch black bedroom, Darren realised it was late in the afternoon and got himself some food, wondering what he should do. The sofa was still wedged against the front door and in the glare of the day's dying sun, everything seemed fine with the world but he did not want to drag it away just yet. Caution was a virtue, after all, he thought, or is it patience? Either way, he wasn't going to jeopordise the apartment's security by taking away its barricade.

So, a plan is needed for when Aura wakes and he needs to take her mind off of the events that shook her so deeply. Staring through to the training room where the punch bag hung, he knew what was needed for both of them and got to work setting up a training session for Aura.

Aura rises, wearing one of Darren's tee shirts as usual, yawning and stretching as she follows the noises he is making to the training room.

"Bonjour Darren," she smiles sadly, happy to see him but still worried because of the events of the night before.

"Good evening, precious," he replies, dropping some boxing gloves onto the floor and kissing her, giving her a hug in the process.

"How're you feeling?"

"I'm scared...But okay... We're safe here..." she murmurs, kissing him in return, "what are you doing?" she asks, trying to manage a smile for him.

"Well," he says, smiling back and motioning her towards the training room by taking her by the shoulders and giving them a gentle squeeze of enncouragment, "I thought we could take your mind off last night by going through some more basic boxing techniques. You game?"

"That actually sounds really good, let me change," she murmurs, going and putting on comfy work out clothes.

Watching her leave, Darren puts on a CD, the same one from the other night that was still in the tray, before moving through to the training room and grabs a jump rope, where he waits for Aura to return by performing a skipping routine.

She comes back, and watches him, then follows his lead, her feet light as feathers from Ballet, the exercise warming her up nicely.

After a few minutes, Darren stops feeling like his heart is starting to pump a bit faster and moves to get something from a carrier bag nearby.

"Here, I got you these the other day. I wasn't sure on the size, or the colour really, but they'll help from any training injuries. Although," he suddenly considers, "I'm not sure if you get injured. Just in case..."

Feeling a little embarrased, he passes Aura the bag.



Great, my first present to my girlfriend and I sound like a babbling idiot.

"I hope you like them."

She beams, "these are magnifique Darren thank you! Yes, we can get hurt, it is just easier to heal for us... Thank you!" she pulls them on, and looks rather adorable.

Relief rolls off of Darren as she slides them on and he helps with tieing them up.

"Ok, shall we get started?"

"Oui..." she smiles, kissing him once before they start and then looking ready.

Darren starts by taking her through the importance of her stance and movment from the waist; the elementary point of her power and speed.

Moving from there, he then teaches her some basic punches; the jab with the lead hand, the reverse-cross with the back, as well as hooks and uppercuts, each time focusing on using the body to deliver the most effecitv and efficient punch.

Putting it all together, he shows her some combination punches. Jab-jab-cross, jab-cross-hook, jab-hook-uppercut; each and everytime making sure that her technique is perfect.

"Remember,"he tells her, "train hard, fight easy. The more you put in here, in this room, the easier it will be if you ever have to use this on someone threatening you. Now," he says, smiling and putting on the focus pads, "lets work on that accuracy."

She gets rather good, her natural balance aiding her, the hardness of a fighter creeping into her eyes as she focuses hard and beats the crap out of the pads, getting stronger little by little, but having good aim, and is deadly efficient.

Stopping after an hour, Darren takes a sip of water and shakes his arms out as a dull ache starts to creep into them, making them feel like they are made from lead.

"Damn, Aura, nice shots. Before long, you'll be kicking my arse." He nods towards the heavy bag hanging from the ceiling.

"So, do you wanna have a go at that? Its got a bit more resistance than me."

She smiles, "yes I'll try a few on the big one," she turns, getting out her nervous energy helping a lot.

"So...Is it supposed to spin?"

He smiles at her.

"Only if you hit it wrong. You want to hit through the bag. Here, I'll stand behind it."

Bracing his shoulder on the bag so he was hidden from Aura with only his head on display, he says, "Aim for my body. That way you can get all your power out effectively, punching through the target rather than just tapping it."

She nods, catching on, and getting several good punches in before her arms are getting tired after nearly a two hour workout.

"Right, time for a break, I think," darren says, sweat running down his back as he takes of his tee shirt.

"You're a natural," he whispers, undoing her gloves and kissing her knuckles. "Any pain?"

"No...Your magnifique present protected them," she smiles, loving his sweet little gestures.

"I'm glad. Do you want to practice some more or do something else?"

"Hmmmm... I dont know... I could practice more, this at least is getting out all my nerves..." she nods.

"Sounds good, let me just go and grab another drink and I'll be back," he says, leaving the room, his voice fading as he goes. "You're wearing me out, hun."

She laughs, "I can just jump rope while you watch if you want. "

Coming back through, Darren takes a seat on the floor, sipping at some water.

"Watching you jump up and down for a few minutes? Sounds good to me," he laughs, winking at her.

She laughs, jumping rope and enjoying the burn of energy and effort it takes, realizing that maybe some of her depression was from not working out enough.

As Darren watches her, he becomes slowly hypnotized by her grace and how her body moves with such beauty. In fact, everything about her is perfect.

"How did I get so lucky," he says, not meaning to say it out loud.

She stops and comes over to kiss him soft and slow.

"You were perfect for me," she smiles.

Darren blushes despite himself and pushes himself to his feet, his bare cheat no longer heaving. He returns the kiss before carrying on.

"So, how about we work on your bobbing and weaving?"

"Sounds good," she smiles, loving his blushes.

Squaring up opposite Aura, Darren explains the idea behind this technique.

"The best way for a boxer to avoid being hit is to bob and weave, like this," he says, demonstrating. By bending his legs to change his height and using his waist to move his torso like a willow bending in the wind, Darren shuffles around pretending that he is dodging imaginary punches.

"Now you try. I'm gonna throw some jabs, nothing fast or heavy. Just move you body out of the way, using both your legs to change height and your waist to move your upper body. Hopefully, this will help in not being hit."

She remembers to keep her gloves up, dodging as best she can and slowly getting the hang of it.

"Cool, nice one. See, I told you that you'd be a natural; that ballet training is helping no end. Now," he says, "I want you to counter punch. That means, as your ducking and weaving, throw a jab out every now and again when you see an opening. Ready?" he asks before throwing his hands out, slightly faster this time, making her work harder.

"But what if I hit you!" she looks horrified at the thought.

"Then you hit me," he replies, smiling. "There's no point in this if you don't understand the feeling of actually making contact. Otherwise, you might as well be swinging at air."

Seeing the expression on her face, he lowers his gloves and holds her.

"Aurelie, I've been hit all my life and have come to expect it, its nothing new. You must know what it is like to hit somebody to really appreciate what you are doing. As I said," moving away from her to stance up, "look for the openings and see what happens. Its all about instinct."

She bites her lip, hating the idea of hurting him, but not wanting to be a whimp, she punches and dodges and weaves, sparring with him for the first time.

As they get started, Darren stands on the spot but after a few rounds, he starts to move around, making it tougher for Aura, who is having to shuffle with him, even mangaing to catch him a couple of times with some sweet body punches, his ribs reddening from the blows.

"Darren you are turning pink! I can't hit you unless you hit me back!" she pants.

"No. Won't hit you," he replies, the third hour beginning to take its toll on him.

"Hit me Darren dont make me command you I want to know what it feels like to get thumped." she says firmly.

"NO," he grimaces, still throwing leather.

"HIT ME! Just hit me in the stomach, I'm strong! Please Darren? My heart? Just a small thump." she begs.

He sighs and stops, exhaustion starting to settle in.

"I can't," he tells her, "I'm sorry, but I can't hit a woman. Its not right."

"Just lightly, so I wont be surprised if someone hits me and just collapse..." she begs.

"Ok," he concedes, not wanting to make her beg, it breaking his heart to do so. Picking up one of the focus pads he instructs her to hold it to her stomach.

"It'll take the sting out."

"Oh fine," she smiles, holding it and then holding still for him.

Bringing his fists up, Darren throws a simple reverse body punch to the pad, aiming for it rather than through it, pulling back upon impact.

"Oof!" she smiles, stepping back, "thank you, I know you didnt want to, but it lets me know what it will feel like if I ever get hit..."

"...."

"What? What's wrong!" she looks at him.