#in general; you want strong fingers with a flexible wrist and the weight coming from your elbow and shoulder rather than your arm

[thevalleyisjolly]

One side effect of studying piano pedagogy is that whenever I watch a show or movie or video where someone is sitting at the piano and they're supposed to be a relatively experienced musician, I am obligated to be insufferable about their hand and body position. Girl, how are you going to get the range of motion to play octave chords fortissimo when your elbows are glued to the side of your ribs. It's your knees that are supposed to be just under the edge of the keyboard, not your bench. Those fingers are just too flat for the scale passages that the soundtrack says you're playing. Is that a slouch-

[donald4spiderman]

Sweating, And A Lesson On Self-Worth

masterlist

Summary: Spencer finds himself falling for his NAT (new agent training) defensive tactics coach.

Pairing: SR x Fem!Reader *described as petite to give the illusion of assumed vulnerability when IRL she’s a badass— no other specific physical details are mentioned*

Category: Fluff

TW: Mentions of body image, general CM talk, mentions of fighting/grappling/wrestling, small age gap (reader is 28 & reid is 22)

concept inspired by @sierraraeck’s fic “Bad Liar” about Morgan training Spencer. I love wrestling so I wanted to do one about a badass female combat coach/agent.

REBLOG!

-

When Spencer and the rest of the trainees are ushered into the fitness center on their second day at the academy, he almost shits himself. He’s well aware of the physical demands being in the FBI requires, and he’s been dreading the PFT (Physical Fitness Test) since he applied.

There are hundreds of men and women huddled in the middle of the room, anticipating the orientation, and Spencer feels his palms sweat before he’s even started working out. The majority of the trainees are football players, wrestling’s, and weight lifters— he can tell by their muscular build and general atmosphere of strength and confidence.

SSA Jesse Fallon introduces their defensive tactics coach for the next twenty weeks— a petite but athletic woman. She’s dressed in a gray t-shirt and flexible khaki pants— Spencer would be lying if he said she didn’t look gorgeous, even in the bland attire.

“I’m SSA and defensive tactics coach (Y/N) (Y/L/N).” She introduces herself, giving a warm smile to the crowd. “I’ve been an SSA for five years and the head coach of this portion of the academy for two. This is my third official wave of trainees— and believe me— I won’t be going easy on any of you.”

Light laughter disperses through the crowd, and Spencer wears an uneasy look on his face.

“Today, I’ve prepped stations for each of you to cycle through for the next three hours. Agent Rivera is monitoring the weapon defense; Agent Glover is in charge of the takedowns; And I’ll be handling hand-to-hand combat and grappling. You’ll spend an hour at each station, run a mile at the end, and then you’re done for the day. Sound good?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Choruses through the crowd.

SSA (Y/N) clasps her hands together, “Alright, you know your groups. Split up!”

-

Spencer’s assigned to the takedown station first. Agent Glover’s criticisms are primarily nonconstructive, and Spencer struggles with apprehending and cuffing his more robust and much more muscular partner on the floor. He’s never trained this hard for anything in his life, physically, speaking. He’s half-dead within the first hour, and he dreads having to do this two more times.

His next stop is with Agent Rivera, who’s much kinder to Spencer than his prior. Reid is better at disarming his opponent, but his long limbs flail wildly due to his incoordination— he’s trying his best, but he sees the way everyone else giggles at him. It’s a blow to the chest that leaves him defeated more than any gunshot could.

The last hour is spent working at SSA (Y/N) (Y/L/N)’s station. She commands the attention of the entire group so naturally, despite being considered a rookie, she has an intimidating amount of knowledge.

“How many of you are wrestlers or judokas?” About sixty percent of the group raises their hand, and Spencer scans around for who might have the strength to kill him with one blow.

“Good,” She smiles. “This will come naturally to you, then. Now, a head-and-arm throw most likely won’t work in the field— so, sorry, judokas. However, double legs, body locks, and blast-doubles are constantly used to take down an unsub with minimal injury to the agent. Even someone as short as me can use leverage to grapple and control a much taller person.” (Y/N) scans the crowd of trainees for a moment before pointing directly at Spencer.

“You, come here.” She commands, and Spencer waddles nervously up next to her on the mat. “This is...”

He’s confused for a moment before realizing she’s asking for his name. “S-Spencer Reid.”

“Hi, Spencer.” She smiles. “How tall are you?”

“Six foot two.”

“Spencer has the advantage of almost a whole foot of height against me. But, I can use his higher center of gravity to tip him over more easily. We do this a lot in wrestling— being low to the ground and agile is important.”

(Y/N) firmly plants her hands on Spencer’s shoulder, moving him so that he’s turned to the side. “This move is called a modified blast double— it prioritizes attacking the ankles and knees rather than the knees and abdomen.”

She leans in closer to Spencer, “Don’t post your wrist out when you fall.” She whispers in his ear, sending chills down his spine. “Keep your neck tucked too.” Her breath is warm and minty, and Spencer almost forgets that he has 30 other people watching him.

“I’m going to simulate an active attack with Spencer. Doing this move in a wrestling match is much more controlled than against a rogue criminal playing by their own rules. They might have a melee or close-range weapon like a knife or hammer on them, so it’s important to make this move when the best opportunity strikes.”

“Spencer’s going to run at me and attempt to land a punch to my face.” She gives him a nod, and he chambers over to her.

Swiftly crouching lower to the ground, she launches herself towards him, gripping the back of his ankles and pushing her shoulder into his knees, and suddenly he’s flying back onto the mat. She follows through, straddling Spencer’s hips and covering his movements with an arm under his neck.

He’s out of breath as he watches the beautiful SSA leaning above him. His head is slightly sore from the impact, but overall he feels... invigorated.

“You never let your opponent fall onto the ground without covering them. Straddling your opponent allows you to keep them down while having full use of your fists.” She swings her leg off of Spencer, standing up. She reaches a hand out and quickly yanks him up.

“Find someone and drill that move. I’m coming around to help all of you.”

She gives Spencer a firm pat on his back, to which he blushes furiously, pulling his lower lip in between his teeth.

-

Spencer spent the rest of the hour getting slammed onto the mat over and over by various men and women. His entire shirt is soaked, and his breathing is so labored he thinks he’s going to faint. SSA (Y/N) (Y/L/N) might have appeared at ease earlier in the day, but she wasn’t kidding when she promised she would work them to no end. Everyone was at the brink of death when they approached the last lap of their mile— Spencer at risk of passing out more than others.

The relief he feels after completing his tenth lap around the gym is euphoric. Trainees collapse onto the ground with exhaustion all around him.

“Great job today.” SSA (Y/N) compliments happily. “I appreciate all the effort you guys showed today. It better still be here in four months.” And with that, she excuses them, along with the agents monitoring each station.

Spencer’s one of the last agents to trickle out of the gym. His legs feel like jello when he walks, and his lungs burn.

He almost makes it past the threshold of the door before his name is called.

“Dr. Reid.” She beckons him over with a finger. “May I talk to you for a moment.”

Spencer nervously shuffles over. “Yes, SSA (Y/L/N)?”

“I applaud your effort at training today. I can tell you were working hard.” He blushes. “But I’ve been informed that the board is willing to wave all physical training requirements for your acceptance into the FBI.”

“Yeah... I-I uh figured they’d want me for my IQ only.” He jokes nervously, shrugging his shoulders. He knows it’s disrespectful not to look her in the eye, but she intimidates him too much.

She laughs, and it’s a sweet, joyful sound that Spencer can’t get enough of. She’s powerful and radiant— stealing attention from everyone else. “You’re charming, and your reputation precedes you.”

Charming? Since when has little Spencer Reid ever been charming? He smiles awkwardly, looking off to the side to hide his blush.

“You know, the forensics department wants their hands on the trainee with the chemistry doctorate, and the surveillance department wants the kid with eidetic memory, and word has it that you speak more than four languages, so everyone wants their fair share.”

“W-why are you telling me this?” Spencer asks, voice shy and barely above a whisper.

“Because,” she places a tender hand on his shoulder, “You need to carry yourself with more confidence, Spencer. I saw you— surrounded by all those athletes— it made you feel out of place. I get it.”

“How d-do you get it?”

“I was 23 years old when I became an SSA, surrounded by people two decades older than me. I felt like the office secretary— constantly getting pushed around by people I was afraid to upset. But the thing is, Spencer, you need to demand respect from other people. I’m not saying you need to be arrogant or be a bully, but you are one of— if not the most promising agent trainee— and you need to realize your self-worth.”

“I’m smart, I-I know that. But I’m not strong or athletic by any means.” He sighs, gripping the duffle bag slung across his shoulder tightly.

“That’s alright. You’re not going to be Kyle Dake overnight. But you can’t beat yourself up about it.” (Y/N) chuckles lightly.

Spencer thinks for a moment, “T-thank you... for uh saying all those nice things about me.”

“They're true.” She nods.

“I think I’ll continue with the defensive tactics training. I could um use it.” Its partially true, but he’s most inclined to stick around because of the kind and beautiful SSA that’ll be training him.

“Yay! That’s great, Spencer.” She cheers, wrapping him in a hug that’s a little too friendly to be professional. He accepts despite being drenched in sweat.

Her arms are wrapped tightly around Spencer, and she pats him on the back twice before pulling away like a proud mentor would. He can’t decide if (Y/N) would be a better girlfriend or a better teacher. If she would, he’d prefer for her to be both. He’d give her all he had to offer if she’d allow him.

He doesn’t recognize the smile that plays on her lips, and it’s a foreign feeling for the aggressive and focused SSA. She hasn’t felt something like this in a while, especially not for a nerdy trainee named Dr. Spencer Reid.

“Hit the showers.” She teases. “You stink.”

Spencer nods furiously, “Y-yeah, of course. Thank you, again, SSA—“

“Just call me (Y/N).”

“T-thank you, (Y/N).” He smiles, scurrying out of the gym and into the hallway as giddy as ever.

(Y/N) knows she can’t pursue this— at least, not right now. She’ll give it a few years to let him settle in the FBI (his acceptance is inevitable) if she can be patient for that long. All she knows is that eventually, she wants the awkwardly adorable boy to be hers— and she wants to be his.

i’m so proud of this fic but sry i got carried away talking about wrestling i love it sm

[starkerkeyz]

Don’t Touch Peter Parker.

More SIM!Tony! I love him! Set in my SIM soulmates au 💖 Still dedicated to my starker bestie and awesome person that I love so much, @cagestark

Warnings; Murder, explicit violence, blood, NFF, D/s, SIM!Tony killing everyone that moves basically

.

The whole world knows Tony Stark has a soulmate. 

Nobody but Tony and Tony’s close and trusted associates (and Peter’s friends MJ and Ned) know who his soulmate actually is. Tony refuses to disclose Peter’s name to the press. Not until Peter allows Tony to create an Extremis formula that would work with his altered spider DNA. 

After tonight, Tony is going to have to rethink this strategy.

He repulsor blasts the guard on the left. His aim is iffy -the man’s upper torso disintegrates off center- but he’s cranked up the energy output with his seething anger so it’s a moot point. It’s just a little messier taking out part of the heart, anyway; now there’s blood everywhere and the guard on the right is about to scream. 

Tony snaps his hand forward, quick as a cobra, and grabs him by the jaw. He stares with mounting impatience and disgust into the rolling whites and blown, fear filled pupils. He reminds himself not to crush the bone beneath his hand to powder if he wants an answer. 

“Where. Is. My. Soulmate.” 

-

Tony likes to take time to admire his baby boy. He’s like a work of fine art that only Tony gets the pleasure of seeing. The party is starting in 20 minutes and Peter’s suit is carefully unbuttoned and spread open for him.

The placement of Peter’s soulwords between those sensitive nipples was divine. The words, colored in Tony’s signature silver and blue, were exquisite. The vibranium cuffs holding his enhanced soulmate’s wrists together, arms forward and framing the ‘Yes, Sir’ that started it all, made Peter look deceptively small and fragile. 

“Please please please please-”

A hand pulls on the cuffs, yanking the boy off his knees and onto his belly. Tony lets go and grinds his boot down into the small of Peter’s back, watching his thighs quiver open with a mewl as he’s pushed. Peter otherwise holds still, ready and waiting, letting Tony bend his body and manipulate him any way he wants. He’s flexible and strong enough to take whatever the man wants to give him. Best of all, he wants to take it.

Each rough twist of the nano armor boot drives Peter’s cock into the floor of the lab space they’ve commandeered and he knows he’s leaving a wet spot. The vibranium cuffs are pulled while the boot remains on Peter’s back and soon he’s pinned down with his arms stretched out in front of him, soulwords sensitive against the floor and hardened nipples rubbing into the cold tiling. 

Peter looks above his head; Tony had a spare serpentine cord of his nano tech controlling the cuffs and subsequently Peter’s arms, now. The Endo-Sym armor creeps down to pet at his wrists. It flows around and under the vibranium, testing out the give and the space, more than likely making sure it fit to Tony’s exacting standards. The thoughtfulness hidden beneath the possessiveness makes Peter smile, throat warm and hot in the back.

“Please what, sweetheart?” Tony leans over his knee like he’s surveying his work. Peter groans and then squirms his hips against the floor, Tony’s boot pinning him in such a way that he’s able to grind his dick into the tiles. Tony chuckles, low and dark, and grinds down harder. “You’re so horny for my cock you’ll hump the floor. Too bad you didn’t answer me.”

The nano tech pulls Peter up by the arms before he can scramble to answer and rectify that. The silver Endo-Sym armor holds him in place. Peter’s head swims from the abrupt change in angle and the lack of friction on his cock. 

Tony steps in front of Peter then and grips him by the chin. The silver tendril separates the two cuffs and reconnects them at the small of Tony’s back, cuffing Peter to the older man. Peter licked his lips, looking up at Tony through his lashes. 

“Please, let me have your cock, Daddy.” His hands grip fistfuls of Tony’s suit jacket but he doesn’t try pulling the man closer. Instead he shifts himself forward, nuzzling into his soulmate’s tented slacks. 

“What good manners for a needy boy.” Tony grins down at his slutty boy. He shifts; grabs Peter by the jaw now and flicks the button to his slacks with his free hand. He pulls his cock out and watches the way Peter’s lips part and his eyes fixate on the familiar length of it. “Good boys should be rewarded.”

Peter waits for it, mouth open. He knows better.

Tony tightens his grip on Peter, forcing his jaw lower. He swipes his thumb across his soulmate’s lower lip tenderly. Then he slides his cock in only enough for the cockhead to rest on Peter’s lip.

“Such a good boy for me, sweetheart. So patient even when you’re so thirsty for it.” Tony’s other hand is stroking himself. Pre-cum dribbles down his crown and paints Peter’s lip. Tony tightens his grip in warning when Peter’s tongue tries to flick out for a taste. “Wait for it. This is your reward for not answering me.”

He cums across Peter’s waiting tongue without ever letting him feel or take more of his cock than that one little touch at his lower lip. He pulls back before he’s begun to soften and forces Peter’s mouth closed with the hand on his chin. His eyes flare blue as the Endo-Sym collar slithers and tightens around Peter’s throat. 

“Swallow.” Tony orders. He watches Peter’s Adam’s apple bob and feels it through his psionic link with the collar at the same time. Tony’s dick twitches valiantly. He’s going to need to bring Peter to work and cuff him to Tony’s lap again; but this time under his desk. He’ll get him a pillow and let him rest his head on Tony’s thighs in between loads. 

“Think about how you could have been tasting my cock tonight.” Tony pushes his calf against Peter’s groin and feels how hard he is. He smirks down at the boy and pulls back just as Peter’s hips start pressing forward for more. “Think about how you could have gotten off against my leg just now. Think about the taste of me at the back of your throat when you’re speaking in front of all those people and sipping those cocktails tonight, baby. Because when we get home, I want you to tell me all about how hard it makes you to blow me right before giving a speech to powerful politicians and rich socialites alike.”

-

Tony reaches out and with a flick of his wrist he decapitates the man who dared touch his Peter Parker. The filthy mongrel lost any chance at redemption when he chose to lay a finger on Tony’s soulmate. 

He’s found the cell -a cell! His soulmate, kept in a cell!- and taken care of the three men and single woman posted outside indiscriminately, save for the man who physically touched Peter. The other three were merely hit with a repulsor blast to the heart. 

With the hallway cleared he breaks past the lock and finally lays eyes on his Peter. He’s hugged moments later by Peter jumping and clinging easily onto the sleek silver and blue Endo-Sym armor, all four limbs wrapped tightly around Tony. 

“You’re covered in blood.” Peter doesn’t stop hugging him. The hospital gown they’ve kept him is thin and doesn’t hide his shaking or how naked he is beneath it. Tony grips Peter by both hips and hauls him up until Peter wraps his legs around him and has to use his spider strength to hold onto Tony’s metal sides. Tony squeezes him in close, unwilling to let him go so soon. 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I had to go through a few people to get to you.” Tony looks at Peter fondly, just holding him and drinking in the sight. He’s unable to resist the urge to run the bloodied fingers of his gauntlet through Peter’s hair. The armor is hard and sleek between Peter’s slender thighs. Tony’s always loved the size difference between himself and his soulmate and being fully suited up while Peter is wearing basically nothing exacerbates the contrast.

He watches Peter settle his weight and lean into Tony’s hand. His eyes close with a flutter and unconsciously Peter started rocking; grinding himself against Tony’s stomach armor. The silver Endo-Sym plating is quickly getting red smears all over the blue of the hospital gown. Tony leans in and kisses Peter, one bloody gauntlet still holding him by the hair as the other snakes around to his ass. 

“You shouldn’t- oh, oh...you shouldn’t kill people…” Peter bites at Tony’s mouth in reproach. It’s a topic they’ve disagreed on since it became apparent. It doesn’t stop Peter from rolling his hips more openly when Tony starts leading him with the hand squeezing appreciatively. 

“I’ll kill anyone who touches you without your permission.” Tony says, low and dark. He thinks about the security footage of the man’s hand wrapped around Peter’s wrist. He thinks about the severed head he left in the hallway, several body lengths apart from its neck. He thinks about the blood shining on Peter’s skin wherever he's touched his soulmate.

He knows he’d do it again.

“I can...I can…I.” Peter’s head tips to the side and Tony pauses, looking into his eyes. They’re blown and hazy; more so than they were just five minutes ago. Unnaturally so. He likely hasn’t eaten or drank anything on top of whatever drugs the dead men seem to have slipped him. 

“I’m taking you home, sweetheart.” Tony decides for the both of them. Peter tightens his thighs and whines, kitten soft, against Tony’s throat. 

“Please, Daddy, can I...I’ve thought about you...about your cock and your...taste at the back of my throat. I’ve been good.” Peter’s whining and slurring and he can’t stop humping against Tony’s Iron Man suit. His level of coherency keeps coming in and out. Whatever they gave him isn’t reacting right with the altered DNA. Instead of knocking him out or generally subduing him, all it’s done is make him feel high and uncoordinated and unbearably horny. 

“Take what you need, baby. I know I promised you my leg but you can cum this way too, right? For me?” Tony says as he starts walking out of the massacred compound. He keeps talking to his young soulmate as they go. Peter doesn’t notice the bodies or the carnage with his eyes closed in pleasure, hanging on Tony’s every praise and command. 

“Daddy, I wish I...I could feel you. Right now.” Peter tightens his legs again but this time he forgets himself and nearly dents the armor. Tony flicks his eyes to the warning display only he can see and smiles wickedly at the load out. His baby boy is ridiculously strong and at the thought of how much pressure he exerted to make Tony’s armor warn about impending damage? 

Tony wishes he could be inside of Peter right now, too. 

“Later, sweetheart. When we’re home. For now, you’ll have to wait; or you can get off rutting against my armor.” Tony squeezes Peter’s ass and kisses his neck lightly. The armor groans around him and alarms blare at the corners of his eyes as Peter clamps down and bucks.

“Daddy, please, please; yes! Thank you. I’ve always. Always wanted to fuck this armor.” Peter babbled, high and riding Tony like they were already home safe and sound and not miles from civilization in the place he’d been kidnapped. Tony ignores the alarms going off across his psionic link and kisses Peter again.

He feels Peter’s physical strength pressing in on him, challenging the armor and pushing his tech to the limits. His cock lengthens in his pants at the same time the metal around his ribs warps enough to leave bruises. 

Peter creams the torn hospital gown and Tony’s armor without needing any more stimulus than Tony’s voice in his ear and Tony’s body beneath his cock. He lets out a soft sigh and nuzzles under his soulmate’s chin, eyes closed in bliss. “Thank you, daddy.”

“Any time, sweetheart.” Tony looks down at his baby-boy with a small smile. He wipes a smear of blood off Peter’s forehead and then kisses his temple. Tony’s eyes flash blue but his words stay gentle in tone. 

“I’ll always protect you, Peter Parker.”

[doflamingadonquixote]

I Won’t Say Anything-Pt. 2/3

Warnings: TROS SPOILER, Torture, Soulmate AU Summary: You are a member of the Resistance. You’re captured by the First Order while you are waiting for information from the spy. Pairing: Armitage Hux x Female!Reader Words: 2662 Part 2 of 3

From the day you were treated and reinvigorated, Armitage Hux never entered the prison where they kept you.

In fact, you didn’t even know why they kept you there. You were no longer of any use and they hadn’t even bothered to torture you to get the information anymore. They had abandoned you there, in total silence, fed by a machine that pumped the food your body needed in your veins. Fortunately they had taken medical measures to keep you from having a constant need to go to the bathroom.

You had had so much time to think about the visions you had about the general that you almost hated the torture that had stopped. At least those could have distracted you from all those harmful flashes.

Would you die there? On that First Order ship, thinking about the general who destroyed so many lives?

But one day, just as you thought about it, the door swung open after so long that it was closed and a large hairy beast was pushed by 7-8 stormtroopers.

“Chewbacca!” You shouted, trying hard to get noticed by the Wookiee.

As the beast asked you what had happened to you, the kick of a blaster stuck in your stomach making you almost vomit. Too bad you had nothing in your stomach.

“Shut up, scum.” The soldier who had just hit you shouted, going away to help his cronies to chain Chewbacca.

When they disappeared, the Wookiee made you aware that you had been gone for over a month now. They didn’t talk about outside matters and situations but just how his family, Commander Leia and all his other companions were doing.

In addition, Chewie seemed 100% confident that his companions would rescue him at one point or another.

With Chewbacca’s presence, General Hux’s visits increased. Until then, you had believed he had been discovered and executed on the spot since you hadn’t even heard of him from the guards anymore. And instead, with what you hoped wasn’t relief, you had seen him come in through that cursed door with his usual hate-all-galaxy frown and his hair pulled back without a tuft out of place. It looked like a robotic clone.

You had seen him throw you furtive looks from behind his holopad because you always had your eyes glued to his person, as if he expected you to do or say something but then, as if nothing had happened, he went away silently accompanied by the guards.

You didn’t know what to expect from a man so evil that he had briefly sided with the resistance and you wanted to ask him wholeheartedly if he knew what had happened in the previous days. But you were afraid that if he had really been on your side, asking him indiscreet questions, the First Order might have become suspicious.

So you thought of a clear solution that would not arouse suspicion.

When Hux entered the next day with the holopad already in his hands, ready for a new investigation with Chewie, you anticipated it before he started asking the usual questions that the Wookiee didn’t answer.

“I’m sorry, General, but I need a bathroom”

He turned instantly, frowning at that ambiguous request. He approached a holo that your prison was connected to and typed something you weren’t able to see in the position you were forced to.

“The flow systems don’t report anomalies. You shouldn’t need it. ”He said as he scanned the machine data.

You snorted, annoyed. “Blast, I’m little sick and I need to clean myself up”

At that curse, the General turned the machine over until he was in front of you. An angry and knowing expression on his gaunt face. “You owe nothing here, scum.”

You widened your eyes in disbelief. Was he really the spy you saw in your mind?

“However, I’m sure it would cheer up my stormtroopers if the prisoners smelled less.” He grinned as the laughter of the two soldiers behind him echoed behind those white helmets.

You looked down, irritated and embarrassed by the general’s offensive joke but didn’t venture to express anything more than the request previously posed.

The soldiers freed your wrists from bonds but before you could sigh with pleasure to have your wrists free, another pair of handcuffs forced your hands together and in front of you. Well, at least you could have relaxed the muscles and shoulders that had ached from being pulled back.

You all walked silently along a long corridor, passing many automatic doors and wondered how you would have managed to escape even for a stroke of luck. There were too many codes, one longer than the other.

“Stay guard the door.” Hux ordered the two stormtroopers, opening the door, also closed by a code, for you. He invited you to enter before him and then had the door closed behind him.

You took a few steps away, letting your gaze flow over all possible corners and hiding places. Apparently, the Order seemed to respect some of its employees’ privacy, there were no cameras in there.

The bathroom was large with at least 15 bathroomstations and sinks. Approaching one of them, you put your hand under the sink and it ran warm water to the right place on your hand. You sighed. It has been a long time since you have felt the water flow between your fingers.

In D’Qar you used to find all the streams and let yourself be cleaned by their crystal waters.

The general cleared his throat with a strong fake cough, making you jump on the spot. You almost forgot about his presence.

“You have already been granted momentary freedom. I wouldn’t waste the time at your disposal to make nostalgic thoughts. ”He warned you, with a slight smile that danced on his pink lips. Why did he have to have pinker lips than yours? And above all, why did you have make those observations?

You shook your head to free yourself from careless thoughts and looked at him with all the hatred you had reserved for a long time.

“It’s because of you that I have been captured by the First Order. I was waiting for your kriffin information.” You raised your voice slightly in anger and the General looked over his shoulder, taking a threatening step towards you.

“Be quiet! Are you crazy, woman? ”He hissed, wringing his hands with his eyes wandering in all directions.

You leaned forward, spitting a boot near him but he didn’t seem to give us much weight.

“I don’t know why you are helping the Resistance but it’s clear that you aren’t on our side. The First Order will never win because the loyalty of the galaxy is all in our support!” You rang the metal handcuffs against that of the sink, as if to tread your words and then you turned to the mirror above the sinks.

Hux rolled his eyes, aware of how blatant the rebels were, and indicated with a gesture of his arm the position where you were already positioned. “I hope so for you. For now, just give yourself a clean instead of stating the honors of the rebels. ”

Swallowing to avoid retooling it again and, taking a black cloth attached to the nearby wall, you ran it under the hot water until the basin was filled.

You tried to take off your shirt with various desperate maneuvers and you started to blush when at the umpteenth attempt you almost risked falling to the ground, accompanied by the general’s irritating giggle.

“You could always ask for help, after all …” he shrugged, while lifting your head to look at him. “A please, General would be enough”

You growled, continuing your work. “Yes, you’d like.” When you managed to pull the shirt lightly over your neck so that the flexible cuffs allowed you to catch it, you stopped. Although your vision was now covered in dirty material, you felt the General’s eyes on you like never before.

“Could you not look at me while I’m naked?” You asked, without being able to imagine what the man was doing.

“Do you think I am stupid enough to turn my back on you? I didn’t become a general by being stabbed in the back. ”He seemed to have said the most obvious thing in the world, that bastard.

Grumbling annoyed, you were the one who turned your back on him completely and pulled the shirt off, dropping it into the sink next to what you had already filled.

With your bare back in the service of the General, trying not to blush as much as possible, you began to pass the black patch along the body, using both hands tied together.

Behind you, Armitage Hux was watching your dark bruises and the wounds born of scuffles and fights. Without the proper care you had not been able to cure it as you should but the serums that had passed on you had worked to keep you standing.

He couldn’t believe, as he looked at you, that you were his soulmate. Of many stormtroopers, officers and generals at his service over the years it had to happen with a girl who was arrayed with the New Republic.

He wanted to be sure, he wanted to be sure he was tied to you.

With a silent rustle, he took off the glove of his right hand, and while you were busy cleaning up the dirt that had been crowding for days, he advanced until he was a whisker away from you.

Given the silence and the slight buzzing of your sixth sense, you turned your head in half so that you could look behind you but without turning completely and you found Hux’s white hand a few millimeters from the skin of your shoulder.

Before Hux could only realize it, a punch hit his cheek followed immediately afterwards by a kick which he fortunately managed to grab in midair. You found yourself with one leg trapped in his hands, not worrying at that moment about finding a bare chest in front of the man, and fight for your balance.

Inevitably, your eyes fell on the blaster that they assigned to the high-ranking members alongside Hux and giving a strong stroke of the kidneys, you managed to free yourself from the grip and with the adherent hands between them you went to catch the holster assured to the general’s life.

He grabbed you by the shoulder as support yourself and prevent you from going away with his weapon and with that contact it was as if your body refused to fight him. However, after biting inside your cheek, with a new well-placed kick you sent him with his butt on the ground.

When the fight ended, looking up, Hux crossed the barrel of his gun a few centimeters from his face and your face victorious and determined despite your nakedness in the wind.

You were angry, weak and upset for the moment he touched you.

“You are an animal!”

Hux gritted his teeth. “I didn’t want to do anything to you.”

“I don’t believe you.” You load the blaster, hoping that the guards outside the door won’t hear anything.

“I just wanted to make sure of something!” He looked exhausted as he stared helplessly at the weapon against him.

“What? What should you understand by touching me with those hands stained with the blood of billions of innocents?” You attacked him.

The general let the arrow fly over. If he had the audacity to tell you that you were not innocent either, since you had killed his soldiers and shortly thereafter, he would certainly have only decreed his end. So he focused on another thing.

“You didn’t realize it, didn’t you?”

“What are you talking about?”

Hux tried to get up but with the push of his blaster on his thin chest he dropped to the ground. “Don’t move, monster!” You dazzled, blind with anger and fear. When would he call his guards for help?

“You will understand what I say only if you let me show you.” Irritated, all his weight on his arms peeks out on the ground. He hated being thrown to the ground. In addition, in a bathroom. “Have you ever heard of soulmates?” He continued.

“People united by the Force …” and you realized what he wanted you to understand. “But it isn’t possible. They are only legends.“

“Force was also a myth. Yet it seems to be clear and real now. ”He ironed. He is definitely referring to Kylo Ren and Rey. “We are united in the Force.”

“You are wrong! The Force would never bind me to a heartless monster like you! “You were screaming excessively and your time was running out. What would have happened then?

“However mutual the feeling is, this is the situation. I was certainly not waiting for a rebellious brat to become my soulmate. ”He allowed himself to be supported by the wall to return to his feet on his long legs and be able to look at a level that belonged to him.

“This doesn’t change anythings. You’re still a First Order general and I’m still a Resistance fighter. We are enemies.” You shook the gun, as if to tread the fact. “I should kill you here and now.”

Hux grinned. “And eliminate the spy of Resistance and your escape from here?”

While you were thinking about it, his hand raised so fast that you don’t even have time to put your index finger on the trigger. He grabbed your wrist and pushed you against himself, where you had no chance to escape. Your arms were held high by his hand and your figure collided with his. The fabric of his black jacket clashed against your bare chest and you shivered. But what shocked you most was the feeling of well-being, the rhythm and the security that Hux’s body emanated.

Despite being a First Order general, despite destroying your home planet and killing billions of people, you felt totally comfortable as he gently brushed the inside of your wrists under the signs that had left the handcuffs.

Hux seemed to contemplate you as if he had just caught a prey to bring to the ember. The red-hair wasn’t strong but he was tall and enough to allow you to turn over in his hands as if you were made of clay.

He changed positions and pushed you against the surface of the door very carefully. The cold metal burned a contact with the skin of your back and you moaned, biting your tongue immediately afterwards.

Armitage seemed to bask in your terror and in your powerlessness but dared not look down from your red-hot eyes, assets of revenge and full of betrayal. The physical well-being that the contact with your skin was giving him was making him crazy.

When he lower his head to your face, you move aside, preventing any type of contact from him looking for and closing your eyes.

At that reaction, Hux came to his senses and let you go as if you were hot iron, taking his weapon with him.

To kill the silence that had been created while you looked at him stunned, the general positioned himself in front of a closed toilet and looked ahead.

“Continue what you were doing. I won’t watch.“ He seemed tense all of a sudden.

It took another 10 minutes to clean up and once you were done and dressed, you approached the general and patted him on the shoulder.

"You can take me back there.”

Hux nodded but as he approached the door he murmured something that sounded like an apology. But you weren’t sure. However, you felt his sense of unease.

“Hux!” The man turned, surprised by your voice. “Thank you.”

Armitage had nothing to say. He simply turned and disappeared as the two stormtroopers escorted you back to your prison. --------------

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[samanthaswords]

This is a 1.5-hour workshop on swordsmanship mechanics, using lightsabers or straight sticks with no crossguard.* I taught this for the Bangkok Brotherhood of Historical Fencing, a HEMA group based in Thailand. To jump straight to the class, go to 6:54. This is part 1 of 2 workshops, the second is coming soon!

For those wishing to take part remotely in the workshop, I've included the whole session, unedited (except for free sparring at the end). A full transcript is attached below.

*The choice to use lightsabers to teach medieval swordsmanship was due to weapon-carry restrictions for the fighters getting to and from the workshop using public transport in Bangkok, so we used lightsabers and incorporated that into the class content.

I do address lightsaber-specific mechanics, but the majority of what I teach in the class is useful for general swordsmanship.

Thanks for watching!

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

(Thai language) Sawat-dee ka

Samantha: Cool. We're going to warm up our lower backs.

Chanon: Is this from N7?

Samantha: Yeah!

Nick: She has the jacket as well.

Chanon: Go Shepard.

Samantha: Thank you. So, we're going to reach. Reach, and punch just to your lower left... and your right... this exercise is for your lower back. What I'm warming up is these muscles here. So don't worry so much about the punch, just think about loosening up. As you get more flexible you can turn more and more. Relax. Fingers. I want to start warming up my thumbs. Just rotate them. And turn to the next finger. Next finger... and then last finger... then back in the other direction... back in the other direction... thumb... and keep the momentum going, but now we're going to do this. Just slow, controlled motions, all you're doing is loosening up your arms, getting the control in your hands. Getting your mind in your hands. Now bring your arms just up to your elbow. Change direction. Now bring the movement smaller. Still rotating. Now bring it back to just your forearms. Just your wrists. This is a really good one to do first thing in the morning. Back down to your thumbs. Just your thumbs should be moving. Next finger. Next finger. Next finger. Back in the other direction. Next finger. Nice. Now, shake it out.

(general conversation)

Now, this is a balance exercise, it focuses on the balance and not so much on the weight -- . So, pick a spot on the opposite side of the room that is fixed- not a person that's moving. If you stare at it, you should find that your balance is better. Another thing that you can do to keep your spine fixed is to have your hands here, -- grips. Now imagine a line going from below your feet up through your head, drawing your spine up. You can change your knee at any time.

Relax guys.

Okay, down- feet parallel, facing forward. And this is just loosening up your hips, so we're going from side to side. If you don't feel a stretch, widen your stance. You should feel it through your ankles, your hips. Try and keep your upper body upright, don't bend your spine like this, try to keep- like you're riding a horse. So your lower body's moving, but your upper body's straight. Unclench those butt cheeks. Nice. And now, on the end of the movement, when you reach one side- turn, and come back. Other side- turn, and come back. Turn- and back. Turn, and come back. If you're not flexible by the end of this, then I can't help you. Feel the stretch? Good.

Alright, cool. Shake it out, guys. Let's pick up some sabers.

(murmuring and general discussion)

So. I'm going to treat this workshop as a way to learn swordsmanship. It's also light sabers, but it's also teaching the mechanics of swordsmanship. So everything that I'm going to present will be helpful for tomorrow as well. The first thing that I want to say is that when the lights are on, let's treat it like it's actually a sharp sword. So I'm not going to be doing that sort of thing. When it's off, I'm going to treat it like it's sheathed. So that's my protocol, and that's my way of practicing for using sharp weapons, by being mindful of when the blade's on. For you guys (with shinai) I don't mind. Sharp all the time, if you want. Cool. So. What I'll be teaching is nothing to do with forms. There are seven to eight forms of lightsaber, but what I'll be teaching can be used within those forms, it's all mechanics of the body. You can use it with any speed, you can use it with any power. But it's really fundamentals and basics that set you up for a good fight. Okay? Cool.

So, it will probably be covering a lot of things that you do already know already. But hopefully it will put it together in a way that makes your swordsmanship better.

The first thing: the goal of the fight.

(8 mins 12 seconds)

The goal of the fight is control of your opponent, and not being manipulated by them. So. All of us are basically very simple creatures, we're a big tube, hinged on a spine. And if you can manipulate that spine, you can manipulate the rest of the body. Especially the head. The head is on top of the spine, and you move someone's head, even if you just get their attention, you take their attention away, you're moving the whole of their body. And the same is true in swordsmanship, so if I was to approach Nick, and I was to make him think that I was going to attack him here, I've manipulated him because I've forced him to think about this side of his body. So immediately he's turned to protect that side of him. So in that very simple action- I haven't even touched him- I'm manipulated and controlled him. So the goal is, when you're fighting, to be able to maintain control of yourself and still defend against someone. And the way you do this is basically by offending and defending in the same motion, which you know from German swordsmanship. And what I mean by that is always creating an offence to your opponent. So, if Nick were to strike to me- instead of blocking upright like this- which really has no threat to Nick- I'm going to change my angle so that he now has something to think about. See the difference?

Slightly tilted?

Exactly. It's all in the angles. Something I like to do is I like to think of the tip of my sword – whatever sword I'm using, whatever weapon I'm using- I think about there being a magnet, to the middle, the core of the other person, so whenever I'm fighting them, the tip of my sword is always trailing, back towards them. See what I mean? Instead of – bringing it back here. There are sometimes when I do have to take my sword away, but I'll try and manage my distance, so that it's safe. So if I am going to bring my sword out of play, I've got the time to come back in. So I wouldn't do that if we were here, I wouldn't come out here- exactly. Thank you.

So, when you're working with a sword, or whatever – whatever weapon you're using that's going to be sharpened, I think it's different with stick (fighting) forms. But if it's a sharp weapon, just try to always think about a magnet into the core of your opponent. And I'll come back to this a bit later.

The other thing is managing your own structure. So- depending on how fast you're moving, if you're doing a lighter, faster style, then what I say can be taken with a grain of salt, but the way that I like to fight, I like to keep my body more upright, like I mentioned before, while we were warming up, like riding a horse. So the lower part of my body is moving, but the upper part of my body, my spine- is keeping straight. So even when I lean forward, see the angle of my spine, it's actually quite straight. And the difference between having it straight or having it loose-- – so that's having curvature in the spine. So you don't have to be upright-upright, you just have to have a straight spine. The reason for that is you get a lot of power from your spine. Your body- you might have great muscles, but without your skeleton, your muscles are just hanging... you know, from the rest of your body. So your muscles hold your skeleton together, but your skeleton is your structure. So if you've got a good strong form, a skeletal structural strength, you actually don't have to work too hard to defend against someone's power. So again if Nick, you come to me.... The way that I'm facing him right now, all of my structure here is in agreement with itself. If I was to change something about my – let's say, okay, I bend my spine- this is not good for me, because even though I could technically get away from him, I can't resist his power easily. If he was to push against me, I have to do something, to work really hard to defend him. But if I've got a nice, strong stucture, how do you feel about that?

Nick: Like I'm fighting ---

Samantha: So I've brought my whole body into play. And this is something you'll learn as you practice more with swords, is the points where your body is in agreement with itself. So I'll correct you guys throughout the class, but that's something I'll come back to, is using your structure. So there's a theory that I have, which I have to look into, but it's about the use of language in swordsmanship. It's the fact that in the old days, 'strength' didn't mean power, like the way we think of strength these days, strength actually meant like architectural strength. You know, like if a building is strong, it's built well. And I like to think about that in terms of swordsmanship. If your swordsmanship is strong, it means you have good structure, rather than power. Because your power will come afterwards. If you've got good structure then you can add the power to it. Does that make sense?

Cool. So, some real basic stuff. We're going to think about cutting, but if we're close to an opponant, not to bring the sword back past my hips. So, let's all face this way, along the line. In close range, what I don't want to do is have my sword out of play. If I'm further away from someone it's okay to take my sword back, because I've got the time then to bring it back into play. So we're going to alternate- just have some practice cutting, and then we're going to change it so that when we bring the sword down, it's going to come back without leaving the line of my body. So just start normally where we're just doing figure eights. Have fun with this, guys. I'm not judging you on your cutting. We're just moving swords around.

Really reach out when you're reaching forward with your sword.

Swords up guys, for a sec.

So, the thing about a sword is it's going to reach swomeon when it's at the same level as your arm. The moment that it drops down- you see how my range is decreased? Yeah. But, unfortunately I can't strike someone like this because it's bad for my elbow. I mean, I could strike someone like that, but if they are ready for it, I'm going to hurt myself. So, you've got to compromise your maximum reach for control. So it's a little bit of a --

So when you reach forward with your sword, think about where your maximum reach is, and think about how your arm is when you reach that point. Same exercise again, but just think about extending out from the body.

Chanon: The same as my shoulder height?

Samantha: Yes.

Nick: This thing is clearly not meant to be used by one hand.

Samantha: One hand, yeah. That's a hefty lightsaber.

If you want to, Brai, you can alternate. So you can cut, come back up to the centre, then take it with your other hand. Yes.

Cool, that's looking good guys.

Swords up. Nice. Any questions? No? Okay. So this time think about now being in range with somebody where after you cut you don't really want to take it away too much. So we start slower with this exercise. What you're going to be doing is bringing your sword down, and then bringing it up to the horn, basically, the buffalo, uh- not the buffalo, I should know this- bicorno- OX! Yeah, okay. Different system. So down, and then up, and then thrust into somebody, flip it over, cut through, and then back up to the other side. Thrust, flip, cut down, up, thrust, flip, and all the way through, up.

So what this looks like is if Nick was going to be attacking me, so do exactly the same thing, yeah, so now, uh- actually, I'll do it to you, Nick. So I've come, I've cut to him here, he's blocked me, I've come back up, and he knows that I'm thrusting, so he's going to defend. Yep, and then I flip it down the other way. So you're leading someone to defend to the side of their head by thrusting there, and then flip it over.

Chanon: Just like leading him somewhere?

Samantha: Yes, so if it was coming towards me, the thrust would coming here, and then flip to the other side. Make sense? Okay. Cut down, flip it up, thrust, flip, down, up, thrust, flip, down, up, thrust, flip....

(General conversation)

Cool, that's looking lovely, guys.

Chanon: Question. After the thrust, and then you cut, you reach? Or  pull your hands back?

Samantha: Yes. On my end, as you thrust towards me, I'm going to do something, to try... Actually thrust towards me, so thrust to the hand- yep, good! But I don't want that, so I'm going to do something here, and that's when you come over and attack.

Chanon: I mean, like, you have to pull back slightly, or...?

Samantha: So, thrust, I should be in range already. And as you defend that-

So I should still be able to. And I can rock away, if I need to. Cool. Good question.

So here's something that you can definitely introduce if you're not doing it already. It's rotate- rotation, reversing your hip direction. It allows you to evade, and it allows you to increase your power when you strike. It's known as 'reverso' in Italian. Basically, it's any position that you would  strike from, but just you change where your hips are going, but keep your face back towards your opponant.  

I always wondered what it was.

Samantha: Mm! It has a couple of advantages. If you're setting up for a shot, and I wanted- so this is Posta de donna, not so good with lightsaber, because I'm cutting... but I can alter it a little. So if I was going to turn around, and bring this back, I'm actually putting my whole spine into this defense, which is also a very nice cut.

Chanon: So, really commit?

Samantha: Yes. I should be able to destroy you with this motion. Unless you do something smart. Yeah. Well. ---

So the main point is that this is an evasion. If you're going to come and cut to my leg- actually try and reach me, though... Yeah, good. Again. Except-- in reverse. The advantage of the reverse is you're setting your body up for unleashing, =--turn around. If I just do this, I don't really have much potential power to cut, it would be a very weak cut.

So practice that a little bit, the reverse position. Basically you keep your feet in more or less the same place, but you rotate as you turn. It's easier for a person with a lower centre of gravity to do this. Just think about your body hanging down.

Oh my goodness they're so LOUD!

Nick: Let's do some kiyai.

Okay, you want to do some- yeah, sure.

Kiyai!

Huh!

Kiyai!

Huh!

Kiyai!

I want to see some good cuts with this, guys, too.

Kiyai!

Huh!

We're coming for you! Have a lovely dinner.

Cool. So the reverse position-

(Multiple lightsaber sound effects. Laughter.)

Cool. Reverse position. Fantastic to use. If you want to do a minimal amount of work in a fight, it means you can keep- you can mainatain your line, you don't have to move your feet, if you're confident that the other person isn't going to take a step. You can use this in German longsword, absolutely. One hundred percent. Just be sure you are good with your distance, otherwise you're going to hurt yourself with potential leg strikes. Something I'd suggest for you guys drilling is to actually set up two people in range, to be striking to each other, and then change the range, so you have to adjust. That's something you guys can take away from the class. Cool. The other advantage of this- if I could borrow you Nick, over here, and I'm going to keep working with you too... So, 'Oh no, I hae two people!' If you could come over here-- great. Watch my feet.

One. Two. One. Two.

I don't have to do any work. All I've done is move my (ship?)– around,  through the reverse position. So if you guys want to pair up with each other- we'll make it two sets of threes. So, if you go with these guys... Two sets of threes guys. I said pair up, didn't I. We're going to set up-

(general conversation)

We're going to do what we-

Fast forward through this section. Pay no attention. Okay, you're working with us, you're working with them- go away!

Okay, you are going to be facing both of us. So pick one person who does that, and then reverse it. Yep. Nice. Yes, good. Nice. Nice. Okay. Stop!

So people who are defending, make sure when you defend that you're not doing a useless parry. You want to keep your angle down so that you've got- yep.

Okay, and switch guys. It doesn't matter which way, it works both ways.

Ah, you guys- this works better if you're on more of an angle, like, four o'clock. So, you're on the middle of the clock. You're at four o'clock, or eight o'clock. Nice. Oo, slippery!

Try to keep your body- so, your body's more like that, and when you reverse, --. See?

Okay, stop. Nice. Good stuff. Nothing to say. So this time, when you parry, be creative. I want you to alternate which side you're defending on. Don't just stand there. Be active, in the drill. One thing that often happens is that people who're doing drills become really passive, because they know what's going to happen. And unfortunately that doesn't really help anyone, because if you start to just relax into the drill, you're teaching the other person to deal with someone that's passive. You want to actually be engaged in the drill. I'm not saying, you know, I'm not saying be a dick or something, I'm saying, be mindfully engaged. So for example, if you are striking at me, I'm still going to do something, I'm still going to put my body into it. I'm not just going to be like, do-do-do-do-doo.... You know? Like, actually still engage. Because what it does is it teaches you to defend. If you're on the defensive side of the drill, you want to practice being a good defendor. Okay? So, same again but active defense.

Yeah! That's a good idea.

So Nick's actually come up with a good idea guys. After the middle person has turned away, Nick's actually cutting out a strike. This is something you coudl do in a choreography, and it looks really good. Let's check out what Nick is doing.

I'm out of range right now, I have to actually work to get to you.

Sorry, I need to watch these guys.

Alright, switch out guys. Someone from this group come into this group. And you as well.

(general discussion)

Halt. Halt guys. So, switch it up what you're doing with your attack as well. So something that Brai is doing is he's alternating how he's attacking when he comes back to the outside. So the person in the middle doesn't have to do the same attack all the time, just alternate. And it makes sure we're paying attention on the end.

Yes! Haha

(general conversation)

I have to watch them.

Looking nice guys. Alright, wrap it up. Good stuff. We're going to take two minutes of water, okay?

(General discussion)

Alright, you guys ready? Yeah? Sweet. Cool.

So, what I'm going to be explaining is about when you're binding someone. A good way to bind versus a bad way to bind. You know what I mean by a bind? Yes? Okay. So when I'm defending against someone's attack, what I don't want to do is to have my blade flat, especially with a light saber. With a weapon that has a large crossguard I could possibly get away with this, perhaps maybe with a basket hilt, but generally this is a very weak defense for me, because I actually have very little ability to stop someone from sliding forward. What I always want to do is to keep some kind of an angle with my sword. I want my hands to be high, my tip to be low, or vice versa. I want my tip to be high and my hands to be low. Never flat, like this. It's very-very bad, for you, and very good for your opponant. Now, I'm not familiar with every single sword style, so I can't comment on other systems, but in my experience this is the best thing to do. So, as long as there is some kind of angle for your bind, you should be able to defend against someone.

So if you guys could pair up, facing each other along this stretch... yep. So all we're going to do is test this, guys.

We're going to be testing whether or not having an angle is going to help you or not. So if I'm coming here, to have my blade flat, you should be able to take advantage of that. And if we switch, to be lower, yeh- that's good. Nice. Now I'll do that to you. Yeah, it's pretty gross ay?

You just mechanically have much more of an advantage when you're – in your body. If you're extended, that should be the end of the motion.

Hello! Welcome. Good to see you. If you can put your stuff over there, uh- Champ. Over that side. Okay, swords up guys.

Nick: Say we're in a bind like this, what am I going to do next? Try and thrust him?

Samantha: Okay, so the question is what happens after you're in the bind, and this is a whole section.

So you're jumping ahead because you're already on to it. That's okay. So, the answer is, you're going to be taking advantage of the other person at a time that's advantageous to you. So you want to wait until it's safe to move forward.

Uh- you can use that, Champ.

So we're talking about the bind right now, and I was explaining how you always want to keep- you always want to keep your light saber not falling apart. Oh dear.

So, you always want to have either your hands low and your tip high, or your tip low and your hands high, never flat like this. This is very bad, because if I were to cut into you, you've got very little ability to defend. You always want to have some kind of structural advantage. Yeah.

Next question, which leads into the next section, is; what do you do from the bind? The bind is the key to the sword fight. And this is in all forms of longer weapons. If you're bound with somebody else, and it could be a spear as well, it could be anything that's longer than a short kind of machete weapon- if you've bound with somebody, you want to be able to control and clear them out the way before you move in. To do that you'll need to have purchase on your opponant, you know what I mean by purchase? Like, a grip. If I could borrow you, Nick.

So right now, we're using two very slippery weapons. This is not very nice for either of us. But if they were stuck together, then we can feel each other, and we can use the tension from the other person's body against them. So something that's been recorded in historical swordsmanship is the 'pulsativa', the pulse, which I interpret for it to mean, when you're bound, putting a pulse through your opponant. And it's something that has to be felt. You're waiting for the right moment to pulse into somebody. Does that make sense?

It's a little strategy you can use, when you're bound. I'm no expert on it...

(Phone ringing)

I'm not an expert on all the uses of the pulse, but this is just something I can share with you today about what to do with lightsabers. So first of all, you need to be structurally strong for this to work. If you're not structurally strong it's not going to be very good for you because you need to be ready to take advantage of the other person. So for example, if I'm like, leaning out like this... okay, this is not terrible, but I'm also not positioned to do much because I'm so bent... -- So I want to come up, have a good stable foundation. Once I've taken something from him, like this line here...

(Nick makes choking noice)

Samantha: Good.

If, for example, he's really strong and I decide, okay, I'll slip around him, I'm going to make use of his strength by being weak... so he's decided to come back on the strong, I go, 'okay, sure- you win Nick.' Always keeping my tip- that's okay, I stepped into it- so my tip is always being pulled to him.

So pair up guys, and just bind with your swords. You guys want to work together? You guys want to work together? Do you have a longer weapon? Because this will work better for you.... Okay. I mean, that's not a bad tool, but for this exercise you'll feel more what I'm talking about.

So, if he does that, imitate him. Yeah, exactly. Because that will defeat that.

Something you can do, Champ, is you can rock back and forth, to give yourself more distance. Remember to use your hips. You're leaning right back, like this. You want to... yeah.

Be careful Champ. You don't want to come that close, use your arms. You're coming in like this, which puts you in range, so just --. Alright, switch up partners guys. Everyone move just one to your left. Or just choose somebody, I don't care. It's not speed dating.

(whistles tune of Jeopardy)

So if he does that, Nick- if Kevin does that, yeah. There you go.

Hi. I'm Sam. Nice to meet you.

Samantha: Hi Eve.

Just bring your stuff over here.

So, you're changing the blade at the moment, and that's totally fine. But for this exercise just practice keeping the contact though. Okay. And try to feel each other's strengths and weaknesses so what you want to be doing is controlling each other... moving around, rather than changing the blade. So it's still in contact.

Chanon: Not disengage?

Samantha: Not for this exercise.

Do you have a blade?

(general conversation)

Ah right. Yeah, it needs to be straight. Sorry! Very nice. Okay, swords up guys. Hi, your name is eve? Eve, cool. So what we've covered off today so far is body posture- and I'm just doing this as a recap for everyone- we talked about body posture, you want to have your spine upright, you don't want to bend your back when you're moving. You also want to be able to move your hips, when you are fighting.

When you are bound with somebody, you want your hands low and your tip high, and vice versa- you want your hands high and your tip low. Yeah? And always keep like a magnet going towards your opponant. So, if he is my enemy, my tip- see how my tip is going towards him at all times? No matter where my sword is- even if my sword comes back, I want to think about it thrusting towards him. Or even if it's a cut, I'm thinking about casting the tip first. So there's a magnet pulling the tip of my sword, yeah?

Cool. Alright, we're going to take 2 minutes for water and just to freshen up, okay? Sweet.

(general conversation)

(lightsaber sound effects)

Nick: We're going to have some light sparring after the class

Samantha: Yeah. We're going to wrap thirty minutes before we have to go.

Nick: Okay. Can I turn off the light?

Samantha: Ah- afterwards. Not now.

Nick: Okay. After?

Samantha: After the class. Thank you.

Nick: No probs.

Samantha: Okay, you guys ready to go? You guys good to go? Okay!

So, my fancy gloves are not just fancy fashion statements, they are actually so that I can show you guys something about the way your arm works. I'll put this down so you can see. So inside our arms we have two bones, one on top of the other, and I love to refer to this as the 'blade' of your arm.  So right now, underneath, the blade is – the top edge is here and the bodttom edge is there, and that's the flat. You guys know what I'm talking about, right? So if I'm going to strike someone with my arm, I'm going to strike them with the blade, rather than the flat. You know, that's a very weak kind of --. The moment you put a sword in your hand, or a stick in your hand, or anything in your hand, you're extending the blade of your arm. So even though the stick is round, it doesn't appear to have a blade, I don't have a strong edge or a weak edge, I still do, because the arm has it. So the strong edge of my arm extends up into the tool. So that's why when you're using a circular tool like a lightsaber or a stick, you still have a good way and a bad way to strike with it. Now this is more clearly seen with swords that are flat, if I could borrow someone, Champ? You've got a flat-bladed tool right there. So right now when we're bound, he's got his strong on my strong, and the way you can see is because of where my thumb is, and where my knuckles are. If I was to turn my hand around, like this- actually no, I'm going to swap hands, so you can see that- you can see where my flat edge is and where my strong edge is, right? Because of the bones in my body. And you can feel the difference, right? I'm turning my hand, yeah. And that's bad for me, because look- my arm's gone flat. So I want to keep the bone so I'm in the same line that comes down from the sword. This is really useful for binding, and also for making powerful cuts against your opponant. Because if I was to come in with a weak attack, like a wide attack, yeh- very bad for me. Oh no, I'm dead. Haha

I'm not dead because he's very nice and – we're filming. So even when working with something like a lightsaber you want to thinkabout where the arm-blade is. Okay? Cool. Good stuff.

So if you guys could pair up again, We're going to just be practicing distance this time, guys. I don't want everyone hitting each other, I just want you to get comfortable with working with a person- striking, moving back and forward, Let's not go psycho just because we don't have much room.

Your blade is fine for this.

So who's working with me? Someone come work with me.

So we're just going to go slowly guys. The point of this – uh, two hands, sorry, I was just talking- the point of this is just to get comfortable with range and distance, okay? Don't try and be a dick to each other, okay? And we're just going to be moving forward and back. Okay, good. Okay, let's say... I'm going to change it a little bit. From this bind, if he's got an advantage, I want you to push the advantage and take a step, and I'm going to step back. So step towards me if you've got the advantage, good. Okay, and we're going to reset, I'm going to do something. Okay? Reset. Yep. Do you get the idea?

So we're going to regain control of the centre here. Remember to use your hips, if you want. Remember not to do this kind of thing. Great in boxing, fantastic, but not for swordsmanship. Because you want to keep your spine engaged. When I do this, look at my spine- I have very little strength to be put into the power of my sword. Okay?

And you can change as well, you can do this.

Keep this-. Flat is bad. You always want to keep it at an angle. Because, see- I can get past as easily.

Use your feet, Brai, use your feet!

Don't let me crunch your body. Yes, better.

So when you do that, at the moment you're doing this? Do this. Always keep the angle. Because, I mean, the flat is --, you still have a nice defense up here, but but if you were to copy me, yeah. And now thrust to me, yeah. It's hard for me if I don't have an angle, to defend. And this is a strong position. I've got so much strength, I barely have to move. But if I have it like this- do it again, push me- yeah. I've very little ability.

Okay guys, stop. Nice. Cool.. Something you can do when you're in those binding positions is you can think about turning your hips to gain power. So if I want to put more power into my block, or my bind, turning my hip- do you see what happens to my body? As soon as I turn away, my power is going that way now. Unless I'm back like this, and I'm ready to turn in. See? But if I'm just halfway in between, do you see? My hips are facing out here. All of the power is going forward.

Something, a little trick to remember, is your feet direction. So, with a sword, if my foot is pointed towards him, it's very easy for my mind to go there. If my foot is going that way, it's harder for me to hit him. So if you point your foot towards your opponant, you have a better ability to hit them without having to try hard. Yeah. And the same with your back foot. Your back foot is going to be- hello!

Foon: Hi.

Samantha: The direction of your back foot is going to be-

Nick: Sawat dee Khap.

Samantha: If you guys could possibly put your stuff at the back, please? Thank you very much. Just 'cos the camera's set up over there.

Foon: Oh, right- sorry.

Samantha: That's okay. So, foot direction! Where your foot points is where your body's going to go. So I can go this way and I can go that way. Right now it's very hard for me to go this way. I'd have to actually turn to go there. So if I want to go over there, I'm set up really nicely.

Nick: (laughter)

Samantha: I like this, I'm going to borrow this. Let's do what they're doing, it looks like fun.

We're keeping in range, and just small steps. Change as well, change hands if you want.

Very nice guys, very nice. Now change it so you're bound with the blade of your hands (arms). If you're doing this right guys, you shouldn't have to have your eyes open.

Ha ha! Very nice.

I have to watch everybody.

(general conversation)

Do you have a stick?

Foon: Yeah.

Nick: He has.

Samantha: Okay guys, because we've had a few additions since we did the exercise, we're going to go back and do the exercise where we're cutting, and then bring it up, thrust, flip, down, up, thrust. For those who came in late, the point is to always keep an offense on your opponant. It's lovely to cut back here, as long as you're out of range. Because if you're still in range, and I go back here.... what can you do to me?

Foon: Everything.

Samantha: Where's the attack? Where's my attack? I have no attack to you. So if this goes back here, Hit me. Yes! Good. Okay.

If my sword is forward from my hips at all times, when I'm in range, I've got the ability to bring it into play very fast. So this little drill's going to be practicing keeping your sword forward. Okay? So- I'm going to go in this direction... I'm cutting forward, cutting back to my hips and up, I thrust. And then I flip to the other side, cut down, up, thrust, flip to the other side, cut down, up, thrust, flip to the other side, down, and you get the idea.

And then you can flow, once you get...

Champ: Do I need to do like a movement, a step?

Samantha: You can do what you want. It's really just practicing keeping the blade forward. If you want to step you can, but I don't think you need to. I mean, if you want- sure.

So what this does is it causes a threat to one side of my head. Nick, if I could borrow you again? If you could do that to me slowly, so they can watch? Okay? So, attack. Yeah. I defend, just cut down, keep going with the flow, come back up, yep- and thrust, yep- you're thrusting, I'm going to defend to this direction, which leaves this side of my head open, which is why you flip over the top- yes. And there we go. So just go from the thrust again, Nick, if you could. Yep. Flip. Down. Yep, and from the other side, just from the thrust. Yep.

So the point is that you threaten one side of the face and then flip over and attack the other, okay? Good.

So once again.

Oops.

Just start really slowly guys, until you get comfortable with the precision of it. Sweet.

Do you have enough space there guys? Okay.

Lovely. Cool. Okay, swords up.

(some groaning)

How are your arms? Pretty warm? (laughs)

Cool.

So here's a little bugbear of mine. Do you know what a bugbear is? A bugbear is like a gripe, or something I'm annoyed by. It's in Star Wars, all the time you see people who do big spins, where they expose the back. So I'm going to say spinning is fantastic, but I'm going to add something to this, if you want to spin... so my enemy's over there, if I want to spin, I'm going to protect my back. I'm facing him... oh, you killed my father, okay, run-

(general laughter)

You see? Just always keep the sword in front, between you and your opponant. Because this is your shield! Your sword is your shield.

Yesss!

And think about there just being a magnet between you and the other person. Yes! Perfect. Yes. Lovely. And if you're having trouble with it coming out, just think about protecting your spine, okay? Yeah, that's it. If you do this again- just stop for a sec, guys.

If I could bring you out- yes. So face me, this way. So if he does the spin, and when he turns, I swing, the point is that the sword should stop me from connecting with his spine. Yeah? So again, bam. Yeah. Okay. That was just timing, you did it fine. It was just the timing was wrong, okay? Bam.

Okay, so just always keep something protecting the back of you. And then you can do all the fancy spins you want.

Do you need a tool? Okay? You got one?  

Okay, --- work with someone you haven't worked with. Find a new partner.

(general conversation)

You killed my father...

Okay, this time we're going to work in the bind, we're going to practice the pulse. You remember the pulse? If you weren't here for the pulse, it's where the two blades are joined together- Brai, if I could borrow you?

And when one person feels the other guys is weak, he pushes, he pulses, okay? And it's very little work for your body, it's like a whip. What I don't want to do is make his sword go really far away, because once his sword is away from me I can't feel him any more, and he could do anything. Yeah? So it's just a little, tiny pulse. I'll do it with each of you so you can feel what I'm doing. The power's coming from my diaphram.

That's what it feels like. Notice how none of my body's moving except for my diaphram. Very very subtle.

Something else I'm doing, guys, I didn't realise I'm doing- sorry- is I'm also giving my sword a little bit of a push.So I'm (exhale) when I breathe out, my second hand is causing a lever. You can pull as well, if it's the other way.

I'm showing you what it feels like. Like that. So try and see if you can do that to me. Very good! Now do that to him.

(general conversation)

You're very stiff, you're very (makes constricted sound). Just breathe and relax- let your legs relax, for this drill. Yes.

Very nice guys.

(light saber sound)

Okay guys. We're going to start to wrap up, so we have some time to do some playing, unless you want more of this. Up to you.

Nick: .... going to be more, today and tomorrow?

Samantha: Yeah, they are similar, but different. Same same but different. Okay, we have the choice now- I can keep going for another twenty, or I can keep going for another ten. Up to you. Twenty? We've got a vote for twenty... Ten? A vote for ten...

Nick: We can hit each other....

Chanon: Raise your hand...

Samantha: Alright, twenties! One, two, three.

Nick: Ahhh! (speaks in thai)

--: Democracy.

Samantha: Ten!

Nick: It is fine.

Samantha: What about fifteen?

Everyone: Okay.

Samantha:

(loud laughter)

In the spirit of bartering. Fifteen. One-five. Sip- ha. Okay. Sweet. Great! Fantastic.

Alright! So, what we've covered is going back to the basics, the mechanics of the body. I want to be using my hips for my power, casting my power towards the person, I want my feet to be controlling my direction. If I want to hit someone I want my front foot to be in line with where I'm going to hit. And I want both parts of my body to work together. If I'm using a single hander then obviously I'm not going to be using both my hands, but I want my body to be balanced, but if I strike with two hands, both hands hould be working together. Something I didn't cover earlier is when you're holding your sword with two hands, you want the direction of both of your hands to be in agreement. Yes, exactly. So, if you've done any cutting or anything like that, you need it to be on the same line to get an even balance to the cut. I'm exaggerating right now, with the direction of my fingers, so you can see what I'm doing, but when I close my hands, my knuckles, here, and here, are going in the same direction. And this will help you with the bind as well, because if my hands are crooked, I'm not going to have as much strength.

When I say 'strength', I mean structure. I'm not going to have as much structure to my body to defend against a bind. So if my hands are weak, like this, push- yeah. There we go. It's really bad for me. If I adjust my hands, right now- how's that for you? Yeah. So if you guys could pair up again, and practice having your hands in alignment with each other in the bind.

(general conversation)

Yeah, so slip your hands around just to this – yeah.

So what I want you to do this time Champ, from here, is just rotate your hands. Your grip. To feel the difference between when it's strong, and compare it.

So right now if we're like this, this is weak for me, and now I'm going to rotate my fingers, -- try that.

So it's the difference betweenhaving it like this, and that. Like this. Not like that. Yeah. Exactly.

Foon: Sam. How do we usually stand? Back foot lead?

Samantha: Up to you. I usually have my foot back because of having my power-- (indistinct) You can generate power as well from here, it's just about what (indistinct). You don't want to be cutting straight down though--

Guys. A good question- what's your name again?

Foon: Foon.

Samantha: Foon.-Foon just said that which foot goes forward? Now this is personal preference for me is to have my left foot forward. Now the reason for that is because I start out of range. So if Brai is there and I'm out here, now he's in range so I'm moving back. Now I'm definitely in range. So right now what I've got is potential to hit him, with my hip. If I'm standing like this, I don't feel as comfortable with this, because most of my power's coming from my right side, even though my body is working together, I don't have as much potential to do a big strike, do you see what I mean? So it's really personal preference. The other thing is if you're going to cut right through, you'll cut your leg. So if you're going to cut through just take a step, a passing step. So. Personal preference for me, left foot forward so I can put the power of my hip rotation into the cut. The other thing is when you cut- I don't know if you guys are familiar with 'cut before step'? Yeah? A few of you are?

Foon: Not for me.

Samantha: Ah, okay. So in... sorry, words are failing me... western swordsmanship, the principle of 'the hand moving before the foot' is a thing. You want your foot to be (held) in reserve. The two land and everything's together but you don't do this.

Foon: Of course.

Samantha: Yep. Even though that's an exaggeration, it's surprising how many people do do that until they learn that you have to move the top part of your body seperate to your bottom, because the lower part of your body needs to be free to change halfway through. If I come in for a strike, and he jabs- oh, gosh... if I've already committed my leg, I don't have any reserve to get out of the way. So I need to practice moving my top half and then moving my bottom half. A drill you can do is, 'there' and then change your mind at the last minute as you cut. Yeah. Just really exaggerate the difference between the top and the bottom half.

It's really just moving that before your feet. But you need to be able to still bring your foot into play (indistinct)... it's like it's hovering.

Foon: So basically it's just about the timing between the upper body and the lower.

Samantha: Very nice, guys.

You can't, or you can? Oh yeah. I understand.

-- but not with a lightsaber. (laughs)

Nick: Oops! Sorry.

Samantha: Something to do, when you defend low, is to move this side to that side. Yeah. So the tip of your sword. Yep. Again. Change. You've got to come out a little bit. Yes. Yeah, that way- that's better. That's ten times better. Very nice. Very nice. Good stuff! You can work with him now.

How are you guys doing here?

(indistinct discussion)

Alight guys. Alright! Well, that will totally do.

We're now in freetime, for the next forty minutes. But I'll ask that we'll wrap at five to nine. So anything you want to do for now, photos, choreography, ask me questions, whatever- it's up to you. This is your playtime.

END TRANSCRIPT

[penguinfingers]

Turn Your Fitness Dreams Into Reality With Ease

Many people dream of having that chiseled body that they see on T.V. You can achieve any fitness goal you have with a little determination. This article will give you a lot of advice to get you started working out, and tell you the important aspects that you need to know before you get started.

Don't push yourself too hard when you are working out. While pushing yourself to your limits can be a good thing, be aware of those limits. Build your strength and stamina up gradually. If you intend on exercising daily, pushing yourself too hard only serves to discourage and tire you out the next day.

If you are still short of your fitness goals, give yourself a confidence boost on your quest to get fit: buy a new clothing item to work out in. It could be the fancy new shoes you've had your eyes on or a simple cute workout shirt. It can motivate you to get excited about going to the gym.

It's important to find your personal target heart rate. This will assure you're getting your heart rate up high enough, but not too high. Take your age away from 220 and that is your maximum heart rate level. If you are doing low to moderate-intensity exercise, your heart rate should be at 60 to 75 percent of your max heart rate. If you are doing high intensity exercises, you should be at 80 percent to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate level.

A high calorie diet will allow for you to fully utilize your workout. You will be using the calories to provide energy and make your workout last longer. This will allow your muscles to grow because they will be able to tear and heal which makes the muscle stronger.

To avoid injuries, be sure to wear shoes that are appropriate for your fitness activity and your feet. There's more to picking out shoes than getting the right size. Feet and ankles can shift one way or the other, and there are shoes that will help keep them aligned properly, helping to avoid pain throughout your body.

A good nutritional tip is to keep eating healthy even when you're trying to put on muscle. A lot of people think they can eat whatever they want when they try to gain muscle, but that kind of reckless eating will only result in fat gain. Instead, keep eating healthy as you normally would.

When you are lifting weights, it is best do many reps of lighter weight as opposed to packing on as much weight as possible and doing fewer reps. It may seem like the ability to lift more is most important, but the goal is to see who can go longest without needing to give up. Many people are known to use this method and it works.

Try exercising to reduce your overall cholesterol levels. Diet is enough to get them down to healthy levels, but you can get better and quicker results if you add exercising to your regimen. Generally, people who exercise have higher levels of HDL, or good cholesterol and lower levels of LDL, or bad cholesterol, than those who only eat a healthier diet.

Do not be afraid to add unconventional workout programs to your fitness routine. If you want to jump rope or learn to tap dance, go for it! As long as you are staying active, there is no right or wrong way to work out. If you can make it fun, you are more likely to continue your quest for physical fitness. So, look around and see if you can find any classes or programs that you are interested in.

To build real strength, make sure you exercise your muscle groups in many different ways. Sticking with one form of exercise for a muscle group (like machine work only) can increase your strength in relation to that activity, but can actually weaken you when it comes to other activities that your body is not used to.

Use the same weight. To create strong muscle memory, use the same weight throughout every step of your workout. Muscle memory is important because it enhances your muscles ability to work harder. Once you have established a new weight, you can always increase that limit the next time you visit the gym.

Pay special attention to your hamstrings if you run. Your hamstrings are responsible for giving you quick bursts of speed, fast push-offs, and slowly building up your pace. You want to make sure these are flexible and well taken care of, as an injury to these can be detrimental to any runner.

Try not to do any weight training that lasts more than an hour. This is because after that time your body starts to produce a lot more cortisol, Ice pack which is a stress hormone that has been known to block the production of testosterone and have a muscle-wasting effect.

When working out, do not set a specific time to take a break. This will just make you work harder, which can cause negative effects. Instead, just take breaks when you need a breath or your muscles feel fatigued. Do not forget to drink lots of water when you are working out!

During the rest for one set of exercises, select another exercise that works a different muscle group. Keep alternating until you've done the appropriate number of repetitions. This allows your muscles to rest in between exercises while not sacrificing time while you sit around doing nothing. One muscle group can relax while you work on another, instead.

To be more efficient with your workout time, try combining activities where possible. An example is using light weights to do some arm exercises while power walking on a treadmill. This works more muscle areas and burns more calories than doing each activity separately, great for working out on a schedule.

You have read in the beginning of this article that you can reach any fitness goal you have set out for yourself. You then read a lot of advice on how to get started, and what you should be doing. Good luck getting the body you have been dreaming about, and if you believe in yourself, you will go far.https://www.amazon.com/Penguin-Fingers-Cryotherapy-Compression-Arthritis/dp/B07TTL3SYV/ref=mp_s_a_1_12?dchild=1&keywords=wrist+ice+pack&qid=1579892152&sr=8-12

[remedialmassage]

15 Anti-Aging Health Benefits of Yoga That Will Make You Want to Start Practicing Now

Yoga is an excellent anti-aging tool, capable of relieving symptoms and in some cases improving medical outcomes. It doesn’t matter where you’re starting from or how old you are—movement and yoga can help.

Along with the smile lines and gray hair, aging brings changes that are harder to see but very easy to feel, especially during movement. As you age, you’ll encounter general physiological changes in elasticity, stability, speed, strength, and endurance, as well as a different perspective on physical goals. Specific health problems emerge as we age, and these age-related illnesses might affect your yoga practice. Here, we offer our thoughts on how to modify your practice for these common ailments, and we detail the ways that (in some cases) yoga can actually relieve symptoms or has been proven to improve medical outcomes. From heart issues to less lung capacity, decreased bone density to hormonal changes, and bad backs to artificial knees, physical changes will affect and dictate the needs of a yoga asana practice, but in all cases, doing yoga will make you feel better.

General Physiological Changes

Here’s the bad news: as you age, your body becomes less flexible, less stable, slower, weaker, and less competitive in endurance. With age you lose elasticity in muscle, fascia, and (as you can see in a mirror) skin. This results in generally less flexibility, which can translate to instability and stiffness. Sarcopenia (muscle loss) and osteopenia (bone loss) are common aspects of aging. Both can contribute to less strength, speed, and endurance. While it does get harder to build muscle with age, it’s not impossible, and it’s never too late. Exercise and yoga help you maintain the muscle mass you have and continue to add more. Whether you suffer from osteopenia may have as much to do with genetics and gender as it does with your physical activity level, but movement and weight-bearing exercises keep bones healthier for longer.

This information probably doesn’t come as a surprise, though; we tend to be well versed in the changes that come with aging, especially as we get older. The good news is that you also have all the attendant wisdom, confidence, and life experience of your years on earth. And let’s be honest: while it might be nice to still have the body of a twenty-one-year-old, we know few people who actually want to be twenty-one again (we certainly don’t!). Besides, the news gets even better: while age does affect you in various ways, much of it is in your hands, and there’s a lot you can do to limit the effect of age-related changes. Yoga is an excellent anti-aging tool. And it doesn’t matter where you’re starting from or at what age you begin—movement and yoga can help.

See also 7 Kundalini Yoga Tricks to Reverse Aging from the Inside Out

Things That Get Better with Age

There’s plenty of reason to celebrate every passing year: self-confidence, body image, empathy, and decision-making all get better with age.And as we age, our stress levels tend to get lower. People report greater happiness in the later years of their lives—the older we are, the happier we are. In short, things may change, but a lot changes for the better!

15 Health Benefits of Yoga for Aging Adults

1. Osteoporosis/Osteopenia

Problem: As you age, your bone density decreases. For some people, this decrease is so great, it results in osteopenia or osteoporosis, which means their bones are more susceptible to fractures.How yoga can help: Weight-bearing exercises can marginally increase bone density, although the gains are small. Still, yoga is valuable not only because of its potential effect on your physical skeleton but because it helps you build muscle, body awareness, and better balance. Tips for your yoga practice: Weight-bearing lunge poses, like Warrior I, Warrior II, and Side Angle Pose, help build hip and leg strength; balancing poses like crane, tree, and Warrior III help protect against falls that can cause fractures in already-brittle bones. Because bone density loss makes your spine more fragile, be sure to talk to your medical team to create a plan of safe movements. Depending on the degree of your osteopenia, it might be wise to limit poses that require folding forward or minimize the degree to which you fold. The same is true of poses that require twisting—be gentle in approaching movements that cause your spine to rotate, or skip twisting poses all together.

2. Arthritis

Problem: Arthritis can cause daily pain in joints like hands, knees, wrists, or elbows. It can make you feel stiff and creaky, limiting comfortable range of motion.How yoga can help: Recent research shows that a regular yoga practice can aid in reducing joint pain and help in improving joint flexibility. A regular yoga practice might also reduce inflammation. Tips for your yoga practice: Avoid weight bearing in your hands and wrists, a common location of arthritis pain.

3. Spinal Stenosis

Problem: Spinal stenosis, the narrowing of the spinal canal or vertebral openings, can squeeze your spinal cord and cause radiating pain and numbness that affects your hips, legs, and even your shoulders.How yoga can help: A yoga practice that cautiously approaches forward folds and side bending and avoids extension (backbending) poses can help significantly reduce pain. Tips for your yoga practice: If you have stenosis and osteoporosis, you might avoid forward folds altogether. In general, avoid big, deep movements of the spine. Less is better. Safe yoga, though, can help you build strength and create better postural habits, which can help alleviate chronic pain. An experienced teacher with knowledge of your condition will be a powerful ally.

4. Disc issues

Problem: Herniated, bulging, or slipped discs can press on your spinal cord or nearby nerves, causing spasms, limited movement, and radiating pain. Disc issues and back pain are more common in the lower lumbar region but may occur anywhere along the spine.How yoga can help: Yoga can help you build core strength and flexibility in your spine, and these two things can go a long way toward remedying back pain. Tips for your yoga practice: If you experience pain from disc issues, often it is best to avoid forward folds or any pose that causes your spine to round, as this can exacerbate the issue by squeezing the disc more. Instead, focus on backbending poses and poses that challenge your abdominal muscles and strengthen your hips.

5. Core Strength and Back Pain

If you’ve ever experienced back pain, you’ve probably been given the advice to strengthen your core. That wisdom is logical—building up the muscles in your trunk, back, abdomen, hips, and legs means that your spine is better supported. How yoga can help: Any new movement or exercise that you add to your daily life will likely result in a stronger core; as you move your body in new ways, your major stabilizing muscles have to adapt. Yoga offers specific poses for core strength, too.

6. Nerve Issues: Pain, Neuropathy

Problem: When nerves are injured, pain, weakness, numbness, cramping, or tingling can occur as a result. In peripheral neuropathy, this often occurs in limbs, hands, feet, fingers, and toes. Nerve issues can result from a myriad of illnesses. Often caused by circulatory system issues, neuropathy also can be a side effect of other diseases or injuries.How yoga can help: Yoga poses improve circulation; movement alone can help! Body awareness is also key. Tips for your yoga practice: The more you are aware of what exacerbates or helps with pain or numbness, the better you are at making wise choices with your movement practices. Yoga allows you to explore your body in slow, safe movements. It gives you the opportunity to get to know what works for your nerves. Be sure to move slowly and pay careful attention to your body’s response in each pose.

See also Why More Western Doctors Are Now Prescribing Yoga Therapy

7. Ligament Tears

Problem: Ligament tears are common in aging, stressed, and over-used joints, especially knees, shoulders, hips, and ankles. As we age, we put increasing stress on these joints, which can result in abrasions and tears. If the ligaments give out, or if the joint is degraded, you may find yourself with a replacement.How yoga can help: Yoga is useful for ligament issues in several ways: First, yoga helps you strengthen the muscles around your joints. Your knees, for instance, will be better protected if your glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps are strong. Many common yoga lunge poses help keep your legs strong. Yoga is also useful if you are recovering from a ligament tear injury, as it allows you to continue moving even amidst injury. Tips for your yoga practice: You should choose a gentler practice as you heal, and omit any poses that exacerbate your injury. Finally, yoga is adaptable enough to continue even if you experience a hip or knee replacement. You’ll be able to come back to a yoga practice, and doing yoga after a replacement (with your medical team’s approval) may even speed up the healing process.

8. Tendonitis/Tendonopathy

Problem: Although it’s often a temporary condition, tendon inflammation can cause joint pain and stiffness, and it can also create instability in weight-bearing movements. And as tendons age they can degrade, a condition called tendonopathy.How yoga can help: Acute tendonitis generally requires some days of rest. But after allowing time to heal, yoga can be useful in helping establish new movement patterns. Because tendonitis is often caused by repetitive movements, practicing a variety of yoga poses offers you a chance to continue movement but in new and various ways—shoring up the muscles around the tendon and giving inflamed areas a chance to heal. Tips for your yoga practice: If your health-care team diagnoses tendonopathy, ask which movements are safe and which you should avoid, then follow their directions in your home practice and convey them to your yoga teacher in class. Because of yoga’s adaptability, you will be able to find poses and sequences that continue to work for you.

9. Myofascial tightening, stiffness due to decreased collagen

Problem: As we age, we lose flexibility in our muscles and connective tissue, which results in stiffness, imbalance, and less confidence while balancing.How yoga can help: If you don’t use it, you lose it! A regular yoga practice can help reverse some of that acquired stiffness. Gentle, regular stretching can help keep your body fluid and flexible. We’re often as amazed as our yoga students when we see the changes that habitual stretching and movement can confer. You don’t have to touch your toes, but yoga might get you a little closer to them.

See also Yoga for Flexibility Challenge: 5 Ways to Target Tight Spots on the Mat

10. Hormonal Changes/Hot Flashes

Problem: In women, menopause can bring temperature changes and hot flashes.How yoga can help: Some studies have shown that a restorative yoga practice can help decrease the hot flashes that can come with hormonal changes. Tips for your yoga practice: During a yoga class, it can also be helpful to lighten the amount of clothing you’re wearing or dress in layers so that when you feel warm, you can peel off a longer-sleeved shirt. Some yoga classes are warmer than other others. If you plan to attend a class, ask in advance about the temperature of the room.

11. Blood pressure

Problem: High blood pressure is one of the most common ailments that affect adults as they age. One in three American adults has high blood pressure. Rapidly transitioning from standing upright to folding forward can exacerbate dizziness, a common symptom of low blood pressure and a side effect of common medications for high blood pressure.How yoga can help: Some studies show that regular yoga can lower blood pressure, so a routine yoga practice will help. Tips for your yoga practice: As you move, avoid transitions that put your head below your heart, and opt out of sequences that require you to move quickly from standing to forward folding.

12. Asthma

Problem: Age-related lung changes can aggravate asthma, so as you age, bouts of asthma may increase.How yoga can help: If your asthma is provoked by exercise, yoga is a good fit, since with yoga your heart rate stays relatively low. Tips for your yoga practice: Keep in mind that in some classes yoga teachers use essential oils or incense to enhance the students’ experience. While this is a lovely intention, if you are asthmatic, strong scents can be triggering. It’s appropriate to ask in advance if these types of scents will be used in class and to request that they be omitted. Calling ahead to verify this may be the wisest choice.

13. COPD, Chronic Bronchitis, and Emphysema

Problem: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic bronchitis, and emphysema make breathing very challenging and limit your ability to do cardiovascular activities.How yoga can help: Yoga is low impact. For this reason, it is a useful movement practice if you have COPD or similar respiratory problems. Additionally, a yoga practice often has pranayama, or breath practices. Focusing on inhaling and exhaling can be useful if you have a chronic breathing problem, since breathing exercises can potentially help strengthen muscles used in respiration. Time spent in mindful breathing can also help you have more awareness of your breath; noticing when you get breathless or when you feel short of breath can help you seek treatment quickly.

14. Insomnia and Sleep Issues

Problem: Night wakefulness or restlessness may disrupt sleep.How yoga can help: Intentional, slow breathing can foster a sense of relaxation and calm. A slow yoga and stretching routine before bed can help encourage drowsiness and tranquility. In fact, studies show that yoga can help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Exercise of any type helps tire us out and promotes exhaustion, which can lead to better quality sleep.

15. Chronic Illness

Problem: Chronic illness can cause pain and hopelessness and may create limitations to practicing yoga.How yoga can help: Yoga can be effective as a pain-management tool for painful diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. Since yoga is so adaptable, it can be practiced in a chair or hospital bed. It may also be a helpful meditative tool for those diagnosed with a terminal illness.

The Only Yoga Rule You Need to Follow

The Yoga Sutras contain bits of wisdom and yoga philosophy. This text is one of the earliest yoga books. Regarding yoga poses, the sutras don’t say much. Yoga sutra 2.46 tells us simply that yoga poses should be steady and comfortable. Knowing that this is the only prescription for the poses frees us from feeling like our yoga practice has to look a certain way. A yoga student can do a handstand, or not; a lunge, or not; a balance pose, or not. Your practice is your practice. Find strength and ease, and do what works for you.

See also Feel Better As You Age With Yoga

From Lifelong Yoga by Sage Rountree and Alexandra Desiato, published by North Atlantic Books. Copyright © 2017 by Sage Rountree and Alexandra Desiato. Reprinted with permission of publisher.     

from Yoga Journal http://ift.tt/2f37Z0i

[meditationklaus]

6 Tips and Tricks to Help You Get Into Handstand

Why handstands? As in my previous post, the handstand is a powerful and profound pose, psychologically even more than physically. There are many poses that are more challenging to your balance, strength and flexibility, but few that demand your emotional and mental qualities in quite the same way!

One aspect is fear: a general discomfort with going upside down can be significantly increased by the fact that your head is off the ground, floating in space, with only the hands in contact with the floor.

As adults, we instinctively avoid anything that risks head or neck injury, and many people come to it with some childhood memory attached to the sensation. Because the pose can inspire such fear and resistance, it offers equally powerful benefits: you get confidence, courage, and independence immediately after even just a few moments of this arm balance.

The following tips are things I discovered in my handstand journey and only learned by experimentation and word of mouth; hopefully, they’ll help you get into handstand too.

Setting It Up

First, test your strength: you want to be sure your shoulders and wrists are strong enough before you go upside down. This will also help build your confidence and is a preliminary practise: you’ll still get the benefits of the inversion, while gently training your mind to become familiar with the strange charm of going upside down.

One way is to hold a good Adho Mukha Svanasana for at least a minute. Once you’re happy there, you can practise half-handstand or L-shaped handstand.

Here’s how to do it: first, sit with your legs straight out and heels touching the wall. Then, get up and place your hands where your sit bones were and your feet on the wall — hips at a 90-degree angle.

If you can hold this for five slow breaths you’re ready! Don’t worry if you find this impossible, I did for a long time, and substituted my hands closer to the wall to practise lifting one leg at a time over my head.

The purpose here is still to get familiar with bringing the hips over the shoulders – it’s the key to all inversions and highly beneficial to the circulatory, lymphatic and nervous systems, not to mention developing strength.

1. Walking the Walls

Practicing along a hallway can be really helpful, it just requires a decent space between two walls – wide enough and narrow enough to walk the feet up.

If a hallway is not an option for you, a doorway is another useful structure: place your head and shoulders against the door jamb and walk the feet up the other side until you’re vertical. But do beware – coming down is the harder part, make sure you walk down slowly and with control BEFORE you need to. If you fall out of it, you’ll likely bruise your knees and your ego.

Another option: Phone a Friend. Placing your hands a foot away from the wall you’re rising up, lift up one leg straight. Your friend places their hands under the thigh of the lifted leg to make a shelf and bends their knees to protect their back. You then press into this straight leg to lift the other and once again bring the hips over the shoulders and feet to the wall.

2. Use Bolsters

It’s nice in a studio if there are pads and bolsters, and be sure to still use your mat for your landing. Try a bolster – or if at home, a couple of pillows – vertically against the wall. The magic of this is that your head is still in contact with something, which can relax the fear factor enough to get you up.

I started with three pillows deep, and this makes sense because if you’re too close to the wall you’ll never get your hips over your shoulders. With your hands shoulder-width apart and straight, strong, and engaged, pushing up out of the ground as one would in Down Dog.

With all of the above – and this is crucial – you need to be sure you’re starting with straight, strong arms. If your arms are bent to begin with, not only are they weaker (increasing the chance of landing on your head) but you’ll never be able to straighten them once you’re upside down.

This is your foundation and your arms need to be as powerful as your legs would be in a standing pose: grounding into the palms and fingers spread increases the area your weight will dissipate into.

3. Momentum

Many people who can do handstands are used to firing themselves into them a la gymnastics. For months, I mistakenly attempted to lift my legs in the yoga equivalent of a standing start. But just because we start with our hands on the floor doesn’t mean we don’t still use all the energy of hurling ourselves into it.

Here’s the trick: bend one leg as much as we need to, keep the other one straight, and then springing out of that bent leg to hurl the top leg, and the hips, at the wall.

Equally crucial is keeping the top leg straight, so when you hurl that leg towards the wall behind you, the momentum of your top leg’s weight works for you instead of against you. If you focus on getting the bent/springing leg up to the wall, you just might find it happening.

4. Exhale

So your hands are positioned shoulder-width apart, your arms are strong, you have one leg bent and ready to spring, one leg straight and ready to swing. With all that going on, it’s easy to forget to breathe.

But the breath, as always, is critical and can give you the engine and space to let you rise up. As with an Ashtanga jump-back, an exhalation protects the lungs under the pressure of effort. In this case, it has the added benefit of potentially fooling your brain into relaxing, or at least distracting your habitual mind enough to get out of the way.

A few little hops to get the rhythm going and then phoosh! Exhale and hurl at the same time and you just might find those feet on the wall.

5. Alignment Checks

First, check that you’re not over-arching your back. Breathe in long, slow breaths, aiming to count 10 of them.

You may explore letting one foot and then the other float away from the wall and you may discover that magical space where your body feels almost weightless – a perfect stillness, even just for a second – before you breathe again.

6. A Clean Exit

Whenever you’re ready, ideally after a set number of breaths, bend one leg and let that weight lightly float you down. Plunge into Balasana – let the effects of your effort flow through you until you can feel your heartbeat and breath have returned to normal.

Everyone is going to find one side easier, and it’s critical to keep working on the “weaker” side. That’s what yoga can do for us: instead of reinforcing the habits and conditions we’re comfortable with, we can dive into the dark and scary parts of our own bodies and minds, to discover they’re not so scary after all.

In fact, they’re pretty fun! Handstand gives subtle power, confidence, and the joyful knowledge that we can support ourselves and stand up on our own two hands!

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