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ysabetwordsmithThis story belongs to the series Love Is For Children which includes "Love Is for Children," "Hairpins," "Blended," "Am I Not," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys,""Saudades," "Querencia," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," "Birthday Girl," "No Winter Lasts Forever," "Hide and Seek," "Kernel Error," "Happy Hour," "Green Eggs and Hulk," and "kintsukuroi."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Nick Fury
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Minor character death. Bullying. Fighting. Suicide attempt (minor character).
Summary: This is the story of how a little boy named Flip grows up to save the world a lot.
Notes: Hurt/comfort. Family. Fluff and angst. Accidents. Emotional whump. Disability. Sibling relationship. Nonsexual love. Parentification. Manipulation. Coping skills. Asking for help and getting it. Hope. Protection. Caregiving. Competence. Toys and games. Comic books. Fixing things. Martial arts. Gentleness. Trust. Role models. Military. BAMF Phil Coulson.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17. Skip to Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23.
"Little and Broken, but Still Good" Part 18
Phil lies on the mat for a long moment, trying to remember how to breathe. He didn't even manage to slap his forearms against the floor to disperse the momentum as he fell. That hasn't happened in years. Everything hurts, although the shock of it is fading fast. He isn't injured, just stunned. It occurs to him that the black belts have nothing like the orderly progress of the colors, and his spinning head can't quite determine whether it might be exponential or logarithmic. Phil realizes that he's bitten his tongue, too. He swallows the blood.
Then Phil picks himself up and bows to Sensei White, wavering a little on his feet. "Thank you, Sensei. May I have another round?"
The old man's eyebrows go up, and he grins. Sensei Takenaka grins back at him.
The next thing Phil knows, he is staring at the ceiling again. Nothing hurts this time. It's like being stuffed with cotton wool. The old man's hand cups the back of his neck quite gently.
"Hard or soft," Sensei White says as he lets go. "Which is stronger?"
"Hard," Phil says, remembering how his ears rang the first time.
"Now try to get up," Sensei White says with a chuckle.
And Phil can't move.
Before he can panic, Sensei White touches him again, brushing him off and helping him sit up. It takes a few seconds for Phil to fit himself back into his body. The two older men wait patiently.
Phil gathers his knees under himself and tries to look calm. It is every bit a lie, and all of them know it. He wants to ask what just happened, but he can't find his voice yet.
"Everything is balance," Sensei White explains, as if Phil had asked aloud. "Take that away from a man, and he has no leverage. Give him a hard blow, and he knows how to fight against that. But take him down softly, and he is helpless beneath you. Who can push on a river?"
Phil listens, enchanted beyond all speech. The words soak into him like water on dry ground. He is so thirsty for more, he doesn't want to say anything to interrupt this amazing flow of wisdom.
"So, Mr. Takenaka thinks I should teach you to walk on clouds," Sensei White says. "What do you think?"
"I think I would be honored to learn whatever you want to teach me, Sensei," says Phil as he bows over his knees. Somehow it feels perfectly natural to follow the motion all the way down, touching his forehead to the mat.
One moment, two, and then those powerful fingers brush over the back of his neck again. Phil shivers under the tender touch and does not know why he feels so very exposed, and yet so securely held. "All right," Sensei White says. "We will begin with breathing."
Years later, when Phil falls out of a helicopter into an unknown pond, he will be intensely grateful for learning how to breathe the right way.
* * *
Notes:
Falling safely is useful in everyday life and in martial arts. Slapping your forearms against the ground accomplishes two things: it spreads the force of impact over a wider area, and ensures that you don't make the only contact with vulnerable parts such as fingers or elbows. But if you aren't able to respond to a fall, then you just go splat.
Some martial arts, including karate, use pressure points for nerve strikes. A hard blow can cause debilitating pain or disable parts of the body. But a few soft taps, or careful pressure, can also disable an opponent -- without injuring him or even letting him know what you are doing. It's a master's technique because the target is about the size of a pencil eraser on somebody else's fast-moving body. A larynx or a kneecap is a lot bigger and easier to hit. Notice that the nerve strikes also have "antidotes" that make it possible to reverse the effects faster, some of them easily disguised as helping someone up if you want to obscure what you're doing.
There are many variations on the premise that "soft is stronger than hard." It appears in disciplines as diverse as leadership, art, and coastal maintenance. In physics, what bends is less likely to break, and it is easier to deflect a blow than to stop it outright. All of this plays into martial arts.
Wuxia has a widespread concept of "walking on clouds" as a nickname for aerial skills. "Leap of the clouds" is one example. Coulson's impressive jump in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer" is an example of this art, and what inspired me to lay in the background for it. So yes, Phil's cloudwalking is canonical for the Marvel movieverse. Here is a video of the quin gong "skill of lightness." Notice that they aren't just jumping high, but also landing very lightly. Jumping onto a stack of pavers that can be increased incrementally is an excellent exercise for this skill.
In karate, breathing aids strength and flexibility as well as self-defense. Aikido offers exercises for meditative and combat breathing. Advanced techniques really need expert guidance to learn safely. Phil already knows the basics and is ready to attempt more challenging skills.
[To be continued in Part 19 ...]
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Nick Fury
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Minor character death. Bullying. Fighting. Suicide attempt (minor character).
Summary: This is the story of how a little boy named Flip grows up to save the world a lot.
Notes: Hurt/comfort. Family. Fluff and angst. Accidents. Emotional whump. Disability. Sibling relationship. Nonsexual love. Parentification. Manipulation. Coping skills. Asking for help and getting it. Hope. Protection. Caregiving. Competence. Toys and games. Comic books. Fixing things. Martial arts. Gentleness. Trust. Role models. Military. BAMF Phil Coulson.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17. Skip to Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23.
"Little and Broken, but Still Good" Part 18
Phil lies on the mat for a long moment, trying to remember how to breathe. He didn't even manage to slap his forearms against the floor to disperse the momentum as he fell. That hasn't happened in years. Everything hurts, although the shock of it is fading fast. He isn't injured, just stunned. It occurs to him that the black belts have nothing like the orderly progress of the colors, and his spinning head can't quite determine whether it might be exponential or logarithmic. Phil realizes that he's bitten his tongue, too. He swallows the blood.
Then Phil picks himself up and bows to Sensei White, wavering a little on his feet. "Thank you, Sensei. May I have another round?"
The old man's eyebrows go up, and he grins. Sensei Takenaka grins back at him.
The next thing Phil knows, he is staring at the ceiling again. Nothing hurts this time. It's like being stuffed with cotton wool. The old man's hand cups the back of his neck quite gently.
"Hard or soft," Sensei White says as he lets go. "Which is stronger?"
"Hard," Phil says, remembering how his ears rang the first time.
"Now try to get up," Sensei White says with a chuckle.
And Phil can't move.
Before he can panic, Sensei White touches him again, brushing him off and helping him sit up. It takes a few seconds for Phil to fit himself back into his body. The two older men wait patiently.
Phil gathers his knees under himself and tries to look calm. It is every bit a lie, and all of them know it. He wants to ask what just happened, but he can't find his voice yet.
"Everything is balance," Sensei White explains, as if Phil had asked aloud. "Take that away from a man, and he has no leverage. Give him a hard blow, and he knows how to fight against that. But take him down softly, and he is helpless beneath you. Who can push on a river?"
Phil listens, enchanted beyond all speech. The words soak into him like water on dry ground. He is so thirsty for more, he doesn't want to say anything to interrupt this amazing flow of wisdom.
"So, Mr. Takenaka thinks I should teach you to walk on clouds," Sensei White says. "What do you think?"
"I think I would be honored to learn whatever you want to teach me, Sensei," says Phil as he bows over his knees. Somehow it feels perfectly natural to follow the motion all the way down, touching his forehead to the mat.
One moment, two, and then those powerful fingers brush over the back of his neck again. Phil shivers under the tender touch and does not know why he feels so very exposed, and yet so securely held. "All right," Sensei White says. "We will begin with breathing."
Years later, when Phil falls out of a helicopter into an unknown pond, he will be intensely grateful for learning how to breathe the right way.
* * *
Notes:
Falling safely is useful in everyday life and in martial arts. Slapping your forearms against the ground accomplishes two things: it spreads the force of impact over a wider area, and ensures that you don't make the only contact with vulnerable parts such as fingers or elbows. But if you aren't able to respond to a fall, then you just go splat.
Some martial arts, including karate, use pressure points for nerve strikes. A hard blow can cause debilitating pain or disable parts of the body. But a few soft taps, or careful pressure, can also disable an opponent -- without injuring him or even letting him know what you are doing. It's a master's technique because the target is about the size of a pencil eraser on somebody else's fast-moving body. A larynx or a kneecap is a lot bigger and easier to hit. Notice that the nerve strikes also have "antidotes" that make it possible to reverse the effects faster, some of them easily disguised as helping someone up if you want to obscure what you're doing.
There are many variations on the premise that "soft is stronger than hard." It appears in disciplines as diverse as leadership, art, and coastal maintenance. In physics, what bends is less likely to break, and it is easier to deflect a blow than to stop it outright. All of this plays into martial arts.
Wuxia has a widespread concept of "walking on clouds" as a nickname for aerial skills. "Leap of the clouds" is one example. Coulson's impressive jump in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer" is an example of this art, and what inspired me to lay in the background for it. So yes, Phil's cloudwalking is canonical for the Marvel movieverse. Here is a video of the quin gong "skill of lightness." Notice that they aren't just jumping high, but also landing very lightly. Jumping onto a stack of pavers that can be increased incrementally is an excellent exercise for this skill.
In karate, breathing aids strength and flexibility as well as self-defense. Aikido offers exercises for meditative and combat breathing. Advanced techniques really need expert guidance to learn safely. Phil already knows the basics and is ready to attempt more challenging skills.
[To be continued in Part 19 ...]
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-09 09:35 am (UTC)But I still don't understand what happened that made him unable to get up the second time...
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-11 05:27 am (UTC)Yes...
Date: 2014-07-11 08:58 am (UTC)Exactly. There is some discussion of how that works in the links on pressure points in karate and other martial arts.
>> We poor plebes can experience something similar - ever had a hand/foot start to go numb? That's because you're putting pressure on a nerve somewhere. <<
There are actually a number of different things that make for a vulnerable point. Mostly it has to do with nerves; the map of the nervous system and the map of the chi points correspond very closely. But there are also major blood vessels, sensitive spots on bones or joints, places where hitting a muscle will disable it, etc. Some of the vulnerable points stack more than one of those weaknesses, which makes them preferred targets if you want to really hurt someone.
>> A martial artist of sufficient skill can do that better and faster. No punching required, so it's harder to notice it happening. <<
The really great thing is that there are multiple ways to apply the knowledge. You can mask it with an attack; some of the best pressure point targets are in the forearm and thus easily smacked while blocking. You get a minor weakness from that, but it sets up for a much more disabling strike elsewhere if you wish. A hard poke in the right spot can disable a whole limb. But the points can also be used very subtly, with light pressure. (There's a scene in "Hide and Seek" where Phil does something similar with Steve while sparring together.) What makes it a master's move is that it both requires detailed knowledge and skill to apply. Anyone with basic awareness of anatomy can hit big obvious targets like a larynx or solar plexus. The martial art points are tiny, and the more dramatic effects require hitting several in a precise sequence to interfere with the nerve signals.
>> With his nerves out of commission, Phil couldn't get to his feet because he couldn't really feel them, and/or White got his arm nerves too, which would mean Phil couldn't push up with his arms. <<
Yep. Also there are some points that, instead of disabling the body, affect the mind -- hence the grip on the back of the neck. It's possible to leave someone too dazed to figure a way out.
Yes...
Date: 2014-07-11 06:02 am (UTC)Yay! He needs it, and he's willing to work to get the most out of it.
>> But I still don't understand what happened that made him unable to get up the second time... <<
Pressure points. If you touch them the right way, especially in sequence, you can put someone out of commission very thoroughly.
The real subtlety here is that the setup moves were blocks in the first round. There are a bunch of vulnerable points on the arms and legs that are very easy to hit either with attacks or blocks in karate. Doesn't actually require that much pressure but that's a great way to disguise what you're really doing. It's the equivalent of bumping into someone so you can pick their pocket; they feel the blow, but they don't interpret it the right way. The activating touch can be much lighter. It's like arming a weapon in one step, and pulling the trigger in the next. Your opponent usually won't realize what you've done.
I knew that Sensei White had used pressure points, from the beginning. But it took me this long to realize exactly how he laid out that encounter. He's a sneaky little guy.
New Sensei, different skills
Date: 2014-07-09 07:40 pm (UTC)I like the implication of surprise, and the glimpse of the relationship between the two adults-- "this kid is really--?" and the answering "Yeah, he really IS!" Almost, it feels as if his current teacher deliberately said NOTHING about Phil or his personality to surprise (or even "prank") his own teacher. There's a feeling of playfulness that I might just be reading into the story, but I don't /think/ so.
Thanks for posting this.
Re: New Sensei, different skills
Date: 2014-07-10 03:08 am (UTC)Re: New Sensei, different skills
Date: 2014-07-11 05:45 am (UTC)Sooth. I wanted to find things that would fit with Phil's personality and his actions in canon.
>> I like the implication of surprise, and the glimpse of the relationship between the two adults-- "this kid is really--?" and the answering "Yeah, he really IS!" Almost, it feels as if his current teacher deliberately said NOTHING about Phil or his personality to surprise (or even "prank") his own teacher. <<
Sensei Takenaka knew that Phil had more than usual talent and dedication; he suspected, but could not be certain, that Phil had the potential to become a true master of martial arts. Remember that he suggested teaching Phil how to walk on clouds. He didn't want to say so much as to prejudice the matter, so it was mostly hints. But the thing is, the only way to know that you've got a live one is to test for it, and the highest level of potential just isn't very common. They couldn't know for sure until Sensei White dumped Phil on the mat, and Phil asked for more instead of sulking.
It's like unwrapping a candy bar and finding a golden ticket.
>> There's a feeling of playfulness that I might just be reading into the story, but I don't /think/ so. <<
They are being playful too.
*ponder* Which is something you can see in Phil, years later, the way he interacts with his people and teases them a little sometimes.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-10 03:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-10 03:08 am (UTC)Yes...
Date: 2014-07-11 05:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-11 08:42 am (UTC)nonny75
Thank you!
Date: 2014-07-11 09:05 am (UTC)I'm glad this works for you.
My usual fanfic mode is "derive back, extrapolate forward." The martial arts stuff, for instance, is strongly influenced by "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer." Phil showed some BAMF skills there -- and yet he went miles out of his way to minimize the potential for anyone getting seriously hurt. He used de-escalation skills to control the situation, and only used his martial arts for the climax. But that brief flurry showed complete mastery of the craft, riffing on moves that are classic indicators of an expert. So I worked back from that to imagine how Phil could have learned not just the physical moves, but the philosophy and finesse required to pull off the complete choreography as shown. Because most people could not have used both nonviolent and martial skills at the same time.
>> and i am more like flip than like any other of the people there except maybe bruce so it feels ... close? <<
Yes, that makes sense. Several readers have mentioned feeling a strong kinship with Flip in this story.