Story: "Little and Broken, but Still Good" Part 32

[ysabetwordsmith]

This 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, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30, Part 31. Skip to Part 34, Part 35.


"Little and Broken, but Still Good" Part 32


When Phil is twenty-six, he decides to try out for his fifth degree black belt. It feels strange to think of limiting himself to karate after exploring so many other martial arts. At SHIELD, almost everyone knows some style or other, and plenty of people know several. It's easy to find sparring partners and Phil has picked up all kinds of new things. His control makes him a popular man on the mats.

Now Phil understands why Sensei Takenaka urged him to explore mixed martial arts. Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses. By learning what works for him, and then combining the best techniques from different systems, Phil can assemble a personal style that capitalizes on his own body and mind. He still remembers his first love, though, so he signs himself out on leave.

As exciting as he finds mixed martial arts, though, returning to karate feels like coming home. Phil takes a few days to practice before his test. He goes to Sensei White's dojo on Tuesday night for open sparring and works his way up through the ranks. He lets the novices practice against him before stepping into the corner claimed by the other black belts. Only then does Phil actually work up a sweat. He loves karate. It's familiar in a way that nothing else is. He goes back again for the open sparring on Thursday.

Saturday is reserved for competitions and testing. Phil surreptitiously wipes his hands on his gi. He has been studying karate for two-thirds of his life, and still feels like he has barely learned a fraction of it.

Sensei White steps forward, they bow, and everything whirls into motion. Only snatches of it register in Phil's memory -- the swift tap of wrists against forearms, the patter of feet on the mats, the cup of Sensei White's hand over his throat as he tilts Phil over his knee. This test challenges him in ways that even SHIELD sparring rarely does. Phil has met very few people with his master's quicksilver energy.

It ends, as it always does, with Phil staring at the ceiling. He is gasping for breath as he accepts the belt. He's proud of his new Godan status, though.

"Tell me, what have you been studying?" Sensei White asks him with a thoughtful look. "I can see that you have branched out now."

"Russian sambo, tae kwon do, judo, krav maga, muay thai, escrima, and ninjutsu," Phil says. He breathes deliberately as he tries to get his wind back. "Those are the ones where I have a regular practice partner. Everything else, I learn catch-as-catch can."

"Hmm," says Sensei White, staring at Phil with half-lidded eyes. Then he shakes his head. "Keep doing that and you will soon spoil your balance."

Phil still has a row of yellowing bruises from the last time he fell off the plum-blossom poles in ninjutsu practice, but he's using unfixed rather than fixed poles and he's up to the two-foot-high set. However, he hasn't gotten this far by ignoring expert advice. "What do you see going wrong with my balance, Sensei?" he asks.

* * *

Notes:

Hybrid or mixed martial arts involve combining techniques from the most effective schools. Learn how to create your own style.

Karate advancement has an orderly progression through levels, marked by belt colors and titles.

Phil's new arts include Russian sambo, tae kwon do, judo, krav maga, muay thai, escrima, and ninjutsu. Watch some real live ninjas.

Plum-blossom poles are a traditional training method. Here's video of the training bowls. Although the examples here are for fixed poles, I have seen a documentary of ninjas working on much narrower poles of varying heights, with a widened base and top, which are not attached to the floor but require the climber to have perfect balance in order to move from one pole to the next without tipping them. Phil is learning the unfixed poles because he is a BAMF (and has not got the sense of self-preservation that God gave to Steve Rogers ...)


[To be continued in Part 33 ...]

Comments

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

Now that is lack of self-preservation...

wonder if Natasha picked up anything from Coulson she's passed on to Steve.

"They got their supersoldier, and they never trained you."

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Now that is lack of self-preservation... <<

Sadly so. But you can see it in Phil taking aim at a god with a gun that he doesn't even know what it does. Steve and the trash can lid.

>> wonder if Natasha picked up anything from Coulson she's passed on to Steve. <<

It's possible.

>> "They got their supersoldier, and they never trained you." <<

Painfully true. That was an utter disgrace to the service.

Re: Yes...

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

>>>> "They got their supersoldier, and they never trained you." <<

Painfully true. That was an utter disgrace to the service.<<

They wanted X-files' supersoldiers. Steve is sharp on all edges, you don't wield him, you set out the situation and he will solve it. See, elevator.

In my Vita-Ray AU (where he stays little, but gains the brawn etc, just stealth-mode) Carter gets to use quite a bit of the USO/Bond tour time training/having him trained. (There was also some testing.)

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> They wanted X-files' supersoldiers. <<

Everybody wants supersoldiers, nobody wants to do the fucking work, it never ends well.

>> Steve is sharp on all edges, you don't wield him, you set out the situation and he will solve it. See, elevator. <<

Sooth. I loved that scene. Let's take the supersoldier who got the crap kicked out of him three times a week for most of his life, and cram him in an elevator with 10 thugs. Yeah that's gonna work.

>> In my Vita-Ray AU (where he stays little, but gains the brawn etc, just stealth-mode) Carter gets to use quite a bit of the USO/Bond tour time training/having him trained. (There was also some testing.) <<

Well played.

[(Anonymous)]

this is skeptic7, if Phil is doing plum-blossom poles he is really really bored and doesn't have any sense of self preservation. Wouldn't it be safer to study Improvise Explosive Bomb building? SHIELD medical must have a form which basically goes "You have been assigned to a remedial physical excersize program, do not do anything more dangerous until your instructors have signed off that you have adequate balance, spatial awareness and core muscle strength. Your recent injuries are caused by pushing past your physical abilities"

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> this is skeptic7, if Phil is doing plum-blossom poles he is really really bored and doesn't have any sense of self preservation. <<

These things are true, but ...

>> Wouldn't it be safer to study Improvise Explosive Bomb building? <<

When properly done, plum-blossom training is not as dangerous as some people make it out to be. Sure you can kill yourself with it. You can also kill yourself cleaning a gun if you are stupid with it.

I didn't actually find a reference for the proper sequence, but I do remember how it works. You start with flat circles drawn on the ground, and you learn the patterns of motion. When you can do those without making mistakes, you move up to the bowls. You will fall off the bowls a lot. About the most you could do is maybe sprain a wrist or ankle, but if you are doing martial arts at all then you should have learned safe falling first, so if you sprain something you probably deserve it and need to spend a month reviewing how to fall, after you have healed. Mostly you will just get bruises. Once you can pattern perfectly on the bowls, you move to fixed piles, which are short and pretty wide and won't budge. If you fall off them and hit one on the way down, you might break an arm or your head. When you can pattern perfectly on the short piles, you move up to taller ones. Yes, if you fall off those you could kill yourself, but you've been practicing slowly so you know how not to. Eventually you move to unfixed poles, and you start back with short ones again, because you will fall off them a lot. When you learn now not to tip over the short ones, you move to taller ones. The really cool set of plum-blossom poles has about a dozen pairs in heights from around one foot to twelve feet, and you go back and forth to climb up them like stairs.

I've seen ninjas climb the unfixed plum blossom poles like stairs. The other martial artists couldn't get past the first or second level before falling off. I rather suspect that ninjas have their own exercises for balance training that probably differ. The step-by-step version is more akin to shaolin, and they still use the fixed piles occasionally.

Consider that Phil was able to climb flimsy convenience store shelves. He may not have a sense of self-preservation, but he does have patience and precision.

>> SHIELD medical must have a form which basically goes "You have been assigned to a remedial physical excersize program, do not do anything more dangerous until your instructors have signed off that you have adequate balance, spatial awareness and core muscle strength. Your recent injuries are caused by pushing past your physical abilities" <<

*laugh* They probably print that one on big pads and keep it next to the prescription pads. Because a lot of SHIELD agents are going to identify their limits, and then barrel right past them.

It's interesting that neither Steve nor Bruce will put up with that among the Avengers. Steve has done a very methodical and sensible job of devising exercise and training routines that work for a mixed team with very different ability levels. Bruce is serious about safety. JARVIS too, really, he's the one keeping a sharp eye on the whole tower, and logging when the gym equipment breaks so it can be upgraded.

[shrewreader]

Why do I get the feeling that the balance to which Sensei White is referring is not, actually, physical in nature?

Oh yeah, 'cause we've seen the end result.

And the bit with the flour.

Is it Monday yet?

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Why do I get the feeling that the balance to which Sensei White is referring is not, actually, physical in nature? <<

Because you're an astute reader.

>> Oh yeah, 'cause we've seen the end result.

And the bit with the flour. <<

That too.

>> Is it Monday yet? <<

Don't make me drive this story around the block an extra time. ;)

Well-

[dialecticdreamer]

I like this, in part because Phil is returning to center, grounding himself. That usually precedes an ENORMOUS leap of learning, ability, or insight. And I'm left wondering both whether the 'balance' is physical or metaphysical as well.

Monday. Monday. Monday.

Re: Well-

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I like this, in part because Phil is returning to center, grounding himself. That usually precedes an ENORMOUS leap of learning, ability, or insight. And I'm left wondering both whether the 'balance' is physical or metaphysical as well. <<

Thank you! Yes, the second half of this scene indicates the direction of those things.

>> Monday. Monday. Monday. <<

*chuckle* I'm amused by people's reactions to the cliffhanger.

Re: Well-

[dialecticdreamer]

Goody, glad I could amuse someone today...

Monday.

Monday.

Monday.

Monday.