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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, 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, Part 32. Skip to Part 35.
"Little and Broken, but Still Good" Part 33
"All these styles you name, they focus on combat," says Sensei White. "If you are not careful, you will lose your center."
"I don't understand," Phil says. "I do some dangerous work. It's not rare for me to get stuck fighting bare-handed because I've lost my weapons or couldn't carry them in the first place. I need serious combat moves in order to stay alive -- to keep other people alive, too."
Sensei White makes a faint clucking noise with his tongue. "Which is stronger, hard or soft?"
"Soft," Phil says without hesitation. He's learned that lesson.
"You are not a violent man at heart," says Sensei White. "So if you fill yourself with violence alone, you will lose your heart. If you lose your heart, you will lose your balance. If you lose your balance, you will lose the fight before you even throw the first blow. Think! Why did you take up karate in the first place?"
"So I wouldn't have to fight," Phil says, remembering how he wanted to protect his sister, and how happy he was when the bullies mostly stopped bothering them. The karate moves had helped a lot, but the meditation made it easier to stay calm and out-think his opponents.
"These new styles you have been studying -- how do they help you avoid fights?" asks Sensei White.
Well, they don't, at least not the way Phil has been learning them. SHIELD personnel tend to be tough and fierce; they train and fight that way. Phil does his own reading, in addition to sparring with whomever he can find, so he knows that some of the styles can have a meditative aspect just as karate can. He hasn't bothered with that, though, and he suddenly realizes that might have been a serious mistake.
"Some of them have ways, but I have not explored those. I've been more interested in the attacks," Phil admits.
"Everyone knows how to counter attacks," Sensei White reminds him. "What if you need something else? Suppose that you need to stand against someone without hurting him. Perhaps you want to talk and he does not, or perhaps he is out of his head with fear. Then what will you do?"
"Probably screw up by the book," Phil says, dropping his gaze. "How do I fix this, Sensei?"
"Take up one of the gentler arts. I think aikido would suit you well," says Sensei White.
Phil bows, all the way down as he did in his childhood, touching his forehead to the floor. "Thank you, Sensei. I will do that."
Fingertips feather over the nape of his neck. "It takes a strong man to admit his mistakes. You will need that too," says Sensei White.
Years later, on stakeout in Rio de Janeiro, Phil will find himself watching a fugitive scientist, and will finally see what a disaster the strong application of force can be in a situation that requires tenderness. So even though Phil looks into Brazilian jiu jitsu to learn about fighting on his back, he keeps up the aikido.
* * *
Notes:
People can easily get caught up in "the best martial arts" usually meaning combat power. But sometimes you really need to be strengthening the soft side instead.
Aikido is all about fighting from the center, both physically and metaphysically. It uses the attacker's strength against him by pulling him off balance and deflecting force, aiming to avoid injury to anyone. The core philosophy is to extend the heart against the sword. Think about Phil's fighting style in the movies and you can see hints of this: he often uses attack moves to achieve a basically nonviolent end.
Nonviolence and de-escalation are ways of addressing problems without getting anyone hurt. They're damage control tactics. There are simple and complex instructions for de-escalating conflict. Notice that Steve often does the same thing, talking first rather than attacking ("The last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing over a crowd like this, we ended up disagreeing."), and that probably plays into Phil's approach too.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is generally considered the most effective ground-fighting discipline. It is optimized for a smaller opponent against a larger one.
[To be continued in Part 34 ...]
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, Part 32. Skip to Part 35.
"Little and Broken, but Still Good" Part 33
"All these styles you name, they focus on combat," says Sensei White. "If you are not careful, you will lose your center."
"I don't understand," Phil says. "I do some dangerous work. It's not rare for me to get stuck fighting bare-handed because I've lost my weapons or couldn't carry them in the first place. I need serious combat moves in order to stay alive -- to keep other people alive, too."
Sensei White makes a faint clucking noise with his tongue. "Which is stronger, hard or soft?"
"Soft," Phil says without hesitation. He's learned that lesson.
"You are not a violent man at heart," says Sensei White. "So if you fill yourself with violence alone, you will lose your heart. If you lose your heart, you will lose your balance. If you lose your balance, you will lose the fight before you even throw the first blow. Think! Why did you take up karate in the first place?"
"So I wouldn't have to fight," Phil says, remembering how he wanted to protect his sister, and how happy he was when the bullies mostly stopped bothering them. The karate moves had helped a lot, but the meditation made it easier to stay calm and out-think his opponents.
"These new styles you have been studying -- how do they help you avoid fights?" asks Sensei White.
Well, they don't, at least not the way Phil has been learning them. SHIELD personnel tend to be tough and fierce; they train and fight that way. Phil does his own reading, in addition to sparring with whomever he can find, so he knows that some of the styles can have a meditative aspect just as karate can. He hasn't bothered with that, though, and he suddenly realizes that might have been a serious mistake.
"Some of them have ways, but I have not explored those. I've been more interested in the attacks," Phil admits.
"Everyone knows how to counter attacks," Sensei White reminds him. "What if you need something else? Suppose that you need to stand against someone without hurting him. Perhaps you want to talk and he does not, or perhaps he is out of his head with fear. Then what will you do?"
"Probably screw up by the book," Phil says, dropping his gaze. "How do I fix this, Sensei?"
"Take up one of the gentler arts. I think aikido would suit you well," says Sensei White.
Phil bows, all the way down as he did in his childhood, touching his forehead to the floor. "Thank you, Sensei. I will do that."
Fingertips feather over the nape of his neck. "It takes a strong man to admit his mistakes. You will need that too," says Sensei White.
Years later, on stakeout in Rio de Janeiro, Phil will find himself watching a fugitive scientist, and will finally see what a disaster the strong application of force can be in a situation that requires tenderness. So even though Phil looks into Brazilian jiu jitsu to learn about fighting on his back, he keeps up the aikido.
* * *
Notes:
People can easily get caught up in "the best martial arts" usually meaning combat power. But sometimes you really need to be strengthening the soft side instead.
Aikido is all about fighting from the center, both physically and metaphysically. It uses the attacker's strength against him by pulling him off balance and deflecting force, aiming to avoid injury to anyone. The core philosophy is to extend the heart against the sword. Think about Phil's fighting style in the movies and you can see hints of this: he often uses attack moves to achieve a basically nonviolent end.
Nonviolence and de-escalation are ways of addressing problems without getting anyone hurt. They're damage control tactics. There are simple and complex instructions for de-escalating conflict. Notice that Steve often does the same thing, talking first rather than attacking ("The last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing over a crowd like this, we ended up disagreeing."), and that probably plays into Phil's approach too.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is generally considered the most effective ground-fighting discipline. It is optimized for a smaller opponent against a larger one.
[To be continued in Part 34 ...]
(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-18 06:16 am (UTC)--Anna Libertas
Thank you!
Date: 2014-08-18 10:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-18 09:32 am (UTC)Yay!
Date: 2014-08-25 12:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-18 10:39 am (UTC)Then how was that screwed up so badly?
I love Sensei White. :) And I love his influence on Phil.
Well...
Date: 2014-08-18 10:21 pm (UTC)Then how was that screwed up so badly? <<
In The Avengers, Black Widow tells Bruce that SHIELD never lost track of him. I suspect this is an exaggeration, and what they mean is that they never lost track more than briefly and were always able to find him again. Clearly they knew of the stalking by General Ross and possibly other parties. It is implied that SHIELD used subterfuge to minimize the harassment. But they never intevened directly -- they didn't stop the fiasco in Rio, and they didn't warn Bruce about what was going on because he didn't know they were watching him. So they were kind of crappy bodyguards in that regard.
My interpretation is that someone was watching Bruce, but did not have permission to contact him nor the resources to face down a heavy assault by a troop of soldiers. That means probably just one or a few people at a time -- Agent Coulson, Black Widow, and Hawkeye seem feasible as observers in this context, singly or together. Without authority, manpower, or other resources there was a limit to how much good they could do. Eventually General Ross was going to get past them and trigger Hulk again, which is exactly what happened in Rio and is implied to have happened more than once.
Let's say that's probably on the list of reasons why Phil decided to stand there and watch while Tony held General Ross so that Betty could rip his guts out through his ears.
>> I love Sensei White. :) And I love his influence on Phil. <<
Yay! I'm glad that worked for you. Phil needs someone to counterbalance the violent influences in his life.
PERFECT!
Date: 2014-08-18 02:01 pm (UTC)Re: PERFECT!
Date: 2014-08-19 06:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-18 07:58 pm (UTC)A bag of flour to the face (in the trailer "A Funny Thing Happened on the Wa to Thor's Hammer).
Yes...
Date: 2014-08-18 08:20 pm (UTC)"Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own."
*bow to O-Sensei Lee*
(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-18 10:00 pm (UTC)Yes...
Date: 2014-08-25 12:47 am (UTC)Re: Yes...
Date: 2014-08-25 08:07 pm (UTC)And possibly not seeing the provocation even with it described.
Yeah, having him at certain layer of granularity.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-20 04:19 am (UTC)I'm enjoying this little jaunt into Phil. Thanks for writing.
Starfevre
Yay!
Date: 2014-08-24 11:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-08-23 03:42 am (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2014-08-23 08:44 am (UTC)