I have no idea what I am talking about, just saying!

Notes:

Kali-k'hy - Vulcan martial art

Abru - up

Rom - good

Puklaman veh - fight stance one

Puklaman dahkuh - fight stance two

Puklaman kehkuh - fight stance four

Kwul laman - fight stance

Klashau - guard stance

Le-matya (sometimes written le'matya) was a predatory animal life form native to planet Vulcan.

Vai-sehlat - were a type of animal life form that existed on the planet Vulcan.

O'hets'za - Vulcan kiss

Klee - let us begin

Tu klopau laman - you decide the stances

Chapter 71 - Kali-k'hy

December 2230, Vulcan Embassy, San Fransisco.

(DISCLAIMER - Do not try this activity at home unless you have a qualified kali-k'hy instructor to assist you!)

Mimi had to keep her wits about her, currently she was practicing kali-k'hy drills where Sordd would name a stance, which they then had to move into as quickly as possible, however, if there was a laps in concentration on either side there was the possibility that the other would strike and then one or the other of them would find themselves on the way to hitting the mat, usually this was Mimi, correction, it was always Mimi.

"Le-matya!" Sordd announced.

Mimi took up the stance, which was similar to a pistol squat, she engaged her core muscles while she extended her arms and one leg in front of her, she then bent her knee and lowered into a squat position while keeping her back and torso as straight as possible, until her butt was as close to her heel as she could get it, it was agony! She then squeezed her glutes and drove through her heel to stand back up, she repeated on the other leg.

"Puklaman veh!" Sordd said as soon as she finished the move.

Mimi moved into fight stance one, which was a relief as le-matya was hard going. She raised her hands to eye level in order to anticipate Sordd's next move and to protect her head at the same time. Her feet were staggered and placed slightly wider than her hips, she found her centre of gravity and therefore her balance. He began to circle her, and she kept a close eye on him, she knew he was about to strike but had learned not to try and anticipate his move and therefore move to soon herself.

"Rom, Mimi," he said. "What is the importance of your stance?" he asked while continuing to circle her.

"A proper stance allows for strong, effortless movement and an easy transference of force from body to extremity," she replied by rote.

"Rom," he said again.

Mimi stepped forward onto her right foot, a rookie mistake! Sordd swiftly moved in and pulled her gently towards him, destabilising her, while sweeping her leg from under her, like a sickle cutting grass. Mimi fell backward and landed on the mat with a thud.

"Ouch!" she said. Her face was red and glistening with exertion, she was a fit person but this was taking its toll on her, Sordd on the other hand looked cool as a cucumber.

"Abru! Up!" he said, "the longer you stay on the ground the greater the advantage you give to your opponent."

Mimi took a deep breath and then rose to her feet. "Can you not let me win even one time?" she said with a slight note of discouragement in her voice.

Sordd tilted his head, "That would be illogical," he said in a neutral tone, yet with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes.

"It might be illogical to a Vulcan, but to a human sometimes we let people win so they don't lose heart and give up," Mimi replied. "My morale is waining and I am about to give up!" she declared.

"Fascinating," Sordd said in a response. "I do not know why you would give up on something where there had been a 12.65% improvement." Sordd saw Mimi roll her eyes and decided it would be best not to pursue this line further. "I will endeavour to take what you have said on board," he said flatly. "We have five more minutes before Avarak arrives for his training. Do you want to stop or shall we continue?" he asked.

Mimi took another deep breath, "OK, lets carry on, but please be kind."

Sordd blinked a few times in quick succession, a response he often had in Mimi's presence that indicated slight confusion. He failed to see where he had been unkind. He would ask her to clarify this later. "Very well," he said, "Vai-sehlat!"

Mimi took up the stance, her left leg moved out to the side so her feet were wider than her shoulders and she slowly squatted. As soon as she completed the move Sordd moved onto the next position, "Puklaman kehkuh!" he said, and then there came a rapid succession of other stances, "Klashau! Le-matya! Vai-sehlat!" the theory being you move through a stance, not to a stance. Mimi moved smoothly from one stance into another in response. "Puklaman dahkuh!" he said.

She changed stance again, left foot forward, back heel up off the ground, hands up, chin tucked down, comfortable and balanced. Forward, back, side to side, she could spring in any direction pivoting on her front foot.

"Relax Mimi," Sordd said. "and breathe!"

At that point Mimi realised that she had been holding her breath, she immediately relaxed and focused on breathing.

"Rom," Sordd said. She smiled slightly at the praise. "Why else is your stance important?" he asked while circling her.

"Having a good stance allows you freedom of movement," she replied again by rote. "There is no disadvantage in having a good stance. It will only make you a better at what you do," she said.

"Remember to position your feet in such a way that will maximise the potential for your agility," he said.

Mimi changed her stance slightly in response to his instruction at which point the door of the room whooshed open. She instinctively turned to see who it was, Sordd seized the oportunity and in a moment of time he executed a low kick that swept Mimi's feet from under her and she landed on the mat with a loud thud.

"Ouch!" she cried out again, "I give up!" she said while not moving from the place where she had landed.

Sordd walked over and reached out his hand towards her, "Ashayam," he said in a gentle tone. "It is important that you are aware of your surroundings and you do not let anything distract you."

Mimi looked up at him from where she was lying, "I just wanted to see who it was," she replied.

"I know Mimi, but you need to stay focused on the problem not the distraction," he replied as he helped her to her feet. Mimi looked around to see who it was, Avarak stood at the entrance to the room, dressed in his kali-k'hy robe ready for his training session.

"I am sorry for interrupting," Avarak said in an apologetic tone while looking at Sordd and Mimi in turn.

Mimi smiled towards him, "You have excellent timing Avarak!" she said, "I've had enough training for today!" Every muscle in her body was aching and she desperately needed a shower. Mimi went over to the side of the room to grab her towel to wipe some perspiration from her face. When she turned around again she found Sordd standing closely beside her, she hadn't heard his approach. He extended two fingers towards her, he needed to gauge how she was 'feeling.'

She looked up into his eyes and detected a note of concern, "I'm ok," she said as her face broke into a smile. Sordd continued to hold out his fingers towards her and he tilted his head slightly. Mimi held out her fingers and they briefly touched each other in a o'hets'za. When he was satisfied that all was well he released the touch and turned towards Avarak, who had already started some warm up exercises.

"Klee," Sordd said to Avarak. "Tu klopau laman."

Mimi looked on as Sordd and Avarak took up their start position and bowed towards each other, a bit like what you might see in a Judo match.

"Le-matya," Avarak announced. That was not the one Mimi would have picked. Sordd and Avarak both immediately took up the stance. "Klashau!" Avarak said next. Although Avarak was much younger than Mimi he was far more advanced in kali-k'hy and he gracefully moved from one position to the next and only on a few occasions was he caught out. Much to Mimi's amusement Avarak managed to catch his sa-mekh out on a couple of occasions, although the difference in mass between them meant that Sordd did not land on the mat. That was until toward the end of the session, when during a transition Sordd was distracted, by Mimi, and Avarak's reflex was so swift that Sordd landed flat on his back.

*'*

Who would have thought that Sordd would be distracted by Mimi?

P.S As you can see I am trying out the Vulcan language notes at the start, let me know if you have any thoughts on this, I have also seen some stories where the translation is quoted in the text, if you have an opinion on that as well I would be interested to know.

More notes

Martial arts I used a number of sites for reference including:

breakingmuscle. /fitness/5-tips-for-a-more-effective-fighting-stance

. /2018/08/13/the-basic-judo-throws-blitz-sport/

salsamacho. /what-are-the-krav-maga-stances/br /

Random quote "Keep your eyes focused on the problem not the distraction." Beverly Media GH

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Thank you Kehlan, RobertBruceScott, and Wildblume for your continued support and input. If you haven't checked their stories out, you should as they are cracking!