Working On Up

[Highfly]

Today was a bit of a slower day at the gym for Dan as he had no scheduled training sessions. He had just seen his girlfriend Irelie Xu in the morning before she went off to do an autograph signing for LAW that afternoon. Dan was still trying to figure out how he got so lucky and looking over his client list he was super impressed with how they were doing. He had been bombarded by Sienna via text about her most recent match and loss against his aunt Alaina. Being stuck in the middle of that rivalry was like pulling teeth as his aunt was his favorite wrestler growing up and she was still his #2 favorite only being surpassed by his statuesque Irelia. Sienna was his best friend and his third favorite, if not a sort of 2.5 just underneath Alaina in the hierarchy of grappling ladies of the ring.

Dan began to wander about and see if anyone looked like they needed or wanted help. A new client would be great but even if not simply helping one of these ladies achieve a fitness goal or even help with in-ring work would be just what he needed to shake off the boredom. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a pretty young lady wandering about looking as if she was unsure what to do.

Danny walked up in his black shorts and "LAW Personal Trainer" t-shirt and smiled. "Hey there, is there something I can help you with?" He asked with a nod as he walked up, notebook and clip board in hand like always.

[arktriumph]

Emelia wandered sheepishly into the gym, clad in a white t-shirt that cut off just below her ribs, black lycra shorts and a set of white trainers. Her thick brown hair hung loose around her uncertain features as she looked around.

The Scandinavian beauty hadn't spent as much time in the LAW gym as she should have since joining the league, but now sitting with a shameful 0-4 record from her first four matches it was clear to the young wrestler that she needed to do something to sort out her form in the ring. The last loss in particular stung, as she'd been utterly thrashed by a woman who was little more than an enthusiastic fan. For someone from the Hjaal family it was disgraceful.

Cheeks flushing at the memory, she scanned the gym, looking for somewhere to start, trying to think about the matches that had gone so awry, and how she might fix her apparent mountain of problems!

Her head jerked up sharply when a young man approached her, asking if there was anything she needed help with. For a moment her mouth opened and closed foolishly as she examined the newcomer - a well built man a little taller than her with brown hair, his t-shirt marking him out as a personal trainer. She hesitated.

"I... well, yes maybe, actually," she bumbled, feeling flustered by his abrupt approach but not wanting to turn down help she could sorely use! "I just... I'm not doing very well... in the ring, you know - err, so I'm here to try and work on my weaknesses. I guess." She blushed, folding her arms tight against her body and trying to look the man in the eye.

[Highfly]

"Hey no worries! I am here to help you out. Now I do mostly fitness related stuff to help you do more in the ring but I can help out a tiny bit with in-ring stuff too. I just want to ask a couple questions so we can really build a workout routine that will help you get the results you want." Dan said as he began to write in his notebook.

"Oh by the way I'm Dan Haines, probably should have opened up with the introduction haha." Dan said with a laugh. "Dan, Danny, whatever ya feel like calling me works." He added giving Emilia a second. He wanted her to be able to be comfortable around him. He did look her over and she had a good foundation fitness-wise from what he could tell. She was also incredibly attractive to boot.

"So, are you trying to gain some bulk and strength, work on endurance or be quicker on your feet for starters? I know good workouts for each but the more I know about what you are trying to do the better." He said with a smile.

[arktriumph]

Emelia found herself feeling a bit more comfortable as Danny introduced himself explaining what he had on offer for her. He waited for a moment, looking at her and extracting a flutter in her chest!

"Good to meet you," she replied, finding her voice and flashing him a nervous smile. "My name is Emelia. Emelia Hjaal."

Right now, given the state of her in-ring prowess, the young Scandinavian wasn't totally sure where would be best to start, but she listened intently as Danny explained the options. Eventually she decided on what might be a good place to start.

"I guess my footwork could be a lot better," she said, a little reluctant to point out her own flaws to someone she'd just met, but forcing through the discomfort. She needed help after all! "People always seem to out maneuver me - I... I can't keep up." She pressed her lips together eyes flashing to the floor in embarrassment.

[Highfly]

Thankfully footwork was something Dan was good at in the ring. He smiled and nodded to her as he saw an empty practice ring. "No problem we can take a look at how you handle some things and how you are moving in there." Dan said as he began to walk towards the ring. "So how is everything else going? Whatcha do when you aren't in the ring?" Dan asked trying to further loosen up the atmosphere while putting Emilia a bit more at ease. He wanted her to feel comfortable and if she was tense, nervous or embarrassed it would be a lot harder to get things across to her than it would be had she been loose.

[arktriumph]

Emelia accompanied Dan to the empty practice ring, nodding as she listened to him. He seemed fully confident he could help with her footwork problem, which gave her a glimmer of hope that she might be able to make some progress here. It wasn't as though she never practiced, but she had never picked up anything with the same natural ease and grace as the rest of her family - much to her frustration.

"I... well I read a lot," she answered in response to his query about her non-wrestling time. "And I watch a lot of old wrestling movies. Just gives me a little something to aim for, I guess. Used to watch them all the time when I was younger." She shrugged, finding it easy to open up a little to the breezy, confident trainer. "If I'm not doing that, I'll work out. Sometimes I'll hit the town if I'm feeling like a need to unwind." Emelia allowed herself a fleeting smile at that.

[Highfly]

"Nice! It sounds like you have a good balance to keep yourself in a good headspace. That is huge honestly, not enough people realize you need to do that." Dan said as he made his way to the ring. "Okay, we will practice footwork in a lot of simple but frequent situations first. To start we will work on your basic collar and elbow tie up. Moving correctly while grappling goes a long way and can help you synergize different muscle groups to give you more strength." Dan said as he got into the ring, holding the ropes apart for Emilia to enter.

[arktriumph]

Emelia nodded along, trying to keep up as Dan rattled off a series of plans for their first set of practice moves. She smiled faintly as he complimented her on her out of ring activities - it was true that despite her less-than-stellar in ring form, she'd managed to keep herself occupied outside it with relative ease.

Obediently she stepped between the ropes to follow him into the ring, taking up a position in the centre of the ring and turning to face him.

"Okay," she said, still slightly bamboozled by his talk of muscle groups and synergy. "I... I know how to lock up. I mean, I think I do." The blushes were returning now. She'd come to LAW thinking she'd known a lot of stuff, but so far the other wrestlers here had made light work of her in the ring.

[Highfly]

"I am sure ya do, but here we go!" Dan said as the two locked up. She had hold in the right spots and he stood still like a wall not giving ground but not pushing back. For a second he was silent as he looked down, taking note of a few things.

"Okay, try bending your knees just a bit more. Get them at the same angle mine are. Now just widen your feet maybe a couple inches further apart....good! Now do you feel how much more leverage you have to push, resist my pushing, and direct side to side?" Dan asked as the two continued to grapple.

[arktriumph]

Emelia locked up with Daniel in the middle of the ring, immediately struck by how immovable he felt. For a moment she only felt dismay - if she pushed for the rest of the afternoon she might not move him given how things felt now.

But then he started speaking, explaining minor points of her stance. Emelia thought she'd figured out all those basics, but now was not the time to assume. Feeling her cheeks redden she did as he asked, bending her knees more and spreading her feet.

Things felt instantly better.

"I... yeah it feels a lot more stable," Emelia agreed as she pushed lightly back against the grapple, unsure how hard she should really be trying at this juncture. Undeniably though, just these little tips helped her feel more solidly set in her stance.