What if I ain't no violinist?

123. Twoset Firefighters IX / Competitors VII Mashup IV

Instructor Eddy ran back towards the gym. Instructor Brett stood at the entrance of the gym with his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. This was not a particularly good sign, not by a longshot. Instructor Eddy felt terrible.

"Brett.. I'm sorry I'm late.. I got caught up."

"Digging a well were ya?"

Brett raised his palm. Eddy lightly punched it as he tried to walk past him. Brett grabbed his fist. Eddy tugged in an attempt to pull away but Brett wouldn't let him off the hook that easily.

"A bit too slow, mate."

Eddy blushed.

"...I won't let it happen again."

Brett held up his other palm. Eddy punched it and withdrew quicker than before, not allowing Brett to grab his fist.

Brett smirked.

"That's a bit better. Let's go."

Brett started to walk inside the gym, still holding onto Eddy's fist.

"Um... Brett, may I have my fist back?"

Brett looked up towards Eddy.

"And risk you wandering off again? I don't think so.  You oughta be glad I don't have both of your fists."

OMG

"Welcome back guys. Now that we're all warmed up, let's try some defence moves against grab holds. ..Eddy?"

Instructor Eddy, with his fist still held by Instructor Brett, was lead to stand in front of him. Their students must have thought it was some kind of martial arts thing, none of them even batted an eye when their instructors made an appearance with their hands together, possibly because it was one of them grabbing hold of the other's fist. Once they stood facing each other, Brett finally released Eddy's fist with an ever so slight smirk.

"For example, Instructor Eddy may grab my left wrist with his right hand...."

Brett had a way of giving these microscopic expressions. But then, Eddy may be noticing these only because he can't keep his eyes off Brett, who knew. This time, Eddy openly responded to Brett's ever so discreet nod by taking a step towards him and grabbing his wrist. Brett first showed his moves large and exaggerated, drawing a beautiful arc with his hand as he broke out of Eddy's hold.

Brett then repeated the move with an added narration along with stepwise instructions to break free.

"Okay, so let us now show you what it might look like in real time..."

Oh boy, here goes...

Eddy braced himself as he responded to Brett's slight nod and drew in a short breath as he stepped in and reached out his hand in an attempt to grab Brett's wrist.

Of course, Eddy never got to grab it as Brett's response was immediate, as soon as Brett sensed the presence of Eddy's hand, the tiniest bit of warmth from Eddy's hand before it even made any contact with his skin, Brett had flicked Eddy's hand away in a small, precise and fast arc.

"Just like that. Okay, have a go in pairs. Please start slow, then work up your speed. Work your way up to responding as soon as you sense your opponent trying to grab your wrist...!!"

"Alright... Brett, mate, you ready?"

"Yeah"

Firefighter Eddy reached out and tried to grab his colleague's wrist. To his surprise, Eddy's hand was flicked away before he could make his grab. It all happened in an instant. His partner Firefighter Brett looked equally surprised with what he had done.

"OMG Eddy, are you alright?"

"Yeah... but..WTF Brett.. that was so smooth... how'd you do that !?"

"Um... I dunno Eddy..."

"Oh c'mon, Brett, tell me. Where'd you learn how to do that ?!"

Firefighter Brett honestly had no idea. The only other time he attempted anything like this was... 10 minutes ago when Instructor Eddy had shown him when Brett had tried to grab his wrist from behind, outside the gym on the way back from the water bubbler.

"How weird... I must have learnt the correct timing from that one time when I grabbed the other Eddy's wrist..."

Firefighter Eddy raised an eyebrow.

"...What exactly were you doing grabbing the other Eddy's wrist?"

"Well actually I tried to but I was unsuccessful.. he was too quick for me."

"Uhuh"

"Hey Brett, I was watching you, you did great."

It was instructor Brett.

"I guess I learnt the timing right."

"Yes, your timing was spot on. It makes such a difference to the effectiveness of the technique, doesn't it?"

"Yes.. so.. what should I do if I miss my timing and am not spot on?"

Instructor Brett grinned.

"Oh, there's actually a lot of things you can do. As they say, there's a lot of ways to skin a cat, y'know. So, Eddy, would you like to grab hold of my wrist for a sec?"

"Um.. okay..."

"Actually I'll get everyone to have a look. Can everyone stop for a sec and gather around, please ?! Okay, so, here's Eddy, obviously significantly taller and stronger than I am, coming in to grab my wrist.."

Firefighter Eddy grabbed Instructor Brett's wrist. And he was taken aback as the size of the delicate wrist and smooth texture of Instructor Brett's skin felt identical to that of his partner Brett when he had grabbed Brett's wrist during the warm-up exercise when he hoisted him up on his shoulders.

OMG this is freaky...