Self Harming in Fights

It's hard for sure. Try something like this.

"It started as conversation turns in to an argument. A flashing and exchanging of jabs and straights, both feigned and intented were thrown as casually as "Hello!".

Her natural attributes of speed and strength had always somehow came second to his more intelligent style of striking.

She caught him with a hard cross that stumiles her brother. A brief pause as he inspected himself for damage. Wiping the blood away from his mouth and spitting out a few teeth, he glared back and yet smiled. The glow of sibling rivalry ablaze in his eyes."


Etc etc etc. Better to compare to something a reader has more experience with and what not.

 

You can say that with Dr's watching House MD. Military with army films.
Police with Police films... plenty of things wrong. But theres suspension of disbelief.

You can spend £100mill on a film and find goofs.

Have a look at Scarlett Johansson's fight tied to a chair in Avengers. She rear "headbutts" a goon in the face. But doesnt connect, her hair does but not the head. And we all know she'll probably be worse off in that exhange too.

Also she lands on her feet after pulling off a hurricarana.

In Wolverine, Logan is seen jumping 9ft in the air. He weighs 800lbs and actually doesn't have super strength. Just the healing factor.

Lets not get into Bollywood choreo. And dont get me started on Romeo Must Die!

Practical? Nope. Loads of fun. Yes.

However there is a brief when given choreography jobs. Context, theme, style, cultural etc.

I have yet to walk out on a film or series based on the fight choreography....but my life is still young

 

Iron Fist choreography so bad that it actually affected the plot. Not going to bother with the second season unless it improves significantly.

 

Yup, that's just really bad choreography and lack of prep between the choreographers and the show makers.
When I saw "from the stunts who brought you The Xmen" I groaned immensely.

Like how some people will roll their eyes at certain musicians/bands or writers.

There was a lot of backtracking from the actor (Finn) who said he got the job and script and then a month later had to start shooting a 6 week schedule. And unfortunately all that came out in his poses and the usual camera trickery/editing/movie magic couldn't save them.

I've had such rants, that I got invited to a friend's podcast about it. But weren't able to sort a time. Now if I went, I think it'll be a bit dated.

As part as promo etc, the actors have shown on social media they started training for series 2. However theres also rumours of killing the individual series soon for IF and LC and just going straight to Heroes for Hire.

 

Yep, that's one of my many advantages, takes a kicking... Keeps on ticking....

 

Thanks everyone! This scene was never going to be technical, but I was stuck after the first sentence for days trying to picture what was happening. I would love to take marital art classes again as I did it for nearly a decade as a child (typical Asian family starting when young), but unfortunately I don't currently have the money for it.

Anyway, thanks again. So what do you think, it work well enough?

EXCERPT

Matakyli's arm was locked behind her back, twisted to the point of dislocation should she dare move. The man's breath on her ear came in hard pants, his chest heaving against her as the sweat of his shirt caused it to stick to the bare skin of her shoulders. In front of her was a dropped blade, its usual shining steel now covered in the thick, black blood of a demon. Her blood. For blood's sake, the embarrassment!

If one of her brothers were to find her in such a position, she would never hear the end of it. The realization that one of the bastards had to have let the wannabe in, given their defenses were and had always been super airtight, hit her with little surprise. Though it was new to be attacked in her own home, the pathetic swat of betrayal was to be expected. After thirty-seven years of being set up for ambushes, one either died or stopped being surprised. The annoyance however didn't fade...though it did help her irritation knowing that they had done it out of love; she was not a patient woman and waiting for an attacker to find an ideal moment was such an annoyance. She much preferred them to just get it over with and admit defeat.

The way things were going now though meant she was going to be late for the start of her favorite show. What a douche. Did he not know it was the ending half of a two part episode? If she missed the moment Vladkin tortured his new bride she was going to come back and kill him. Slowly. After all, there wasn't a better way to make up for lost TV than acting it out yourself.

"Your posi-"

Not caring to hear his underserved boasting, her leg muscles bunched, then snapped straight with power as she tossed herself forward, his strong hold on her causing her shoulder to pop out of joint before her skin finally slipped between his fingers. She twisted in the air so she would land hard on her back, her body moving to slam her dislocated humerus back into its socket as she hit, grinning with glee at the satisfying click of success. She had torn at least one tendon and a bit of muscle in the process by the feel of it, but it'd all heal eventually so what did a bit of pain matter? By the shocked and horrified look on the man's face it mattered quite a lot. Aw, did the big baby finally realized what he had gotten himself into?

Before his features could even register the apprehension he was undoubtedly now feeling, Matakyli kicked her legs high and arched off the floor, tossing the retrieved blade in the air with a delightful chortle. His red skin pickened with the knowledge that he was about to have a very painful next few days as the majority of his neck struggled to regenerate, but his courage kept him standing and for that she made it quick.

Though not too quick. He had, after all, made her miss the first few minutes of The Demented Three.

 

PS: Yes, I changed it from her sparring with her brother to fighting a wannabe political position stealer (demon politics you know). It just happened, but I'm not sorry. Fits the rest of the story so much nicer.

 

That's pretty good, but you should edit out the swear word, because it's against the terms of service here and I wouldn't want you getting into trouble with the mods

One thing that I'd add is the noise of the shoulder dislocating, if it is the first time she's done it. There's a fair bit amount of PSI of pressure holding a shoulder in place, and when they pop they make a pretty loud noise (that only happens the first time, they just make nasty cartelise grating noises after that).

 

Ah, thanks for the heads up. How do I edit a post? And given she heals back to normal due to get immortality, it's like the first time ever time, but thanks for letting me know. I have a human character so I'll file that away for him later.

It seems I can only edit my last post so just gonna delete and re-add to see if anyone else has a feedback or recommendations.

Edited post:

Thanks everyone! This scene was never going to be technical, but I was stuck after the first sentence for days trying to picture what was happening. I would love to take marital art classes again as I did it for nearly a decade as a child (typical Asian family starting when young), but unfortunately I don't currently have the money for it.

Anyway, thanks again. So what do you think, it work well enough?

EXCERPT

Matakyli's arm was locked behind her back, twisted to the point of dislocation should she dare move. The man's breath on her ear came in hard pants, his chest heaving against her as the sweat of his shirt caused it to stick to the bare skin of her shoulders. In front of her was a dropped blade, its usual shining steel now covered in the thick, black blood of a demon. Her blood. For blood's sake, the embarrassment!

If one of her brothers were to find her in such a position, she would never hear the end of it. The realization that one of the bastards had to have let the wannabe in, given their defenses were and had always been super airtight, hit her with little surprise. Though it was new to be attacked in her own home, the pathetic swat of betrayal was to be expected. After thirty-seven years of being set up for ambushes, one either died or stopped being surprised. The annoyance however didn't fade...though it did help her irritation knowing that they had done it out of love; she was not a patient woman and waiting for an attacker to find an ideal moment was such an annoyance. She much preferred them to just get it over with and admit defeat.

The way things were going now though meant she was going to be late for the start of her favorite show. What a douche. Did he not know it was the ending half of a two part episode? If she missed the moment Vladkin tortured his new bride she was going to come back and kill him. Slowly. After all, there wasn't a better way to make up for lost TV than acting it out yourself.

"Your posi-"

Not caring to hear his underserved boasting, her leg muscles bunched, then snapped straight with power as she tossed herself forward, his strong hold on her causing her shoulder to pop out of joint before her skin finally slipped between his fingers. She twisted in the air so she would land hard on her back, her body moving to slam her dislocated humerus back into its socket as she hit, grinning with glee at the satisfying click of success. She had torn at least one tendon and a bit of muscle in the process by the feel of it, but it'd all heal eventually so what did a bit of pain matter? By the shocked and horrified look on the man's face it mattered quite a lot. Aw, did the big baby finally realized what he had gotten himself into?

Before his features could even register the apprehension he was undoubtedly now feeling, Matakyli kicked her legs high and arched off the floor, tossing the retrieved blade in the air with a delightful chortle. His red skin pickened with the knowledge that he was about to have a very painful next few days as the majority of his neck struggled to regenerate, but his courage kept him standing and for that she made it quick.

Though not too quick. He had, after all, made her miss the first few minutes of The Demented Three.

 

Yep, that's nice!

 

How about something like Hara-kiri?

I don't know much about it but I remember Yoshimitsu (the Ninja from Tekken) having a move where he stabbed himself to attack the person behind him?

Now I come to think of it, the Character Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 4 did the same thing.

 

Yeah yoshimitsu crossed my mind for sure.

 

Yeah it's what Wolverine and Deadpool have done. (also John McClane shooting himself in Die Hard 4)

Harakiri/Seppuku probably wont work, since its slicing the gut open and then having the head chopped off by a second. ...

 

Hahaha....great minds!!

 

Yea I doubt that would help TC's the character much.

Still, good memories.

 

Self-Harming should be used judiciously though...especially as it actually renders you weaker for the duration of the fight. As a "surprise!!" Tactic in a narrative it works....if it has to happen frequently it means that any fight becomes tedious and the reader quickly turns off.

It also makes tension difficult to sustain since there is never any actual physical peril