Page 8 of Hawk

“You need to keep your balance centered and your hands free,” Tucker said. “There are a few different ways you can accomplish that. Let me show you.” She moved through a couple of different stances, and each time Hawk grabbed for her or tried to push her, she was able to stay on her feet.

When she was finished, Hawk turned to look at us. “Okay, now that you’ve got that down, we’re gonna work on what you do next. You ready?” He looked at Tucker, and she nodded.

I watched as they demonstrated what we should do, her movements precise and effortless as, over and over, she broke free of Hawk’s grip. I had to admit her moves were impressive, but I also wondered if they’d work as well if the guy attacking her didn’t care if he hurt her—or, even worse, enjoyed it. Lord knows Butch had gotten some kind of perverse thrill out of hurting me.

They paused, and she addressed the group. “If he grabs you, don’t waste energy trying to pull him off. Instead, focus on what part of him youcancontrol. Maybe it’s his other wrist, his balls”—she threw a fake punch at his groin. He flinched, and we all chuckled—“or his balance. Remember, we’re not fighting here. We’re getting away.”

“Now you guys pair up and try it,” Hawk said.

My partner for the day, a woman named Marcy, smiled nervously, so I smiled back in a way I hoped would be encouraging. “Why don’t you try grabbing me first?”

She let out a breath and nodded. “Sounds good.”

She rushed at me and grabbed my arm the way Hawk had grabbed Tucker’s. The first time, I couldn’t get loose, so we did it again, and I managed to twist out of her grip on the second try—not gracefully, but it worked. Of course, Marcy was only a few inches taller than me and didn’t outweigh me by much, so that didn’t really make me feel confident I could escape a guy Hawk’s size.

We swapped off, and Marcy took her turn to break free. We repeated it over and over a few times until Hawk’s voice interrupted our practice. It was as if he’d read my mind about Marcy being too easy.

“You’re overthinking it, Mika. Here, let’s try something.” He reached out and grabbed my arm, and my whole body tensed. “Relax. You’re too stiff. Remember, this is about controlling the energy—not just the attacker’s, but yours as well. You need to stay limber so you can move quickly and easily.”

I forced my body to relax, which wasn’t easy with him standing so close to me. He let go of my arm and took a step back. Then he grabbed for me again, and this time, I forced myself not to tense up and twisted free in one smooth motion, just like we’d practiced.

“Nice work,” Hawk said. “I knew you could do it. Now you two keep practicing. And remember, stay limber.”

My cheeks burned, but I managed a quick nod. He lingered for a moment, his eyes catching mine in a way that felt like a split second longer than necessary. Or maybe I was imagining things. Either way, I didn’t trust my voice, so I turned back to the drills, my heart thudding a little harder than it should have been.

By the time Hawk called an end to that drill, both Marcy and I were finding it pretty easy to break the other’s hold.

“Good job,” he called out to the group. “Now, I want to try one more move tonight. This one’s a little scary, but it’s important.” He glanced back over at Tucker. “You ready?”

“Yep. Let’s do this.”

And quickly, without warning, he spun her around and pushed her against the wall with his hand on her throat. “We’re gonna show you how to break a hold like this.”

I gulped and watched as the two of them demonstrated the maneuver that was supposed to get us free from someone with their hands wrapped around our throats. One thing I knew for sure was that Marcy and I were gonnanailthis one because there was no way I was letting that man pin me against the wall and put his hands on my throat like that—and not because it scared me.

Hawk

I lowered my hand from Tucker’s neck and turned to face the class. “That’s a very scary position to be in. Especially when it’s someone like me who has you pushed up against the wall, and I’m sure Tuck looked pretty helpless there for a minute. But she isn’t, and we’re going to show you a few things you can do if you find yourself in that situation.”

I kept my voice calm and measured, aware that many of my students were here because they’d been in frightening situations before. I didn’t want to trigger anyone, but they had to confront their fears if they wanted to protect themselves.

“We’re going to move away from the wall here just so you can see what we’re doing. So, there are a few options that can possibly get you out of the chokehold. And what’s our main objective?”

“To get away,” they all said again. I knew they probably thought I said this way too often, but when you were in a situation like we were training for, it was easy to go into fight mode and forget that what was most important was getting away.

“Right. Now, there are more advanced moves you can use after a lot of practice, but tonight, we’re going for some simple techniques you can use immediately.”

Tucker stepped forward. “A lot of those more elaborate moves require a lot of strength and speed. They work if applied correctly, but in a situation like this, the last thing you need to worry about is remembering pressure points and shit. What you want is to get the asshole’s hands off your throat so you can make a run for it.”

“For tonight, I’ll be the asshole.” I winked at them, and they all laughed. “Now, the first thing you can try is to bring your arm up and knock his hands away. Which arm you use depends on which hand is on your throat because you want to hit that spot right between his wrist and his thumb.”

I looked at Tuck and nodded before lunging at her and grabbing her by the throat. Just before I got a good grip, she swept up with her right arm, knocking my hand away.

“Good job. Now, after that, you can duck and run, or you can kick out quickly… aiming for the groin area.”

We demonstrated again, and this time, she faux-kicked at my balls. I dropped to the ground dramatically before hopping back up and turning to face them.

“That was pretty effective. Now, there are a couple other things you can try, but first, I want you and your partner to try that until you’ve got the move down.”

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