Spacemen/spacers need regular exercise and martial arts are good exercise so that is why Kenmuir is able to defeat Bruno. When Kenmuir and Aleka depart:
"The walk to the airfield went on and on. Wind moaned, lightning blinked, thunder muttered." (p. 311)
Objectively, they walk to their flying vehicle, a volant. Subjectively, the walk seems interminable. Literarily, as ever, the Pathetic Fallacy is as textually embedded as the punctuation. Wind, lightning and thunder comment on the action. There is moaning, muttering and a menacing blinking.
Spacemen are unused to weather as we are reminded in another future history:
"'And...gods of all stars, what was that?'
"The long, terrifying metallic roar died away into a mutter. Amalfi was grinning.
"'Thunder,' he said. 'Planets have a phenomenon called weather, Mark; a nasty habit of theirs. I think we're due for a storm.'
"Hazleton shuddered. 'It makes me want to hide under the bed. Well, let's get to work.'"
-James Blish, Earthman, Come Home IN Blish, Cities In Flight (London, 1981), pp. 235-465 AT CHAPTER TWO, pp. 277-278.
Anderson's and Blish's characters experience conditions on planetary surfaces, then soar away from them:
"Under Amalfi the city soared outward, humming like a bee, into the raw night."
-Blish, op. cit., p. 285.
Thus, also, Dominic Flandry escapes from the violently oscillating climate of Talwin.
7 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
It helped as well that Flandry began his career in the Imperial Naval Flight Corps. So that by age 19 he had gotten training and experience in air craft as well as space boats. And that experience continued to be of use for him even many years after escaping from Talwin. We see those drilled in pilot's reflexes assisting Flandry to get away from Biocontrol Central in THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS, even with a clumsy, obsolete air car.
Ad astra! Sean
That was the fight Poul asked my advice on - a proud moment.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
That interests me! THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS was first pub. by Ace Books in 1961 as EARTHMAN, GO HOME. It seems Anderson became dissatisfied with how he had Flandry escaping from Biocontrol Central and asked your advice about it. Why, IIMA, was Anderson dissatisfied with this part of PLAGUE?
Ad astra! Sean
No, it was the Kenmuir/Bruno match I was referring to.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Dang! Then I completely missed your point. Oh, well! (Smiles)
Ad astra! Sean
In fact, the fight was pretty good -- I just pointed out -why- and -how- someone smaller and not as strong with better technique would win the fight as described.
Essentially Bruno is using "power" or "thrust" techniques inappropriately.
Karate strikes come in two varieties; "snap" and "thrust", roughly.
Snap strikes don't require moving your center of balance; they're delivered with your 'chi' centered.
They can be very fast, and they let you get back into a good defensive position very quickly. But they're not nearly as powerful -- to be decisive, they need to land on a limited number of targets -- the throat or the nape of the neck, for example.
Thrust techniques involve moving the center of gravity forward, often with a stepping stance. Bruno's thrust-kick, for esample.
They're very powerful and can just smash major bones; but they're also slower and leave you vulnerable to conterstrikes.
And they're easier to block in ways that make you more vulnerable still.
Eg., a stepping punch can be dodged, and then the arm grabbed and "helped along" in the direction of the strike, using the momentum to throw the attacker.
Hence often you use a snap technique to immobilize an opponent and then follow through with a thrust attack to finish him, or more complex combinations to 'lead' him into a vulnerable position. Rather like chess!
Bruno knows a bit about karate (or some comparable style) but is rather simpleminded and brute-force about it.
Kennmuir really understands the art.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Thanks for explaining this part of Chapter 24 of THE STARS ARE ALSO FIRE. Moral of the story being, if I don't know karate or judo, don't get into a fight with those who do!
Ad astra! Sean
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