[Grik Doomhammer]

Grik wondered if he would need to seek out the Shamen, or if they would come to them before battle. He would like to have the shield decorated, for the protection of Orok, and for his blessing in the upcoming battles. His patron god was more than a match for any of the shara's weak gods.

Instructor Kruel was speaking once more, "Now, when you need more than Power and Distraction to subdue an enemy, the shield itself can be used as a weapon" Kruel grasped his round shield on his left arm then assumed a basic attack stance with his shield in front of him. "From this position you can use the shield to redirect the blows that are coming at you just like you would normally see in a defensive shield class but...'[ A slight pause served to gather the orc's attention. "..."it is how you redirect those blows that changes your shield from a defensive tool to an offensive weapon."

With thier shilds strapped on the orcs looked around to see if any of the other recruits understood. The confounded looks proved they did not, and then they found out. Thier instructor thendemonstrated by taking a step forward and at the same time, thrusting his shield upward to where his left arm was fully extended over and slightly in front of his head making an umbrella over himself with the shield.

"Like this, you see? From here I can take any strike that is coming from the enemy's waist level or above coming toward me and push it up and over. Simple, huh, this in combination with the step that I took forward now enables me to assault the wide open mid torso or legs of the enemy!"

The shaking of heads, and lifting of shields proved they were listening. From the basic stance Grik paused, defended, then lifted his shield high, his lead foor stepping forward. The dark elf's eyes watched the clumsy mimiks, and then move on. This time he returend to a basic attack stance, and from there he stepped forward once more. Yet this time he swung his shield straight out from him in one simple and quick motion.

"See here!!! Can you tell that i am pushing any thrust that the enemy makes toward my torso away to my left. It is important that you remember a key point about this move..." There was on further pause. Grik along with the more observant orc noticed that when he pauses, there is something worth remembering afterward. "...you MUST ensure that you make the step forward before you make the thrust left with the shield. If you forget this, you could be out of range when you thrust left thus exposing you to the enemy's attack. Once the thrust is made, you now have open access to the enemy's front or left side depending on which way he was attacking when you redirected his momentum.

Does the Horde want or need dead orcs, or strong smart and healty ones." The seriousness of the words slowly crept in to the grunts.

Now you need to be sure to work with your partner, and practice these two redirects..." Kruel again took a basic attack stance and allowed his class to do the same. He then executed an overhead redirect, then recovered. His class did the same. He then executed a left redirect and waited for the class to mimic this.

"Good, you can also do a right redirect. This one is easy as you simply grasp the enarmes tightly and execute a punch right using your left hand (stepping forward) and keeping the shield facing the enemy. It is a shorter redirect so make sure that you have made the step forward before you make this move. Doing this one will push the enemy's blow right and allow you to spin around and strike the exposed enemy's flank. This is a tricky move so we will go further with the right redirect in later skill class."


The class of recruits were now following along to the instruction. With that the instructor gazed about the training field. So far soo good, he thought as the orcs gathered to find partners. The orc's next duty was to get a partner, and get into his position, the begin practicing.