When Dash said she was going to get me into the meat of boxing, I honestly had no clue as to what to expect. I thought what Pinkie taught me was everything I needed to know about the sport, prompting Dash to say, “For self defense, yes. For use in the ring, that stuff’s barely scratching the surface” during our meet up after my bout with Rarity. From then on, she started delving into the philosophy and strategy behind each punch, starting with her illustrating why I lost. According to her, “It wasn’t ‘cause your skills were sloppy. They were actually way on point, but the way you strung it all together made it as easy for her to pick apart as the reading her sister does for school everyday”

When I requested clarification, she compared it to writing a book, in that while every book uses words and grammar, the way the author assembles them determines the impression the reader gets, in turn effecting how well they can see where it's going. “In this case, though, the fists are the quill and the opponent is the paper they’re using to write their masterpiece, each round becoming another chapter in the kind of story they wanna tell” The more we talked it over, the more I realized that, like a good mystery story, how I boxed needed layers of subtlety, surprises around every corner, and, most important of all, the kind of twist the reader never sees until it’s already presented itself.

To get to that point, Dash and I went over both the punches and something I came across during my studies: Operant Conditioning. Rarity, as Dash showed me, used this to great effect with both the feints and when she used those quick jabs to get me to change my defense , leaving me open to her offense. To do the same, Dash taught me about the best ways to use feints, jab steps and other ways of conditioning a response in order to get my opponents to fight on my terms, instead of trying to match or exceed theirs. A large of part of that involving using ducks, sways, slips and weaves to make them whiff their attacks, and thus discourage them from throwing them out too casually

As I learned about the different evasive measures, Dash pointed out where I could be struck, if the opponent started sensing I was leaning on them too much, ducks inviting uppercuts, slips to my left and right leaving each opposite side vulnerable, and sways doing that with my mid section, as I learned the hard way. Done well, however, they make the target leave their own opening and allow for stronger punches, like slipping a left hook and changing the trajectory of a cross, thus making it cross either over or under their arm(the other reason it’s called a Cross, as Dash explained). Turning the body slightly back before unleashing a punch is, in her terminology, loading it up, and the more I learned to combine loading a punch with an evasive movement, the more I could feel the power flowing through it, making me feel like I could hold my own by the time I had to put ‘em up.

In that respect, Dash went on to show that to improve my defense, I couldn’t let myself think that defense and offense were two separate things. Through her instruction, she showed me how they can flow into each other and put the target on the toes trying to keep up, with their apex coming in a form of a technique she first developed flying through the obstacle course in Cloudsdale. She started demonstrating the same series of head weaves I first saw from Scootaloo, the motion, from my view, painting a rainbow colored infinity symbol the faster they became. Because of how often her sparring partners espoused similar sentiments, she eventually gave it the name “Rainbow 8,” even though eight is a vertical symbol, not horizontal.

To show what the Rainbow 8 can do, we went to the heavy bag and started up the motion, Dash quickly incorporating a hook after each weave, each one slamming the heavy bag harder than the last. She hit it high, hit it low, and hit it with a fury I’ve never seen from her until then, the sound echoing throughout the gym as her onslaught poured down on it. To me, the fact that it combined the elusive properties of weaving with the destructive power of hooks made it an invincible technique, hearing that prompting Dash to say, “I wish!” and explain that even the Rainbow 8 is subject to the same weakness in all boxing techniques: predictability. To demonstrate, she beckoned a young woman with flowing blonde locks and a grey tanktop and shorts.

After whispering some instructions, she began the Rainbow 8 motion again, the cross eyed, boxing glove clad gym goer proceeding to jab Dash at will, no matter how fast Dash moved or how much she mixed up her motions. I puzzled at how she was able to lay a finger on her, and Dash, after thanking her and taking a moment to recover, said, “Because once they time your movements, it don’t matter how fast you are or how good you are, all they have to do is wait for the one moment in time when they can let you have it, as Derpy, over there, did to me.”

As much as instilled a sense of dread into me, it also helped me realize that the same held true for anyone who relied too much on a set way of doing things, inspiring me to redouble my studies and continue to refine my defense. In spars, Dash took note of how many more of my sparring partner’s blows struck at air, as well as how often I was able to turn that evasion into an invasion of my own offensive plan. During the week, however, she kept reminding me that, “You can’t pull out the Rainbow 8 anytime you want and expect to do awesome. You gotta read your opponent first, then figure out where you can work in the weaves so you can get those punches in and make 'em pay for being predictable,” something I hope to do when it’s time to determine what Applejack has in mind

Progress for the Week: I've learned how to better evade punches and use that to come back with a harder attack, sure to come in handy if I survive long enough to determine their plan of attack

Goal for Next Week: Learn more methods to counterattack, so I can continue pressing the offense in the face of braving my opponent's. This likely won't be fun, but the taste of victory is sure to be worth it

Song of the Moment: "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya" by the Dropkick Murphys
I found it quite strange that Dash would play a song so clearly against violence during our session, but the energy of it can't be denied, nor can Dash's message to me afterwards, "In a fight, we become someone totally different than who we are, and the things we do then can stay with us the rest of our lives. Be sure that whatever you do, you can still can look yourself in the mirror, and say you have no regrets"

Author's Note

Next week, Twilight learns what it means to put everything on the line, in order to come out on top, even if it means putting your self in harm's way. Will she learn to brave the storm of punches? Can she develop the nerves and the reflexes to be able to counter attack? How well will she be able to take a punch? Find out next time we peek into Twilight's Workout Journal! Don't miss it!