Admittedly, Tal was pretty easily upset by the weirdest things, but going rough in a spar wasn't one of them. He trusted Maea to be able to take what he could dish out and vice versa, and it made their training sessions all the more realistic - and therefore useful. Learning to think through - and push through - the pain of getting hit for real just couldn't be practiced any other way.
"Well... sure, then," he agreed, not entirely convinced but not about to argue with her. Maybe it was what she needed to shake off whatever had spooked her? So he backed up a few paces while she counted and then raised his fists to meet her charge.
And to be honest he was expecting a shot to his jaw. For some reason most people seemed to want to punch him in the face and he was already raising his hand to block her when she went unexpectedly low, her small fist driving into his stomach and packing a lot of force into a small surface area. The breath whooshed out of him in a wheezing "Arrrrr---ghhh--!" as he staggered back a step and bent over, but he wasn't above putting his hard head to good use, and he tried to clonk Maea with a headbutt once he was down to her level.
"Well... sure, then," he agreed, not entirely convinced but not about to argue with her. Maybe it was what she needed to shake off whatever had spooked her? So he backed up a few paces while she counted and then raised his fists to meet her charge.
And to be honest he was expecting a shot to his jaw. For some reason most people seemed to want to punch him in the face and he was already raising his hand to block her when she went unexpectedly low, her small fist driving into his stomach and packing a lot of force into a small surface area. The breath whooshed out of him in a wheezing "Arrrrr---ghhh--!" as he staggered back a step and bent over, but he wasn't above putting his hard head to good use, and he tried to clonk Maea with a headbutt once he was down to her level.
