Chapter 13 - Defensive Tactics

When they arrived at the sprawling physical fitness complex, Cate checked in at the Physical Training Branch office and signed for the key to the mat room she had reserved. On Cate’s advice, Jon had kept his FTB cap and sunglasses on inside the building, but he still received several double-take stares and elicited some excited whispers between staff and students alike as he followed Cate through the maze of halls.

Cate unlocked the door to the mat room and switched on the lights. Jon saw that “mat room” pretty much summed it up. The floor was covered with a light tan spongy, rubbery surface, and three walls were padded with thick royal blue vinyl-covered pads. The fourth wall was covered floor to ceiling with mirror, protected by a horizontal bar running the length of the room. It reminded Jon of a ballet barre like the one in his daughter’s dance studio. There was a stack of folded blue and gold mats in the corner, and that was it.

Cate dropped her bag on the floor next to the door and tossed the key into it. Jon let his bag fall beside hers and took off his sunglasses and hat. They joined the pile. “So, Teach, what do we do now?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at Cate.

“Well, first we’re gonna stretch out. This training is pretty physical, so you need to be warmed up. You don’t wanna sideline yourself for the rest of the week with a pulled muscle, do ya?”

Cate’s gentle tease in response made Jon smile broadly. This sounds like it may be fun… he thought. “So, from my reading last night, I deduced that the main point of this lesson is that you’re gonna try to kick my ass.” Jon teased back. “That right?”

“Oh, I’m not gonna try… I AM gonna kick your ass.” Cate came right back at him. “But don’t worry, I’ll take it easy on you. I’ll get in all kinds of trouble if I injure the ‘Special Guest of the Director.’ Not to mention that your director and production company would probably sic their lawyers on me if I delayed their movie by putting you in a cast or something.” The Smart Ass was back.

“And, worst of all….I’d have to admit I was beat up by a girl.” Jon made a horrified face, then laughed.

“Hey, I’m no girl….I’m all woman, Baby.” Cate corrected him saucily.

Yes, you are… Jon playfully clutched at his chest, in mock distress. “SO sorry… I’d have to admit I was beat up by a woman,” he corrected. Not that it would be a bad thing….

Cate shook her head, still smiling. “Alright, Rock Star. Get your ass on the mat and start stretching. We only have a couple hours to get through a lot of material.” Cate moved to the center of the room and began her own stretches.

Jon joined her and began warming up his muscles, watching Cate out of the corner of his eye. She was flexible, but powerfully so. It was obvious she had been an athlete in a former life, maybe in high school or college. Jon made a mental note to ask her about that, once he finally got her to spend some time with him away from the Center. He was still trying to figure out how to ask her to dinner without getting shot down.

As she stretched, Cate saw Jon watching her. Not that she wasn’t sneaking her own peeks at him as he limbered his muscular frame. As spectacular as Jon’s chest had been yesterday, Cate was practically drooling over his arms.

She had always found strong forearms incredibly sexy on a man, and Jon’s were impressive. She would have to be sure to get a good look at them later on the range, when the recoil of his weapon would make them bunch and clench.

Jon caught her eye and smiled. Cate’s eyes traveled to Jon’s neck and she noticed the gleam of a silver chain. “Oh, you’ll want to take that off before we start,” she said to Jon, pointing to her own neck, indicating his chain. “We don’t need any accidental strangulations.”

Jon chuckled and reached up to unfasten the clasp. Cate noticed as he pulled the chain from his neck that it held a small sterling Maltese cross. Jon closed the clasp then walked over to the pile by the door, dropping the necklace into the open bag. “Yes, Ma’am,” he said, then winked and resumed his stretching.

After stretching and warming up for about ten minutes, Cate and Jon got down to business. Cate pulled her instructor’s handbook out of her bag and spent a few minutes reviewing the basic principles of Pressure Point Control Tactics (PPCT) with Jon to ensure he understood what he had read.

She quickly realized he had prepared thoroughly, and was impressed. He did seem to be serious about wanting to learn all he could in his short time on the Center.

“Okay, we’re gonna start with passive control techniques.” Cate tossed her handbook on the floor and it slid toward the wall, coming to rest near their bags. “These are the tactics an officer would use to get an individual exercising passive resistance to move. The officer would usually need to do one of two things; get someone who is sitting or lying on the ground to rise, or get someone who is standing to go down to the ground.”

Jon nodded, indicating he was following her. “Now, as the name of the technique implies – Pressure Point Control Tactics -- the officer is going to try to get maximum response from the individual using manipulation of pressure points on the body. The goal is to use the least amount of force necessary to get the individual to comply with orders.”

“Gotcha.” Jon replied. He had been surprised to learn that there were so many pressure points on the human body. Hell, he had no idea there were so many on the human head! But he had to admit, he was a little skeptical that a police officer could simply push a thumb against the ‘mandibular angle’ – the nerves that come together at the jaw under the ear – and get a bad guy to behave. Then he had tried it on himself.

Using the anatomy diagram in his binder, Jon had found the point on his jaw and stabbed himself harshly with his right thumb. The pain was excruciating, and his mind numbed.

After the buzzing in his head stopped and he regained clarity of thought, Jon felt like a complete Dumbass. He could see the headline now: Singer Hospitalized for Jaw Surgery after Stabbing Self with Own Thumb. Thank God nobody had been around to witness that moment of idiocy. And any doubt he had about the effectiveness of the PPCT had disappeared.

Cate asked Jon to point out the pressure points on the head and neck, and he did. She then directed Jon to kneel on the mat, so she could demonstrate proper technique in manipulating the pressure points.

Jon knelt, feeling slightly apprehensive and a bit excited. Cate moved to stand behind him, explaining to him what she was going to do and what he was going to feel. She bent down and firmly grasped Jon’s left arm above the elbow with her left hand. She leaned forward slightly so she could hold her right hand in front of Jon’s face, to show him the grip she would use for the first tactical pressure.

As she leaned in Jon felt her breasts against the back of his head, and he caught the fresh scent of mint and cucumber. Jon involuntarily closed his eyes for a moment, a smile curling the corners of his mouth. Then he remembered they were facing the mirrored wall and Cate could see him, so he quickly opened his eyes and focused on her hand, trying to keep his expression serious. He was here to learn, after all.

Cate gave Jon a warning, then made the move. All Jon heard was Cate’s voice commanding “GET UP!” as he felt a shock of pain under his nose, where the infraorbital pressure point is located. His head buzzed with the stun of the pain, his eyes watered, and he immediately jerked back against Cate’s shoulder, then rose quickly to his feet to alleviate the pain.

Cate released her grip and stepped back as soon as Jon was standing upright. Jon shook his head and shuddered slightly. “SHIT!” he swore. He turned to face Cate, and her amused smile swam into focus. “Ow! That hurt!”

Cate nodded. “And I only used about 20 percent of the amount of force I could have exerted. If you had struggled and I really clamped down I could have bloodied your nose, and you probably would have passed out.

Jon rubbed the spot under his nose. “Damn! That was only light pressure?” Hmm. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so fun, after all. He regarded Cate suspiciously as she stood, quietly smiling, a slightly wicked gleam in her eye. He noticed her eyes were more blue than grey today. But at least I get to touch her….

“Okay, now what? The jaw?” Jon asked warily. Cate nodded and pointed to the mat. Jon reluctantly knelt, and again Cate explained what was about to happen, showed him her hand position, then pointed straight ahead, telling him to watch in the mirror. Again Jon felt searing pain, this time under his right ear, and sprang to his feet to escape the agony.

Cate gave him a moment to recover, then had him kneel again so she could demonstrate the PPCT for the hypoglossal nerve, which connects to the tongue. She could sense that he was anticipating her movements, and the pain, so she paused for a moment. Then she swiftly applied pressure to the point halfway between his right ear and his chin, under his jawline.

When Jon sprang to his feet she surprised him by grabbing his left shoulder and turning him 90 degrees, pushing on the pressure point under his jaw to force him to walk where she wanted him to go. Jon’s eyes went wide and his arms flapped at his sides.

Cate quickly dropped her hands from Jon’s jaw and arm and stepped back. She tried not to let him see her smugness, but a little crept onto her lips as they turned upward in a small smile.

“FUCK!” Jon swore loudly, rubbing his jaw. “Hey, I’m a singer, remember? I NEED my jaw to work!”

Cate laughed at that. “I know, but you asked for this training, remember? I’m not even giving you the full-court press. I’m just gonna familiarize you with these moves. Since you don’t have to be certified, you will only have to do each of these things once, to get a sense of how cops move and interact with suspects in control situations.” She paused. “You think this is bad? The real students have to do this – and much worse – three times a week for eight weeks. How does that sound?”

Jon thought about that for a moment. That would SUCK. “Sounds like you have some tough damn cops by the time they’re done,” he answered sincerely.

Cate nodded. Good answer. “Okay, now you get to practice on me. You’ve read about it, you’ve seen it, you’ve felt it…now do it.”

The shock showed on Jon’s face. “You…you want me to do that to YOU?” he stammered.

“Yep.” Cate knelt on the floor, facing the mirror, and met Jon’s eyes in the reflection. “C’mon, you’re not gonna hurt me. I do this all the time. Start with the infraorbital.”

Jon was stunned, but suddenly a little turned on. Jesus, she really IS tough! He took a deep breath and stepped up behind Cate. He bent over, grasped her left arm, and placed the index finger of his right hand under her nose, but hesitated.

Cate reached up and corrected his hand position. “Okay, now push. Up and in. Pressure!”

Jon did as he was told, pressing lightly at first but then increasing the pressure. Cate didn’t move. “C’mon!” she commanded. “You gotta be tougher than that!”

Jon pressed harder, and Cate’s head fell back against his shoulder and she started to rise from the mat. Jon kept the pressure on the nerve under her nose constant, as he had learned, and soon she was on her feet. Jon dropped his hand and stared at her, amazed at what he had just done.

“Good. You started out pretty wimpy, but you did okay by the end. Let’s try it again.” Cate turned her back to him and knelt on the floor again. Jon’s pulse quickened as he saw her drop into the submissive position, but he mentally shook himself back to attention. He repeated the move, more confidently this time, and Cate complied quickly.

She had him repeat the move once more, then practice the PPCT moves on the jaw nerves. Jon was still tentative to place strong pressure on Cate’s nerves, afraid he might hurt her. He was also a bit unfocused, as every time she knelt on the mat he felt a flash of desire, imagining her facing him instead of looking away, then dropping to her knees and taking him into her mouth...

After practicing the PPCT moves on the head and on several other nerves of the neck, Jon and Cate took a break. Telling Jon she would be right back, Cate left the mat room. Jon took the moment to compose himself, to try to “get in role” and focus his mind on the training.

Cate returned with towels and two bottles of Gatorade. She tossed one of each to Jon. They both wiped the perspiration from their faces and necks, drank, then went back to work.