here is the truth of battle scenes. they aren't simple, and they aren't the most perfect thing in the world. (also i changed the star!)

I. say you went like a backflip thing to dodge an attack. sticking will mess up your joints, so it's better to roll or something to not get searing pain for 30+ minutes in your feet.

II. combat is tiring! it usually doesn't take long in hand-to-hand combat, but it is exhausting and you are going to be tired. if you're doing powers and they exert energy, they won't have enough to do anything major. so don't write after doing 32 power moves that your character julia can make a super nova to blast the opponent away.

III. arrows are affective. they hurt, and it is BAD if you pull it out of you. gosh! arrows are made to cut in deep, and that hurts. also, it takes some strength to do good in archery, with pulling back the bow and firing. round of applause for my archers! :)

IV. whatever you do, don't screw it up by throwing the opponent across the room, it's not altogether smart. that gives them a chance to run away. unless you need distance to shoot something at them. otherwise, don't do it.

V. everybody has a flinch response. it is the brain telling you to get up and leave. fighters who are experienced will have training to resist the flinch response. think about the character; is this the first fist fight and does it take a couple of punches to get them to fight back, or has this happened repeatedly? the response will be different.

VI. adrenaline sucks. it is not an advantage. it is your body running on practically nothing and it uses up all your energy left. it makes you shaky and you become inaccurate. although it keeps you alive, it will not let you do a triple roundhouse kick with a judo flip.

VII. swords break, bend, and dull. if you hit it hard enough on something—kaboom, there goes your weapon! they require maintenance and overall it's just too much to handle.

VIII. fights are not clean. they are filled with blood, sweat, and it makes it harder to get a good grip on something. life or death fights are even worse. after someone dies, they're bladder releases. there's—barf—pee and poop all over the place. my advice is don't die in public.

VIIII. there is such thing as blood. punched in the face? most likely you're getting a bloody face. stabbed, grazed, cut, whatever, you bleed.

A/N:
i might have done the roman numerals wrong. whoops.