Bruce: Dick, This Week, An Aspect Of Training Will Be That You Will Need To Adapt To Sudden Aereal Acceleration

Bruce: Dick, this week, an aspect of training will be that you will need to adapt to sudden aereal acceleration and your task will be to initiate maneuvers for a safe landing facing the cause of it.

Alfred: Master Bruce?

Dick: What?

Bruce: I'll throw you around unexpectedly. You must not hit your head and land facing me. Can you do that, chum?

Dick: If I can? I got this! You could throw me in my sleep!

Alfred: Master Dick...!

Not to make it too angsty on this fine Thursday morning but I was thinking about how Bruce probably had to train Dick out of that performer's instinct to hit the landing, pause, and smile. Movement is life in Gotham, and while sometimes there is time to linger, it's never a given. Waiting for a reaction isn't always a luxury they have.

You need to already be planning your next move while you're in the air. You need to be comfortable with the fact that the ground might not be where you thought it was by the time your feet come down. Your enemy might not be where they were before you jumped. Your eyes should be on the threat at all times, and if that's not possible, you should be trying to land in a way that gives you the best vantage point when you're on solid ground again.

Dick getting thrown in that gifset is so fascinating to me. He's doing all those things in mid-air. He didn't expect to be thrown, but he didn't fumble the landing at all. He hit it, kept his head down low and safe, and took a breath while evaluating the situation calmly from afar. That kind of training doesn't happen overnight.