Seconding above comments that a practicing martial artist is frequently going to have bruises in various places, and an established partner shouldn't be shocked in the ordinary course of things. Although I've known couples where "Ooh, where did this one come from?" is normal catching-up conversation and/or foreplay. ;-)
I've had bruises that didn't look like much but hurt like heck for weeks, and bruises that looked horrible that I never even felt. It can really vary all over the place depending on the person and the type and angle of blow. IME, the pain's often worst before there's much to show for it; by the time the exciting purple-and-yellow color comes in, it usually looks a lot worse than it feels.
A stomach bruise without serious internal injury is believable: one thing I learned early in training was how to tighten the stomach muscles to take a blow without getting the wind knocked out (or, presumably, anything worse). For the particular martial arts I practiced, I'm thinking a glancing blow would give the best color/low-damage ratio; if the person half-twisted out of the way but didn't manage it completely, the surface tissues could take quite a shot without anything deeper getting hurt.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2025-05-15 04:16 pm (UTC)I've had bruises that didn't look like much but hurt like heck for weeks, and bruises that looked horrible that I never even felt. It can really vary all over the place depending on the person and the type and angle of blow. IME, the pain's often worst before there's much to show for it; by the time the exciting purple-and-yellow color comes in, it usually looks a lot worse than it feels.
A stomach bruise without serious internal injury is believable: one thing I learned early in training was how to tighten the stomach muscles to take a blow without getting the wind knocked out (or, presumably, anything worse). For the particular martial arts I practiced, I'm thinking a glancing blow would give the best color/low-damage ratio; if the person half-twisted out of the way but didn't manage it completely, the surface tissues could take quite a shot without anything deeper getting hurt.