The grin told him that he was an idiot for worrying, and even though he tried to act nonchalant, he couldn't help smiling at the man's praise. Not bad for a guy who was normally on the receiving end of this kind of thing.
This time to urge to flinch wasn't even there - instead Cole simply listened, going through the motions in his mind. He was still hesitant to use actual violence against John, but clearly he could handle it. "Alright." He practiced tucking his chin down first, trying varying degrees of pressure before making sure his aim was fairly on for when he actually went to jab him in the stomach.
Just as the other man had said, Cole didn't give any warning before he struck. Chin tucked down, he brought his left arm up under John's ribs with as much force as he could muster - even though he did wince almost apologetically at the same time - and mimicked his previous motion of throwing him to the ground once a second had passed to let the blow sink in. Cole rubbed his arm absently as he regarded the man on the floor, knowing that he'd probably feel the strain of it tomorrow. His muscles weren't used to this much activity.