The mentor purposefully chose not to move out of the way or brace herself for her apprentice's swipes, wanting to simulate how it would feel to knock over someone. Still something subconscious inside her, something trained by countless battles and even more sparring sessions took over, and robust muscles stiffened to rock under her fur. The massive warrior had to remind herself that this was no battle, this was to train Dawnpaw, and as the apprentices gave it another shot, Hawkcatcher thumped down on her flank.
She got up again, repositioning herself to once more turn into a training dummy, letting Dawnpaw get in a few more attempts before giving a short nod. "Good. Let's continue with working on your bite. Generally, it's safer to use your claws than your teeth. When you swipe you can still remain at a certain distance and more easily protect vulnerable areas such as your eyes, muzzle, and throat. That being said, your bite is strong and can be very powerful if you manage to latch onto your enemy's back or pin them down."
"You can also bite someone's leg or paw and jank it to unbalance them or possibly facture it to give you an advantage for the rest of the fight. Naturally, you should not attempt this is sparring sessions." She paused for a moment to allow Dawnpaw to take it all in or ask any questions that might have awoken.
The mentor purposefully chose not to move out of the way or brace herself for her apprentice's swipes, wanting to simulate how it would feel to knock over someone. Still something subconscious inside her, something trained by countless battles and even more sparring sessions took over, and robust muscles stiffened to rock under her fur. The massive warrior had to remind herself that this was no battle, this was to train Dawnpaw, and as the apprentices gave it another shot, Hawkcatcher thumped down on her flank.
She got up again, repositioning herself to once more turn into a training dummy, letting Dawnpaw get in a few more attempts before giving a short nod. "Good. Let's continue with working on your bite. Generally, it's safer to use your claws than your teeth. When you swipe you can still remain at a certain distance and more easily protect vulnerable areas such as your eyes, muzzle, and throat. That being said, your bite is strong and can be very powerful if you manage to latch onto your enemy's back or pin them down."
"You can also bite someone's leg or paw and jank it to unbalance them or possibly facture it to give you an advantage for the rest of the fight. Naturally, you should not attempt this is sparring sessions." She paused for a moment to allow Dawnpaw to take it all in or ask any questions that might have awoken.
Dawnpaw looked at her mentor and nodded. She had to think about it and then asked " So then If you can get onto there back and bite their neck you could latch into them with your claws too in order not to fall off right?" The young molly looked at her mentor and listened as she gave more instructions telling her how to do things with fighting. She loved when hawk would take her out for lessons. She felt like she was bonding with Hawkcatcher And she looked at her nodding.
She/her - 68 moons
Massive brown bengal molly with amber eyes
Dawnpaw's question seemed like a good point to continue with. "Yes," Hawkcatcher replied. "Pouncing onto someone's back can be a great way to gain the advantage since you're able to claw and their shoulders and flanks, but most importantly; their face and neck. You can use either your claws or teeth to hold on while using the other to attack." Yellow eyes glanced around her and found some sort of suitable dummy, before gesturing to a nearby stump. "Try pouncing onto this as if it were a cat."
While allowing Dawnpaw to practice that, Hawkcatcher continued her teachings. "The most important thing you should consider when leaping onto someone in battle is that it is generally very easy for them to roll, which will cause you to get squashed unless you've managed to pin them on their stomach or hop off before you hit the ground. If you time everything good enough, you could pounce onto them to get them to roll, then pin them when they're on the ground - if someone tries to pounce onto you, you should keep this in mind, and not give them time for it."
She/her - 68 moons
Massive brown bengal molly with amber eyes
Dawnpaw's question seemed like a good point to continue with. "Yes," Hawkcatcher replied. "Pouncing onto someone's back can be a great way to gain the advantage since you're able to claw and their shoulders and flanks, but most importantly; their face and neck. You can use either your claws or teeth to hold on while using the other to attack." Yellow eyes glanced around her and found some sort of suitable dummy, before gesturing to a nearby stump. "Try pouncing onto this as if it were a cat."
While allowing Dawnpaw to practice that, Hawkcatcher continued her teachings. "The most important thing you should consider when leaping onto someone in battle is that it is generally very easy for them to roll, which will cause you to get squashed unless you've managed to pin them on their stomach or hop off before you hit the ground. If you time everything good enough, you could pounce onto them to get them to roll, then pin them when they're on the ground - if someone tries to pounce onto you, you should keep this in mind, and not give them time for it."
Dawnpaw nodded and looked at her mentor then pounced at the stump claws out and sliently clawing at it repeatedly. " Okay i will keep that in mind Hawkcatcher." She smiled and got off the stump after practicing it afew times to make sure she got her claw landing right. She was glad that Hawk was teaching her. She loved every outting that they have had so far and she felt she was getting close to her mentor.
She/her - 68 moons
Massive brown bengal molly with amber eyes
The apprentice was doing well, and as Hawkcatcher debated what more to cover today, she glanced up at the sun-- or rather, glanced to the side. Day had begun to turn to dusk while they trained and they would have to return to camp soon. "Alright, the last thing we'll go over is ducking and rolling to get out of the way when someone attacks you. Sometimes it can be easier to block, but to avoid the hit completely is preferred."
She demonstrated a duck, then throwing a pawful of weak swipes towards Dawnpaw to let her practice before moving on to rolling. "Jumping to the side can also work, but there isn't usually that much room to skip around when in battle, so rolling away can be easier. Work on being able to drop into the roll smoothly and then quickly get up without losing your momentum." Again a demonstration, and giving Dawnpaw time to practice.
"That is all for today, do you have any questions?"