Snowpaw got back on her feet fast, and stood her ground in front of Heathernose, then lowered her head and rushed head-first into her mentor, only to jump up in the air, aiming to land on her back.
Heathernose couldn't hold back a grin of satisfaction, Snowpaw seemed to have a natural affinity for combat. She spun in a tight semicircle, digging in her forepaws so when Snowpaw landed they were facing each other. "Good!" She meowed, holding her tail up to signal a pause. "You have good instincts! Let's move on to learning some common moves."
Her whiskers twitched thoughtfully. Snowpaw already seemed to naturally understand the back kick. She crouched down in a fighting stance, waiting for Snowpaw to copy her. "When facing an opponent head-on, sometimes it can be helpful to bring your forepaw down on their head hard." She demonstrated by bringing an unsheathed paw straight down towards Snowpaw's head, but didn't land the blow as this was just to demonstrate. "Keep your claws sheathed when you do this. This will stun your opponent and open up opportunities for other blows. For example, if they turn their head to the side to shake," she turned her own head to show Snowpaw an example, "that gives you an opening to shoot forward and grab onto their leg, neck, or shoulder. You can then try to unbalance them or flip them."
She turned back to Snowpaw and stood up. "Understand?"
Heathernose couldn't hold back a grin of satisfaction, Snowpaw seemed to have a natural affinity for combat. She spun in a tight semicircle, digging in her forepaws so when Snowpaw landed they were facing each other. "Good!" She meowed, holding her tail up to signal a pause. "You have good instincts! Let's move on to learning some common moves."
Her whiskers twitched thoughtfully. Snowpaw already seemed to naturally understand the back kick. She crouched down in a fighting stance, waiting for Snowpaw to copy her. "When facing an opponent head-on, sometimes it can be helpful to bring your forepaw down on their head hard." She demonstrated by bringing an unsheathed paw straight down towards Snowpaw's head, but didn't land the blow as this was just to demonstrate. "Keep your claws sheathed when you do this. This will stun your opponent and open up opportunities for other blows. For example, if they turn their head to the side to shake," she turned her own head to show Snowpaw an example, "that gives you an opening to shoot forward and grab onto their leg, neck, or shoulder. You can then try to unbalance them or flip them."
She turned back to Snowpaw and stood up. "Understand?"
Snowpaw decided to demonstrate her understanding by jumping up and thunking her mentor on the head, as she had shown her.