Cashmere’s Training (feat. Oleander, Velvet and Alena)

[ClockwerkSamurai12]

Cashmere was rather hesitant at first, but starts to roll a bit in an attempt to escape her hold and possibly put Alena in an ankle lock of her own!

Cashmere: Does this qualify as a countermeasure??

[CaptainL]

Cashmere was getting there! Alena's discipline had always been grounded in setting up holds and countering whatever her opponents could throw at her, moving from one position to the other but always maintaining the upper hand whenever she could. If she was going to teach Cashmere, then she would try to get her thinking in similar terms. Luckily, though, the Norwegian was picking up on it. At Alena's prompt, she realized that she could push herself backward and away from the ankle lock. Sure enough, as she rolled her weight to the side, she managed to pull her foot out of Alena's arms before she could tighten the pressure. That shifted the balance between them enough that Cashmere was able to loosen the grip Alena exerted with her legs - and from there, to grab one of those legs by the ankle and twist it back for an ankle lock of her own!

At the sensation of her joint being contorted under the pressure, Alena winced and shrunk back a bit. Still, she looked up at Cashmere with a smile - if she hurt, that just meant she was learning well! "Yes, exactly! It's a simple counter, but still not a bad one. But there are plenty of counters you can apply from any position. Watch this!"

Alena planted her hands behind her, trying to push up from the mat to lift her center of balance and take some leverage away from Cashmere. Now that Cashmere had taken one of her legs, Alena no longer needed to hold her leg in place with the other one. But if she had that leg free, she would swing it up into the space between them, trying to throw her knee around Cashmere's head and face to get a grip on her. If that was successful, she would push off the mat and roll her weight over to the side, trying to roll Cashmere over!

"You see? You can really get creative, as long as you know what limbs you can use and how you can claim control!"

[ClockwerkSamurai12]

Cashmere notices the incoming knee and ducks down before deciding to transition into a figure four leglock while she smirked at the Grand Duchess.

Cashmere: If you vere trying to pull a fast one, I’m afraid you’re sadly mistaken!

[CaptainL]

At least, Alena had wanted to show Cashmere the sorts of dueling counters and setups that could dominate the action of a grappling competition. But it seemed as though the Norwegian was ahead of the game! Just as she was about to hook her opponent's head with her leg, Cashmere managed to pull herself downward, ducking out of its path. Alena only had a few short seconds to let out a gasp before Cashmere struck. Now, her leg was held off the ground, which compromised her balance. And Cashmere was quick to take advantage of that, as she threw her legs around Alena's trapped limb before dropping back to execute a figure four leglock!

Now feeling the joints in her leg compressed against the force of Cashmere's grip, Alena's teeth contorted in a grimace, and she twisted and turned on her back. Still, even if her eyelid twitched and her brow beaded with sweat...she couldn't help but be impressed. Either Cashmere was learning fast, or she knew more about grappling than she let on, because this was exactly the principle she was out to demonstrate! "Nngh...are you sure you don't know anything about submissions..? This would get you plenty of cheers in Abu Dhabi..."

Still, Alena wasn't one to give up a fight so easily! As she sucked in a breath and held her body tense, she would attempt to plant her palms against the canvas to brace herself even as Cashmere exerted her force. There, she would attempt to roll herself to the side, trying to turn over and reverse the hold!

[ClockwerkSamurai12]

Cashmere however was one step ahead of the Grand Duchess, getting on top of her to prevent Alena from moving as she pinned her down.

Cashmere: I know a few of them from the training sessions Ollie and I have, plus a few pointers from Velvet.. now tell me, vhat can you do here??

[CaptainL]

The figure four leglock was a staple of any grappler's arsenal. It was fairly simple to apply, but it still did some damage. However, because it was so well-known, so too was the trick to getting out of it! Alena's style was all about counters and reversals, and the figure four had one built right in. All she needed to do was to flip herself onto her back, and she would be the one exerting the force on her foe!

The only problem was, it seemed as though Cashmere knew that - and she was thinking one step ahead of her! She managed to break free of Alena just before the Russian woman was going to roll over, and the next thing she knew, she threw herself down on top of her to go for the pin! Alena gasped just a little at first - she wasn't expecting Oleander to adjust to the rising tides so easily if they were just in this to spar. But if she was...so be it! Alena could pick up the pace too, and her eyes narrowed into a glare as her teeth clenched tighter!

"You seem to forget...BJJ is all about being able to set up a good counterattack from any position!" she boasted. In fact, she could apply what she'd learned about flexibility and exerting leverage to tailor her moveset to the squared circle. She had her own way of defending against a pin - she kicked her legs up in the air, swinging them back toward Cashmere and attempting to hook them around her arms. If that worked, she'd roll her weight forward to sit up, and to try and pull Cashmere off of her in the process!

[ClockwerkSamurai12]

Cashmere didn’t know what to make of this, but she decided to capitalize on Alena’s position by putting her in an Ezekiel choke.

Cashmere: I doubt you’ll be able to counteract this! Let me know vhen you vish to submit..~

[CaptainL]

Cashmere might not have known a lot about grappling, but Alena did have to give her some credit - she was definitely getting the hang of it. Just as soon as the Russian managed to pull her off of her, she transitioned right into throwing her legs around Alena's waist and her arms around her throat, going in for the Ezekiel choke! As Alena saw how she scrambled to set it up, her eyes went wider. For someone who claimed not to know much about grappling, this was an impressive maneuver indeed! Before she knew it, she had Cashmere's arms around her throat, and was pushed down on her back. She sputtered a couple of times as the Norwegian's weight pushed the air out of her lungs...but then, Alena looked up at her opponent with a smirk.

"Seems like you've learned a few tricks for yourself! I'm impressed, but..." As it so happened, Alena was well versed in the Ezekiel choke herself. In all her years of grappling training, she knew about the ins and outs of the style better than Cashmere surely did. And she knew that she could counter this very move! "...you might have spoken too soon!"

Just then, Alena would throw her arms around Cashmere's sides to exert some pressure of her own. Then, she would attempt to roll her weight to the side, in order to get on top of Cashmere with a pendulum sweep! If that worked, she would push up off the mat to power out of the choke and slide herself further up her opponent's body, where she would throw her legs around Cashmere's head to try and compress it between her thighs in a headscissor!

"I don't want you to talk about what I can and can't counter until you've learned a few things about it yourself!" she boasted proudly.

Spoiler

[ClockwerkSamurai12]

Cashmere found herself flat on her back, before she knew it Alena put her in a headscissor hold! This caused her to grunt while trying to pry her legs off of her neck less she ends up unconscious!

[CaptainL]

A triumphant smirk came to Alena's face as she rolled on top of Cashmere, but it would only grow wider when she thought about what this meant. As long as she was on top of her Norwegian foe, she held the advantage - and she was quick to capitalize on that fact, as she brought out her legs to throw her thighs tightly around her opponent's head, squeezing hard at her temples! Cashmere might have thought she was pulling a fast one on Alena, but if she thought she could out-grapple a skilled competitive grappler like her, she was sorely mistaken. She might've been able to hit hard, but she still had a ways to go before she was on the Grand Duchess's level - and Alena would remind her of that fact.

Still, Cashmere was undeterred, and she managed to get her hands braced against Alena's legs, prying them apart. The two girls had entered a tug of war - every time Alena clenched her legs down, Cashmere pushed them back, steadily gaining more and more ground each time. Eventually, Alena had no choice but to release Cashmere's head, scrambling off of her and getting to her feet. As she stood, Alena panted for breath and rubbed at her leg to try and quell the aches of her exertion, but she looked down at Cashmere nonetheless.

"Let this be a lesson to you," she explained. "You don't want to risk setting up a counter for someone like me, unless you're sure you can counter it back. Positioning is very important!"