Kindred Spirits

[Ichi]

This was not the time to "go easy" on her opponent---her opponent, after all, was a former muay thai and MMA champion. While Ayame was not going to put any power behind her shots, she was going to fight to the best of her ability.

Ayame would feint a jab and then follow up with an actual jab. Both of those movements were aimed at the head. Afterwards, Ayame would circle to her right to angle herself away from Blair's rear hand and leg.

Ayame would observe how Blair would react to the feint: did she block? Slip? Parry? Move out of range? This would begin to give Ayame an idea of Blair's tendencies.

[CaptainL]

Blair was quick to adopt a stance, bringing her body into position on the mat as she looked across her to watch Ayame and see how she would approach her. It didn't matter that they were only sparring; Blair had to get in the right headspace and treat this as though she were in an actual match. She took everything seriously, and to treat it as anything less would be letting herself down. She took in a few deep breaths, preparing herself for anything.

First, Blair saw Ayame come closer to her with her arm raised, and she threw up her arms, defending her face from the incoming punch. Even if Ayame was only feinting, Blair kept up her guard so that when she followed it up with the next punch, the one that landed in earnest, she would still be shielded. It was only then that Blair let down her guard, looking to see what Ayame was doing next. And when she saw her beginning to circle aside, Blair tensed. The muscles in her body tightened as she held her guard, only turning as much as she needed to in order to keep her eyes on Ayame and to make sure she would be able to protect herself from a head-on attack if she had to. She could tell from the way her sparring partner was turning that she was setting something up, and for that, Blair wanted to be ready for when the moment of truth came.

[Ichi]

So Blair probably liked to block---not surprising given her muay thai background, as head movement is not utilized as much in muay thai as it is in boxing. To capitalize on this possible tendency, Ayame would then move in and throw a jab-cross-hook combination to hopefully get Blair to raise her hands, making it harder for her to defend against a takedown. Then, Ayame would attempt a double-leg takedown.

[CaptainL]

Keeping her guard raised and her stance readied, Blair didn't take her eyes off Ayame, even as the red-haired girl strafed around her side. She felt the anxiety rise in the pit of her stomach, biting her lip at the thought that her sparring partner looked to be in the process of setting up a takedown. Blair was less than confident in her ability to defend against such things, and the unwanted thoughts flashed through her head - what if she couldn't stop it? What if she let herself be taken down? What if that happened in a real match? But as quickly as they had come to her, Blair shook them out of her head. She knew that such feelings had no place here. She needed to be ready, and getting nervous would only slow her down. If Blair got anything out of this, it was that she was going to have to emerge a stronger person than she was before.

Blair had been so wound up to defend against a takedown that when Ayame instead faced her with a few punches, it threw her off her guard. If she had been thinking further ahead, she might have thought more about what reasons Ayame had for doing this, but right now, she was thrown back into the moment. The first punch caught her upside the cheek, causing her to reel back with a groan, but soon after that Blair got her hands up to protect herself, shielding her face from the following blows so that they would only hit her forearms. If that was what Ayame wanted to do, that's what she'd respond to.

But that wasn't what Ayame had in mind - at least, it wasn't the whole of it. Now that Blair had moved to protect her face, her body was vulnerable, and she wouldn't have time to adjust her defense accordingly. The next thing she knew, Ayame had tripped her up! She fell back through the air, where she came down flat on her back, her teeth clenched as she landed with a thud and a groan.

[Ichi]

Ayame did not expect her takedown attempt to go so well. In fact, she actually expected Blair to defend against it. It's not uncommon for an opponent to defend against one's initial takedown attempt---that's why one will often chain that initial attempt into a different takedown/finish. However, Ayame's takedown worked right off the bat.

This was quite surprising. Based on what Ayame saw when she watched one of Blair's successful title defenses, Blair should have been able to defend that takedown. Yet, for some reason, she didn't.

After completing the takedown, Ayame would attempt to get back up to her feet and give Blair some space---after all, they were practicing takedowns and takedown defense, not ground work. If Blair let her do that, Ayame would use that brief moment to think:

Did she let me complete that takedown? Has she gotten rusty? Lost confidence?

All of these thoughts would briefly occur to Ayame, but Ayame would not dwell on them for long. Regardless of what was actually happening in Blair's mind, this exchange gave Ayame the feeling that Blair might be nervous about takedowns. This bode well for Ayame: if Blair was nervous about takedowns, it might be easy to get Blair to overreact to a feint. Based on this feeling, Ayame already had an idea of what she wanted to try next.

[CaptainL]

If there was one thing Blair didn't want to ever believe, it was the prospect of her skills growing dull. Blair was always pushing the envelope, straining herself to be competing at the highest levels she could be at. The thought of so easily letting herself slip, and allowing herself to be taken down by such a basic move, one that many fighters even below her level could defend against, was painful to her. And yet, that had been exactly what had happened.

The knowledge of this weighed heavily on Blair, and as she began to sit up from the floor, a blush came to her face. She bit her lip and looked off, as though afraid to make eye contact - afraid that doing so would mean admitting to being anything less than perfect. At the same time, she was afraid that Ayame had seen the embarrassment in her face. That wouldn't do her any favors either. She didn't want to look weak. She didn't want to look like someone who would be held back by her insecurities and her feelings of inadequacy.

Even if, perhaps, she was.

In any case, Blair was quick to get back on her feet, dusting herself off. When she looked back up at Ayame, her face assumed the same stern look that it had at the outset of their session, and she lowered herself into a stance. "Beginner's luck," she muttered. "Try that again." But was she truly taunting Ayame, or was she just trying to convince herself it wasn't her fault for being taken down?

[Ichi]

Then again, it's not exactly that bad that Blair got taken down. Sometimes that happens---even at the highest levels, simple setups can work. Perhaps Blair was just caught off-guard. But still... something seemed off about Blair. Then, Ayame noticed a slight blush on Blair's face and her lack of eye contact. It seems like Blair was embarrassed over being taken down like that.

"I guess Blair doesn't have that thick of skin," thought Ayame.

Then, Blair spoke.

"Beginner's luck," Blair muttered. "Try that again."

Ayame raised her eyebrow at this---it seemed Blair was making excuses. In response to Blair's statement, Ayame sharply exhaled in mild irritation. However, despite Blair daring her to try the same thing again, Ayame would not do so. She doubted that she would be able to pull the same sort of move a second time. Therefore, Ayame had to do something different.

Almost immediately after Blair said "Try that again," Ayame would lower her level to feint a takedown. Hopefully, Blair would be wary about a takedown and would drop her hands to defend against it. However, instead of going for a takedown, Ayame would throw an overhand right instead!

Ayame was counting on a couple of things. The first was that Blair would not expect Ayame to attack right after her statement and thus would be caught off-guard. The second was that Blair would bite on the takedown feint and drop her hands to defend against the takedown threat. If Blair dropped her hands, her chin would be exposed which would give Ayame an opening to throw an overhand right.

[CaptainL]

Blair didn't have much time to process if Ayame noticed her reaction to getting taken down, or what she might have thought of it. While she knew things could have gone better, she also knew there was no time for standing around and pondering that in a time like this, and that any time she spent not being on her guard could be used against her - and would, if her opponent was a skilled one. Blair had to ready herself, and she got back into a stance, watching Ayame. This time, she thought, she wouldn't let herself be taken down. That was what she was here to ensure, after all.

She watched as the red-haired girl went lower again, and her body tensed, getting into position to react. In the thick of things, Blair had no reason to suspect anything but another takedown. After all, that was what they were here to practice, and from Ayame's body language it looked like that was what she had set up - though, of course, Blair had seen how Ayame was willing to throw her for a loop. Sure enough, she watched as Ayame went in lower. However, rather than drop her hands, Blair hopped sideways, looking to get out of range of her opponent's attack!

Blair acknowledged she was a lightweight, and she felt more confident in her ability to dodge than in taking blows with her smaller frame. The same was true for takedowns, and when she saw Ayame coming toward her, Blair went to duck out of range. Though she had it in mind to dodge a takedown this way, when Ayame threw a punch instead, it still passed Blair by. But the motion caused her to raise an eyebrow, as she folded her arms.

"I thought we were practicing takedowns?" Blair muttered.

[Ichi]

"Damn. She's fast," thought Ayame as her overhand right whiffed. Ayame had actually expected her strike to land but Blair had managed to use her speed and footwork to evade Ayame's attack. Blair was quite good, even if she didn't seem to be at 100%.

After whiffing the overhand right, Ayame pivoted to face Blair. While Blair had moved laterally to avoid Ayame's feinted shot and overhand right, Blair was still relatively close to Ayame. Ayame's hands went up higher as she was now within punching range.

"I thought we were practicing takedowns?" Blair muttered. As soon as Ayame heard that, she exhaled in irritation---after all, Blair asked for a spar, not a drill.

"You asked for a spar, not drills," stated Ayame coldly as she lowered her hands and took a less-aggressive stance. "The operative word is 'mixed'. 'Mixed martial arts'. How do you expect me to hit a takedown if I don't set it up?"

Oftentimes, in mixed martial arts, one sets up their attacks. In this case, strikes can set up takedowns and takedown feints can set up strikes---that wasn't something that would be surprising to any mixed martial artist. Without a good setup, the chance of landing one's attack is decreased, especially when against a skilled opponent such as Blair.

The idea behind the takedown feint to overhand right is to keep one's opponent guessing: a sudden level change could either mean a takedown attempt is coming or that an overhand is coming. If one's opponent thinks that an overhand is coming, they may raise their hands to block the overhand. This in turn makes it harder to defend a takedown. On the flip-side, if one's opponent thinks that a takedown is coming, they may drop their hands to help defend against the takedown. This leaves one open to the overhand. Or, if you are Blair Yuen and have the agility to do so, you may move laterally to avoid the attack.

"If you want to drill, that's fine. If you want to spar, that's also fine. Which one do you want? Drill or spar?" asked Ayame coolly.

[CaptainL]

Acting on her reflexes, Blair managed to swerve off to the side, getting out of the trajectory of Ayame's fist in the process. She soon settled back into her stance, turning to face Ayame. Though she had left herself open, Blair didn't go for the opportunity to strike her - mainly because she wasn't sure if this was part of the plan. But even still, as Ayame explained herself, Blair began to get the idea - and she smiled a little wider. It was rare for Blair to show all that much emotion around others, but she seemed amused by this prospect.

"Hm. You're right. And that's a very good point." In truth, Blair didn't see this coming because she had never been one to spar with others much. Whether she felt it was better to focus on herself, or she thought that other people would just weigh her down, she had always preferred to train solo whenever possible, focusing on honing her skills at her own pace and at her own terms. She was never one to form social attachments to others, let alone for anything like establishing training partners. Though she'd certainly had sparring sessions before - it would be hard to get to her level without doing so - Blair never gave much thought to those who were on the other end of her strikes. She never saw them as coworkers or acquaintances, and certainly not friends. They were only there to achieve their purpose, and there was no use in getting attached to them.

Yet now, Ayame had reminded Blair of the value in training alongside others. Blair couldn't deny that she was on to something, and she recognized what use it would be to her. This was something she could concede to.

"All right," Blair said, as she lowered herself into a stance, bending slightly at the knees and raising her fists. "Spar it is. I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into..." With that said, Blair took a step forward. Looking to try and catch Ayame off her guard before she had fully processed the action was about to resume, as Blair turned the next step, she used the momentum of her advance to swing herself off her foot and turn to the side, extending her leg to deliver a roundhouse kick!