The Real Training Session

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Tiki was pleased that her idea resonated with Niko. Having an identity as a wrestler was important. It meant you had some aspect of yourself that you had more confidence in than anything else, and that confidence would readily provide you with tools to fall back on in the biggest moments. Instead of having to figure out what to do on the spot, you can call upon the very essence of who you are as a wrestler. For Tiki it was a combination of her technical skill and endurance, allowing her to go for high difficulty maneuvers when the pressure was on without worry of failure. For Niko, it looked like she was going to evolve into a wrestler who could rely on locking opponent's up to stop them from resisting and then knocking them out with her smothers when she really needed to put an opponent down.

But Niko was still growing into that wrestler. That's what this was for. What Tiki's face going under her student's body for a third time in as many maneuvers was for. Now the veteran will have experienced a smother from all three of Niko's crotch, breasts, and butt today. And all three instances had additional submission holds attached to them. Not to mention this hadn't started until they were well into the training session. Tiki would have to admit that even her endurance as Niko's practice body was waning.

Niko executed the hold well, as she had done for most of what she tried today. This wasn't something particularly difficult that Tiki was teaching Niko. Sure it had three separate parts, but two of them were the exact same concept, and none of them were very complex. It was really all a matter of maintain balance with her hips and keeping enough focus to maintain exertion throughout all four of her limbs. Even still, Niko had already shown far more of a natural aptitude today than anyone who had watched her in the ring before would expect. Tiki's student could be a champion already if she had grown up with wrestling and used all those years to hone her talent. Even if Niko had only started taking wrestling seriously once she joined LAW, the pinkette would still likely be well on her way there.

But oddly enough, Tiki was somewhat happy that Niko didn't care up until now. Because that meant that the veteran herself would be the one who got to fully unlock this wild potential alongside Niko. Obviously there were still a lot of things to iron out and polish. Niko's instincts, for one. Tiki would make sure her student was rid of her duck and cover habit when an opponent charged before the second training session was done. But this first session Tiki had deliberately designed to allow Niko to feel in control. To show her the pleasures that being a winning wrestler had to offer. Tiki believed that she had done that quite well, if Niko's receptiveness was anything to go by.

As for Niko's hold, Tiki wasn't getting out of it. She wasn't kidding when she said the pinkette would be waiting for the ref to call a knockout if she ever locked this hold on somebody in a match. The pinkette would have to make some sort of blunder for Tiki to have any way to escape. But Niko's hold was secure, and once Tiki had confirmed that, she tapped out with her foot. She would clearly be very tired once her student got up off of her.

[Bare]

Leaning into the idea Tiki suggested of Niko leaning into smother based submissions the pink haired girl was keen on trying to master any of the holds Tiki showed her that could help in that regard and that started with this double arm bar hold. It took a second for Niko to apply and set the hold in correctly, largely because of having to maintain her balance while on the woman's face, but after a short adjustment period she pretty much had it down. Likewise she was able to secure her grip on Tiki's arms while pulling them out to the sides, making it hurt as much as possible.

While doing this however Niko was also sure to keep an eye on Tiki's legs while securing her grip. After all she didn't want to miss the tap out from Tiki's foot less she accidentally knock out Tiki like before. Sure enough though after a few minutes Niko would spot the signature sight of Tiki's foot slapping the mat repeatedly meaning the hold was over. Immediately letting go of her foe's arms and pushing herself backwards so that she would be seated behind the green haired woman Niko would lean over to look down at Tiki's face. "Uh.. you ok Tiki?" Niko asked, knowing that the woman must have been spent from being her practice dummy.

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Tiki knew that she probably looked pretty rough by this point, so she wasn't surprised when Niko was looking down at her in concern for the instructor's well being. Tiredly, Tiki would flash a thumbs up and say, "I'm fine, Niko. Just tired. And pretty... out of breath." the greenette then slowly brought herself back up to a seated position.

"Yes, if you lock in that, and you get it right like you just did," continued Tiki. "The only people who are ever getting out are Heavyweights twice your size that you probably shouldn't have been in the ring against to begin with. Just make sure you don't end up applying it close enough to the ropes that your opponent is able to stretch out for a rope break."

"While I would like to keep showing you more, I do not think it is hard to tell that teaching you anything that would require you to practice it on me would be a poor decision," Tiki said. "So while I still have something left in me, is there anything you would like me to teach you that does not necessitate a human target to practice it on?"

[Bare]

Sitting behind Tiki after nearly knocking the woman out Niko was understandably concerned for the older woman. After all she had been on the receiving end of enough hits to score a win over somebody three times over, and she didn't want the woman to get hurt on her account. Not again at least.

Luckily though the woman gave a thumbs up to say she was ok making Niko, though she had to admit she was at least a little concerned still, but if her instructor was sure than so be it. That being said, she was playing it safe and asking Niko if there was anything she wanted to know that DIDN'T require a practice dummy.

Which unfortunately Niko wasn't too sure what would qualify. Cause there were still some moves she wanted to learn, but she was fairly certain most would require force. "Hmm well..." Niko said aloud before looking up with an enlightened look.

"Well... maybe not a moveee per se. But like... are there any taunts you use? Like something to embarrass someone or hype up the crowd or something like that?" Niko asked, feeling this was probably the safest avenue to go down as far as requests.

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Tiki wasn't exactly pleased with what Niko said that she wanted to learn. "I wouldn't bother," the teacher said curtly. "You're just asking your opponent to make a comeback, likely with a little extra fire to make it hurt, too. Heck, you've done that and had it done to you in a match not too long ago. I forget the other girl's name, but she was short like you, and I think you smothered her out. But you each got a dominant position, rubbed it in instead of going for the finish, and got reversed for it. You even each called each other out over doing it as I recall." But, knowing that Niko was somewhat of a showwoman, and was liable to taunt anyway despite Tiki's warning, the greenette decided to give Niko some advice more catered to what she was looking for.

"However, if you find yourself in a match against a mentally weak opponent, where taunting may actually negatively effect their ability to fight, or if you just hate somebody too much to help yourself, there is a right way to taunt," said Tiki. "Firstly, verbal taunts only. Making gestures that subtract from the strength of your hold instead of adding to it are the quickest way to getting reversed. The only exception is if the physical taunt also somehow serves as an attack you can seriously justify that it adds to the move."

"Then, when you make verbal taunts, there are still pitfalls to avoid," Tiki continued. "The most important thing is making sure your position is as dominant and secure as you think it is. Double check your work before you turn it in, so to speak. Talking will naturally distract you somewhat, so you're more vulnerable to escapes and reversals if you leave an opening. In the same vein, save taunting for simple holds. Don't try to talk smack on top of maintaining some complex, high effort hold. You'll only hurt yourself. Luckily for you, Niko, smothers like the Grapevine Breast Smother or the Facesit are the perfect kinds of holds to taunt from. Especially since you can add a physical component by literally rubbing it in your opponent's face..

[Bare]

At first Niko felt like perhaps she had asked about the wrong thing given the natural pointedness and seeming annoyance that came over the woman's face as she explained why taunts and such wasn't the best idea, even using her match against Yozakura as an example. "Ok, yeah fair point." Niko said aloud with a nod while turning towards the side. Despite that though Tiki would still offer advice that made Niko turn her head upwards to the green haired woman with a nod. "Yeah?" She asked as Tiki explained, laying out some ground rules so to speak about when and with what holds to taunt from, all of which made sense... in hindsight at least since its not really something that Niko would have thought about beforehand. "Ok... ok yeah I can do all that!" She said with a beaming smile towards Tiki, taking the advice and trying to do her best to keep it all in mind. After all the last thing she wanted to do was not follow the advice and have Tiki get mad at her later.

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It felt to Tiki like this training session was winding down to its conclusion. She was ready to call it a day and handle the session wrap up before parting ways until next time. But when the teacher thought back on how well Niko had managed to keep her locked up and trapped in the various holds she was learning, an idea came to her. Tiki wanted to test this a little further.

"Well Niko, we've been here awhile and it feels like we're reaching a stopping point," said Tiki. "But before we're done, there's one last thing I want to do." As she spoke, Tiki moved to the opposite end of the ring that Niko was in. "A spar," the teacher said. "I think you can understand that I have no desire for a drawn out fight right now, so let's but a five minute timer on for this. However, we will stop short if one of us is pinned, KOed, or submitted before then."

"I think we can both agree that despite your truly wonderful performance and progress thus far, I am still out of the league of people who are out of your league," said Tiki, with no intent to offend. "So on top of the immense wear and fatigue I've sustained, I will grant an additional handicap. You only need to get me once. Land one clean, hard strike, one successful throw or slam, or lock in one submission hold. Accomplish that, and you win. Of course, I do not get such luxury. I must beat you as it would be in a standard match to win. Be warned, I will be going all out. If I can win, I will win." Tiki was genuinely unsure as to how greatly her fatigue would affect her ability. Niko wasn't quite 100%, of course. But she would be operating with far more left in her tank than her teacher would be.

[Bare]

Niko would look up at Tiki with a curious look as, it really did seem like they were just about done, but it seemed Tiki had one other thing in mind, but Niko really wasn't too sure what it could be. So when the woman suggested a full on spar her eyes would widen in surprise. "W-Wait are you sure?" Niko asked, both in concern for herself and Tiki. Sure she had done pretty good in training so far, but that was with Tiki practically holding her hand for most of it.

Naturally as a result she was feeling.. nervous about facing the woman firing on on all cylinders, even if she had been taking significant damage throughout the match. Which admittedly did also raise Niko's concern for the woman herself and not wanting her to push too hard. Thankfully though Tiki would dispel at least one of those worries with a pretty strict hindrance to herself.

Gulping softly, still a bit apprehensive but feeling confident enough with the rules and all Niko would. "Ok... Ok lets do it!" Niko said with a nod as she took a few steps back towards her side of the ring and gave Tiki a nod as she did the same. "Just don't push yourself too hard, or I'll knock you out for real!" Niko said in a pretty blatant attempt at sounding confident and to hype herself up as well.

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After Tiki explained the final exercise of the training session, she couldn't quite tell if Niko's concern was for herself or her instructor. Nervous either for herself, believing that she would still be incapable of fighting Tiki despite the battle conditions, or for Tiki, worried that the veteran was putting herself at significant risk of injury. Maybe Niko was worried for both, Tiki could see it.

Wouldn't- shouldn't the boast be that she'll knock me out if I hold back? Tiki thought. She wasn't sure if she was missing something due to fatigue, if Niko was implying Tiki was at her limit and would give out if she fought too hard, or if it was simply that Niko misspoke. A bit confused, but not wanting to raise trouble over it, Tiki would try to respond accordingly regardless of Niko's meaning, "Well I guess we'll see just how hard I can fight."

As Tiki approached, she knew that Niko would want to lean on the tools that she had been taught today. In this case, the near lock up maneuvers Tiki had shown her student to get an early advantage against physically stronger opponents. Tiki decided that she wasn't going to let Niko play into those tools if she could help it. After all, the veteran wouldn't be doing everything in her power to win if she chose to play to her student's strengths.

Instead, once Tiki had gotten close, she would go in low for a two legged takedown, trying to wrap her arms around Niko's legs and pull them out from underneath the Lightweight to force Niko to her back. If Niko couldn't defend herself Tiki would scramble up from the pinkette's legs to up on top of her body, slower than normal and with a bit of a stumble though, on account of Tiki's fatigue. Then, if she was able, Tiki would grab Niko's arm and put it into a Kimura Lock.

[Bare]

As soon as the words left Niko's mouth the girl almost looked down, knowing how terrible that line was. 'Maybe Tiki was right and I should just stay from taunts and stuff.' Niko thought to herself, deciding to go quiet as she put her fists up in preparation for the spar against Tiki. Immediately the first lesson they went over came to mind and Niko prepared herself for it.. only for Tiki to subvert things by instead ducking low and grabbing her legs, pulling them out from under the girl and bringing her crashing down to the mat!

"Oomph!" Niko groaned out not having expected the older woman to go for something completely outside what they had taught, but it was a revelation that made sense. Only Tiki would teach Niko a bunch of stuff only to test her by not using any of said things against Niko so that she'd have to instead piece a different strategy together on the fly. Though unfortunately, at the present moment Niko had far greater concerns and that was the feeling of her arm being grabbed and twisted!

Eyes immediately widening Niko remembered one of the other lessons. 'Best way to escape a submission is to make sure they cant get it locked in the first place.' Niko thought to herself, as she got up, not exactly sure how the hold worked, but if it targeted her arm then shifting her position and grabbing her arm would help at least mitigate Tiki from locking the hold. Turning herself over and trying to get out from under Tiki before the woman could lock the hold in TIki would grit her teeth before falling back on an old reliable.. Changing gears and rather than pull away from Tiki, Niko would thrust her head forward, trying to head but Tiki since the two were in fairly close proximity! Hoping the impact would either stop her, or at least force the woman to abandon ship on the hold!