Meeting A Lioness

[CaptainL]

As she turned around to face the downed Joyce, Astrid chuckled, meeting her with a grin as she placed her hands on her hips. "Good, good," she added with a nod. "You're learning. Even if it hurts, it's better to learn this now, rather than in the ring against a real opponent!"

But Astrid wasn't about to give the rookie time to recover - after all, a real opponent wouldn't be so merciful! She closed in on Joyce from behind, kneeling down to get to her level. "Now," she went on, "you're in a vulnerable position. The key here will be to recognize that, and to know how to get out of it quickly - before your opponent does something like this!"

Astrid reached forward, her hand outstretched to grab onto Joyce's head. If the girl didn't do anything to stop her, she would wrap her arms around her skull, pulling her up to a seated position as she cranked down the pressure of a headlock!

[Joyce_Hilda]

Joyce got caught at the headlock of Astrid. She groaned a bit as the hold tightened around her head and neck. Joyce used her arms and struggled to break free. On the first couple of seconds, Joyce seemed to act in a cool, rational way, struggling on the headlock. However, as the time passed, Joyce would start to kick the mat frantically. Also, Astrid being at Joyce's back, so not able to see her face, she could feel Joyce was hyperventilating. Maybe something wasn't right, unless Astrid was really putting that amount of strength on her hold. Another thing that was kinda odd is that, despite Joyce not being able to break free, and seemed to be strugggling A LOT, she wasn't willing to tap out.

[CaptainL]

While she had her arm locked in place around Joyce's head, Astrid took the time to study the trainee's response. She kept a close eye on her; in a situation like this, she would have the time to assess what Joyce tended to do if faced with submissions. At first, she could see that she was approaching things calmly, thinking through what was happening around her and figuring out how she could respond. That was a good start - but, as time went on, Joyce began to panic. Her breaths quickened and her legs flailed in the air, and she frantically tried to pull herself free, even when she was making little progress against the larger woman's hold. Astrid's brow raised with a curious look. She couldn't help but worry that Joyce might have locked herself into a predicament she couldn't solve.

"...Are you all right?" Astrid said. She let go of Joyce's head, scooting back onto her knees to give her some space. When the Young Lioness had time to calm down, Astrid would go on to explain herself.

"You were handling that well at first," she said, "but I fear that you're putting yourself at a disadvantage when you lose your cool. If you can think straight, you have a better chance of realizing how you can counter your opponent, or get out of a hold. But that's harder to do if you panic. If you just struggle blindly, you'll end up wasting your energy with ineffective flailing, and you won't have it in you for when you really need it."

"For that matter," the Norsewoman added, "if you aren't making any progress, there's no shame in tapping out if you truly don't stand a chance. I know that everyone wants to win and to do their best, but if you keep fighting a losing battle you risk getting hurt, and then you won't be able to train while you're recovering. That can really keep you back."

[Joyce_Hilda]

Joyce went on her four, panted a bit, but soon got back at her feet. Lack of breath, seemingly, wasn't the big issue here. Even so, Joyce had her face a bit blushed. She adjusted her hair with her hand and responded to the advices of her trainer.

"I-I'm sorry, losing my cool isn't like me, I-I don't know what got in me, but thanks." Joyce said, stuttering a bit "Don't worry, I'm okay, just let's keep the training. This time, if I may ask so, let's... not use any choking, okay?"

Joyce took some steps from Astrid, and rose her guard once again.

"I would like to try something different this time." Joyce asked "What about if you tried to attack me, and I tried to counter your attack?"

[CaptainL]

Even with Joyce making apologies for what she'd done, Astrid wasn't perturbed. She picked herself back up to her feet, doing a few stretches to work the kinks out of her joints before she focused back on the trainee, and she smiled a little wider, hoping to defuse any tension between them. "It's all right, and there's nothing you need to apologize for," she explained. "Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone has their weak points. Part of training is figuring out how we can overcome them - but the first step toward growing stronger is knowing where it is we need to grow. And you've already taken that step!"

At Joyce's challenge, Astrid took a step back, bending at her knees and raising her hands. "All right," she said, "just be prepared - just because I'll honor your request doesn't mean you can expect everyone to be so merciful!" Then, Joyce made an offer as to how to go about the second round of their session, and after giving it some thought, Astrid nodded her head. "That sounds like a plan to me, yeah!" she said. "Being ready to counter an opponent's attack is just as important as setting up your own. And that's another area we should get a sense for where you stand!"

Cracking her knuckles, Astrid took another step back. She began to bend in closer, taking her center of gravity closer to the ground as she lined herself up with her opponent. "Alright, on three! One...two...THREE!" True to her word, Astrid took off toward Joyce, her shoulder raised as though to tackle her!

[Joyce_Hilda]

At first, Joyce was expecting that Astrid would charge at her either intending a Body Slam or a Lariat/Clothesline. Instead, she charged with a Shoulder Tackle. This meant that Astrid's body was tightened in a closed guard, not leaving much room for counter attacks as she shot herself like a torpedo after Joyce.

Even so, Joyce was used to her "A plans" not working at first try, so she used to have a "Plan B": it would go after Astrid legs. Joyce threw herself in the mat, out of Astrid's charge direction and tried to make her trip and fall face flat on the mat. If her move worked, she would go straight to a Boston Crab.

[CaptainL]

Even when Astrid was barreling at Joyce at top speeds, the Young Lioness had a way of analyzing every motion she made, pinpointing the advantages and disadvantages of each move and knowing how she could act accordingly to keep things in her favor. Astrid had to admit, she was impressed - at least, she would be, if she had a moment to think about it. Right now, though, everything was moving along so quickly she barely had any time to think things through. She was aiming to throw her weight into Joyce at full force, but the brunette ducked down at the last minute, swinging out her leg to trip the Norsewoman up!

Astrid found her legs swept out from under her before she had a moment to consider what was happening. But the next thing she knew, she was falling forward, thrown off her feet! She let out a gasp as she plummeted through the air, at last landing with a thump that shook the canvas beneath her weight. And from there, Joyce was quick to follow up - she got on Astrid's back, pulling her legs backward to twist her spine in a Boston crab!

Throwing her head back, Astrid winced in pain, her eyes squeezed shut and her teeth locked into a grimace. Still, she tried to pull herself toward the ropes, dragging herself across the mat and groaning with every inch she traveled. Joyce was really starting to show off what she was capable of now!

[Joyce_Hilda]

Joyce saw that Astrid was going to the ropes and tried to prevent her of doing it by trying to walk away from the ropes, with her legs. Joyce would also try to change the move from a Boston Crab to a Texas Cloverleaf. However, Astrid was considerable bigger and taller than Joyce. Joyce would have some problem on making these transitions, which would make it the perfect moment for Astrid to try to escape and counter.

[CaptainL]

Joyce might have been a fast learner when it came to her technical skills, but Astrid was still ahead of the game. She felt the brunette get up from her back and try to twist her legs into position, but she had enough experience to realize what she was setting up - not to mention enough endurance to be able to bounce back from the hold she'd been in a moment before. Just as Joyce began to force her legs into place, Astrid would get her elbows against the mat beneath her to brace herself as she threw her back into an arc and bucked her hips up from the ground, hoping the momentum would be enough to jostle Joyce enough to let her pull free. If that worked, Astrid would roll herself to her feet, reaching in to grab Joyce from behind, and getting her arms underneath her sparring partner's to pull them back against her chest in a full nelson!

"Here's a hold you'll often see being used," Astrid explained. "If you want to be ready for the ring, you should know how to counter it. What do you do now?"

[Joyce_Hilda]

Joyce smirked as Astrid put her on a Full Nelson. She had some self-defense classes and she mastered how to counter a Full Nelson: Joyce waited some seconds, without offering any resistance and, then, moved her arms down suddenly, on a moment where the hold would be loose (due to her offering no resistance), then she would elbow Astrid on her belly and, as she curled on herself, Joyce would try to take her down with a Running Bulldog.