Kindred Spirits

[Ichi]

Against just about any other opponent, Ayame would have had time to recover after her kick. However, Blair was able to quickly close the distance and clinch with Ayame before Ayame had time to fully set her leg down. Blair had put Ayame in a disadvantageous position, leaving Ayame off-balance and without good leverage.

Immediately, Ayame would attempt to get better footing. From there, Ayame would attempt to maneuver into a more advantageous position in the clinch. It was not certain if this would work, however---after all, Blair was a Muay Thai specialist and Muay Thai makes extensive use of the clinch. While Ayame was quite competent in the clinch, it was definitely possible that Blair would be better in that area.

Ayame would observe how Blair acted in the clinch to get a sense of how skilled Blair was in that area. Even if Blair was extremely good in the clinch, Ayame was confident that she could at least hold her own for long enough to gauge Blair's skill level. Knowing where your strengths lie in relation to your opponent's strengths is important in mixed martial arts. Additionally, the nice thing about the "mixed" aspect of mixed martial arts is that if your opponent is more skilled than you in one area, you have the option of taking the fight to where you have the advantage.

[CaptainL]

Having been quite well acquainted with the strength, speed, and striking power of Ayame's kicks, Blair wasn't excited about being in range of them. Seeing her chance to move while her sparring partner was recentering her stance, she moved forward to close the distance and enter a clinch, where she thought she might have more success. She was still getting a feel for Ayame's fighting style, and she didn't know how she'd handle close quarters combat. Going up against an unfamiliar opponent was always a gamble, but Blair felt confident enough in herself to not worry about that.

For now, it seemed, Ayame wasn't in a hurry to make her next move, which meant that Blair had time to take advantage of this. With well-practiced motions, Blair locked her arms into place behind her neck, assuming the position for a traditional Muay Thai clinch. From there, she would apply pressure to the back of Ayame's head. Although Ayame weighed more, Blair would attempt to leverage her enough to force her to lean in closer, whereupon she would kick upward with her knee, attempting a strike into her opponent's ribs.

[Ichi]

Before Ayame was able to get into a better position, Blair swiftly put Ayame into a Muay Thai "plum" clinch. Ayame was forced to bend forward at the hips as her head was swiftly jerked downwards, her posture completely broken.

"Shit. This is bad," thought Ayame as Blair's hands pushed down on the back of Ayame's head and neck. This was an extremely bad position for Ayame and she knew it. In this position, she was vulnerable to knees to the body as well as knees and elbows to the head. While none of those options were appealing, Ayame decided to prioritize protecting her head. Ayame raised her guard to protect her head, her gloves resting on her brow and elbows tucked in. Suddenly, Ayame could feel Blair's weight shift as Blair began to throw a knee. In response, Ayame tensed up her abs in preparation for a potential body blow.

"Tch!" Blair's knee impacted with Ayame's ribs. Obviously, since this was sparring, the knee was not thrown with full power---nonetheless, Ayame definitely felt that blow. However, Ayame would try and make the best of the situation. While Blair was still up on one leg, Ayame would attempt to move forward, going from being bent over to a more upright stance. Additionally, while moving forward, Ayame would also attempt to press one of her forearms into Blair's face, and swim her other arm in between Blair's arms to grab the back of Blair's neck.

If Ayame was successful with this, one of her hands would be behind Blair's neck and her other hand would be grabbing Blair's elbow. Most likely, Blair and Ayame would end up in a classic professional wrestling lock up position---however, that would depend on what Blair did.

[CaptainL]

Blair had theorized, in noting Ayame's preference for attacks that hit from a distance and made use of the striking range of her limbs, that her opponent would be less accustomed to the clinch. That had led her to move into close range to ready her next move, and it seemed as though her predictions were proving accurate. With Blair pushing down on her opponent's head and bending her over, she had gotten the redhead into a position she wasn't prepared to defend herself against. All Ayame could do was to brace herself as best she could to soften the incoming blow - and even then, she could still only do so much.

Having used her knee to attack, Blair managed to keep her hands on Ayame, maintaining the clinch. That would do her well, she felt; she could control her position and prevent her from getting the momentum behind some of her harder blows. Ayame, in turn, seemed to be intent on keeping up such a position, though she repositioned her hands, moving from a traditional Muay Thai clinch to what Blair recognized from her brief stints in wrestling as a collar and elbow lockup. Though this position wasn't as closely associated with Muay Thai as what she was in before, Blair was still familiar with it, and she figured she could take advantage of what it offered. Especially if she was to make a career for herself in wrestling, it would be to her benefit to adapt.

With nothing more said than a short nod to Ayame, Blair mirrored her position, letting one hand rest on her neck and taking her elbow with the other. She could accept that in repositioning herself, Ayame was also offering Blair to respond likewise, assuming the same stance. All the same, Blair was well aware that in a position like this, they both had the same amount of control on one another. Blair recalled from her training in MMA that it was always advantageous to secure the upper hand; if she stayed in a neutral position for too long, her opponent could easily take control if they acted first. So too, she was aware that Ayame was the larger of the two women, which gave her an automatic advantage and would make her more difficult to overpower. She was unlikely to be able to bend Ayame over by sheer force alone - so she'd have to use other routes for leverage.

Getting her hand up around the side of Ayame's head, Blair pulled her head down and to the side, while at the same time taking a single step over to the side as she took a foot off the ground and swung her body to draw on the momentum. This, she hoped, would force Ayame to bend down, while at the same time opening up more space between them for Blair to aim an attack. If this was successful, she would draw her fist back, going to send an uppercut into her stomach!

[Ichi]

At this point, Ayame was getting a little uncomfortable in the clinch. Suddenly, Blair whipped Ayame around, causing Ayame to bend over. This created space for Blair to throw an uppercut towards Ayame's stomach!

"Guh!" cried Ayame as Blair's punch connected with her stomach. Immediately after taking the punch, Ayame would attempt to grab the bicep on the same arm that Blair threw her uppercut with. Then, Ayame would attempt step in close to Blair so that their bodies were close and attempt to get into an over-under clinch position.

If that worked, Ayame would then lower her hips. After doing so, she would attempt to push Blair away with her shoulder! Ayame had seen enough: it was clear that Blair was quite good in the clinch. Continuing to clinch with Blair would probably not go well for Ayame.

If Ayame successfully shoved Blair away, Ayame would follow up with a cross-hook-cross combination. Hopefully, that would give Ayame some space.

[CaptainL]

Ayame was larger than Blair, something the Muay Thai fighter knew all too well. No matter how hard she had trained or how refined her skills were, this was something that put Blair at an immediate disadvantage, particularly when the two of them were clinched - where Ayame could take advantage at any moment. Blair knew she needed to break this lockup as soon as she could - but, getting a solid grip on her opponent's head, she was able to steer her to the side. While she wasn't sure how effective a takedown would be, it did create more space between Blair and Ayame - space that would soon be filled by Blair's fist, as she let a punch streak toward Ayame's gut!

She noticed as Ayame shuddered, and she felt her knuckles sink into her flesh as the blow landed. While it was only a spar, and Blair was avoiding putting too much power behind her strikes, it was definitely a solid hit. However, Ayame wouldn't let that keep her down - and before Blair could draw her arm back, Ayame latched onto her bicep, preventing her from going far. Sure enough, the redhead pushed in closer, closing up the distance between them to clinch again.

The two of them were quite close together now, feeling each motion, and the warmth of their breaths was felt on each other's bodies. Even if the positions had adjusted, they hadn't broken away from one another. That was, until Ayame drove her shoulder into Blair, forcing her away as she broke the clinch. Blair stumbled back a few steps, groaning. Once again, they were separated - and now it was Ayame's turn to have space to strike.

She came at Blair with a number of punches, and the Muay Thai fighter was left to adapt. Thinking quickly, she raised her arms, going to block the first cross. With Ayame coming at her with another hook, she was forced to twist to the side to block the incoming blow. Unfortunately for Blair, she couldn't react fast enough to go back to her previous guard, and when Ayame approached her with another cross, she took it, going staggering back with a groan. With the distance between them further widened, Blair shot a glare back at Ayame. She dug her heels into the mat beneath her, holding the position and preparing for Ayame to come closer.

[Ichi]

Amidst all the adrenaline, a small wave of relief washed over Ayame as she managed to escape the clinch and land one of her punches. This was good for Ayame: had she stayed in the clinch, she probably would have eaten even more shots. Had this been a real fight, Ayame would have advanced on Blair and continued her attack. Since this was sparring, however, Ayame would try to save some of her energy.

Ayame would make sure to position herself so that Blair was just outside of striking range. While Ayame would be too far away to strike Blair, Blair would also be too far away to strike Ayame. However, compared to Blair, Ayame would need to cover less distance to get into her striking range. Ayame would wait in silence for Blair to make her next move.

[CaptainL]

Blair still felt the sore sensation in her ribs from where Ayame's fist had graced them, but she remained standing, bracing herself against the mat. She huffed under her breath, keeping her eyes narrowed and her focus locked in on her opponent. Blair realized that it would be ideal to avoid taking damage as much as possible, especially when she was up against a larger opponent, but she recognized too that that wouldn't always be possible. For now, she just had to roll with the punches.

With Ayame breaking away from the clinch, the distance between them was opened up once again, putting the red-haired woman out of reach of Blair's blows. Now, the Muay Thai fighter assessed her options, realizing that she would need to get back in range to inflict more damage - but in doing so, she would be exposing herself to potential retaliation as well. She had a plan, though.

Taking a step closer toward Ayame, Blair drew back her left hand, preparing to throw a cross aimed toward her face. At least, that's what she would make it look like. In reality, Blair was only setting Ayame up for a feint; if she moved to defend herself and raised her arms, Blair would duck lower, using her right hand to strike for her now-unprotected midsection.

"You're good, I have to admit," Blair muttered. "You're actually keeping me on my toes..."

[Ichi]

Ayame watched Blair intently as Blair moved into range. Ayame's eyes were not focused on one particular area but instead were observing all of Blair at once. Suddenly, Ayame saw Blair make a sudden movement, as if she were about to throw a right cross. In response, Ayame raised her hands to protect her face, leaving her torso exposed.

Blair capitalized on Ayame's reaction and used it to land a right cross to the body. Ayame had been sure that a right cross had been coming and thus was caught by surprise when Blair threw a strike to the body. Ayame exhaled sharply as Blair's fist sank into her midsection, narrowly avoiding having the wind knocked out of her. Despite the strike not being thrown with full power, it still hurt.

Upon being hit, Ayame would immediately circle to her right, moving away from Blair's power hand. Expecting Blair to follow up her attack, Ayame prepared to throw a counter punch. No such follow up came, however.

"You're good, I have to admit," Blair muttered. "You're actually keeping me on my toes..."

In response to the compliment, a slight smile crept onto Ayame's face. The slight smile would not remain on Ayame's face for long, however, as Ayame quickly returned to a deadpan expression. Not wanting to be overly cold though, Ayame would give a slight nod of acknowledgement.

[CaptainL]

Blair met Ayame's nod with one of her own. As proud as she was of her own abilities, she was also coming to respect how good Ayame was. The red-haired girl was easily a match for her own talents, and she was finding herself working harder than she had expected to prove she had what it took to stand up to her. Even compared to some of the opponents Blair had faced in the various combat sports she had participated in, Ayame was truly a challenging foe. In some ways, Blair relished that. Training through doing drills and shadow boxing was one thing, but going up against an equally skilled opponent was something that truly made Blair work for her success - and that made it all the more satisfying.

Still, Ayame wasn't letting her guard down, and neither was Blair. Soon enough she held her fists up, getting back into a stance, and began drawing closer to her sparring partner. Blair eyed Ayame carefully, watching her for any sudden moves. She began to strafe from one side to the other to dodge any incoming blows, but once she was close enough, she would offer her hands again, going for another clinch. Based on what Blair had done previously, she hoped Ayame would take this as an invitation to close in on her, as though the Muay Thai fighter was focusing on this aspect of her skillset and wanted to initiate another clinching session. However, if Ayame took the bait, Blair would instead pull her closer by her wrists, going to direct her into the path of a long knee strike as she sent her knee jutting upward and into her gut!