Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Lessons for Abby

Stygia: Yes, I instigated it. You've seen the results of our "fights" in recent posts; obviously Abby needs some lessons, and I am just the right cat to show her how it's done.

First of all, the best way to begin a "fight" is with The Staredown, but sometimes your opponent may be distracted, as Abby was this morning. She was chattering at some birds, so I had no choice but to begin with a more overt maneuver.

My move is a little bit deceptive, because I am rolled on my back, which makes me appear vulnerable to my opponent. Since she wasn't paying attention to me, I had to whap her. Sure enough, this combination of posture and touch caught her attention and drew her into the action:

I continue my "vulnerable feint" as Abby attempts to whap back. In any good wrestling session, no matter how talented you are (like me), your opponent is probably going to get a few good whaps, chomps, or kicks in. This is part of the fun! It's also ok to run away, but only if you're just doing it so you can turn right around and turn your chaser into the chasee. If you run too far, you lose, the game ends, and that's not fun.

It's always important to have a good game face! If you think cats are not expressive creatures, well, just look at this close up. Showing teeth, flattening ears, aggressive whiskers, and glare are all important aspects of a good game face for your wrestling match.

If you are wrestling for fun or training, as Abby and I are in these pictures, it is not necessary to make any sounds unless your opponent becomes too rough. In a real fight, a lot of noise must be made in order to properly intimidate your opponent, but in wrestling for pleasure, it would be a bad idea to really scare your opponent.

I must admit, Abby did a lot better today! And why shouldn't she, after all, she has a great teacher.

PS. Oh no, please, please DO NOT look at House Panthers today.... I am soooo embarrassed!


15 comments:

The Island Cats said...

You better watch it, Stygia...Abby may be too good of a student and will whoop you one day!

Tama-Chan, Benny, Vidock, Violette, Ollie, Heloise, Momo, Ryu said...

The Master Speaks!!!

Us4 Cats said...

brilliant work!!!

you look like a beautiful black panther!

Cat with a Garden said...

You are a great teacher, Stygia. I'm afraid, Chilli has been secretly taking lessons with you...
Purrs, Siena

Cat Street Boyz said...

You may have a bit of Bengal in you Abby, Stygia better watch out!=^Y^=Ty

ANGEL ABBYGRACE said...

Stygia
YOU are the great teacher but the student will learn so be careful...

purrs
Abby

Anonymous said...

You had to whap her. Of course you did! What else is a Panther to do?

Mr. Black said...

Another great play-by-play!

Aw, Stygia, I went a checked out the House Panthers. You got nuttin' to be embarrassed about. So you were caught in the middle of a stalk.
Who hasn't been??

Tuck said...

That looks like fun!! I wish I had a brother or sister to fight with!

michico*Adan*Lego-小芥*阿丹*樂高 said...

That quite lots of action you have~!! Horay~!

Meowers from Missouri said...

wow! you has it down to a science. we'll show our mom this blog--she thinks me an' ed are just "brawlin'". it's about time she learned the work an' practice that goes into it. thanks--you did a public service for alla kitties whose beans don't realize what we go through;-)

nitro s pierce

meemsnyc said...

Oooooh what big teeths! We do the staredown here a lot.

Ramses said...

Wow, great fight moves!

Cat with a Garden said...

Hi gals!
You know that silky & slender thing is only a pretext to hang out together and have fun. And to distinguish myself from my floofy sisfur who has her gang of floofy SIFs. So, if you want to be my furriends I would be thrilled if you'd join my gang. Mom said we are not allowed to rob other cats but I'm sure we'll find other fun things to do...
Purrs, Chilli

Cliff and Olivia said...

You could make a manual for mancat on training. Nice job. Good pictures too.