Fighting techniques

This page lists the Clans' various fighting techniques, as described in Secrets of the Clans.

Techniques

 * Back kick - Explosive surprise move to catch opponent from behind. Judge opponent's distance from you carefully, then lash out with your back legs, taking all weight on your front paws.
 * Belly Rake - A fight-stopper. Slice with unsheathed claws against the soft flesh of an opponent's belly. If you're pinned down, the belly rake quickly puts you back into control.
 * Front paw Blow - Frontal attack. Bring your front paw down hard on your opponent's head. Claws sheathed.
 * Front paw strike - Frontal attack. Slice downward with your front paw at the face or body of your opponent.
 * Killing bite - A death blow to the back of the neck. Quick and silent and sometimes considered dishonorable. Used only as a last resort.
 * Leap-and-hold - Ideal for a small cat facing a larger opponent. Spring onto opponents back and grip with unsheathed claws. Now you are beyond the range of the opponent's paws and in position to inflict severe body wounds. A group of apprentices can defeat a large and dangerous warrior in this way. Watch for the drop-and-roll counter move, and try to jump free before you get squashed.
 * Partner fighting - Warriors who have trained and fought together will often fall instinctively into a defensive position, each protecting the other's back while fending off an opponent on either side. Slashing, clawing, and leaping together, battle pairs can be a whirlwind of danger for attackers.
 * Play dead - Effective in a tight situation, such as when you are pinned. Stop struggling and go limp. When your opponent relaxes his grip, thinking you are defeated, push yourself up explosively. This will throw off an unwary opponent and put you in attacking position.
 * Scruff shake - Secure a strong teeth grip in the scruff of your opponents neck; then shake violently until he or she is too rattled to fight back. Most effective against rats, who are small enough to throw. A strong throw will stun or kill them.
 * Teeth grip - Target your opponent's extremities- the legs, tail, scruff or ears- and sink in your teeth and hold. This move is similar to the leap-and-hold except your claws remain free to fight.
 * Upright Lock - Final, crushing move on already weakened opponent. Rear up on back legs and bring weight down on opponent. If opponent does the same, wrestle and flip him under you. This makes you vulnerable to the belly rake, so it takes great strength and speed.

Examples
Partner Fighting:

Ravenpaw and Graypaw fighing in Into the Wild against Shadowclan.

Killing Bite:

 * Used by Clawface to kill Spottedleaf in Into the wild

Leap and Hold:

 * Used by Cloudpaw against Mudclaw when Sandstorm, Cloudpaw, and Fireheart are ambushed on WindClan territory.
 * Used by Bramblepaw, Stormpaw, Ashpaw, Featherpaw, and Tawnypaw against the BloodClan deputy Bone after he killed Whitestorm, the beloved ThunderClan deputy.

Play Dead:

 * Used many times by Firestar. As an apprentice he surprised Yellowfang by playing dead, then he exploded upward, throwing her back. This is considered his signature move; he even beat his most famous enemy, the only cat he's ever killed, with it, by going limp under Scourge then leaping up and taking him by surprise. Also used by a Warrior that Sandstorm defeated.