Hunting Techniques:

Hunter's Crouch - Keep your body low with your tail sticking straight ahead. Hind legs must be ready to leap and front paws must be ready to pounce. Is also a good fighting technique.

Fishing Catch - When fishing in a lake or river, keep your reflection away from the water. When the fish comes, quickly hook your paw into the water and scoop the fish onto the surface. Finish it off with a quick killing bite.

Squirrel Race - When the squirrel runs up a tree to escape, you quickly run up the trunk beside the squirrel until you're far enough ahead to block it from the top of the tree. You chase it down next and hopefully catch it. Very complicated technique.

Bird Leap - When the bird is aware that it is being hunted and begins to fly up, you leap as high as you can and bat the bird back down. Recommended for older apprentices to learn.

Mouse Stalker - Keep your paw steps light on the ground and try to slide them so the mouse won't feel your paw steps.

Rabbit Fishing - A technique when you are desperate for prey. Find a rabbit hole and make sure a rabbit's in there. Then, wait silently until rabbit's head pops out. Scoop it out like you are fishing, and hopefully catch it.

Battle Moves:

Back kick - Explosive surprise attack more to catch opponent from behind. Judge opponent's distance from you carefully, then lash out with your back legs, taking the weight on your front paws.

Back rake - A bit like Belly rake. If you're fighting a cat from the front, jump over the cat's head and score your claws down their back.

Belly rake - A fight stopper. Slice with unsheathed claws across soft flesh of opponent's belly. If you're pinned down, the belly rake quickly puts you back in control.

Double death bite - Seems dishonorable and is only used against very evil cats. A partner and you take on one cat. Once you've got a hold of your opponent, your partner helps hold down the enemy cat, and you both bite hard down on the enemy cat's throat. Two pairs of jaws will cut off airway and the cat will choke to death. Like I said, it's considered dishonorable and would only be used against evil cats.

Dizzy dance - Only can be performed by an extremely small and quick cat against a larger and at least somewhat slower cat. The cat charges head on, then swiftly leaps sideways, ducking under the cat. Then as soon as the cat performing this attack is out from under the other cat, it spins around and leaps over it. Then once more, it spins around but rams the enemy's side and jumps over/goes under the cat and rams the other side and lands one final blow by leaping onto the cat's back and grabbing the scruff with teeth and using their free paws to batter the cat's head. This attack should in the end result in a dizzy or confused enemy.

Dizzy tackle - A great move for swift young warriors facing older, larger warriors. You run in circles around them at top speed until they're too dizzy or tired (if they were chasing you) to keep up. Then you tackle them. While they are down, attack. Caution, standing directly over them makes you vulnerable to the Belly Rake. This is a One-on-one move and is not recommended in a place with many foes.

Front paw blow - Frontal Attack. Bring your front paws down hard on your opponent's head, claws unsheathed.

Front paw strike - Frontal attack. Slice downward with your front paw at the body or face of your opponent. Claws unsheathed.

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 large opponent. Spring onto the opponent's back and grip with unsheathed claws. Now you are beyond the range of your opponent's paws and in the position to inflict severe body wounds. A group of apprentices can defeat a large and dangerous warrior this way.

Leap-and-cover - Ideal for making your opponent feel great pain; leap onto your opponent's back and put your paws over their eyes. For the moment the opponent is blinded, sink your claws into the soft skin around their eyes. If your opponent doesn't run away, take advantage of their temporary blindness and perform the leap-and-hold move.

Making sure - You never know if a opponent is actually dead. When an opponent goes limp, they become vulnerable, so make sure they are really dead. Bite and slash. Claws unsheathed. When you think they have gone to StarClan, pray and leave.

Partner fighting - Warriors who have trained and fought together will often instinctively fall into a paired 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 their grip, thinking you are defeated, push yourself up explosively. This will throw off an unwary opponent and put you in the attacking position.

Scruff shake - Secure a strong grip on the scuff of your opponent's neck, then shake violently until he or she is too rattled to fight back. Mostly effective against rats, which are small enough to throw. A strong throw will stun or kill them.

Tail trip - The opponent moves at you and at the right moment, trip them with your tail.

Teeth grip - Target your opponent's weak-points; the legs, tail, scuff, 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.

Unbalancing act - If a cat is going to bring down all of its weight on you while rearing on its back legs, roll or lash towards your opponent's hind legs to unbalance them.

Upright lock - Final move for crushing already weakened opponents. Rear up on your back legs and bring your full weight onto your opponent. If opponent does the same, wrestle and flip them under you. This move makes you vulnerable to the belly rake, so it requires great strength and speed.

Battle Tactics:

Approach from behind your enemy - The advantage is gaining the higher ground, so that you can charge at greater speed at the enemy, who will be weakened by having to fight uphill.

Use the light from the sun - The sun should be behind you to distract or blind your enemy. Use the light from the sun to your advantage. In green leaf, the midday sun is especially bright and cruel to cats who are used to staying under the cover of the trees. In leaf bare, the low sun hovers around the eye line like a troublesome bee. Keep your enemy facing it, and they'll have trouble seeing an attacker from any direction.

Know where the wind is coming from - If there is a strong wind, it should be blowing from behind you toward the enemy, blinding them with dust and holding them back like the current of a river. If you wish to preserve the element of surprise, the wind should blow from the enemy position toward you so your scent is carried away from them.

Conceal the size of your force - The number of cats in your battle patrols can be hidden to confuse the enemy from a distance. Cats packed tightly together will appear as a small attacking force, encouraging the enemy to be over confident and make poor strategic decisions. Alternatively, if cats are spread out in single file, they will look like a solid border of warriors, which will seem impenetrable to an advancing enemy.

Attack from both ends of the Enemy first - If both ends of the enemy line are defeated, the cats in the center of the line will have to fight the two fronts. Even if you are outnumbered, the enemy will be out flanked, vulnerable, and in disarray.

Keep fresh warriors in reserve - Always have adequate reserves of fresh, fit warriors behind the battle line. They will be able to replace injured warriors, launch a separate attack if the enemy tries to encircle your forces, or fend off a surprise enemy attack from the rear. If the battle is in your favor, finish it by sending your reserve warriors behind the enemy line to surround them and demand surrender.

Feigned retreat and ambush - A group of strong cats charges at the enemy, screeching, then turns and withdraws. Repeat this until the infuriated enemy finally breaks it's line and gives chase. Then the trap is sprung. Other warriors positioned in rabbit holes and other dips in the ground-out of enemy's sight-attack as soon as your opponents have gone past. The enemy will be forced to stop and turn around to fight the unexpected threat, and as they do the retreating cats must turn and charge back at them with full speed. The enemy is caught between two bodies of attacking cats and will quickly surrender.

Water Combat:

Double-Front-Paw - Splashes water into the face of the enemy.

Underwater Leg Sweep - The opponent will not see it coming under the water, and thus won’t have the chance to brace himself before losing his balance. Dive under the water and use your forepaws to swipe at the enemy cat's legs. Effective against cats who can't swim well.

Push-Down and Release - Almost all dry-paw cats panic if they are submerged, while cats know how to hold their breath underwater will not. This move can be used to secure a decisive victory, because it’s most likely to make the opponent surrender.

Underwater Clinch - Uses a warrior’s weight to hold the opponent below the surface, with a firm grip that enables the warrior to bring their enemy spluttering back to the surface before forcing him under again.

Tail Splash - Temporarily blinds opponent by flicking water in their eyes.

Underwater Push-Off - Crouch and erupt out of the water into the opponent, using surprise and impact to knock them off balance.

Rushpaw Splash - Using noise of water splashed at a distance to create a decoy, leaving opportunity for a surprise attack.

Above-Ground Combat:

The Sky-Crusher - Landing with all four feet on top of an opponent, flattening them like a leaf.

The Flick-Over - Landing with front paws outstretched to sweep the opponent off their feet and roll them onto their back.

The Kick - Kicking down hard as the warrior nears the ground, then using momentum from landing to spring away before the opponent can retaliate.

The Slice - Drop down with claws unsheathed for maximum injury.

The Branch Swing - Holding on to the branch with front claws and swinging hind legs into the opponent’s face.

The Reverse Branch Swing - Holding on to the branch with back claws and striking with front legs through the swing.

The Trunk Swing - Sliding down the trunk and springing off at head height, using hind legs to push off and clear opponents. (Good if tree is surrounded.)

The Reverse Climb - Climbing backwards up the trunk as the opponent advances to gain advantage of height; often followed by Trunk Swing.

Surprised?

Move quietly and communicate using tail-signals. Cracking twigs, startling birds, and rustling bracken will tell the enemy exactly where you are.

Keep downwind of the trespassers so that your scent doesn’t give you away.

Look for freshly broken twigs, overturned leaves on the forest floor, remains of prey, or a clump of fur caught on a bramble. Any animal that moves through the forest leaves behind signs that it has passed-and signs like these could lead you straight to the invaders.

Keep your mouth open to search for unfamiliar scents. Be careful: If there is scent when there is no breeze to carry it through the forest, it could mean that your enemy is very close by.

Light-colored pelts are easily seen against brown and green foliage, so stay in the thickest cover. Keep low-the enemy will be looking for movement at normal eye-level, not close to the ground.

Never miss an opportunity to perfect your tracking ability. In the nursery, kits sneak up on their mothers and pounce with their moss-soft paws. Apprentices leap out on one another from behind bushes and tree stumps. These are more than just games. One day, these skills could save your life and defend your Clan.

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