[Asharr Gnar'rhou]

It was a crisp Dianara morning in the Arakmatan Frontier Lands. The hunters were already out and about, some were bringing in their kills to the skinners, so they could get back out there and get some more meat and leather for the tribe. Asharr had already eaten a meal and was wandering about the small huts chit chatting with his brothers and sisters about his Graw'lak ritual and the past brightening lessons from Shik'ka. Some of the luckier dorins that inquired more about the Zinn'ka got a demonstration of his newly learned punches and the proper way to do them. The other pack members loved Asharr and always found him to be a gentleman as he always offered to help the older dorins and would often take the young pups out for games and harmless mischief.

About 2 candlemarks after he had awoken, Shik'ka walked up to him as he was stretching in the cool air. "How are you feeling this brightening, Asharr?" The elder asked, knowing he would be sore from the blow he recieved previous.

"Serale, Shik'ka! Heh heh! My chest is sore, but the swelling from my lip went down. Shall we go back to our sparring ring?" The young dorin replied.

"Your enthusiasm impresses me, Young one. Let's go." His teacher said as they walked to the trampled makeshift battleground. Once there, Shik'ka held up his paws and spoke up. "Ok, let's warm up our bodies on this chilly day by doing some foot work and tossing a few punches. This time I'm going to call out four numbers. One being your left jab, two being your right punch, but this time three will be a left hook, and 4 will be a right hook. And how you do a hook is simple. You pivot with your forfoot and swing your upper torso to the side that your arm is going. So a left hook looks like this... Shik'ka pivoted on his left forfoot and swung his left paw over to the right. The air made a whoosh sound as the fist snapped at the end. "You see? Your right hook does the same thing, only you pivot on your back right foot." He demonstrated that as well. Then Shik'ka did a 1,2,3,4 combo for Asharr. The young dorin's tail began to sway backand forth with the excitment of how he was already advancing into this Zinn'ka. Without even being told to do so, Asharr copied his teacher and practiced a right and left hook. Once he learned how to move his upper body it didn't seem all to hard.

"Ok, lets go! One...Two...One... Two... One, two, three, four!... Shik'ka shouted as him and Asharr bounced around back and forth as smacks sounded off from Asharr's fists connecting to Shik'ka's paws that were made to represent targets. "Faster! Get those forarms up, your body can is a natural defence, your face is not! One,two!...One, two, three!... three, four!... When you hook, aim for my face, line it up as if your were going to knock my head to the side!" Shik'ka called out as Asharr adjusted his hooks and picked up the pace a bit. The black dorin raised his forarm up, just off to the side of his head so nothing could connect from that side as he drove forth his other fist.
"Good! Keep that up! Another thing you could try is to keep your arms in close to your body then extend them out while twisting your torso, anyone can spot a far swung arm coming their way, but one that springs forth from a tight compact position will always surprise your enemy! Two!... four... one,two,three,four!!... good! Now throw me an elbow! When I say one, step forth with your left leg but swing your left elbow up at me as well. Then when I say two side swipe your right elbow at the side of my head. Ready? One!...two...one...one...two.." Shik'ka demonstrated while keeping up his foot work. Asharr tried it out as well. He could tell that the elbows had alot of power that if aimed properly could end a battle fairly quick. As the numbers were called out, he slammed his left elbow upward into Shik'ka's paws that were guarding his chin, then as two was called Asharr raised his left forearm to guard the left side of his head as he brought his right elbow over to the side of Shik'kas head, but was blocked by his paws for the learner to hit. "Very good! Now when I call three you side swipe your left elbow, just as you did with your right, and remember to pivot on your feet just as you do when you hook. On four I want you to bring your right elbow down and to the left on an angle. Three!....four!....one,two,three,four!..." Shik'ka commanded as he blasted out numbers over and over again as Asharr responded with the correct elbow strike.

This excercise was definetly what the two dorins needed to warm up their bodies in the winter air, not that they needed much warm, because their fur provided more than enough protection. After a steady excercise of elbows and punches being mixed into the combos, the two took a breather for a moment as Shik'ka explained. "You are starting to get the basics down with your upper body. As you can already, no doubt, tell that your upper strength relies on your whole body, such as your legs and waist. The techniques you have learned are apart of the traditional Rhingorda, but as a dorin, Aslan has given us the gift of our teeth. Our strong jaws can crush any opponent, but if you combine that with the rhingorda you can anihilate anything that obstructs your path." The elder dorin demonstrated in slow motion how to use your elbows followed by a neck bite, for Asharr to observe.
"Elbows are used primarily for close combat, which will allow you to have your head close to your opponent. Let's say, for example that you drive a right elbow to the side and knock their head over to your left, that leaves their neck wide open for a bite attack. Careful with this though, young one, because it can prove very fatal. Only use it if you want to seriously render your enemy useless. There isn't really a safe way for use to practice using your teeth, its more for your own judgment, just remember though, that you can always tear a muscle in their arm if you strike it, which wouls delete their strength in a hurry. There is a large margin for you to play around with."

Asharr, nodded his head and felt the tip of one of his fangs to see if his would cause much damage. They absolutley would. It felt like a razor and could draw thicker blood than most steel weapons.