Her sturdy reflexes jumped to life once again as Haytham aimed a strike to her right. She knew better than to bat it away and leave her stance open. Korra stepped into her parry, the clanging of metal on metal ringing out as she struck Haytham's sword (hopefully) off to the side.

Block, then counter, right? If that worked, Korra reversed the movement of her sword and tried for a horizontal strike of her own. Lightly, of course. You don't just start flinging fire at your sparring opponent when you're only learning.