/
9. Who Won the Grand Prix? <3>
-I, gasp……! went into the octagon ready to win, sob……! Keeping my grappling weakness in mind, hick……! I tried to focus on my hitting, which is my specialty, whimper……!
“Gahahaha!”
At the Team Fighting Spirit gym.
The coaches and athletes watching Changgong’s post-win interview on the laptop in the office all burst out laughing.
“I went into the octagon ready to win, sob sob sob.”
“Keeping my grappling weakness in mind, sob sob sob.”
“What is this? Are you trying to suck your snot back in?”
Changgong lied on the sofa with a face as serene as the Buddha.
These people were having too much fun teasing their rookie instead of training like they were supposed to. Changgong thought they had been too quiet lately, but they discovered his interview video. Shit.
But it wasn’t too bad. They were acting like that because they cared.
“You’re really trying to embarrass the gym, aren’t you?”
“Don’t go telling anyone that you’re part of Team Fighting Spirit.”
……Maybe they didn’t care.
The older athletes teased Changgong a little more before patting him on the back and arm as they left the office.
The finally free Changgong lied back down on the sofa. He thought he deserved to rest now after training hard for 4 months and even winning.
Then, Doyoon came in.
“You did well.”
“You too.”
“Here, a present for winning.”
Doyoon said that as he handed Changgong a rag and a cleansing spray.
“What is this?”
“Now that the seasons over, you clean.”
“Even though I’m the Interleague Grand Prix champion?”
“Who cares if you’re the champion. Just come with me. My back almost gave cleaning everything by myself.”
Doyoon spoke as he left.
……Changgong had forgotten.
He was a bottom rung employee here.
***
“Changgong! Bring a 12 and a 15 wall ball!”
“Yes!”
“Changgong! We need a multibox 18, 24 here!”
“Yessir!”
Changgong busily went around the gym getting equipment for his higher ups.
Changgong was back to being an assistant coach.
Nothing changed even if he won the grand prix. He simply cleaned, did laundry, and went on errands.
Of course, he didn’t stop training, though. It just wasn’t as harsh as when he was preparing for his matches.
So he wouldn’t get rusty, Changgong trained in different areas from muay thai to jiu jitsu and wrestling, but the workouts were spread out throughout the week, giving him a lot of time to rest in between.
There was no need to hurry anymore. Changgong could take it slow for three months, until he got an offer from the Golden Glove Pro League at the end of October.
Four peaceful days passed like that.
***
Smack, smack! Smack!
“Sigh……!”
Changgong was punching a sandbag, when h suddenly grabbed onto his own shoulders.
“What’s wrong?”
Dongsub asked as he approached Changgong.
“It’s nothing. My arms and shoulders just hurt a little.”
“Hurt? How?”
“It’s okay normally, but when I punch or put strength into them, there’s a sharp pain.”
“Sharp pain?”
“Yes, kind of like getting shocked. They’re sore, too. I’ve never gotten a sprain or anything before.”
Dongsub’s expression stiffened.
“Take off your gloves.”
Changgong took off his gloves and unwrapped his bandages. He wasn’t sure if it was just in his head, but his hands looked a little swollen.
Dongsub massaged Changgong’s hands.
“Does it hurt?”
“Not really, but I’m not exactly comfortable with a man massaging my hands.”
“……”
“……I’m kidding. It’s a little sore.”
“Since when?”
“Um…… I think it’s been about a month.”
A month ago was even before the semi-finals.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I just thought it was a knot or something. It would hurt on and off, but it’s been acting up again.”
“Anywhere else hurt?”
“My shoulders and my back feel a little strained.”
Dongsub spoke with a serious face as he scratched his chin.
“Let’s go get it checked out at the hospital.”
***
“You have a strain and partial ruptures in your muscles. Luckily, it doesn’t seem to serious.”
The doctor spoke as he looked at Changgong’s x-ray chart.
“I see……”
Dongsub nodded.
He had expected this much.
Changgong was a natural hard puncher. In the martial arts world, it wasn’t too rare for someone to be so strong that they destroyed their own body. Changgong was exactly that case.
“You’re really fit. Do you do a sport?”
The doctor asked.
“Yes, I do some martial arts……”
Changgong answered.
“It would be best if you don’t use your right arm for a while. And of course, try to avoid strenuous exercise.”
“For how long?”
“It could be ten days, or it could be three months. It depends.”
“……But I can’t not exercise.”
“It’s usually called getting a knot, right? That’s also a tear. Those usually heal quickly so it’s not usually a problem, but strains or ruptures are different. If it’s not taken care of, they can turn into a serious problem.”
“I see……”
The doctor continued speaking his opinion. Fortunately, he concluded that it would get better if Changgong ate well and rested.
But there was still a problem. Changgong had strength, and this kind of thing would probably happen again in the future.
“Is there any way to prevent against strains and ruptures?”
Dongsub asked.
“There should be ways to make your muscles stronger. Increasing the volume would help with prevention.”
“If I increase muscle volume, strength would increase, too. Wouldn’t that put more strain on the muscles?”
“Hmm…… Did you lose weight recently, by any chance?”
“Yes, about six kilograms.”
Changgong recently gained back 2 kilograms, resulting in a total of 6 kilograms lost compared to his usual weight.
“You should know since you do sports, but when you lose weight, the muscles are the first things to go. It could be possible that this happened because you tried to generate the same amount of power as before with less muscles.”
“Then……”
“I don’t want to recommend it, but if you have no choice but to continue exercising, it would be best to increase your weight with muscle. From what you’ve said, it seems as if your muscles couldn’t handle your strength.”
“I understand.”
“For now, we’ll see how you do after a few days of physical therapy. Don’t use your right arm in strenuous exercise.”
“Okay, thank you.”
***
Changgong came out of the hospital grinning after getting physical therapy.
“What’s making you grin like that?”
Dongsub shot at Changgong.
“They told me to rest for a while.”
“So? You’re happy?”
“Honestly, the training was pretty crazy recently. When would I ever get to rest if not at times like this? Hehe.”
“……”
“Come on, Dongsub. I’m not resting for no reason. They said it was a ruptured tendon. Rup-tured-ten-don.”
Changgong said that with a sleazy grin as he poked Dongsub in the ribs with his elbow.
Dongsub was astonished.
Changgong was saying he was going to laze around directly to his trainer’s face. Why was this kid so laid-back?
“Let’s eat before we go back. I tried it before, but the ox bone haejangguk place near the gym was really good.”
“Sounds good. Oh, and keep your weekend free.”
“My weekend? Why?”
“You have to visit the master since you won. I also have some things to tell him because of this injury, too.”
“Okay, but you’re buying right?”
“……”
***
It was a nice weekend, but Changgong had to visit the Team Fighting Spirit gym in Gangnam with Dongsub.
“Gangnam’s not much, eh.”
That was Changgong’s first impression of the gym in Gangnam.
The Team Fighting Spirit gym in Gangnam was in the basement. Other than that, it was a great gym, but the Songdo gym was so decked out, something felt missing at the Gangnam gym.
“Our gym is bigger. Plus, this is the basement.”
“Do you know how much real estate costs in Gangnam?”
“Whatever.”
The two bickered as they entered the gym. The people were immersed in their exercise, including Hwanseong Jung.
“Hwanseong!”
Changgong waved wildly after discovering Hwanseong. Hwanseong flinched, but acted like he hadn’t heard and continued his hit training.
“He’s embarrassed. Hehe.”
“When did you get so close to Hwanseong?”
“You get close if you fight each other for a round.”
“……You’re pretty amazing.”
“Why?”
“Nevermind. Wait here for a bit. I’ll just go greet him.”
“Don’t I have to greet him to?”
“We’re not here with good news. Officially greet him if there’s some kind of group training.”
Dongsub went to the other side and greeted the coaches and athletes. Dongsub was the oldest at Songdo, but it seemed there were quite a few older men here.
Changgong stood awkwardly. He wanted to go over to Hwanseong and joke around a bit, but it was hard to approach someone with his back turned to him, crazily punching a sandbag. That shy bastard.
“Changgong Lee! Right?”
A female voice suddenly rang out from the side. When he turned around, there were three fit beauties walking over to him.
“See! I was right! He looks exactly the same!”
Changgong looked at the three women in confusion.
How did these Gangnam cuties(?) know him?
“We saw your match! The Interleague Grand Prix.”
“You fought so well! Are you really 18?”
“Oh……! Yes, yes.”
Changgong remembered that his previous match was broadcast on the internet. It might have been a different location, but they must have watched his match because they were part of the same team.
“That flying knee kick was awesome! Who was your opponent? He had never lost by TKO before, right?”
“Yes…… They did say that.”
“That’s amazing! You knocked out that kind of fighter in only 6 seconds.”
“Not really. Hehehe……”
“I thought your shoulder broke in the finals. I was really shocked.”
“Haha, I’m pretty flexible.”
“What happened? Can you bend it back now, too?”
“Of course. Want me to show you?”
Changgong clenched his hands together and bent his arms behind his shoulders.
The female members clapped their hands in glee.
“Can you bring it back forward?”
“Yeah, want to see something even cooler?”
Changgong said that as he brought his arms back forward before stepping over them like a jump rope. The female members laughed happily.
“……”
Dongsub was stunned.
He had hurried his greetings because he was worried that Changgong would be awkward all by himself, but he already had girls laughing all over him.
“What’re you doing?”
“Oh, are you done greeting everybody?”
“Let’s go. We have to greet the master. I’m sorry, but I’ll be stealing this guy for a bit.”
“Okay……”
Ignoring the disappointed women, Dongsub took Changgong to the office. Changgong waved to the women with a stupid grin on his face.
10. Bulk Up! <1>
“You’ve come. Sit.”
Kiryong, who had been sitting in the office, spoke.
Dongsub and Changgong sat across from Kiryong.
“There’s tea in the cupboard. Have a cup.”
“We’re okay.”
Changgong flinched as he was getting up to go to the cupboard. ‘I want to have some tea, tsk.’
“It’s a bit late, but congratulations kiddo.”
Kiryong spoke.
“Hehe, thank you.”
Changgong bowed his head.
That was all the attention Kiryong gave to Changgong. Kiryong immediately turned towards Dongsub.
“So, you have something to discuss about the kiddo’s body condition?”
“Yes. We went to the hospital, and they said he has muscle strain and ruptured tendons.”
“Tell me in detail.”
“He was hitting the sandbags when he said his arms stung a little. We got it checked out at the hospital and it seems as if he has partial ruptures in his shoulders, back, and forearm.
“Partial ruptures are pretty common.”
“But Changgong’s case is a bit different. His muscles couldn’t handle his strength, so I believe this will happen again in the future.”
Just as Kiryong said, muscle strains and partial ruptures were a part of life for MMA fighters. But it was different if the cause was from the muscles unable to handle one’s own strength instead of from hitting or overexertion.
“……So?”
“Hearing what the doctor said, it would be best to increase his muscle mass so they can handle his strength.”
Kiryong was silent for a moment before speaking.
“If his muscles increase, his weight does, too. He would have to lose weight before the matches, though. What are you going to do then?”
“Yes, that’s why I wanted to ask you. What if we just raise his weight class?”