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2. To the Fighting Gym <3>
“I’m an assistant

 coach.”
“Where’s the rest?”
“They all left already. Who are you?”
The middle aged man didn’t answer, and instead looked Changgong up and down.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty.”
“How old are you?”
“I said twenty.”
“

”
“

eighteen.”
“And your height’s what, 183? 4?”
“85.”
“

”
“

83.”
“And you weigh 85,6?”
“85.”
Surprising. How does he know all this?
“You were swinging a light double (two right punches) before. Can you do it again?”
“Light double? Oh, the brushing punch?”
“Brushing punch?”
“I just call it that for ease. You’re talking about this, right?”
Smack, smack!
Changgong moved his shoulders as if he was brushing it off and quickly swung to right hooks. Taking out the power from the shoulder and using the snap to hit the point, it was an advanced boxing technique.
The middle aged man suddenly put his hands on Changgong’s shoulders.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“Just be still.”
The middle aged man just let out that unsettling statement and started groping at Changgong’s body. Neck, shoulder, biceps, triceps, and moving lower to the forearms and his back.
“It seems you’ve boxed for a while. Your back muscles are in great shape.”
“I only did it for about 6 months in middle school

”
The middle aged man got on one knee and started patting Changgong’s stomach, waist, and thighs before grasping his butt.
Changgong jumped and flung the hands away. What is this old man? Is he gay?
“What’re you doing?”
“Your core (the center muscles like the thighs, butt, waist, etc. Affects the power and balance in MMA) is good, too. What have you done besides boxing? Judo? Wrestling?”
“I did ssireum for 2 years when I was in elementary school

 But that’s not important. Why are you groping someone else’s body, anyways? What are you old man? Who are you?”
“Ssireum you say

 I see.”
The middle aged man nodded.
A strong punch comes from a strong lower body.
A guy at 85 kg hitting a bag for heavyweights like nothing, of course he had a strong core and lower body.
“I asked you who you were.”
“Kiryong Jeong.”
“What is that?”
“My name.”
“You’re pretty funny. Did I ask what your name was?”
“

”
“Whatever. Whether you’re Kiryong Jeong or Kiryong Bijeong, get out. I have to clean.”
Changgong pushed the man out of the gym.
“Who the hell is he?”
Looking at the clock, it was already almost 10:30.
“Woah, I’m going to miss the bus.”
Changgong hurriedly got back to cleaning.
***
The next day, Changgong brought up the middle aged man to Dongsub.
“So you met the master.”
“M-master?”
“There’s more than one Fighting Spirit Gym. There’s two in Seoul and even one in Bucheon. I guess he finally came around here. What’s wrong with your face?”
“

”
He was done for.
Not knowing that he was the master, Changgong had spoken rudely.
“What am I going to do?”
“Why?”
“I didn’t know he was the master and treated him like any old solicitor.”
“Like a solicitor?”
“I pushed him out.”
“What? Ahaha!”
Dongsub laughed.
“Wow, look at this tough guy here. You did that to someone even the coaches are careful around?”
“I didn’t know who he was

 And, if he’s the master he should have told me he was. I asked him who he was and he just said Kiryong Jeong. How was I supposed to know?”
Dongsub laughed not caring that Changgong was losing his mind.
“Will I be fired?”
“Dude, if people got fired for stuff like that, do you think anyone would last in a gym?”
At that moment, two athletes in sparring gear came out of the waiting room.
“Are they going to spar?”
“Jungtae got a fight. Now that I think about it, this is your first time seeing a spar in the octagon, huh?”
“Yes.”
“Watch carefully, it’ll be pretty interesting.”
Jungtae Kim, the one who had a fight soon, was an athlete going 75 kg at 175 cm. He heard that he was a lightweight fighter and would have to lose 5 kg and get to 70.3 kg.
“Fight!”
With the signal from the coach, the two fighters took each other on. Changgong gazed intently at the spar.
The first minute was filled with jabs keeping each other in check. Occasionally, they kicked at the other’s thigh, which seemed to be called a low kick in the MMA.
Changgong was losing interest when the specialties of the two fighters began to show.
Smack, smack! Smack!
It seemed as if they were hitting each other equally, but if you knew what you were looking for, it was easy to see the situation.
Jungtae was losing.
At a glance, it seemed like he was getting in quite a few hits, but there was no weight behind the punches. Punches where the power didn’t get through to the hit point used up a lot of energy. On top of that, it didn’t tire the opponent out much, while knocking them out was out of the question.
Furthermore.
‘He’s too open.’
He was open after a punch or kick.
His punch swing was too big while he habitually let his guard down when he kicked.
Of course, it was only natural to become open during attacks.
But Jungtae was too open. Changgong didn’t know who his opponent would be two months from now, but if it was someone who knew how to hit, he was done for.
Smack, smack. Smack.
Look. He’s already giving his face up to the opponent.
“Jungtae! Bring your guard up!”
Dongsub shouted. But just as he had spoken, Jungtae lowered his guard as he swung a low kick.
Smack, smack, smack! Smack!
The opponent’s punches connected to Jungtae’s face like a magnet. Was he trying to break his opponent’s hand with his face? It might be harsh, but Jungtae’s hits just weren’t good.
At that moment, the situation flipped.
Bam!
“Yes!”
Just as the opponent had swung his punch, Jungtae ducked down and tackled him to the cage. Then, he hooked the opponent’s leg as he tried to get out from the hold, unbalancing his opponent and bringing him to the ground.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
But then the bell rang.
Without much happening, the first 3 minute round ended. You could say he had just been beat up the whole time. At the final second he had gotten a good take down in, but there just wasn’t enough time.
“How is it? It’s pretty intense, right?”
Dongsub spoke to Changgong.
“Yeah, that’s true, but I think it’s a bit unsatisfying.”
“Really? What part?”
“The standing, is it? Jungtae becomes too open after he throws a punch or kick. I think he’ll have a hard time if he meets a good hitter.”
“

”
For a second, Dongsub’s eyes sparked. Did he say something wrong?
“Let’s watch the second round and then talk.”
The bell rung and round 2 began.
The beginning was about the same as the first round. The opponent hit, while Jungtae got hit.
In such a boring one-way situation, Jungtae got in a good move.
Smack!
The moment his opponent lowered his upper body in exhaustion, Jungtae boldly hugged him as he punched over the guard. Clinch, a technique used in boxing, too.
Jungtae continued by herding his opponent to a corner and flipped him over. His takedown skills were of top quality.
Jungtae got on top his opponent and began pounding. Then, he jumped up as if he was going to do a handstand and pressed onto his opponent’s torso from the left side.
It was called the side mount position.
“Just like that!”
Dongsub shouted.
“Is that difficult?”
“It’s annoying for the person being pushed down. When you’re lying down, it’s hard to punch and because there’s no pivot, there’s no power in it. Plus, if the opponent is a grappler, it’s hard to resist his techniques. That’s way they try hard not to get into that position. We can only say that Jungtae’s technique is good.”
Jungtae on the ground was a different person. Unlike his standing where he gave his face up to his opponent, there couldn’t have been someone more nimble.
He was hammering his opponent. If his opponent tried to get out, he quickly changed positions and pressed down, stopping him from getting up.
They weren’t strong punches, but getting punched hurts. The one getting hit would tire out and get annoyed.
On the ground, the fight went in Jungtae’s favor. He latched on like a leech and got in weak punches. His opponent didn’t have a way out.
Jungtae pretended to knee his opponent in the side before sitting on top of his stomach.
“That’s great! Full mount!”
Dongsub shouted in time with the moves.
Jungtae’s merciless hammering and pounding storm began. Calling it a storm was a bit much, but the opponent couldn’t handle it and turned his body on the floor.
That was the wrong move.
Jungtae got onto his opponent’s back, wrapping his right leg around his waist while hooking his left knee behind his right ankle.
The body triangle, a technique that hooked onto the back like a spider.
Jungtae wrapped himself perfectly around his opponent’s back and punched him without a worry. Then, he shot his left arm between the opponent’s guard and wrapped it around his neck.
“Great! It’s in!”
Dongsub continued to shout.
Jungtae turned their bodies around and pressed his opponent’s head down with his right arm, choking him.
The opponent hastily tapped his hands on Jungtae. Tap out. The agreed upon signal for surrender when caught in a submission.
It was Jungtae’s win by submission.
“How was it?”
Dongsub asked.
“Honestly, I don’t know much about techniques on the ground so I can only say he’s good

”
“But it’s still unsatisfying?”
“

.”
“Just say it. How was it?”
Changgong scratched his head as he spoke.
“Punches, you know, aren’t just from the arm, right?”
“And?”
“When Jungtae was in the full mount and was punching down on his opponent, his body was folded forwards. If he had used his waist and lower body as a spring, he would have a much greater power. I think the opponent turned not because it hurt, but because he didn’t want to give points up. Well, if Jungtae was faking so he could get his other technique in, I have nothing to say.”
“

”
Dongsub’s eyes shone once again as he looked at Changgong.
Changgong slowly looked away.
Why’s he being so overbearing since before? Had he made another mistake?
“Jungtae! Come over here for a bit!”
Dongsub called Jungtae over. Jungtae took off his gloves as he approached.
“Good job. So, you satisfied with the fight?”
“Well

It wasn’t good or bad.”
“Our newbie here doesn’t think so.”
“What do you mean?”
“Changgong, tell him exactly what you told me.”
Jungtae looked at Changgong.
Changgong didn’t know what to do.
Even bullying has its limits. How could he call over the actual person and tell him to talk bad to his face? Changgong hadn’t thought this before, but Dongsub was pretty evil.
“It’s okay so just talk. What did you say?”
Jungtae asked Changgong.
‘Ah

shit.’
This is why his father always told him to always be careful of what he says wherever he is. Changgong regretted his actions but began speaking.
“Uh

I just said that you’re pretty open during your standing

”
“Open?”
“So for example.”
Changgong took the right-hander’s stance, the orthodox stance.
“The jab should thrown lightly just to keep your opponent in check, but it looks as if you put too much power into it. You put your weight forward as if you’re trying to down your opponent with a jab. So it’s only natural for you to be wide open.”
“And?”
“Your punches are too focused on the face. It’s easy to predict. Plus, your opponent was pretty quick so it would have been good to get in some body shots to tie his feet down.”
“

Really?”
“If your opponent is well trained, he would exhale as he punches and inhale when he retracts his hand. It’s more effective if you punch your opponent when he’s inhaling. I think you may have to reconsider your hitting strategies.”
“

And then?”
“You put in too much strength into your kicks so your guard goes down. Against an opponent who mainly uses punches

”
Changgong abruptly stopped giving his thorough advice.
Jungtae’s face got darker and darker as he listened to Changgong.