As soon as they arrived at Beauty & the Beast, Hanna took Hide to the limited martial art gyms in the backyard. The gym was not big, and there were only five boxers and three MMA fighters who training on it, but it well equipped and each fighter had a good amount of space for themselves.
After taking their shoes and socks off, Hanna took Hide to an old man who sat in a bench in a corner. The old man wore a simple t-shirt and short. He also had casual demeanor and short body, but Hide could tell that the old man was a skillful fighter from his ramrod back, broad shoulder, and the way he place his center of gravity.
As soon as she arrived in front of the old man, Hanna immediately said, “Hide this is Coach Kotaro. For the last twenty years, he has produce six national level boxer champion and three Pacific Rim MMA Champions. Please listen and follow his guidance.”
“Coach Kotaro, nice to meet you,” Hide bowed his head before continuing, “This beginner will listen and follow your wisdom.”
Coach Kotaro observed Hide from head to toe, pondering for a while, and then asked, “I have read your data, but before we start I need to know, have you ever taken martial art lesson before?”
“I took jujitsu private course from first grade to third grade, but never had any sparring or training after that,” A lie smoothly slipped through Hide’s teeth, and then he added it with a honest explanation, “Even so, I think I will still be able to throw someone if I caught him off guard. As for the last few weeks, I did a light shadow kick-boxing every morning.”
“I see,” Coach Kotaro casually said. “Show me your best kick then.”
Hide nodded and followed Coach Kotaro into nearby water bag. He calmly took a stance, and then executed a waist high round house kick using his right leg.
BAAAMM!!
A loud impact was echoed as soon as Hide’s right foot landed on the water bag. It even attracted attention from nearby staffs and fighters, while Hanna widened her eyes.
It was definitely not a sound of a kick from a beginner. Moreover, Hide had pivoted his supported feet, rotated his waist, and snapped his foot in one smooth and swift movement without losing his balance.
Coach Kotaro was also slightly surprised by the power behind Hide’s kick. It perfectly delivered Hide’s weight to the impact. However, he immediately realized that Hide was truly a beginner after seeing the back of Hide’s right foot that made contact with the water bag became as red as tomato. It was easy to tell that Hide never kicked a water bag before.
“That’s definitely a good kick, and now I know how I should shape you.” Coach Kotaro turned his head towards Hanna and continued, “I will train him.”
“Thank you, Coach.”
After giving Hide another wondering glance, Hanna then leaved. She had to teach a morning diet class, so she had to hurry.
“Did Hanna tell you your basic menu?”
“She did,” Hide replied after slightly nodded his head. “High speed jumping rope, sit up, quick feet, speed bag, water bag, shadow box. Three round of three minutes each, along with long range swimming to replace jogging, and three set of 100 meter sprints.”
“You have to do the long range swimming on your own. I will not record the result, but I will definitely know that you carry it or neglect it from the development of your endurance level.”
“Understood.”
“Good.” Coach Kotaro then took a two rolls of 160 inches hand wraps from a rack as he said, “I will teach you how to wear hand wraps. After that, we can start the training.”
Even though Hide knew how to wear hand wraps on his own, he decided to play along. He also fully listened to Coach Kotaro explanation while observing how he tightly wrapped his wrist and fingers. A moment later, the training began.
---
Even though this was the first day of his training, Hide carried it as best as he could without hiding his knowledge about fundamental principal behind each menu. In short, he did each basic menu in the best way to shape a boxer.
And so, question marks filled Coach Kotaro to the brim. Throughout his career as martial art trainer, this was the first time he found a beginner that was so easy to train with. He didn’t need to shout ‘Faster! Faster! Faster!’ when Hide did jumping rope or quick feet.
He also only had to show Hide how to do a punch or kick once or twice, before Hide could do it correctly. Most of all, he didn’t need to remind Hide that he wrongly shifted his center of gravity and destroy his stance when doing shadow kickboxing, speed bag, or water bag.
Not to mention, for a beginner Hide had smooth and swift footsteps. His punch and kick was also compact and precise, but powerful. And unlike a beginner, Hide never put his guard down or made an overly wide weaving. He also didn’t do a lot of kicks. But when he did it, it was always powerful kick in an unexpected timing.
‘This is definitely not a rhythm from a beginner, but a seasoned kick boxer.’
Coach Kotaro was 200% sure his conclusion hit the mark, if only he didn’t found that Hide lacked the stamina and endurance of a seasoned kick boxer. But at the same time, he could tell that Hide’s understanding was a result from experience and training, and not because he was a genius fighter who just follow his instinct.
‘Fuck… How did this kid get his understanding if he never did the training or fighting?’
Never did Coach Kotaro imagine that after two decades became a martial arts instructor, he would still encounter a situation that he couldn’t comprehend. In the end, Coach Kotaro didn’t thinking about it any deeper and decided he would just totally put his mind in shaping Hide’s skill.
As he pressed the stop button on the stopwatch Coach Kotaro said, “Hide, that’s enough.”
“Yes, Coach.” Hide immediately stopped the last round of his water bag and took a mouthful of water from his water canteen.
“Hide, do you know the best training menu for a boxer?”
“No.”
Coach Kotaro had a hunch that Hide was lying, but he didn’t point it out and just continued explaining, “Sparring and mitt hitting will make a boxer into a better fighter, but the thing that makes a boxer stronger and faster is the basic menu, along with water bag and shadow boxing.”
“Understood, Coach.”
“So, don’t neglect each menu you have to do. After you do the minimal amount for each menu, you can chose whatever menu you like the most and practice it as much as you can. However, after 18:00 don’t do anything that burden your body. You had to give your body time to rest and recover, and at least six hours of good sleep before you start the next training.”
“Yes, Coach.”
“I can only accompany you three times a week, pick the day.”
“Monday, Wednesday, Thursday,” Hide calmly replied, even though inwardly he was very surprised.
Hanna had told him that Coach Kotaro had a national level boxer champions and a Pacific Rim MMA champion under his guidance currently. So, Hide thought he would accompany him only once a week, just to check his progress and gave him some advice. Not to mention he didn’t take competition route, but self-defense street fight. Therefore, Hide never thought Coach Kotaro would spare a lot of time and attention to train him.
“When I’m not accompanying you, you can train by yourself at home and focusing on your basic, or you can come here and ask one of my staffs to accompany you doing mitt hitting to polish your strike.”
“Yes, Coach.”
“As for sparring, I will only arrange it after you have adequate foundation. At that time, you will also start the training for grappling and ground game.”
Hide deeply bowed his head as he said in tone full of respect and gratitude, “Thank you, Coach.”
“You should thank Hanna, not me.” Coach Kotaro casually replied. “She threaten me she will leave Beauty & the Beast if I don’t train you wholeheartedly.”
“I will thank her,” Hide sincerely said.
“Good, we will meet again on Wednesday then.”
“Yes, Coach.”
Hide gave Coach Kotaro another bow before taking a bath and changing into his uniform. For his dirty clothes, he only had to put it in laundry basket with his name and the laundry staff will take care of the rest. Then, he immediately went for school.
After twelve minutes of casual walk, Hide arrived at East Nichiko High. He immediately went to his class and ate the breakfast Hanna made for him. The simple breakfast was tasted two times more delicious because Hide was starving. It also brightened his mood, even though his body was still in peak of exhaustion.
*****
