by P. S. Power
“I was thinking we’d do that tomorrow morning? We can only do it twice, with a rest day between them. I don’t want her to fight too tired right now. Especially against you.”
He nodded.
“All right. In that case… A tour? We can review video, if Sally doesn’t need to train.”
They led him on the walk to the house, which was empty inside, though seemed nice. There was a living room, with a big screen television, which had been left on to a sports channel. It wasn’t about fighting at the moment. In fact, it looked like they were discussing Australian rules football. He could tell because the screen said so.
Dan lead him up to a room and waved at it. It was bigger than what he had at home, though near the back of the first floor. The place was really big. Sally, looking into the room from the door whistled.
“You get one of the special rooms. Mines a closet. So we’re meeting in here tonight?” She twitched a bit then, but was trying to seem sexy and playful at the same time.
Dan rolled his eyes.
“We don’t let anyone have sex here. It causes too many problems. The last thing we need are people wasting time fighting over who slept with who’s girlfriend. We’re here to work, not…”
Anthony understood and started to nod.
“That makes sense. So, what’s the plan?”
Dan looked over at Sally, then shrugged.
“Lock yourself in here for a bit? Catch a shower and possibly a nap? Watch television if you want, but that won’t protect you from Sally. Eat if you need. The fridge is full and most of it isn’t that unhealthy. Stick to your diet plan? Do you need help with that?”
He didn’t get that and probably gave the other man an odd look.
The big fellow just shrugged.
“We can lock up certain foods, if you think you can’t help but cheat. No one here needs that, but we have a padlock on the fridge that we can use, if you need it.”
“Oh… Nope? I should be good. Really, right now, I have to eat a bit more, since I need to go up a weight class. Mainly lean protein, if possible for that part.” It was probably pretty standard.
Sally smiled then.
“That would be fun. Eating more, instead of less. Anyway, I’m catching a shower. See you later, Tony.”
She walked off and Dan’s face went serious. He almost glowered for a moment, but at his fighters back as she walked away.
“That girl is the most undisciplined… Gah! She’s actually a decent fighter and has promise, but wants to take the path of least resistance. I’m hoping that working with you will shock her into taking things seriously.”
Anthony nodded and didn’t speak, but couldn’t help but think that the girl in question was about thirty and more than old enough to know better. Still, he got the idea that Dan was going for. The idea wasn’t to shake her confidence totally, just to get her to take the coming fight seriously.
That was going to be hard, no doubt.
“I have some plans. It’s pretty straight forward. I was thinking of starting out by coming at her the way that Valdis probably will. That… I think it might shock her. She’s not that great on her feet. Diego isn’t an inspired boxer, but he knows how to do it. He also has a lot of experience. That helps, I think. Not perfectly, but he might just manage a few things by habit that Sally isn’t going to expect.” He sat on the edge of the bed, which felt harder than the one he had at home. Not enough to be a problem however. Just firm.
The large man pulled at his black, button up shirt. The place was cool, even though the day was warm and clear.
“Then bring in the other things?”
“Right. We’re doing double rounds, right? So, a minimum of six five minute rounds?”
That got a blink, but the man smiled at him.
“The fights are three minute rounds. Three of them. We’ll go with your plan for that however. Otherwise why get an expert in? I’ll be here, but should make an appearance over at the facility. Feel free to come over and look around. Let me know if you need anything?”
He nodded and the man left.
Anthony took a shower, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, then walked right over to what had to be the main gym. It was a large blue building, which was warmer inside than the house was, when he walked inside. The place smelled like sweat and several people were working on different things. He stood back and watched for a bit, since there were fifteen people there, doing things. Not five. That made sense, given there were trainers there and all that.
After about half an hour, one of the men, who was huge, muscular and covered with sweat walked over to him, when his partner went off to do something else. They’d been working pretty hard the whole time. Not everyone was.
The man was bald and had a square face that looked rough. Like he was used to hard living.
“Hey! A new face. So what do you think? You were watching me and Kris. Any tips?” That wasn’t spoken like a joke. Tony really had been watching however.
“You both hold your hands too far apart when you close.” He did what the man talking to him did, copying it exactly. “I get it, since you’re both good on the ground, but when you shoot in you have time to spread your hands. You don’t have that when being punched at. You might want to consider a tighter guard.” He showed what he was talking about. Instead of getting mad at him, or telling him that Tony was just some punk kid that didn’t know anything, the man nodded.
“I think I get that. In fact, I’ve heard that before. So… Like this?” He closed in to a tight guard, hunched over a bit, which his hands high. “How do I hit from there? Can I load enough power into the punches?”
That got him to show what he meant, since it was a bit different. When the other man came back from the bathroom, his new buddy tried using what he’d been shown. Even not getting it perfectly it worked well enough that Kris, the other guy, stopped him and spoke, getting the man and two of the trainers to come over.
Then the large guys started again. It worked, since it was basically just putting something in front of the vital portions of the large bald guy’s body and didn’t slow him down when he went for a double leg take down.
“This works! We should think about it… Um… Winters here showed me what to do. It’s different, but…” The other fighter nodded. So did one of the trainers. The other one threw down the towel he was holding and cursed.
“What? You’re going to do what some guy walkin’ in off the street tells you instead of me? I’ve been training fighters longer than he’s been alive. This is bullshit, Curtis. That… I can’t believe this crap. I quit. Freaking…” The man stormed away as everyone else looked at his back.
The large bald man shook his head. Then he rolled his eyes.
“I thought the fighters were supposed to be the prima-donnas. I’m getting hit less and can still fight. I think it’s worth looking into. Am I wrong Lenny?” That was for the other white shirt wearing trainer. It was a polo type of thing and he had nice shorts on. The kind with belt loops in a deep olive color. Like the other man, he was dark skinned.
Shaking his head, the man looked annoyed. Not with the fighter either.
“Let’s test it out? It is a bit different. How about adding some movement to it? That should ad visual confusion, for your attacks.” The man set the other two to fighting again, Curtis using the new movements and guard, Kris his own old and comfortable style.
It wasn’t some huge difference, but it was clear that Curtis was better protected. The issue then would be how his power was doing with the new hand position. Lenny moved them off to a heavy bag set up, then held it so that the totally bald man could hit it from different positions. After about half an hour the dark skinned man looked considering.
“That… I can’t tell any difference in power. The guard seems to protect against punches, kicks and knees better than what you normally do. It’s not getting in the way of takedowns. Can you use it against the wire?”
By that he meant the fence material that
the cages were made from. From there it didn’t work that well, but neither did anything else. You had to clinch and try to get an underhook in, so that you could throw the other person. So it really wasn’t a deal breaker that way.
Then, after that, they went back to practicing. Curtis tried to use the new position, which helped a bit. Enough that Kris started to try it as well. It wasn’t magic or anything, but holding their hands a bit closer to the center really did protect them a bit better.
After a few hours, they broke up, moving in to shower, in the house. The trainers came with them too, which meant that Lenny realized that the other man from earlier was gone. Dan didn’t look all that pleased, glaring at Tony over it.
Curtis just walked over, shaking his head.
“No. Just no, Sweet. I noticed Winters watching and asked if he saw anything. We’re training, that’s the time for things like that. He basically suggested that Kris and I get our guards in a bit. Tighten up. Which is what you kept yelling in my last three fights. Hell, Simpson told me to do the same thing six times earlier, before he pitched a fit over it. I don’t know what his problem is. Is it an age thing? I mean, right is right.” He glared at Dan a bit, which got the other man to shake his head.
“That sounds a bit different than what he told me. From him it sounded like the new guy was coming in and telling you that he sucked as a striking coach. We can’t have that kind of thing…”
Anthony probably should have kept his mouth shut, but Kris, the other fighter, walked up with a towel around his shoulders, his short brown hair soaked. He didn’t have a shirt on or anything, clearly getting ready to go shower.
“No doubt, Dan. But it really wasn’t like that. It was just the kind of thing that anyone might have said. It was right too, I think. We need to work it a bit more, but so far it checks out. It’s pretty much just a classic boxing peekaboo cover. A bit more angled, but worth looking at.”
The other man sighed then.
“Okay, okay. I was just being screamed at for an hour, which clearly was about nothing. Simpson isn’t quitting. That did seem a bit too dramatic, to tell the truth. He could have just laughed it off. I mean, Tony’s fifteen… It isn’t like it would be hard to do that.” The man made a face at his own words, but didn’t take them back.
Tony smiled.
“Naturally. I’ll do better that way. Keeping my mouth shut. Sorry about starting problems.” He felt kind of miserable about it, but Curtis slapped him on the back. It actually rocked Tony forward, since the man was at least a hundred pounds heavier than he was. It was all muscle and bone too. He was a bit over six feet tall and broad across the back.
The big man just nodded.
“Don’t let it get to you. The fight business runs hot and cold that way. Some of us are great guys. Some are… Less than friendly. It happens.”
Anthony nodded, since it was probably true.
Chapter seven
They fed him dinner, then went to watch television. The strange thing there was that half of them seemed a bit shocked when Dan put in the sparring session between Steve and Tony. At first. Then, after the first round, most of the room was silent. Sally was munching popcorn, but that smelled to be plain, or at least without, butter, so probably wasn’t that huge of a sin. Not diet wise.
It was hard to pay attention, having seen it several times already. When it was over one of the other fighters, a guy called Kincaid, which was probably his last name, whistled softly.
“That was different. I can’t do that. Not boxing. You’re MMA though, right? I saw you fight Saka…”
Dan answered for him.
“Yep. Well, that explains the bruises on your face. Anyway, Sally, you’re ready for sparring in the morning?” He sounded a bit sinister, but almost teasing.
The female fighter, the only one in the room at the moment, shook her head.
“I’m kind of thinking twice on that?”
Tony snorted a bit.
“Don’t worry, we won’t be doing that. I was trying for Clyde Sumner there. You get Diego Valdis. Totally different people.” It made sense to him and Curtis seemed to agree. At least he nodded.
“That will be fun then. I’m planning to watch a movie, unless we have more video? This is cool, if we do.” He seemed to mean it and Tony did have more.
All of Diego and Sally’s fights. Well, that was close to true for the lady. Diego only had six examples. He spoke through both, analyzing what was going on. No one else said anything, which probably meant he was being a nerd about it all. Except that when it was over and he looked up, half of the people there were looking at him like he’d done something unusual.
Kris winked at him.
“We can do my next opponent tomorrow night?” That got a laugh, but Tony had time.
“Sure. You probably know everything I can add, but review never hurts, right?”
Dan patted him on the shoulder, standing behind the sofa.
“All right, gang. I’m off to bed. Sally, show up at ten, in the main ring, warmed up and ready. Tony, is that good for you? We can reschedule if you want?”
“That works. I should get to bed soon, too. I’m used to getting up before dawn. I probably shouldn’t break that up.” It meant going to sleep with light coming into his room, when he got there, but no one bothered him over it.
They also didn’t go to bed nearly that early. He kind of got that. They worked hard, they were just on a different schedule than he was. Still, ten in the morning was fine for him. In fact, that meant he was able to get up, dig out his gear for the sparing session, then get some food before it was time for him to meet Sally in the ring.
He wasn’t shocked to find the woman not wearing her glasses when he got to the big building. They had a full cage to practice in, which Tony was used to. He didn’t know if Diego really was. He wouldn’t use the fence to keep himself on his feet very well, at a guess.
Sally looked like most female fighters in the ring. Her hair was pulled back, but short to start with, so pretty much out of the way. She had on tight clothing. Lycra shorts in black that hugged her thighs along with a tight sports bra that actually covered her better than the shirt she’d had on the day before. She seemed hyper, so had taken speed again, but also more locked on as she bounced in place.
Tony was dressed in boxing shorts. A bright red with shining gold trim. They weren’t exactly the ones that Diego would have, but it was what he’d worn in all his other fights so far. Since it was MMA Tony had put some tight shorts on under that, since there was a good chance his pants were coming down when they moved to ground work.
Diego didn’t understand English, from what Anthony had found out, though that part wasn’t certain. That meant he kept that in mind as Lenny gave the fight instructions. He tapped gloves when it was suggested, since Diego had always been polite in all his fights. Sally did the same, smiling as she moved back.
Then, carefully, he moved into the ring, plodding a bit with tiny steps, his guard fairly decent. Sally moved in, but should have tried to go for a takedown first thing. Instead she entered the fight on her feet and acted like she could stand with the other man. At least she tried to lead with kicks. Those landed on his legs, though he lifted his knee each time, which cut the effect a lot. There wasn’t vast power in the blows, but they were sparring, not trying to kill each other.
Since it was the fight he’d come for, he moved in and hit her three times. At about sixty percent of the force he could really bring to things. He figured that was about half of Diego’s if he was coming in out of shape. The woman hit the ground instantly. So much so that he kind of figured that she was going for an unusual kind of take down. Maybe by throwing low kicks at him. It could work, against the man he was pretending to be.
Instead she rolled and came up several feet away, shaking her head.
“God. Take my head off why don’t you?” She smiled, trying to be cute.
Diego didn’t understand her, so moved in. Slowly. Plodding in her dir
ection. She got her hands up a bit better that time, but still was knocked to the mat.
On the great side, she didn’t try to claim he should be easier on her. When she got up next, she listened to her corner, who told her to go for the takedown. He didn’t let her have it easily and ended up falling on top of her. At which point he stood back up and moved away from her, so she could stand too.
At the end of the first five minutes, she looked a bit tired, but wasn’t breathing that hard. Tony wasn’t actually out of breath at all. His corner man, one of the other trainers, who all had on the same white shirt, making them seem really official, got him a stool, a spit bucket and a sip of water. Just a single one.
“You have her fighting your fight so far. Keep to your feet and make her walk through the meat grinder to get to you.” It was kind of good advice and more or less what Diego was going to be doing. Then, the man had watched all the fights the night before, so was up on the plan.
So was the other side, but he wasn’t there to hide that kind of thing from Sally. If she had a plan to stop him, that was the real point. Still, he held to pretending to be Diego, crossing himself as he stood up. The man did that every round.
The second round was about the same as the first, with Sally falling into failing at taking him down several times. Finally, near the end, she moved in and stuck a clean double leg. Diego tried to get away from her, using poor skills, but all his strength. Sally was decent enough that she nearly had him in a solid front guillotine when the bell rang. He tried to force his way out, but didn’t actually attack the arm like he should have.
In the third round she managed an Americana lock, which he tried to resist, but had to tap out on before she ripped his arm apart.
Dan, from the side, clapped.
“Good job, Sal. Tony, try the second sparring style you mentioned? If he comes in with conditioning? No better grappling yet.”
“Got it.” He smiled, the mouth guard feeling a little bit funny to him. It was his, but Diego would be used to a different kind, being a boxer. They were similar. Still, the things were a bit thicker for boxers.
