CH32: ROUND 2

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CH32: ROUND 2

Both fighters charged in. Hattori Hanzo raised his sword and swung it down. Korede managed to dodge barely and they passed each other. They quickly turned around for the next attack. Korede feints a punch, only to go for a tackle.

To Korede's surprise, the old man was able to block it by lowering his body and both men slid a small distance before coming to a stop. Korede quickly backed away before anything else because he could see a knee rising to his face. The moment he backed away though, he could see the old man pressing forward. Hattori launched strike after strike, some Korede dodged narrowly but others made contact with his body. Suddenly, the old man side-sweeps with his Shinai aiming for Korede's upper arm. Korede could feel the force behind the attack and knew he mustn't be hit. Unfortunately, the attack was too fast and he was too slow to dodge. He was even made immobile by the sheer force behind the incoming attack.

'Move! Move!! Move Damn it!!!' Korede roared inwardly.

At that moment, everything seemed to slow down to Korede. He moved so fast at this moment that Hattori was surprised. What the youth did next shocked the old man more. Since Korede knew there was no time or space to dodge the attack, he quickly used his palm to hit the bottom of the incoming Shinai with a small amount of force that nudged the attack angle upwards, just enough for Korede to dodge under the sword and escape the blow. Now the old man was open to Korede's attack.

Or so Korede thought.

Before Korede could make use of the opening, the old man also did something incredible. With his sword still in mid-swing after failing to hit Korede, Hattori managed to completely change the direction of his sword with a movement of his wrist.

He thrust his sword backhandedly at Korede. The almost 180-degree switch in direction was so fast and smooth that Korede was caught off guard.

The tip of the Shinai was suddenly heading for his face. He had no choice but to dodge and back off. Both men separated and stared at the other from a distance.

'Changing of direction/flow of force with a minimal amount of force? Was that a fluke? Also, his speed and response have picked up since he dropped the sword. His fighting style seems to be a grappling type. I should avoid him holding me as much as possible. What pressure! What a kid! Now I'm even more intrigued. I wonder what more you'll show me kid.'(1)

'What's with this old man? What insane response. How is it possible for someone to make a 180-degree change in direction of a swing in a split second? That's bordering on breaking the laws of physics. This old man is not human... However, that will make this fight even more interesting.'

Both men had almost the same thought in their minds. Their joy from the fight increased. They couldn't wait to see what else their opponent would throw out.

The two spectators could feel the tension in the air. They looked at each other and exchanged a wry chuckle.

"The intensity is increasing too much. Hope those two don't forget this is a spar." Miyako said.

"Don't worry. They should still know their boundaries." Kola comforted

Korede looked at his bandaged right arm. Although the burn had healed, Korede still kept the bandage to hide the weird scar. He opened and clenched his fist repeatedly. At the beginning of this second round, after he glanced at his brother, Korede had unlocked the limiters he placed on his body.

Unfortunately, the unlocking was a gradual process in order not to send his body into shock. It was at the moment when he was about to be hit by his opponent's side sweep that the unlocking process finished. This was the reason for the gradual pick-up in speed that the old man noticed. Now with his limits unsealed, Korede was ready to fight at his full potential.

Both men once again adopted their fighting stances. Hattori Hanzo adopted the same basic Kendo stance. His right leg forward, his body a bit lowered, and his sword facing his opponent at an angle. Korede on the other hand took an offensive stance with his body lowered and leaning forward with his guard down. A typical stance used by wrestlers who are proficient in grappling. This time after the staredown, Hattori attacked first.

Since Korede looked hesitant to attack, he decided to take the initiative.

Korede dodged the slash but his opponent did not let up. He continued striking. Strike after strike. At first, Korede was being hit but after a while, he got familiar with the old man's technique and tempo(2). Of course, Korede knew that he was only able to do this because the old man was not committing fully to the fight. Even so, it was difficult for Korede to do. Now that he was used to it, it became easier to dodge the attacks. Those he couldn't dodge, he redirected the flow of force by pushing at the attack with a small amount of force. Enough to give him space to dodge or parry the attack entirely.

'Seems the redirection of force wasn't a fluke.' Hattori confirmed his suspicion.' Come kid, show me more of your abilities'

Korede continued to dodge and parry until an opportunity presented itself. After parrying an attack from the old man, Korede sidestepped. Both fighters were very close to each other, enabling Korede the chance to wrap his arm around his opponent's neck. He used an armbar to neck throw move, levering on his body to throw the old man to the ground.

Unfortunately, perhaps due to his inexperience, Korede failed to account for the difference in height between the two of them. At the moment of impacting the floor, Korede's arm around Hattori's neck loosened a bit before he could properly apply the neck lock on the ground. The small gap was enough for the experienced old man to escape.

Never allow a grappler to take you to the floor, for that is their domain(3). The two quickly separated from each other once again.

Both men repeat the cycle and once again charge at each other. Blows are exchanged. Strikes, parries, block, evasions… Every single one was used by both men. Eventually, an important exchange occurred.

As his opponent slashed down his Shinai with both hands, Korede sidestepped and quickly grabbed the back of one of the old man's arms. He quickly spins and used the old man's force to unbalance and throw him to the ground. Once on the ground, Korede goes for a grapple. However, Hattori had always been vigilant against this after he realised Korede was a grappler. He quickly wielded his Shinai with his one free hand and turns his body to thrust at Korede's face. Korede once again quickly lets him go in order to dodge. Hattori used the turn from his attack to roll away and quickly get back on his feet.

Once on his feet, Hattori again thrust out at Korede who had immediately closed the distance between them. This time, Korede only shifts his head to the side a bit to dodge the thrust. He caught the hand holding the sword and quickly positions himself under his opponent's elbow and arm whips him to the ground. Not letting go of the arm, he moved in for an arm lock when suddenly, a punch appeared in front of his face. Korede quickly dodges but had to release the arm to do so. Hattori made it back to his feet in almost the same instance and backed away.

Korede noticed a few things in this last exchange. All throughout the grapple, Hattori never let go of his sword. Also, the punch that appeared in his face was a Karate punch. Meaning Hattori Hanzo also practised Karate. Well, it was not that surprising since this was Okinawa(4). Finally and perhaps most importantly, Hattori had a lot of experience fighting grapplers and he knew how to defend against grapples. With the old man's guard up against his grapples, chances of a successful grapple are slim to none. So, he decided to change his approach.

Meanwhile, Miyako asked Kola, "Isn't the intensity too much? Should we stop them?"

He hesitated a bit before answering, "No. Let's leave them be for now."

Once again, both men take their stances. Korede charged in. He once again feints a punch and goes for a tackle… Or so Hattori thought.

As soon as he lowered his body to block the tackle, Hattori took a punch to the side of his face. Luckily for him, he had instinctively raised his head a bit or the punch would have hit his temple and that might have been lights out for him. He was, however, forced back. The tackle was also a feint.

This time, Korede was able to take advantage. He closed the distance and threw right jabs at Hattori. The old man was barely able to dodge the jabs while still being unbalanced but a left hook from the youth caught him on his lungs. From how heavy the punch was, Korede was trying to knock out the air in the old man's lungs to weaken him(5). He directed an uppercut to the old man's face which the latter barely dodged as the punch goes through his long grey beard. Hattori quickly retreated and placed his Shinai vertically in front of him to block against more assaults from Korede. The youth also backed away and took a boxing stance.

He had changed from a grappling style to a striking style.

'What a Kid! First superb grappling techniques! Now, wonderful striking combinations! This kid gets more interesting by the moment.' Hattori thought excitedly as he massaged his face. Before long, he refocused on the fight.

Korede, on the other hand, noticed something from the last few exchanges. Perhaps due to his concentration increasing as the fight progressed, time seemed to slow down at key moments enabling him to make fast decisions.

'It's a pity the slow down in time, not only makes the opponent's movement slow, even my movements are slow. However, there's something I can do.'

Kola was 'sweating' in his seat. He couldn't believe his brother punched the old man like that without remorse. He quickly turned to Miyako only to find that her expression had not changed. He secretly heaved a sigh of relief as he thought she would be angry. He turned back to the fight

Just as Hattori steadied himself, Korede suddenly lunged forward and threw a side rolling kick which the old man barely dodged instinctively. The old man was shocked.

'What just happened? That wasn't a matter of speed. I didn't see the attack at all. It was like he disappeared and a heel appeared in front of me.'

Luckily for the old man, years of combat had honed his instincts and he was able to dodge in time. He wondered how Korede did it.

Korede wasn't disappointed his kick missed. On the contrary, he was feeling wonderful inside.

'I was right. It can work.'

Korede discovered that once everything slowed down and he enters the 'zone', he could see every blink, every breath his opponent took. Just a moment before old blinked, Korede charged forward. By the time he finished blinking, Korede was already in front of him. Almost like magic, like teleportation, like a… Blink(6).

[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion really matters to me.]

AUTHOR'S NOTE/RAMBLING

1 Unarmed martial arts are broadly classified into three categories. Striking type, Grappling type, and a hybrid type that combines the two.

Striking Type is further divided into Punching type(eg Boxing, Karate, etc), Kicking type (eg Taekwondo, Savate(traditional French martial art.)), and Other strike types (eg Muay Thai, Kung Fu).

Grappling type is further divided into Throwing type(eg Judo, Wrestling), Joint lock/Submission type(eg Jujutsu, Sambo(Traditional Russian martial art)), and Pinning type(eg Wrestling, Aikido).

2 Every style has a pattern. Every practitioner has a habit. Analysis of this can allow one to predict the opponent's next move. Experienced Martial artists make a conscious effort to vary this and prevent it from being analysed and predicted by their opponent

3 Ground is a grappler's forte while on the feet is a striker's forte. Grapplers can make use of the ground to strengthen their holds. Once a grappler has a hold locked in on the ground, it's exponentially more difficult to escape. Strikers on the other hand find it easier to add their body weight to their strikes when they are on their feet.

4 Okinawa is the birthplace of Karate. Hence the most popular martial art there is Karate. It's part of their culture.

5 Martial artists tend to hold their breath when they attack. It is believed that releasing of the breath weakens one momentarily. This is unacceptable because even a split second is precious in a fight.

6 Pun very much intended. Wanted to finish the chapter with a wonderful line like this.

[A.N: Please, don't forget leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion really matters to me.]