Uppercut

For Zayd, the passing of time was exponentially slower than usual.

Every second, every minute, every hour felt grudgingly prolonged. As Zayd sat in his seat, he gave all the homework due and paid attention to the lesson.

Gradually, time seeped by with a pace slower than a snail.

Zayd returned to Mr Kaiju's Old Gym.

Having brought clothes he didn't mind getting sweaty along with a towel, Zayd had already changed.

Earlier today, he already notified the swimming club teacher that he was no longer going.

Zayd felt a desire, a hunger to know more. The appeal of learning more was intense.

"Alright, let's do some pads to warm up." Mr Kaiju said.

"One."

*PAP*

"Move forward. One!"

*PAP*

---

Going through the routine, Zayd felt his blood flowing smoothly. He had already begun to sweat, and his old T-shirt complained by releasing a horrendous stench.

"Okay, this lesson, we are covering every other punch I've not shown you. So far, I've shown you your One, the jab; your Two, the straight; your Right and Left Hooks, the Threes." Mr Kaiju's gruff voice spoke rapidly.

"What I'm going to show you is the Uppercut. As with all the punches, you can do them with either hand, but the situation will change the hand you use. There's also the overhand shot. You'll probably rarely use this, but it remains in your head for now. Last but not least, the Screw Shot." Mr Kaiju continued speaking.

"Also, we will change the numbering of the punches. Your One will still be the leading jab, the same with your Two. Meanwhile, your Three and Four will be Left Hook and Right Hook, respectively. Now that you're going to learn the Uppercut, that will be your Five and Six. That's about it."

"Okay, let's talk about the Uppercut first." Mr Kaiju said as he removed the pads from his hands.

"When you throw your Uppercut, you need to make sure you don't lean forward. When it's a leading hand uppercut, bend your knees slightly and 'push' your hand up. When you do an uppercut, it goes between your opponent's guard. It will make your opponent's guard drop sometimes, which is not definite."

"Using it in close range is very good. Sometimes a fight will end up going on the 'inside'. Come here." Zayd walked over to Mr Kaiju.

Mr Kaiju got into a stance, and Zayd got into his too. The distance between their bodies was small.

"This is the inside. Your jab? It doesn't work. What you do now is use your hands against your opponent. If they guard themselves against an uppercut, you pry their left hand away from their right hand. Force them to face your fists. Your hooks will land. You go for the liver."

"Alright, move back. The Screw Shot is like a jab. You won't use this on the street. The way you usually punch, with knuckles facing up, you don't do that with the Screw Shot. Knuckles facing the floor, your hand upside down, that's the Screw Shot position. You throw it like this."

*DUFF*

"Okay, there's something else I want to teach you before I display the Overhand Shot. Sometimes, you can throw a jab, but with power. I call it a 'Stiff Jab'. It's good for throwing your opponent off with it." Mr Kaiju continued.

"Imagine you've just jabbed. You hit your opponent, but it was not a strong punch. Instead, you throw your left hand again with power and speed. It throws them off when they get hit harder."

---

The lesson passed by, and Zayd felt a bit annoyed that this was the only activity that went quickly today.

"Let's finish off with more sparring. You did decent last time. Let's see if that's changed. I don't expect much normally. You're different."

Once again, Zayd stood before Mr Kaiju. The mountain stood firm as Zayd tested the waters with his jab.

Mr Kaiju parried Zayd with his hand and hit him with a Right Hook.

Following up with a Left Hook, Zayd got hit twice.

Attempting to slip a punch, Zayd focused on moving his head more with the strikes.

As the sparring grew more intense, Zayd felt the switch from last time flip.

Once more, he felt clarity and faced Mr Kaiju in a better way. Landing a whole 3-punch combo, he stayed calm. It felt like everything flowed together. It felt smooth.

All the things he had in his mind happened.

Throwing lots of punches and receiving some, Zayd elicited a perfect reaction from Mr Kaiju as his Left Hand threw a Screw Shot. It slipped straight through Mr Kaiju's guard and struck the man on his disgruntled face.

"Good job."

This time, the sparring started with a lot of time left before the club ended.

Once it ended, Zayd felt exhilarating. Last time, the sparring ended so suddenly after he entered that state. This time, he felt like his experience had shot up along with his understanding.

Everything felt natural.

Zayd did not have to think for long whenever he did anything.

Although it felt that way, even with the state, something was missing from his striking.

"So far, I will admit, you've surprised me. It's strange to think this is only your second lesson on Boxing. I don't know how you'd be in a fight. I can only expect it'd be decent without too much knowledge of your style." Mr Kaiju said.

"Have you not seen the clip and heard the rumours?" Zayd inquired with an incredulous expression on his face.

"What rumours?" Mr Kaiju replied.

"I'll show you a video," Zayd said as he grabbed his phone from his bag.

Finding the clip, he started it and displayed it to Mr Kaiju, who watched silently.

"That's you." He stated, sure of himself.

"How'd you know?"

"I taught you how to throw a punch properly. Plus, it looks like you from the jab anyway." He remained silent until Zayd kicked the man in the video. His eyebrows raised.

"Your kick looks perfect. Where did you learn it?"