A Father's Virtue

"Damn it." Ryan was searching for something in his locker within the special rest area designated for Cobra Kai as tournament residents.

"What's going on?" Max looked at Ryan, who was desperately looking for something inside his locker.

"Max, I heard some people accuse you of using some extra supplement." Ryan was upset because some people were blaming Max for using drugs.

"Are you crazy? How could I do something like that?"

Max shook his head and headed to the medical check-up room to be examined. Under the supervision of the Amateur Karate Association staff, he had bandages applied to his feet.

The staff would monitor the use of the bandages on his feet, his uniform, and after confirming everything was within regulation, he would be granted access to the fighting arena.

Before the fight began, the arena referee would carefully check for any signs of additional damage on the kicks of karatekas who wore bandages on their feet. If any extra damage was found, the referee would ask the fighter to remove the bandages or stop the fight.

The reason for this is simple: to prevent anyone from hiding things in the bandages.

For example, if a harder base was placed inside the bandage, the kicks could become much stronger than natural ones.

This trick had appeared several times in regular competitions, leading to bloody incidents. Later, all contact sports organizations strictly prohibited and penalized any misuse of bandages, gloves, or clothing.

In underground fight scenes, such tricks were still common, and the referee wouldn't care. Max had been deceived with this method many times, and to this day, he felt very bitter about it.

The urine test procedure was quick. It only checked if the urine contained any ingredients with stimulants, drugs, or painkillers. Nothing else needed to be checked.

Max had never used drugs, so his urine test came out clean. Under the confused gaze of those who had accused him, he revealed his strong back, well-developed chest muscles, and abs that looked like a chocolate bar.

He lightly raised his fists and murmured, "I've trained for reasons other than just being strong; don't compare me to guys my age so easily."

"Yes, now everyone will know." Johnny didn't want to argue with the accusers; Max had demonstrated things that even he thought were unreal. He didn't blame people for misinterpreting Max's abilities, so, as the hosts of this tournament, they had to show leadership.

No one would tolerate cheating, especially if it came from their own martial arts school.

The rules were clear: if cheating was detected, an entire school could be disqualified.

"Are you ready? This opponent is no pushover; you must be very careful." Terry warned, pointing out that Andrew would start fighting with everything he had.

"I've got it under control."

Boom!

Suddenly, the sound in the place exploded, and huge sound waves hit the eardrums of Max's group as they entered the public arena, one after another.

"Max!"

"Max!"

"Max!"

Tens of thousands of spectators who had gathered to watch Max's fight kept shouting his name.

Max raised his fist three times in the air and rushed toward the combat arena. His opponent, Andrew, had already stepped onto the mat before him, wearing a white uniform and eyes filled with fighting spirit.

Andrew, 18 years old, is a Polish-American with fair skin and a slim build, standing at 189 cm tall with long arms, much longer than Max's. He had been practicing karate since childhood and had magnificent skills, as well as great speed.

His combat experience was considered flawless, winning almost always by crushing points.

Before Max appeared, he held second place among the karatekas in the dojos outside.

He was a very powerful person, but not too powerful for Max. His strength lay in his technique and the advantage of his arm length. It was easy to score points in combat with those qualities.

What wasn't great was his physical condition, but what wasn't great here wasn't that he was physically weak; compared to his skills, his physical condition was a deficiency.

Once, he fought against Morales, a man with dreadlocks. During the match, he used his skills to resist Morales' powerful attack and won by points.

This type of fight usually performs well in point-based Karate competitions. But if the possibility of winning by points after injuring an opponent is removed, he probably won't perform well.

This is also one of the reasons why many karatekas win competitions and then become unknown after winning several tournaments.

For these types of fighters, what they fear the most are rivals like Max and Ryan, who have skill, technique, strength, speed, physical toughness, and excellent fighting capacity.

Ryan had already been a headache throughout the tournament's preliminary phase due to his power; no one wanted to fight him. But now that someone like Max appeared, even more terrifying, everyone knew that facing him would end in defeat.

If Andrew wanted to maintain his status in the karate circle, his agent had to think of other ways, like fighting for a longer time and hopefully winning with a punch.

Fighting longer minutes not only makes the fight look better in the news, but it also has a more important reason: it has less impact on the fighter's self-confidence.

There are many people in the world of contact sports. When they first enter this world, no matter the discipline, they often maintain a winning streak of over ten, twenty, thirty, or even forty fights until they are defeated or knocked out once.

But even with just one loss, the confidence of the fighter who lost is shaken on several levels. Also, their fighting spirit will be deeply traumatized, leading to a collapse.

There are too many fighters who can't recover after a fight where they eventually lose.

For a fighter, their victory doesn't just rely on their strength, but also on their strong psychological quality and unshakable will.

At this moment, Andrew didn't seem like a person with a strong character in front of Max. His agent paid money to help smooth things over, which was considered a good intention.

But Max didn't accept the money because he needed it; rather, it was because a father was taking care of his son, and he would never let that go unnoticed.

Max clenched his fists, hit his chest muscles, and greeted his opponent.

Andrew also responded by hitting his chest.

"Look at me, Bow!"

"Look at each other, Bow!"

"Fight!"

The fight began in an instant.

Boom!

At first, Andrew's right fist was like the arm of a mantis, heading toward Max's face with a sound similar to wind breaking.

Max, who didn't expect an instant reaction, was surprised. The speed was truly amazing, surpassing all the opponents he had fought before.

The strength was also very good, not much worse than Ryan's in training. Most of the fighters in this tournament wouldn't be able to stop such an attack.

But Max wasn't an ordinary fighter. His reaction speed was higher. Seeing Andrew's fist coming, he quickly turned his head, raised his fist, and hit Andrew's head, blow after blow.

"Wow! Now he's twisting!"

"Will Andrew escape?"

The crowd shouted loudly, and Andrew's representative, his father, was even more worried. If the punch had power, Andrew could be knocked out instantly.