Prince of the Octagon Chapter 9

TL: sleepymaru

Editor: SlowAsLightning

4. Changgong Lee, Getting Ready for His Debut! <2>

"While wrestling on the wall, there are largely two ways of defending against a takedown. First is to grab your opponent's lower body. Come here and try."

Changgong lowered his body and grabbed Dongsub behind his knees as he leaned against the cage.

"First, after turning your body sideways and spreading your legs, press down on the back of his head."

Dongsub pressed down on the back of Changgong's head.

"If you get control of his neck from this position, he won't be able to use his power."

"It seems so. But I think my neck is going to break……"

"Second, when your opponent's torso is low, press down on his back with your upper body as if your leaning on him and grab him with a double overhook (wrapping each arm over an opponent's)."

Dongsub leaned down into Changgong and grabbed onto him from the side with both arms.

'God……!'

Changgong let out a moan.

The pressure pressing down on his back.

He knew before he even put in strength.

You wouldn't be able to take him down from this position unless you were a gorilla.

Changgong felt as if he had made a great discovery. He hadn't known that so much science was behind martial arts. It wasn't the simple sport he had thought it was.

But anyways, it hurt like crazy. Shit.

"One thing you have to be careful of though, is that if you go in too deep and hug near the waist, your opponent can flip you over."

Dongsub let go of Changgong and pat him on his back.

"Easy, right? Let's repeat this for today."

"Yes."

Changgong's face lit up slightly. He was going to get his revenge.

"Daeseung!"

Then, Dongsub called someone over. The biggest man in the gym, Daeseung Kim, lumbered over.

"Yes, did you call me?"

"Help Changgong with wrestling training. You're the only one who can teach him while taking him on."

"Of course. That's not difficult at all."

Changgong's face suddenly looked tired.

It was only natural as Daeseung was an up and coming light heavyweight at 192 cm and 110 kg.

"Wait a second. I'm not training with you?"

"I have work to do."

Daeseung came over smiling.

"Hey kid, I'm good too. Since it's your first time I'll teach you nicely."

Why couldn't he trust the words of these people?

"Don't feel pressured, kid. The gym family all help each other out."

"No, no. That's not……"

"Don't feel uncomfortable, dude."

Daeseung laughed gregariously and smacked Changgong's back. So much power. His back was going to explode. Shit.

'Sigh…… Father, why didn't you stop me?'

Changgong could only resent his innocent father.

"Good job everyone……"

Changgong's voice lacked his usual energy as he said his farewells.

"Good job. You can go. I'll close up today."

"No…… Work is work……"

"I'm not offering to be polite. Go and rest. Resting is part of the training."

"Yes, then, I'll see you tomorrow……"

Changgong waddled out of the gym.

"How is he?"

Kiryong asked as he approached.

"He's tough. He's the first guy to finish the formal hardcore training on the first day. He'll make it to the end."

Changgong would faint if he had heard what Dongsub just said so nonchalantly.

"You were right, master."

Kiryong gave a satisfied smile.

"Run the beginner course too, starting from tomorrow. From jump roping."

"Yes, master."

"Good work. I'll be going now."

"Farewell."

Changgong sprawled out on his bed the moment he got home.

Hard labor was nothing compared to this. He might have crossed the River Jordan .

Do pro athletes train like this everyday?

Changgong's entire body ached when he rolled over.

"Ugh……"

His muscles were still pumped.

How long had it been since he was this exhausted?

But it was a good sort of pain. He could feel himself getting stronger.

He would get used to this pain someday, right?

'Since I'm going to become the champion.'

Woof, woof, woof!

The dog barked once again.

'I have to do something about that stupid mutt.'

One month flew by.

Smack, smack! Bam!

"That's it! Again! One-two, one-two, low kick!"

Smack, smack, smack, smack! Bam!

Changgong was practicing by hitting the mitts Dongsub held out for him.

"Why are they going at it so hard when it's only the interleague grand prix?"

"Yeah, are they trying to make a cyborg out of him or something?"

A few of the athletes watching whispered amongst themselves.

It had only been a month, but the change within Changgong was obvious.

His frame had gotten a bit smaller, but his muscles were distinct. It was thanks to the training that focused on building strength and endurance while leaving only a little fat to help with stamina.

Changgong was fired up, and every single one of his hits had an intense force behind it. His aura was completely different from the first day when he still joked around.

"Not like that!"

Dongsub, who had been holding the mitts out, shouted angrily.

"It's not boxing. How many times do I have to tell you that the punches used in MMA are different from boxing punches?"

"I'm sorry."

"Kicks, too. You're not just swinging your feet. If it's a right legged kick, first raise your right arm and get into the correct stance, then use the momentum as you pull your arm in to kick your leg up."

"Yes."

"And pull with your abs when you kick, okay? Use the shortest distance and smack the hit point in a straight line."

Dongsub kicked the sandbag like thunder. The sandbag swayed with a loud bang.

"Did you get it?"

"Yes, sigh……sorry."

Changgong slapped his face with both hands and sighed.

Dongsub felt awkward from Changgong's reaction.

Anyhow, it wasn't a useless criticism.

First of all, while it was standard to turn the ankle in when jabbing for boxing, in MMA, the front foot was pushed forward while raising the elbow and stretching out the jab as if hammering.

Jungtae's clumsy jab was actually MMA's standard jab.

The gist was that one had tackles and kicks.

It isn't necessary to worry about kicks in boxing. But in MMA, you had to keep wary of kicks and tackles when punching. That's why you step forward in order to keep a distance while punching.

Next was the kicking method.

It might have been different if it was a pure hitting sport, but MMA includes grappling like jiu jitsu and wrestling. If you use wide swinging kicks, your opponent could catch your kick and immediately take you to the ground.

Whether it was a low or high kick, the norm was to use the elasticity of the arm and abs to kick and retract the leg in a straight line, the shortest distance between two points. Considering that, the muay thai kicking style was the most effective.

It would be difficult to fight in the standard way during a match, but it was important to form correct habits from the beginning.

"Okay! Let's get back into it!"

Dongsub smacked the mitts together before holding them out. Changgong got into stance and pounded on the mitts.

Smack, smack, smack, smack! Bam!

"Good! Pull your kick in quickly!"

Bam! A clear sound rang out.

After 20 minutes of that, the MMA hitting training was over.

"Good job. 5 minute break."

"Thank you!"

Changgong took off his gloves and sat leaning into a column.

Dongsub turned around and took off his hand and kicking mitts.

Both his hands were swelling up red.

It stung.

From his experience receiving an innumerable amount of punches, Changgong's punches had power that was hard to find even within the middleweight class. He felt sorry for the opponent who got hit with those punches in the welterweight.

"Dongsub, are you okay?"

Doyoon asked worriedly.

"This is nothing to worry about."

"Your hands tell a different story. How can you receive these punches for a whole month? Make him punch a sandbag. Your hands might explode."

"Not yet. He still isn't familiar with the distance. He'll hit air if he goes into the octagon after only hitting sandbags."

"I can't tell if he's even thankful for everything your doing for him."

"If you're that worried, you hold the mitts for him."

"……Uh, I have some work to do."

Doyoon slyly stepped away.

Dongsub chuckled while turning back towards Changgong. He had stood up and started practicing the punches and kicks he had learned.

How could I take it easy when he was like that? Cute kid.

Next was wrestling training.

Changgong's eyes sparkled as it would be his first tackling training today.

From the center of the group of gym members, Doyoon began teaching.

"Changgong come here."

"Yes!"

Changgong eagerly stood facing Doyoon.

"We'll be learning the basic lower body tackled. There are largely two types: the double leg takedown (grabbing both of the opponent's legs while tackling) and the single leg takedown (grabbing a single leg while tackling)."

"Yes."

"I'll show you the double leg takedown first. This is a tackle for when you're both in the orthodox stance (right handed stance). Changgong get in position."

"Yes."

Doyoon jumped at Changgong's lower body. Surprised, Changgong dodged slightly to the side making Doyoon to fall flat on his face on the mat.

"Do-Doyoon, are you okay?"

"You fucking moron! You can't dodge it!"

"You never told me I couldn't dodge. Agh!"

A red faced Doyoon kicked Changgong on his butt. The sound of snickering could be heard.

"Again, and this time, don't dodge."

"Okay."

Doyoon once again jumped at Changgong's lower body and knocked him over by snatching both of his legs. The members all exclaimed in amazement from Doyoon's quick movements.

"You have to be careful and make sure that you go in deep and make contact with your opponent before your knee touches the ground. After that, you pull his legs as you push his body with your head and take over control of his balance. Does anybody have questions?"

Doyoon continued his explanation after the silence.

"The direction of your head is important, too. When the left foot is in the front, you put your head towards his left side, but towards his right side if the right foot is in the front. You'll be able to avoid a counter knee kick and have more control over your opponent's body."

Everyone nodded.

"Next is the single leg takedown. Okay, get up."

Doyoon took Changgong's hand and pulled him up.

"The single leg changes depending on whether your stances are the same or not. When they're the same, it's not much different from the double leg. You just have to grab the front leg."

"Yes."

"You have to be careful when your stances are different. Your center of balance is opposite from your opponent so it's hard to knock him down with the front leg. So, you grab onto his back leg instead, but you have to watch out for a knee kick. Changgong, southpaw (left handed stance)."

Changgong got into position. Doyoon ran into Changgong's stomach with his head and snatch away his back leg.

"Ack!"

Changgong helplessly fell onto the floor.

"You have to pull the back leg as you go into your opponent as if you're trying to ram into his stomach. Unless his balance is great, it's the easiest tackle to get him off balance. On the other hand, there's a high risk for a knee kick so be careful."

"Yes."

"Lastly, we'll learn the sprawl (the wrestling move/position to defend against tackles). This can be used against all of the tackles I showed you before. Changgong, try tackling me."

Changgong got up and tackled Doyoon. Doyoon stretched his legs backwards as if jumping and pressed down on Changgong's back with his torso.

"Agh!"

Changgong let out a strange groan as he was pinned into the floor. This person, was he taking revenge for the dodge before?

"Wrap both arms underneath your opponent's armpits and focus your weight into your torso while stretching your legs back behind you. Depending on the situation, you may only stretch out one leg, but it's best to stretch both legs back to really weigh him down. This is it for today."

Changgong stood up when Doyoon tapped on his back.

"We'll practice in pairs by weight class. Alternate between attacking and defending starting with the two leg. Don't switch yet."

Changgong practiced his tackles with his partner.

Kiryong walked into the gym during this training.

"Hello!"

"Hello!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and bowed deeply.

"Taehyung and Daeseung, you guys got match offers. Let's talk in the office."

"Yes."

Taehyung Song and Daeseung Kim wiped off their sweat with a towel and headed towards the office.

Kiryong looked at Changgong.

"How's your preparation going?"

Chapter end