by the sidelines • haechan

twenty eight

The moment her next kick came in, I used her inertia to close into her, preventing her from shifting away no matter what. From there, both of us were rather immobilised, and I took her struggling as a chance to swing my leg up to her headgear. Three points. The perks of being taller than the average height of your opponents, is this.

However, that was the only kick I managed to score before the whistle blew and we switched partners in an anticlockwise direction. My next opponent was someone around my height, and I had a feeling I bumped into her once or twice in the toilet. I took a quick bow and began bouncing, trying to shake off the nervousness that was still embedded in me, although a little less.

Maybe it was from the lack of engagement from the previous match, but I had the urge to attack first with a long turning kick, of course, I didn't expect it to hit considering how slow it was. My opponent slid back swiftly before returning it with the same kick, her foot scraping the front of my headgear which created a roar of cheers from the spectators.

Before I could register what happened, another kick came in for my head again as I retreated at least a feet back, mortification filling in me once I realised how dumb that must've looked. Lucky for me, she seemed to have stopped attacking for the time being, giving me a chance to counter.

Without thinking, I raised my left foot above my head and slammed it forward, letting the movement thrust me towards her. However, my foot landed right on her shoulder as she shrugged it off before I could turn my instep into her headgear. Gosh, how did I miss such an obvious target? She wasn't even moving when I charged in.

Just as I landed, her leg swung up again and although I saw it coming, I couldn't process that I was supposed to block it, causing a loud wham right in the centre of my padding. I stumbled back, only feeling the after-effects a few seconds later before she came charging in again. I chambered a checked kick and pushed it out to prevent her from advancing further, but that was the only effective move that I performed.

Unfortunately, the second round ended just like that, and I was starting to get restless. Dangerous, now I know what he meant. That betting girl was full of energy, but her kicks caused me bruises in areas not even close to the padding, while the second one had slower, heavier kicks that can cause you to gas out. Gulping, I made my way to my third opponent, unwanted fear trapped in me as I tried to dismiss it.

"Start!"

One thing that had actually helped me today was my improved stamina considering how I was still functioning by the third match. Either that or I wasn't worn out from the minimal engagement in the first two matches. But I swear, this one's gonna be a blood bath.

Unlike the previous rounds, I tottered about my spot, conserving my energy as much as possible while trying to read her movements. My opponent's stances were similar to mine, which gave me less of a clue on what her techniques may be.

Then it hit me, literally.

Just as I faked a turning kick, she came spinning towards me, throwing out a kick only after the third spin. I skidded backwards, very much astounded by her sudden attack. It was something I rarely saw even during competitions due to its high risks and low probability, but an impact can easily throw your opponent off guard, although I find it unnecessarily extra.

My opponent, fortunately, hasn't really mastered the spinning considering how she flew a least a metre away from me, but it still inhibited me from attacking her.

But I wasn't going to let it go down without me trying again.

Just as she barely managed to recover, I surprised her with a kick to the padding, which wasn't guarded due to her arms trying to stable herself. But I think I involuntarily increased her guard as she repositioned herself with her arms glued to her body. I tried to fake her out again, but this time, it required a full check kick to trigger her spinning.