"Calling all players from bout 45 to 54, please make your way to the registration table for weigh-ins." The announcement echoed through the fully packed sports hall as individuals got up from their seat and travelled down the stairs. Meanwhile, I let out yet another heavy breath.
I looked down at my shivering hands before clenching them tightly against my dobok pants, feeling my sweaty palms at the tip of my fingers.
"Relax, won't you? You look like a row of pork chops in the oven." Donghyuck appeared in front of me, laughing away at my nervous state. But I didn't hesitate to acknowledge it.
"That's because I'm about to be roasted," I answered, staring blankly at the heated matches happening below me, my stomach starting to self-impose diarrhoea. Everyone was beyond my expectations, if I even had expectations, to begin with, and that made me feel so unprepared. Not only that, what bothered me most was my first opponent, whose name rang more than one bell, but where have I heard of her before?
"You will if you think that way," he scowled, "Relax, this is not even your first competition." He leaned on the metal railing behind him, turning only his head to spectate the matches as well. He's right, I've been competing for half of my life and I've never felt this nervous at all, so why now?
The next batch of players entered the waiting area and my feet-tapping got worse. "That's it, I can't stay here any longer." I jumped to my feet, looking around for any spare targets. When I found them, I chucked them to Donghyuck, who looked as horrified as he was confused.
"Follow me outside," I ordered before he could retort back, letting the gravity drag me down the stairs and out of the stadium. The summer breeze greeted me warmly as I inhaled its air deeply, finally feeling like I could breathe properly.
"Yah, am I your dog or something?" Donghyuck's haughty voice rang as the metal door slammed open. "You can't just order me around as you like."
"You still came out here," I replied blatantly, earning a resentful look from him. "I needed fresh air anyway. What do you want me to do?" He asked as he spun one of the targets around his finger, grabbing it swiftly after.
"I need to sweat it out, so help me with some target kicking, please," I added a little politeness to unofficially thank him for complying which honestly surprised me that he did. He sighed, holding the two targets in place and locking his wrists, signalling with a nod that I could start kicking.
One, two, three... I jumped right into the practice with full speed, matching my breathing with the pace of my kicking. With Donghyuck's steady grip, I didn't hesitate to throw in as many hard kicks as possible, feeling my anxiety drain out with each one as I grew lighter.
"Change." I gestured to switch legs in a huff, my heavy breathing disallowing me to say any further. One, two, three... another set of kicks eased my mind a little more.
One, two, three... my troubled thoughts were cleared one by one.
One, two, one, two... the worries surrounding me were being sweated out, evaporating into thin air.
"Break." I signalled, bending over as I panted heavily from the intense workout. I felt a force on my sleeve haul me upright again, and I placed my hands on my hips to prevent myself from slouching over.
"You're gonna be exhausted by the time you get in there," Donghyuck informed, his words flowing right through my tired mind that I wasn't able to catch it. I looked at him to repeat it, but he rolled his eyes instead. "No matter how much you train out here, it's not gonna get rid of your heebie-jeebies, so I rather you save that energy for the real thing."
"Gee, thanks for the advice," I replied sarcastically. Before either of us could continue, an announcement rang from inside the sports hall. "Calling all players from bouts 55 to 64, please report to the registration counter." Oh no.
"Already? No, it's too soon," I heaved out, the stress that I barely managed to get rid of came flooding back to me instantly. My heart started thumping hard against my chest until I couldn't breathe, causing me to take in short gasps of air to tackle it. Gosh, I'm so not ready for this.
Just then, a hand landed on my shoulder, squeezing it forcefully so it would relax. I followed the hand up to its owner's face, where Donghyuck was wearing a restless look.
"I'm only gonna say this once, so listen up," he said piercingly, pushing my body so I would face him. "If you really want to do well, use that fear to fuel your motivation; the mats will be ferocious if you go in undetermined. You've done this before, you can very well do it again."
The second announcement for the next bouts chimed again, but he ignored it and continued, "Visualise how you want the match to play out. Test the waters first before you charge in. Regulate your breathing and pace. I know you got this."
His last words of assurance somehow managed to ease my muscles as I acknowledged it with a reluctant nod, re-entering the sports hall with a twisted stomach.
That's right, I've got this.
---
"Chung! Hong!" The referee for my match hollered as my opponent and I made our way to the centre of the mats to test our sparring equipment. I finally recognised who she was.
Kim Hyunjin. A black belt from Imoogi Club. My opponent during the friendly match we had with them.
Somehow, the worries that were embedded in me lifted off once I found out I would be going against someone I knew, but Coach Lee's words from before I stepped into the mats sounded repeatedly in my head. Never underestimate an opponent.
I wondered why that phrase stuck to me so well, then I remembered. It was the exact line Coach Yoon had said before.
"Charyeot! Kyeongnet!" Our referee ordered as we exchanged greetings with each other, my mind filled with only one thing. I'm gonna win this.
"Sijak!"
Bouncing on the spot, neither of us moved an inch towards the other for a few seconds, until she charged in unexpectedly with a long turning kick that sent me sliding far away from her. Gosh, that was cowardly.
To redeem myself, I immediately countered with a short turning kick while sliding in, the previous move acting as a launching pad for the next kick. I turned my hips to allow my other leg to swing in with the momentum, impacting her padding with a loud thud. Instinctively, I looked at the scoreboard, a smile forming on my face.
Unfortunately, I didn't expect her next attack to come so quickly, her foot briefly brushing against my padding as I dodged it too late. Turning to the scoreboard again, I heaved a sigh when her kick wasn't recorded.
"It's okay! You can do it again!" The Imoogi coach cheered on Hyunjin, who looked rather flustered not at her failed attack, but at her near-hit attempt. I waited for Coach Lee to comment something as well, but the area behind me was quiet. Why wasn't he saying anything?
Another kick from my opponent sent me back into the match, and I shifted my focus to her fidgety movements. If I could remember correctly, she was quite jumpy during our friendly match as well, maybe I should aim for that. Right, I should make my own calls.
As if an engine had started in me, my legs moved mechanically with little thinking, my eyes narrowing on the blue padding in front of me. Feinting with my front foot, I charged in with a long turning kick followed by a slam, with only the first kick scoring. Dejected, I shifted back to my original position to plan my next move, but that allowed Hyunjin to come in with another kick.
I slid left immediately, causing her to land behind me and exposing her padding. There's your chance, Yoojin. But my legs refused to move unlike before. Why? I don't know either.
"Keuman!" The referee sliced his hand between us before we could recover, dismissing us to our respective coaches. I trudged back to Coach Lee, a little dispirited that the first round went by more awfully than I expected. And also at the fact that my coach didn't comment on one single thing during my match. Coach Yoon would've done that.
"Here." He handed me my water bottle as I took it bitterly, taking only a sip. He seemed to have noticed my discontent, but he didn't immediately point it out. Rather, he assured, "Don't worry, you made rather good judgements during the match and you should stick with that, but this is what I want you to look out for."
He cleared his throat as I perked up my ears. "Her back leg is the stronger one no matter which side is put behind, and she will most likely score with that leg too, take note of that. Her front-leg attacks are usually faked, so take that chance to charge in with a checked kick to knock her off balance before following up with another kick. Of course, don't forget to always guard your body in case of unexpected attacks."
He acted out as with his explanation, and I nodded with each advice he gave, trying to absorb all of it and save it into my memory. Maybe I shouldn't have doubted him.
The timer sounded as the referee signalled the second round. Coach Lee gave me one last piece of advice before I left, and those were the words that stuck to me like glue.
"Back thrust is one of your strongest kicks, don't be afraid to use it when the time is right. And remember, be confident, not hesitant."
He pushed me back to the mats before I could comprehend all of it, but the thought remained with me even after the match started. How did he know that kick was my special trait?
Hyunjin didn't give me time to pound on it any longer as she charged in with a checked kick. Ah, I see her coach had warned her about her habit. But as Coach Lee predicted, she followed up with her back leg and I barely dodged it. Okay, match first, thoughts later.
And so my engine was switched on again, but this time, I waited for her to attack first. Another thing Coach Lee had mentioned; she likes to attack first. Of course, to catch her off guard, I had to be the one to attack first, but I was still playing in the safe zone despite his words.
After her first attack had failed, my opponent went ahead with a few short turning kicks as I gradually moved back to avoid them. Shit, I need to counter before I get called for-
Beep! Too late.
"Hong, gamjeon!" The referee indicated loudly as I watched her points shoot up by one. I stole a glance at Coach Lee, who shook his head quickly. Don't be bothered by it, he meant, and I dismissed it too.
The match continued with me feeling more determined to earn back the point I just lost, so I charged in with a slamming kick in frustration. My foot brushed down the top of her headgear as it slid down upon impact, a series of cheers erupting around me with my successful attack. But I wasn't satisfied with just one head kick.
As she adjusted her headgear, I managed to score another turning kick to her body, earning another two points. With my current momentum, I swung the same leg in an attempt to score another two points, but she had already recovered by then and shifted back to avoid my kick.
Hyunjin charged in with a long turning kick and I countered with a checked kick to her body, resulting in her stumbling onto the ground before I could follow up. "Chung, gamjeon!" She picked herself up with gritted teeth and got back to her previous stance, raising her guard as she straightened both her arms in front of her.
When she didn't attack, I went in with a short turning kick to instigate a reaction, to which she countered with yet another long turning kick. Back thrust! My mind shouted, but somehow my body couldn't act accordingly. Be confident, not hesitant, Coach Lee's words chimed in my head again, but they were dismissed again when another of Hyunjin's kicks came in, with me barely avoiding it.
"Time!" I headed back to Coach Lee, utterly exhausted. He waited for me to cool down a little before starting his train of advice. "You're doing well, but remember to pace yourself carefully. I could see your energy draining nearing the end of that round, so don't be too reckless with your attacks." Well, that explains why I was feeling a little out of it back then.
"It's the last round, so give it your all. Breathe in, breathe out, focus. You can do it."
Breathe in, breathe out... that phrase struck a certain chord in my memory, but I guess it was quite a common term in this sport. Don't think about other things, I reminded myself as I shook it out of my head, just focus on this round. Still, I couldn't help but wonder if he was watching my match.
Beep! The timer jolted me back to reality as I headed back to the mats for the final round. I glanced at the scoreboard automatically; I was leading by quite a margin with the help of the previous round, but my depleting energy is telling me there was still a chance of losing. But I'm not letting this slip through my hands that easily.
"Start!"
I let my legs take the stage as they moved around the mats swiftly, not hesitating to throw in a few kicks, but there was only so much I could do before I started feeling heavy. I took deep breaths to regulate my heart rate, but none of that could hide my decreasing speed, and Hyunjin's coach saw that.
"She's tired! Now's your chance!"
Immediately, she charged in with a turning kick and I barely blocked it with my arm, the force sending me stumbling back a little. Pull yourself together, Yoojin, it's the last round. But I couldn't.
With another kick, I found myself closing in on her instinctively, allowing myself to inhale a few gasps of air. I locked her arms down while at it, but her struggling just made it harder to catch a breath. Eventually, she broke out of my embrace, scoring a kick to my padding before I could guard it. Oh no, this is going bad.
I glanced to the scoreboard again. A minute left, a 6-point difference, a penalty point for each of us. The tables could literally turn in a matter of seconds; I needed a final spurt.
I threw in a punch to her body before sticking to her again, preventing her from attacking further. With a push, she spun us around, causing me to face a stern-faced Coach Lee. But someone else at the corner of my eye brought my attention to the sidelines.
I know you got this.
His plain words of encouragement flashed through my head at the sight of him, but the referee's voice diverted me back to the match a second later. Once we were separated, I glanced towards the same area again, but he was nowhere to be seen. However, his words were still lodged in my mind, and that was what gave me a sudden rush of adrenaline.
30 seconds... I shot myself towards her with a checked kick, swinging my back leg up to her stomach, but she was quick enough to block it. I landed right in front of her, our bodies close to each other for a few seconds before I pushed her away, executing a monkey kick that slightly brushed against her padding. However, that didn't score as well.
15 seconds... This time, Hyunjin closed in again, securing her arms over mine as I felt a force tug me down, a light tap being felt at the back of my head. The sound of her score going up infuriated me so much that I shoved her forcefully, jumping up as I swivelled my body around in mid-air. Looking over my shoulder, I set my aim on the middle of her padding, thrusting my leg out as hard as I could until I felt the cushioned surface contact with my foot. Pak! I extended my limb fully and watched my opponent fall backwards, twirling on the spot until she regained her balance. But by then, the time was already up.
"Time!" The referee brought us to the middle of the mats as we took a bow, before raising his arm up in my direction. "Hong, seung!"
There was mild applause as I caught sight of some of Yeoljeong's members cheering from the spectator stand and I finally caught a glimpse of him again except this time, he had a clear smile on his face. I flashed a short smile back, but my exhaustion was getting the better of me as I trudge out of the mats behind Coach Lee.
"Good job, now rest before the finals," he praised before heading towards the waiting area, not allowing me to ask him the many questions I had. Now that the match was over, the thoughts that had been buried deep in my mind resurfaced, and I really needed an answer for all of them.
How did he know me so well?
---
Legend:
Gamjeon - penalty point given to the opponent when the player commits a penalty (in this case, Yoojin was avoiding the match by moving back for a period of time)
Seung - short for "seungri" which means win/won in Korean
by the way, was thinking of creating a chapter just for all these commands/words and a list of kicks commonly used as well, what do yall think of that? (probably will come out after the book ends cuz priorities)
anyway, thanks for the long wait and hope u guys like this!