The more time Alex spent with her mother, the more she was learning from her. In addition to building her physical strength, Alex was building her strength of character as well. The young prodigy was quickly absorbing a lifetime of lessons from Mara.
“No, keep your hands like this,” Mara said, correcting Alex’s form. “Good, now try to hit me.”
Alex threw a punch and Mara ducked out of the way and tackled Alex to the ground. Alex secured Mara’s wrists, quickly pivoted her hips, and locked up an armbar, forcing Mara to tap.
“Excellent. Well done,” Mara applauded. “Never give up, there’s always a way out.”
Alex nodded.
“Let’s go again,” Mara said, as they touched hands, signifying the start of another sparring session. They began to circle each other, which caught the attention of some other inmates and prison guardians on the field, but everybody knew they were just practicing.
Mara lunged forward with an aggressive attack, but Alex was quick to react. She dropped down a level and wrapped her arms around both Mara’s legs and took her down with ease. From there, Alex swiftly moved into a full-mount position and playfully began raining down punches.
Just when Alex thought she was getting the better of her opponent, Mara reversed the position and trapped Alex’s arm behind her back forcing her to tap.
“See, you thought you had me and you let your guard down. If you do that in the real world, it could cost you more than a limb. Let’s go again.”
“Why don’t we call it a day? I’m kind of tired.”
“Alex, the reason why we drill over and over is so these moves become instinctual. When you’re in a fight, you find out what you’re really made of. You cannot think, you can only react. Now let’s go again.”
“Okay,” Alex huffed as she sluggishly picked herself up.
“This is how you build character, Alex,” Mara said as she circled around. “There are many skills in life one cannot simply learn by downloading them into their brain. There are no shortcuts to success. If you want something, you must work hard, be disciplined, and be focused.”
Mara charged forward unpredictably, but Alex quickly stepped out of harm’s way.
“You must train your body as well as your mind. This is how champions are made; this is how you become a great leader.”
Instead of being on the defensive, Alex launched an offensive attack of her own. She distracted Mara with a simple leg kick, then moved in for the finish. Alex got a hold of Mara and hip-tossed her to the ground. Within seconds, Alex had Mara wrapped up like a snake and secured a deep choke that restricted her mother’s breathing.
“Excellent job, Alex. See, all these lessons are paying off. You’re becoming a fierce warrior.”
“Thanks,” Alex said gleefully, feeling happy she was making her mother proud.
“We have about twenty minutes before yard time is over. Let’s finish it off with some laps then we’ll hit the showers.”
***
The next day Alex was in line at the cafeteria to receive her food. With her tray in tow, she navigated through the rows of tables and sat with her mother.
“Didn’t you get a piece of fruit?” Mara asked.
“They ran out.”
“Here, you can have mine.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“Please, I insist,” Mara said as she placed her orange on Alex’s tray.
“Thanks.”
The fruit had been in Alex’s possession only a few minutes before an arm reached across the table and snatched it off her tray. Alex looked up and saw the mountainous Olga standing smugly before her.
“Can I have that back please?” Alex asked with detectable disdain in her voice.
“No, I don’t think so. They ran out of fruit before I could get one. Luckily, you had an extra one for me.”
Through her training with Mara, Alex had developed a mental fortitude that could withstand the intimidation tactics and incitement from a bully like Olga.
Alex stood up and got right in Olga’s face. She had to tilt her head up in order to establish eye to eye contact.
“I won’t ask you again,” Alex said with enough bass in her voice to show she was not afraid.
“Yeah, and what if I don’t? You going to have your mommy fight your battle again?”
Ordinarily, Alex was unconfrontational, but since spending time with her mum, all she could hear was her mother’s lessons echo throughout her head, urging her to be strong.
Alex looked at Mara and without exchanging words, could tell what her mother was thinking. Just then, Olga shoved Alex. Olga took a step forward, as did Alex, and when they met, Alex quickly smashed Olga’s face with a slicing elbow. The attack completely caught Olga off guard and caused her to stumble backwards, clutching her bloody nose. Nobody had ever stood up to Olga before. Everyone in the cafeteria rose to their feet and formed a circle around the two.
‘To truly defeat your opponent, you must defeat their spirit. You must break their will and make them quit. Impose your will over theirs and make them afraid of you.’
“Come on, hit me,” Alex said.
Olga happily obliged with the offer and took her best swing. Being much faster, Alex telegraphed the punch and easily moved out of harm’s way. Alex retaliated and threw a quick jab that landed under the ribs. It was intended to be a liver shot, but Olga had a layer of fat that protected her.
‘Be unpredictable and ready for anything.’
Olga clenched her fist, cocked her shoulder back, and swung at Alex with all her might. Just as Olga’s sledgehammer fist was about to connect, Alex used her speed to duck out of the way and throw a right hook that slammed into the temple of her aggressor. Again, the punch bounced off Olga, not inflicting the intended damage. It did more to humiliate Olga than anything as she was allowing her opponent to get the better of her.
Just when Alex thought she was getting the better of the exchange, one of Olga’s minions emerged from the crowd and tackled Alex to the ground. The unexpected attack completely blindsided Alex.
‘When you’re under duress, you must rely on your instincts. Only then can you determine what kind of person you are and know what you’re made of. Are you a person with strong character, or are your instincts to give up?’
Alex rose back to her feet, but could still hear the voice of her mother in her head. By now, two more of Olga’s friends had stepped in, making the fight even that much more unfair. Nevertheless, Alex stood her ground. Mara deliberately held back and did not get involved. She knew Alex could not only handle herself in this situation, but she would ultimately grow from the experience. To intervene would rob her of that opportunity to build character and become better.
‘You cannot think, you must only react.’
The two women came at Alex at once, but she was able to fend them off with a flurry of punches and evasive movements. She danced around the two women and bloodied up their faces with crisp boxing, brutal knees, and elbow strikes. The spectacular combination awed the crowd and had everyone chanting Alex’s name. It was clear the two women were outmatched and had had enough.
With frustration mounting, Olga shoved her friends aside and charged forward with an ogre-like punch. It was a last-ditch effort, but it seemed to have worked. Olga caught Alex by surprise with a heavy-handed right hook that landed cleanly on Alex’s jaw. Alex went down and was completely disorientated. She had no idea what had hit her, but assumed it was a sack of bricks.
‘Are you going to turtle up and go to your happy place, or will you stand your ground and fight?’
The cobwebs in Alex’s head began to clear as she searched for her wits.
‘Never give up, there’s always a way out.’
Before she fully regained her composure, Alex was back on her feet, facing down her opponent. She was seeing stars and could barely hear the faint echo from the crowd. Suddenly, the lights came on in Alex’s head and the roar of the crowd filled her ears.
Olga’s size was actually a detriment since her large body required much more oxygen to fuel it. Even from the short exchange, Olga was exhausted. Her movements were laboured and sluggish, and her reaction time was seriously impaired as well. With her clothes drenched in sweat, Olga was breathing heavily.
Alex was not at one hundred percent, but was still light on her feet. She feinted as if she was going for a takedown, which caused Olga to drop her hands. It was just enough time and created the perfect opening for Alex to land an impressive spinning wheel kick to the side of Olga’s head. This time, the impact did the intended damage.
Like a tree that was about to topple, Olga was almost in a state of weightlessness. Still on her feet, her eyes rolled back into her head as she was completely knocked unconscious. When the burly woman began to fall, it was almost as if she was falling in slow motion. The whole crowd watched on in shock. Mouths were agape and people adorned expressions of disbelief. Olga hit the ground with a thud and her head bounced off the cement floor.
As she lay motionless, the crowd went wild with cheers. Alex could not help but look over at her mum. The look on Alex’s face nearly broke her mother’s heart. It was as if she was saying, ‘Hey mum, I did it.’ The gleaming pride on Mara’s face meant the world to Alex. Mara was building her daughter into a confident leader who triumphed in adversity.
Alex looked down at her feet and saw her orange on the floor. She bent down, picked it up, and returned to her lunch with her mother.