Chapter 24

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door, but my resolve was left in vain. As I entered the gym, I found out I was the only one here.

"Sigh." Guess I came too early.

Nevertheless, my thoughts have changed as I peeked at the things that were placed in this room.

It was a great chance to look at everything more carefully. I left my bag on a bench that was placed near the door. The room that this gym occupied wasn't as small as I thought at first.

Almost half of this room was occupied by a ring and a cage. I could understand the cage. This gym belonged to an MMA team, after all. Nevertheless, I couldn't think of why the ring was here. And it certainly looked a little bit different than when I caught a glimpse of boxing matches. There was a small ladder near the pillar with turnbuckles. I couldn't help my curiosity and went up. I wanted to stand inside the ring, and when I took the top rope in my hand, I felt how stiff it was.

Rubbing it slightly, I stepped inside between the third and the second rope, and I noticed the difference between the ring and solid ground immediately. It was a strange feeling like I was walking over something slightly bouncy. After taking a few steps, I felt a bit wobbly. I couldn't wrap my head around this. Why was it here?

After walking in the ring to my heart's content, I stepped down. The cage didn't incite such feelings in me, as it looked exactly like the ones I saw on TV in my previous life. The thing that was in the middle was the same. I've seen and even used it already, a bunch of exercise equipment.

Soon, my gaze moved to the other side of this gym. Where the mats were laid down on the floor. There were a lot of punching bags and some sort of mannequins and even things I've never seen before.

And when I thought of the biggest punching bag that was hanging from the ceiling, I couldn't help myself but come closer. I traced the bag and lightly slapped it. It gave me a strange feeling.

I was alternating my gaze from the bag to my hand. I had this urge in me to punch it and see what would happen. And just when I raised my hand, I heard a door opening.

I quickly turned around. The one who entered was naturally Jessie.

"Hello," I said my greeting, which caused her to look at me and make a surprised face.

"Hi, I didn't think you would come here so early," She scratched her head and started stretching, "I'm a little bit under the weather, so don't mind me if I'm slightly stiff today." She yawned.

"No problem." It was indeed getting colder outside. Fortunately, this gym, just like any other room in this building, was being heated.

As I walked closer, I noticed that it was the first time she let her hair down. I've already got used to seeing Jessie with some kind of a ponytail. Seeing her like this gave her a fresh look. It almost looked like a stylish haircut if only she didn’t scratch her head, ruining this feeling. She wore a simple hoodie on top, but the thing on her bottom almost glued my eyes to that place. Black and white dolphin shorts and some sort of black nylon leggings, the way it accentuated her hips and legs made it really hard for me to not ogle.

Jessie was pretty before, but right now, I couldn't help but feel that she was even more beautiful. I didn't know if it was because of the thing that happened with Violetta, but I felt that I was much more conscious of females than before.

"Let me take a look at what you bought."

"Sure." her demand made me snap out of my thinking.

As I went to my bag, I took out neatly folded clothes, gloves, mouthguard, hand wraps, and other stuff.

She nodded approvingly, "Good. Now go and change into your form."

As I slowly put everything back, I took my clothes and went into one of the small changing rooms. Looking down at the training uniform once again, I felt rather shy. Because it consisted of tight-fitting, small shorts that were made of something like a combination of nylon and cotton. And for my upper body, I had a tank top made of the same material.

Sighing, I quickly put it on and looked at a small mirror. In a different situation, I would probably be amazed by how good this body condition was. Buffed, chiseled muscles with good proportions. I bet if I trained enough, I could've won a few bodybuilding competitions.

But I wasn't alone, nor was I a bodybuilder. I was going to train with a girl. I felt shy, and the thing that caused this was a slight bulge on the front of my shorts.

"Even if it's not hard, it's just too big," I shook my head. I've never thought that there would come a moment in my life that I would complain that my member is too big. Still, I should eventually get over it.

Finally leaving the changing room, I saw Jessie once again. She also changed her clothes, but it wasn't as radical as mine. She simply gathered her hair in a miniature bun on top of her head and took off her hoodie. Under her hoodie was a tank top that was resembling mine. With a great effort, I tore my eyes from her chest. I noticed that she was barefooted.

"Sit down." She held a few rolls of hand wraps.

"Huh?" I didn't quite get why she said to me to sit.

"Sit down on the bench."

As I abided by her order, I sat down, but I wasn't mentally prepared for what would happen next.

"Take off your shoes," Jessie said as she sat down near my legs.

I couldn't help but remember how a certain woman was in a matching position. However, I immediately shook this thought off after my gaze landed on my crotch. I've already made more dubious glances than I should. I must control myself.

I quickly took my shoes off and looked up.

"Look closely at what I do. From now on, you would mainly do it by yourself," she lightly touched my calf to gain my attention.

"Hm?" I looked down.

She carefully took my foot and then started slowly wrapping a gauze over my foot. "To protect you from the most simple injuries, you should always wrap your feet and hands," after she got done with the left foot, she took the right foot in her hands, "Remember how I wrap it."

It didn't even take a few minutes before my feet had a wrapping around them.

"Take a few steps and see if it hinders you in any way," she sat on the bench.

I walked for a few seconds but found nothing abnormal, "Why don't we just use special boots?"

"In MMA, we fight barefooted. So to gradually get used to it, you will start with a wrap. It would also help your body to gradually adjust to the strain your ligaments will feel."

I nodded.

"Now get back, and I will wrap your hands." She took the hand wraps I bought. "This time, you should participate in this more. As the hand wraps are required to be put under the gloves, it should fit your hand perfectly."

I sat down near her and carefully looked at the way she wrapped my hands, and every time I felt it was too loose or too tight, I would tell her. It took a little bit more time, but finally, I was ready. Looking at my hands, they grew bulkier due to the wrappings, but still not as bad as I saw on the internet.

"Should I put the gloves on?"

"No," she shook her head, "First, let's work with just the wrapping and see what you can do."

My eyes once again accidentally peeked into her cleavage. I quickly shook my head up and down so she wouldn’t notice this.

We went to the punching bag, the one I touched before.

"Oh, right," suddenly she turned around, "I forgot to ask you about the most important thing."

Seeing how serious her face was and how the last vestiges of her drowsiness were leaving her face, I felt how my back grew taut.

"Who do you think wins a fight?"

Who wins a fight? It was a strange question. "The guy…" I looked at Jessie's somber face, "Or the girl who is stronger." I thought it was the most correct answer.

"What do you mean by stronger?" We were already standing on mats, but she sat down.

I followed her example and sat down as well. "I mean the one who is stronger physically. No?"

She shook her head lightly, "And what if the fighters are equally strong?" She crossed her arm, emphasizing her chest, but this time it didn't attract my attention.

I was asked a tricky question. Who is stronger if the fighters have equal strength? I racked my brain. As I looked around, the answer came to my mind by itself.

"The one with the better technique?"

Jessie shook her head again, "I guess your meaning of technique is different from mine, but even if it was the same, it's the wrong answer."

I was exasperated by her answer. Wrong? Why would it be wrong?

"I will give you one last try." I took a peek at her. She wasn't angry, that's good.

As I thought for a few minutes, I tried to come up with an appropriate answer. I felt how this question probably was the one that forced me to think creatively, and that's always been my weak spot.

"Then maybe it's something like a fighting spirit or a warrior's heart? I don't know, stuff like that?" I shrugged. The only thing that was left was something that I saw in shounen mangas.

"Phew, I actually didn't think you would answer correctly, but it doesn’t matter, as you are an amateur," she gave me a wry smile, "Of course, every fighter has a different mindset, and trying to win would help you. You can perform any fighting technique flawlessly and be a muscle monster at the same time. But, this isn't the thing that wins a fight." Somewhere in the middle of her speech, she stood up and started walking back and forth.

"Everyone leaves a very important thing out of the equation, the most important quality you must possess to win fights…" she suddenly stopped and turned around on her toes. "Is this!" she tapped her temple.

"Head?" I couldn't understand how your head could help you win a fight.

She snorted, "Not head but your brain, your mind, your intellect." With the knuckle of her fist, she knocked on the top of my head.

I've lost track of what was going on. How can a smartass defeat a thug? But Jessie came to my help with her explanation.

"A fighter's IQ." she harrumphed when she saw me listening to her with all my attention. "That's the most important thing. It is what you use when you decide what to do in a fight. What technique you should use while analyzing your opponent's weakness, all while you try to confuse him and mislead him with your actions as he does the same to you. It doesn’t matter how strong your opponent is. A fighter who thinks will always defeat a blockhead that only has his muscles to rely upon."

"So being smart helps?"

"Being smart isn't the most important thing. The ability to make quick judgment calls. The ability to play mind games with your opponents while holding all the possibilities of your own and your opponent's next action. Predicting it and using it to your advantage. That's what you should do, and that's what leads you to victory."

I couldn't stop myself from being in awe of her smooth speech.

"After training for some time, you would start feeling it." she finally let her face relax and smiled.

"I don't think I understood all the things you said, but I do want to learn this." I stood up and rubbed my hands. I felt how Jessie's speech made me excited. Even if wasn't right, for the first time in my life, I felt that fighting was something more than a dumb swinging of arms. "Where do we start?"

"We will start with one of the most crucial techniques." She walked towards the punching bag and beckoned me with her index finger. As I stood on her side, she continued, "Many people think that this is the epitome and the most basic yet important foundation of the fighter's IQ."

She jumped lightly and started warming up. "It's mostly used as a beginning of a further combination. It helps you to check the range, to probe your opponent, to keep him at a distance."

She shook her hand and stood in some kind of a stance. "Now, watch carefully. At first, I would show it at full speed, and then I would show it to you once again at a slower speed, so you could look at all the nuances."

I nodded and gulped. Finally, when I was going to start my training, I felt my body trembling from excitement.

"Hup."

And then, with Jessie's low shout, I saw the ultimate technique. And with this, my excitement died down. I felt like I was tricked by Jessie.

"Isn't it just a simple straight punch?!"