HA3 14.2 - Painful Spar


    After finishing the basic menu and getting enough warm up, Shizuka immediately put her protection gear on while having big smile in her face. The last time she had spar against Hide, she ended up biting the mat like an idiot. After that, lots of thing happened and they couldn’t have another spar.


    And now, finally, the time to return the favor had arrived. After Takeo helped the two to check and fastened their protection gear, Shizuka and Hide immediately went to the fighting mat, and stood face to face about 3 meter apart.


    “Hide,” Shizuka calmly said. “Even though your physical capacity is only at the top of beginner level, you are definitely not an ordinary fighter. I will not hold myself back, or to be precise, I can’t afford to.”


    “Last time we had a spar you didn’t hold back at all,” Hide protested.


    “Yeah, but this time I won’t hesitate to go after your head.” Shizuka then raised her guard and took karate stance.


    “I see.” While raising his guards Hide calmly replied.


    Without warning, Shizuka then darted her body forward. It was smooth and lightning speed footwork. In a blink of one eye, she already arrived before Hide and launched a right front kick straight to his gut. This was the similar strike she used in the last spar, and it perfectly hit the home.


    Unfortunately, this time Hide managed to avoid it using a side step. Of course, Shizuka didn’t stop after her ambush fail. In a swift motion, her left leg or her pivoted leg took off to the air and formed a beautiful back spin kick straight to Hide’s head right after her front kick hit nothing.


    However, Hide once again managed to avoid it. He made a swift step back just before Shizuka’s heel landed on the side of his head. He also didn’t only take one step back, but fully creating a healthy distance of 4 meters from Shizuka.


    “Why did you move so far away?” Shizuka asked while slowly lowering her left leg. “You can try to hit me when one of my legs in the air you know.”


    ‘This sly chick,’ Hide muttered in amusement. “Staying in your range when you are in the middle of kicking cycles is very dangerous.”


    While giving Hide a deep glance Shizuka asked, “And why is that so?”


    “If you use correct cycles, your body momentum will increase your kicking speed several folds,” Hide casually said. “Simply put, if a moment ago I tried to hit you, your third kick, probably a side kick, will land in my face before my punch touch you.”


    “You are truly not an ordinary fighter,” Shizuka said before raising her guard one more time. “In 2-3 months you will start to become an annoying opponent, but before that, I will rack perfect KO from you as many as I can.”


    ‘Well, even right now, I’m already at the level that can give you lots of trouble, as long as you are on the offensive. Unfortunately, you can’t see that,’ Hide muttered while strengthening his resolved to give Shizuka a painful lesson. Then, he looked at Shizuka straight in the eyes. “Give your all so you won’t have any regret later.”


    “As you wish.”


    Wasting no time, Shizuka darted her body forward, closing the distance between herself and Hide in a blink of one eye. Then, she launched another front kick straight to Hide’s gut. This time, Hide avoided it by taking a back step, and in swift movement Shizuka chased him before launching a punch to his face.


    Paa!


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    Hide blocked Shizuka’s incoming fist by lowering his knees while raising his right arm vertically, and then he smoothly slid it until his fingers reached Shizuka’s wrist, gripped it as hard as he could, and pulled it down diagonally from her body axis.


    ‘Cheap trick,’ Shizuka muttered as she felt Hide pulled her arm down.


    She could clearly see Hide’s intention. He tried to shift her bodyweight to her front leg. After that, he would lift her body and then threw it or slammed it to the mat. If she tried to resist the pull, Hide would push her body weight to her rear leg.


    Fortunately, she had faced such situation thousands of times. Therefore, she knew how to handle it properly. She only had to lower her knees while maintaining her center of gravity in the middle, right between her legs. This stance would make her stood like a little castle, and could resist the pull in her arm with a proper amount of power.


    A thin smile instantly bloomed at Shizuka’s lips as she felt Hide had stopped his pull, but then she had a bad hunch as she found Hide also had thin smile in his lips.


    ‘Shit!’ Shizuka cursed as Hide suddenly made a light jump and pulled his knees as close as possible to his chest.


    After that, before Shizuka could react, a pair of heel already landed on her stomach and it sent her body to the air. Worst of all, Hide was still gripping her wrist. Therefore, when Hide’s body landed in the mat and gave her a yank, she instantly got slammed to the mat.


    BAAM!


    With a loud thud Shizuka’s body hit the mat. Then, before she could get up Hide already put her under rear triangle choke. He held her right arm using both hands, pulled it as straight as possible to his side, while his right leg was coiling around her neck and choking it. As for Hide’s left leg, it tightly pressed her left arm to the mat with his feet tucked in under her butt.


    It was a rear triangle choke that controlled both opponent arms. Hide used it once on Hayashida and the result was pretty good. However, unlike Hayashida who started learning how to counter grappling just several months ago, Shizuka had years of experienced of fighting grappler. She had done it since she was 10, right after she got her black belt.


    In a calm manner, she made a preparation to flip her body to break free from the choke. At the same time, Hide felt his choke was a bit loosening up as Shizuka raised her body to an arc while pushing him upward. He got a hunch if he let Shizuka to flip, she would break free from his choke.


    Wasting no time, he let a go his choke and raised his leg as high as possible, and then his heel hammering down straight to Shizuka’s stomach in full power.


    Baam!


    “Keuk!!”


    Throughout her martial carrier, this was the first time Shizuka received a full-power axe kick to her stomach, when she was laying in the matt. She did indeed have protection gear, but it still hurt like a hell.


    ‘This bastard! I will skin him aliv….’


    Shizuka muttered as Hide resumed his choke. This time, she had not strength to resist and a few second later she fainted with saliva dripping from corner of her mouth.


    “I guess I bag this round,” Hide said as he casually released his choke.


    Takeo then walked over to Hide and kneeled next to him. “Is she okay? Your axe kick to her stomach is really too savage.”


    “She is fine,” Hide said after checking Shizuka’s vital. “She is tougher than you think.”


    “I see.”


    “Help me move her out of fighting mat,” Hide said as he grabbed Shizuka’s right ankle.


    “Okay,” Takeo replied before grabbing Shizuka’s left ankle.


    Wasting no time, the two then dragged Shizuka’s ‘dead body’ out of the fighting mat.


    Then, Hide turned his gaze to Takeo. “Your turn.”


    “O-okay,” Takeo couldn’t help but got a chill in his nape as Hide smiled at him.


    ---


    Hide had promised to Takeo that he would teach him how to use baton stick. In today sparring, he fulfilled that promise.


    “Left, right, left, right,” Hide said as in moderate speed he made a series of slash toward Takeo, using rubber knife. “Good, that’s it.”


    “…”


    “Swing your baton to stop the knife, while moving your body away from the slashing direction.”


    “…”


    “Once the baton swing and the evasive step become your second nature, no knife user will be able to harm you as long as you have baton stick in your hand.”


    “How long before they become my second nature?” Takeo curiously asked while kept moving his feet and hand to avoid and block Hide’s slash.


    “I can’t tell for sure,” Hide honestly replied. “But, if you constantly have shadow baton stick training, let’s say two times a day, 20 minutes each, before the bath, in 4-5 months you will become a decent baton user.”


    “I see.”


    “And in 2-3 week, I guess you will be ready to have real baton sparing against me.”


    “Okay.”


    “For now, can you continue the baton stick training on your own? Shadow training while imagining my attack will do.”


    “I can, but what will you do? We still have lot of time for martial art training.”


    “I need to introduce Shizuka to rock climbing training.”


    “I see.”


    Hide then left Takeo to train on his own, and went to resurrect Shizuka from her ‘death’.


    *****