"Differential Diagnosis"

???Fight!??? The referee yelled, just seconds before a flurry of kicks and punches swarmed at me. With a quick sidestep and deflection, his initial attacks missed, leaving him exposed to several quick and powerful kicks to the ribs.

Adjusting his stance to better protect his freshly sore ribs, he rushed at me with another series of? attacks. A straight kick to his hip canceled his forward momentum and left him temporarily stunned as he attempted to regain his balance.

This was it, the opening I was waiting for! With the addition of a slight spin on my already devastating side-kick, I practically doubled the force behind it. The powerful kick landed squarely on the center of his chest and knocked my opponent to the ground. I had won this round!

As we took our places for round two, I noticed my opponent’s new stance. It wasn???t any of the traditional stances we learned in class, this was more of a boxer???s stance. No matter, should the last round be any indication, I???ve got this match won.

???Fight!??? A straight punch, aimed right at my face, was deflected just in time. However, my chin is treated to a devastating uppercut. What followed immediately after, was a series of blurry fists which I blocked and redirected as best I could.

Fast as I was back then, I simply wasn???t able to block them all.? My forearms took a pounding as I struggled to fend him off and gain some distance between us.? Obviously, he wasn???t just mimicking a boxing stance, he knew how to use it!

That stance was ideal for protecting his sides from my horizontal kicks and covered his chest from my straight kicks. Fortunately, the stance is perfect for strong, short range punches, but leaves his kicks slow and relatively underpowered. I tried to exploit that weakness by keeping a constant distance between us, using my longer legs to strike from afar.? Unfortunately, my attacks were promptly blocked and painfully countered time after time. Having reached a temporary standstill, we slowly circled the ring as we both looked for an opening to exploit.

My lower jaw was aching more and more with every passing minute, and mentally going over the moments before his uppercut inspired my new strategy.

I lunged at my opponent and executed several punch and kick combinations . As expected, he blocked everything I threw at him with his lower forearm, momentarily leaving his face exposed. A quick and unexpected vertical jump kick connected with the lower part of his jaw, much like his uppercut did to me earlier, causing his head to tilt back and his arms to rise up high to protect his face from further direct attack.? Another quick spin, followed by a jump, turned my follow up attack into a devastating tornado kick landing on the left side of his unprotected head. My opponent’s arms went limp as he dropped to the floor beaten.

I knew what I’d be doing later that night, celebrating my victory with my favorite bartender…

1. Dani says:

   April 21, 2009 at 9:53 am

   Way to kick some ass! The celebration is always the best part…

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2. Justin says:

   April 21, 2009 at 10:58 am

   Very nicely written. I could feel the battle as I read it. The struggle to find an open opportunity. Thank you for taking me on this journey. And good job kickin ass and takin names! (I’m here to chew bubble gum and kick some ass and I’m all out of bubble gum).

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3. floreta says:

   April 21, 2009 at 12:51 pm

   dang. hot.
   well, this is the kind of thing i’m totally wussy about when it comes to martial arts. not looking forward to getting beat up.

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4. ChinkyGirLMeL says:

   April 22, 2009 at 4:58 am

   Woohoo… Not really interested in watching stuff like that, I just try to look away. But gosh, the way you described the fight, I feel as though I’m right there watching it. But only thing is I have no idea what the other guy looked like so here I am picturing stick figures fighting. lols…but anyhow… I bet you had a great celebration afterwards. =) Did she get to watch the fight?

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5. ScoMan says:

   April 22, 2009 at 5:49 am

   Exciting to read.

   Makes me wish I’d taken up martial arts instead of football. Not that plenty of people didn’t get hurt playing football =p

   These days though the most atheletic I get is walking to work.

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6. VoteAudrey says:

   April 22, 2009 at 7:31 am

   Great description, quite vivid!

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7. andhari says:

   April 22, 2009 at 1:32 pm

   Why is it the last sentence that always keeps me going?

   I’m a sucker for this kinda ending
   Fighters are hottt!!!

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8. TOPolk says:

   April 23, 2009 at 12:48 am

   I’m completely off topic from your story, but I just wanted to comment on the redesign here. I dig it, especially your Mi..Avatar you’ve got over there.

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9. Mr Laz says:

   April 23, 2009 at 9:13 am

   I have sparred against Omega … it is quite a painful experience, left me bruised — but fun at the same time. I do feel sorry for the person at the opposite end of his strikes in a non-training spar.

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10. “Differential Diagnosis” » “I’m at the Bar With Her” says:

    April 23, 2009 at 10:09 am

    [...] recent successful fight debut against an opponent I had never seen or trained with before,  showed me how effective using proper [...]

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11. unbreakable says:

    April 28, 2009 at 9:06 am

    lol your the man, i have seen that your opponents have went from total defeat to offering some resistance and also kicking your ass to the curb, but still your the victor. men i need you to teach me how to kick some ass, because you seem to be the best, one more thing i seen you went from calling the people at the bar names to actually gaining membership to the bar. lol

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12. “Differential Diagnosis” » Tainted Blue says:

    April 29, 2009 at 10:17 am

    [...] to take part in a belt exam! Months of preparation, coupled with an outstanding performance at my fight debut had finally earned me the right to test for the next belt rank; today I was going to earn my blue [...]

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