Chapter-9 Knuckle Up!
Mad Dog MMA Gym, Downtown Fairhaven.
5:00 PM
It was a busy day just as any other at Mad Dog MMA, many of its fighters trained tirelessly. Coach Hector Alvarez was standing next to one of his fighters as the latter was pounding on a heavy bag.
"Keep that guard up" said Hector to his fighter, the fighter nodded and blasted the bag. Hector was wearing a pair of gray sweat pants and a black hoodie with his long black hair tied with a pony tail. Most of the gym's clientele was composed by males in their 20's with hopes of one day making it big, it hardly had females. But to Hector's surprise, the young woman that called him early in the morning made it right on time as she saw her walking in thru the main gate. She was wearing a black mini skirt, a low cut white t-shirt and a leather jacket with her hair loose, she was also carrying a duffle bag.
"Just keep practicing the technique….. Ok" Hector told his fighter before he headed to the front to greet his potential new fighter.
"This must be the place" Izumi said to herself as she took a good look at the gym, it brought some memories from her own martial arts training. She was trained in Wushu, Bajinquan and Judo by her mother, Kiyomi Nishimura. Way before getting married, Kiyomi learned her family's style of Judo and then traveled thru China and learned Wushu and Bajinquan. It was obvious that she taught these styles to Izumi so she would be able to defend herself if there was a situation that warranted it.
"You must be Izumi Nishi… murrrr" Hector had troubles pronouncing "Nishimura"
"Nishimura" Izumi said as she extended her hand to shake Hector's, she was using her mother's maiden name for her alias.
"Right. Nishimura" said Hector as he shook Izumi's hand.
"And you must be Hector Alvarez" said Izumi.
"Yeah… let me show you around" Hector said.
Izumi and Hector walked towards where the ring and the cage were. There were a bunch of fighters sparring, they were getting ready for upcoming matches.
"You must have a lot of professional fighters" said Izumi.
"Well, they're getting ready to take that step" Hector replied.
Izumi tried to scan to see if there was anything suspicious. Nothing was out of the ordinary.
"Have you trained before?" Hector asked.
"No… that's why I wanna train because my ex has problems understanding the meaning of the word no" Izumi replied.
"Learning how to fight helps better than handing them a dictionary with the definition of no" Hector said.
"I like your gym… how much is it for lessons?" Izumi asked.
"Well first let's see how you like it and then we'll talk money… but don't worry. We won't ask an arm and a leg" Hector said.
"Ok…. Where's your dressing room?" Izumi asked.
"Upstairs" Hector pointed.
"Thank you" Izumi walked towards the dressing room.
Another fighter approached Hector
"Who's the hottie?" the fighter asked.
"Don't even think about it" Hector replied.
Inside the dressing room, Izumi changed clothes. She put on a pair of black leggings, gray sneakers, a purple sports bra and a bandana covering her head. After changing clothes, she walked towards one of the sinks and took a long look at herself in the mirror. "I have to pretend I don't know jack about fighting"
After ten minutes, Izumi came out of the dressing room.
"Ready for your first lesson?" Hector asked.
"Yes" Izumi replied.
They walked towards an empty area close to the heavy bags.
"Ok… the first strikes you need to learn are the jab and cross" Hector held a pair of Thai pads and showed the strikes.
"Ok…. Lemmie try" Izumi tried her best to make her strikes look as uncoordinated as possible.
"That's a good start… just keep your guard up" Hector said.
"Have you trained anyone fighting professionally? I don't follow mixed martial arts that much" Izumi kept punching the pads.
"I guess you haven't heard of our prodigy Manny" Hector said, Izumi shook her head.
"He was getting ready for his first match with one of the biggest promotions but he had an accident yesterday and he's in the hospital. In fact I'll pay him a visit after we're done" Hector said.
"I see…" Izumi replied.
After a while of hitting pads, Hector took Izumi to where the heavy bags were and she practiced the techniques on the bag.
"I'll be back" said Hector before he headed to his office.
Izumi kept punching the bag and trying to see anything out of place.
Suddenly a group of five thugs entered the gym led by a man in his late 30's wearing a gray business suit.
"These are the guys that got beat by Manny a few days ago" said one fighter.
Hector walked out of his office and saw the pack of thugs, he then walked to confront them.
"What a hell do you want?" said Hector to the man in the gray suit.
"You saw what happened to your boy for not cooperating…. We're here to deliver a message for when he wakes up from his coma" said the man.
"Like hell we're gonna let you do that" said a fighter standing next to Hector.
"Don't worry coach… we got your back" said another fighter, in fact many fighters started to gather around.
"So that's how you plan to play" said the man.
"You and your boys can get your asses beat or just run like bitches" said the fighter.
"Shura… could you step in here for a second?" The man in suit said.
Another man came thru the front gate, he had a red robe with a hood covering his face. He stood right next to the thugs. He stood 5'7.
"Who the hell is he?" Hector asked.
"He's Shura Kamnan, a fighter from Thailand. He's a former Muay Thai champion and could give your boys a hell of a workout" said the man.
"Ok… I'll kick his ass" said one fighter.
"How about five of you against him… if you win then we'll leave and never come back" said the man.
Five fighters got inside the cage with Shura. The latter removed his robe, he was wearing red Muay Thai trunks. He had a Mohawk with a long pony tail on the back of his head.
As soon as the door to the cage closed, Shura with blinding speed unleashed his assault on the three amateur fighters. The first fighter caught a flying knee, the next fighter got a side kick to the ribs followed by a flying elbow to the face. The third fighter tried a single leg take down but hit with the elbow several times. The fourth fighter tried a roundhouse kick but got caught with a clinch and got kneed several times too. The last fighter tried to throw a combination of punches and kicks but ended up getting a low roundhouse kick to the knee which ended breaking it. With all five fighters defeated, Shura climbed down from the cage.
"Too bad Manny is in a coma…. Shura would've had fun with him" said the man.
Before Shura could walk out of the multitude of remaining fighters, he got kicked on his mid-section with a side kick. He looked up and it was none other than Izumi.
Shura unfazed, smiled at the young woman who just kicked him.
"You're looking for fun… So am I" said Izumi.
Hector was in shock, the girl who asked for lessons was willing to fight the man who beat five of his fighters. Izumi got in her fighting stance from her own blend of Wushu and Bajinquan.
People started to spread out to make room for the next fight.
"Time to get crushed, little girl" said Shura in Thai.
"I guess your dictionary didn't make it thru customs" Izumi taunted.
Shura rushed at Izumi with a flying knee aimed at her head which she side stepped and as soon as he landed, Izumi nailed him with a spinning back kick to his face. Shura retaliated with an elbow to Izumi's face but she blocked it and countered with an elbow of her own to his mid-section. Then Izumi performed a Judo throw which caused Shura to land flat on his back.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… be a good boy and stay down" Izumi taunted.
Shura slammed his fist on the ground in frustration and then he got back on his feet.
"Maybe we shoulda brought that Capoeira expert, Boss" said one thug to the man in suit.
"Where did you find this girl, coach" said one of the defeated fighters to Hector.
"She said she didn't know anything about fighting…. If that isn't fighting then I don't know what is" Hector replied.
Shura slowly got close to Izumi, he did his best to analyze her so he could find an opening. Izumi without hesitation ran at him and executed a flying side kick which landed on his head. This made Shura step back. Izumi grabbed one of Shura's arms and opened his guard and threw a few punches to his face, then she attacked with a roundhouse kick to the face but Shura intercepted her kick and swept her. Izumi fell to the ground flat on her back. Shura furiously tried to stomp on Izumi but she rolled to the side and swept Shura as well. Izumi got back on her feet and waited for Shura to get back up. As soon as he did, Izumi executed a back flip kick which caused Shura to get dazed.
"Shura, you useless fuck!" yelled the man in the gray suit.
Shura made one last attempt to rush at Izumi, but she ended up stepping forward with an elbow to the mid-section. That move was a trademark of Bajinquan. Finally Izumi delivered the finishing blow via jumping spinning heel kick. Shura was knocked out.
All the fighter were amazed to see a 5'5 female make quick work of an experienced fighter. Izumi yawned as she stretched her arms up, now it was time to get some answers out of those men.
"I believe this is where you leave and never come back" said Hector.
Izumi walked towards the man in gray suit, the latter felt a rush of fear. Izumi grabbed the man by the tie "Who are you working for?"
"I don't know what you're talking about?" said the man.
"I'm a bit hungry and your boy Shura was just the appetizer…. You'll be the main course" Izumi said.
"He works for the Di Bortoli family" said Hector as he got close to Izumi.
"Do you happen to know about a murder two years ago in Bayview?" Izumi continued to interrogate the man.
"Mr. Armatti… you should answer the girl's question" said Hector.
"Look… I don't know about the hits but I can tell you who does" said Leo Armatti, the man in the suit.
"Who?" Izumi asked.
"Dario Amato, he owns this night club called Diamond Heaven…. That's where you can find him" said Leo.
"Good boy… now get out of here" Izumi let go of Leo.
"Let's get out of here" said Leo as he and his pack of thugs made their way out.
"What's going on?" Hector asked as he looked at Izumi.
"I'm sorry but is there somewhere private where we can talk?" Izumi asked.
"Look, I gotta take Luke to the hospital. As you can see, their guy broke his knee and I gotta check on Manny" said Hector.
"I'll call an ambulance… and trust me…. I want to help Manny" said Izumi.
Hector was silent.
"I'm a cop and I want to bring these thugs to justice" Izumi knelt down to help the injured Luke get up.
"Why didn't you arrest those guys just now" Hector asked.
"They're small fishes… the last thing we need is telling the big fish I'm onto them" Izumi replied.
"Look, Izumi. You're an amazing fighter but you need to explain a lot of things" said Hector, he was as confused as anyone in the gym. Izumi on the other hand, was able to put another piece on the puzzle.
The Junkie's notes: I got my inspiration from watching a lot of kung fu films. Thanks to all the people that are following this story. And thanks for being patient for waiting on upcoming chapters. One Love!