Chapter 91: 91
“We’ve been drinking the mineral water from the places that we scavenged from and there’s still a lot. The water we use for other necessities is from the dams. We have a filtration system here in case you’re worried and we could always boil them or use our purifying tablets before we drink them.” I explained.
“You’re always ready you boy scout.” she replied.
Everyone agreed to the plan and I gathered a group at the gym again to teach hand-to-hand fighting.
Those who joined are Chris, Russel, Jay, Bing, Jared, Mark, Dong, Alex, Jonathan and Marco.
Kaley didn’t join the class since she was already being taught personally by Tatiana. However, the both of them are watching from the side.
I brought out gloves and hand-wraps for the group to put on.
“Sky, are we learning boxing today?” Chris said as his eyes lit up.
“Yeah, teach the others how to use those hand-wraps too yeah?” I said.
“Why boxing though? Isn’t it dangerous to punch them in the face?” Jay asked.
“Well yes, but it’s better than nothing eh? Besides this could also help if we encounter other people or in cases where we’re disarmed and we don’t have a weapon at hand. Boxing isn’t just about punching someone, it teaches footwork, reading an opponent’s movement, dodging etc.” I explained.
“Okay, everybody stand up and put your fists up at a bit below eye-level. Place your dominant hand behind while the other in front. Do it with your feet as well while your dominant arm is slightly lower than the other one.” I added.
“If you’re right-handed, it would be called the orthodox stance and a southpaw if you use the other. There are rare cases of ambidextrous people that could use both but that’s another topic for another lesson. But if you by chance are ambidextrous, tell me but use a stance you’re most comfortable for now.” I explained.
I taught them the different types of punches after and we coded each one by numbers. In numerical order, it is Jab, Straight, Left Hook, Right Hook, Left Upper and Right Upper.
We did a few combinations so they would remember through their bodies. I corrected some of them with their form as they punch and after that we headed to the punching bags.
“We only have five here, so take three minutes each and switch with the others holding it for you. However, one from the audience will be holding it since we’ll be on the mitts. Tatiana, can you set a timer please?” I said as I slammed the mitts together.
*bam* *bam*
I called Chris over and we started. He never ran out of breath in the 5-minute session but the problem still lies in his footwork. He produced crisp sounds with his jabs and you barely notice the shoulder moving. His straight is a bit lacking since when he steps up, his rhythm changes and his positioning gets worse.
I called Russel next and he kept both his hands close to his chin and he started to weave left and right.
“Oh boy.” I said to myself.
“Russel don’t give me that figure eight movement, you can’t use that version of that technique in real life! It’s a different version from what you see in the animations!” I said as I shook my head.
“It’s cool though.” he replied.
“Hah! Just do it normally first will you?” I said as I positioned the gloves for where he should hit it.
He kept on doing what he wants but his punches definitely have power in them.
Jared and Alex are much taller than me so their punches are going at an angle lower. I adjusted by raising my hands a bit more so they would have targets that are the same height as them.
We made a full rotation thrice with everyone and I noticed that a few were out of breath.
I let them rest and I said, “Okay, that sums up our lesson for today. We’ll go light for now and we increase the load as we go on. Chris jogs everyday and it helped him a lot. If you didn’t notice, he was never out of breath the whole time. Stamina is very important and we need to train it everyday. That’s it for now and we’ll continue this in a few days you all could always use the gym to practice what you learn. Any questions?”
“Umm, can I have a go with you again?” Chris said as everyone looked at him.
A snort was heard a few people behind him.
“You? You’re barely an a.d.u.l.t, why don’t you practice a bit more eh?” I heard Bing talking his mouth off.
Charlotte was fuming at the side but she stopped when she saw me.
“You’re really a masochist eh?” I said to myself.
I saw Chris frown and he stood up.
“Huh? Want to have a go with me then?” Bing said while he stood up as well.
“Bullying a kid now are we? Want to get knocked out again?” Tatiana said as she hopped off the stationary bicycle.
Like a wet puppy, Bing shrinks down on the mat while Jay consoles him by patting his back.
Chris was still standing but he’s looking at me.
“You sure? I’d be punching as well.” I said with a grin.
He nodded and they gave us space. I threw him a headguard and he frowned when he saw that I’m not wearing one.
“You’re not wearing one?” he asked.
“Yeah, any problem?” I replied with a smirk.
“…” he was quiet.
“He’s a good kid but he always wanted to be treated the same.” I concluded in my head.
Tatiana signaled and Chris dashed towards me. He threw a few combinations and I kept on stepping towards his left side. He’s struggling to connect since he’s in the orthodox stance and he always plant his feet on the ground after he closes in.
“C’mon, notice your weak point. I can’t spoon-feed everything.” I said in my head.
He kept on throwing punches and it starts to slow down. When Tatiana said that it’s the last 10 seconds, I whispered.
“Guard.” I said in a cold tone.
*bam* *BAM*
I threw a quick one-two when he raised both of his hands on his head. The first jab was guarded successfully but the right straight threw his head back through the guard. He fell on his butt and he struggled to get up.
Some of the audience winced from the sound made and Charlotte threw a worried expression at Chris.
“Time.” Tatiana said.
The gym was silent while Charlotte ran towards Chris.
“Damn! That was awesome! It hurts though…” Chris shouted then he winced.
I saw his nose bleeding but he was smiling and there was a fire in his eyes. We touched gloves after and I said, “You good? Don’t stand up quickly yeah?”
He nodded while Charlotte wiped his nose with a handkerchief.
“Okay, who else wants to spar?” I said to the group.
“…” the group.
I saw a hand slowly rising up and I saw it was Bing’s hand.
“Hahaha! Watch kid, I’ll show you how it’s done! I won’t wear headgear too!” He exclaimed.
“Yup, definitely a masochist.” I said in my head.
Tatiana set the timer and she waved her hand down with a smirk.
He also rushed towards me with his big body but there was no technique whatsoever. It’s a telegraphed punch after telegraphed punch. He never remembered the lessons, he kept going on swinging wildly.
“Hah! You don’t know anything but to dodge? I-”
We were very close in proximity and I twisted my h.i.p.s and delivered a body blow to his right torso.
*THUD*
“Grck!” he produced a sound.
I was about to follow up with a right hook to his face but he waved his hands.
“T-time out.” He said with a wince.
Everyone else was holding their laughter when he limped towards Jay.
“You alright big guy?” Jay said.
“Yeah…” he said in a high-pitched voice.
The class was concluded when Aya went up to call us for dinner.
We cleaned up the equipment first and we headed down.
“You don’t hold back do you?” Kaley said.
“No, I did.” I said nonchalantly.
“Show off.” She said while smiling.
We had tomato soup for dinner with a side of bread and cheese. We all ate together and we started the meeting after.
“Okay, let’s welcome our new additions for our group, Aubrey and Mark’s family. We knew from earlier that she’s a security guard while Mark is also an engineer like Raphael. These two jobs are different in nature but they both help in the security of our community.” I said.
They all took a small bow in front of everyone. Aubrey decided to stay inside the compound while Mark and his family will stay in a different house to accommodate their numbers. They will be staying on the house further than Derek’s house where the shoes and umbrellas are on the side.
Every new member will still be processed by Oscar to have a file made for them. Aside from that, they will all be briefed about what we already know except for a few classified ones.
“Okay, one more topic to place in the table…” I took the head that was now placed in a large mason jar and I showed it to everybody.