Rise and Fall

“Shelb are you sure about this? I’m not so sure about the idea now,” I said as I pulled my hair up into a ponytail. We were sitting in her car and I was delaying going in there as long as I could manage. “You’ll be fine. I think Brian is in today so he’ll be doing training with you. He’s really good,” Shelby insisted.

My best friend Shelby was the one responsible for getting me into this. Kickboxing classes. Muay Thai specifically, which was also a style used in mixed martial arts, or MMA. The type of stuff you see on TV like UFC fights and stuff. Shelby insisted that it was a great workout, and she mentioned that the guys were nice to look at too. That was the extra incentive she used to drag me out here.

I had been stressed out a lot lately with work and finding an apartment. Getting by as a bartender in my twenties seemed like a fun and great idea at the time, but after doing it for over three years now, it was losing its novelty. Plus it had become my life. Eat, sleep, work. Work. Work. Eat and sleep some more. But mostly work. The money was alright, but it just seemed like bar fights were happening more and more often. I guess this was one way to prepare for them.

Shelby coaxed me into this because she said it would be a good release. “Exercise releases endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people don’t kill their husbands. They just don’t,” Shelby had said, quoting one of my favorite lines from Legally Blonde. Currently I was crashing in the two-bedroom apartment with Shelby and her boyfriend Rob. I felt guilty enough staying with them because even though I gave them my share of the rent, I barely scraped by or pitched in with anything else like food.

I stared at the building in apprehension. Daddis Fight Camps. It sounded very intimidating. “C’mon, Jules. Give it a chance. Try going inside before you make judgments,” Shelby said and I sighed in defeat. I walked inside and stopped at the front desk. A guy with spiky black hair and brown eyes perked his head up. “Can I help you,” he asked politely. I felt like my nervousness was radiating off of my body. “Hi um my friend Shelby registered me for an intro class tonight,” I said shyly. I bit my lip and stared at the floor, beginning to regret my decision.

“Hey Shelbs. You recruiting people,” he asked with a playful grin on his face. Shelby laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. He seemed friendly enough. Maybe I could do this, I thought to myself. “Hey Bri. This is my friend Julia. Jules this is Brian,” Shelby said, introducing us. “Hey,” Brian said and we shook hands. He had a firm grip and squeezed my hand before releasing it. I gave him a nervous smile and Brian stood up.

“Alright well let’s get you started. Basically what we’ll be doing today is going over some of the basics. And I’ll give you a tour of the gym, go over how things run here, and all that sort of crap. But first off I need you to fill out some paperwork,” Brian explained and he handed me a clipboard. “You can borrow my equipment for tonight,” Shelby whispered to me as I sat down next to her.

I filled out the clipboard quickly. It was just asking for basic information about myself as well as why I was here and which of the programs offered at the gym I was interested in. My eyes scanned the different options the gym offered. She had mentioned Jiu-Jitsu on the way over, but had said the phrases 'it gets wet' and 'it gets pretty slippery' to describe how sweaty you got from rolling around and that had turned me off of it almost instantly. Muay Thai was a good start for me for now. Although the Urban Defense class did sound interesting too. After finishing it I handed the clipboard back to Brian and he briefly looked it over. “Looks good. So let’s give you the grand tour,” Brian said and I followed him.

I followed him out there and took in my surroundings. There was a round cage and there were two guys working in there. It was completely black and had foam pads on some of the sides, which I guess dampened the blow slightly if you got slammed into one of the sides. Next to it was a ring that had some sort of red foam on the ground. It looked exactly like the type of rings you see people fight in while wrestling on TV.

“The cage and the ring are used for when we spar. But for classes, you’ll be spending most of the time there on the mats,” Brian explained, pointing at the class that was going on. There were at least twenty people there and they were spread out all along the blue and black gym mats. They were all currently jump roping and music was playing in the background. Breaking Benjamin. I could get used to this. Some of them shuffled their feet as they went, skipped their feet, or lifted their knees high as they jumped.

“Right now this is a Muay Thai class, which is what you will be doing. Shelbs likes it. She’s been here a few months now I think. Anyhow, every class starts off with jump roping. You do jump roping for three minutes followed by push ups, sit ups, and jump squats,” Brian explained.

My eyes widened at his words. What the fuck was Shelby getting me into? This sounded like military boot camp. I hadn’t done a push up or sit up since school for those damn physical fitness tests. Well the place was called Daddis Fight Camps so I should’ve expected something along the lines of this.

“That’s one of our instructors. He’s one of the best. Been in some pro MMA fights himself. He’s only lost once or twice,” Brian said, interrupting my thoughts. I looked over at the class again and for the first time took in the instructor. His muscular arms were completely decked out in colorful tattoos. My first word to describe them would be beautiful. However as I got a look at the scowl on his face I realized that I probably would not live much longer if he heard me call his tattoos beautiful. He looked like someone who rarely, if ever, smiled in life. “Ten push ups. On my up. Up,” he bellowed and the class counted out in unison. “Up,” he roared again and the class responded loudly with the count.

“What’s his name,” I asked curiously. “Shadows,” Brian said, smirking at my reaction. “Ok,” I said and Brian laughed when I didn’t have any further questions. Shadows. Really?

They were starting their sit ups now. I chanced another look at the instructor, Shadows. He was wearing black basketball shorts and a white muscle shirt, which only seemed to enhance his large muscular arms. They kind of reminded me of the Hulk. He had short brown buzzed hair, but my eyes kept coming back to the tattoos. They were amazing.

Suddenly our eyes locked when he glanced over and was staring at me. Well, more like glaring. He almost looked annoyed that I was there. I sneered back at him. Excuse me for trying something new. I looked away as Brian called me over.

“Take off your shoes,” Brian shouted and I quickly slipped them off along with my socks. “Rule one at the gym. No shoes on the mats,” Brian grinned. He beckoned me over to a corner where there were some punching bags, an exercise bike, and a giant monster truck tire. “If you ever get to class early or feel like staying after to do some working out on your own, that’s what all the equipment over here is for,” Brian explained and I nodded.

We finished the tour and he grabbed some rectangular pads to put on his arms that came to slightly below his elbows. “You’ll need your gloves now,” Brian said and I quickly put on the hand wraps and then my gloves. “These are called Thai pads. You’ll use them a lot in class when you’re working with a partner. One partner will do the punching or kicking drills and the other holds the pads. They’re very cushioned and padded so you won’t get hurt. You’ll probably get some bruising but that’s normal. Almost expected,” Brian said with a smile.

“Are you right handed,” Brian asked and I nodded. “Ok. Cool. So your fight stance is going to be with your left foot forward and your right foot in the back. With your feet you want them to form a V. You don’t want them to be one directly behind one another. Think V for victory,” Brian said and I got in the stance. “V. Victory. Got it,” I said. “You want to be on the balls of your feet. This will give you the best balance and all around movement. We’re going to go over the three basic punches first. The first one is a jab. This is done with your left hand. You’re going to bring it across, stepping forward a bit with your left foot to give you some power. And you’re going to hit this pad,” Brian said, wiggling his left hand with the pad on it. I nodded in comprehension and got ready.

“When I say go… you’ll do it. Go,” Brian said and I attempted to remember everything he told me. I sucked in a deep breath and prepared myself for the punches. I hit the pad and lost my balance slightly. “Don’t forget to step forward with that front foot. It’ll help give you more balance so you won’t stumble,” Brian said and I nodded. I tried again and it was better than the first time. Brian had me keep at it a few more times and then stopped me.

“Next punch is called a cross. This one is done with your right hand. And you hit this pad,” Brian said, wiggling his right hand and the right pad this time. “This time you’ll sort of pivot with your back foot when you punch. So go ahead,” Brian said. This punch went better than the first one. I was starting to feel slightly more confident.

“Good. Now the third punch we’ll be going over is the lead hook. This is done with your left hand. You make like a right angle with your arm. Like you were going to punch someone in the jaw. Yes. Exactly. And I’ll put the pad sideways and you’ll swing at it. This time your front foot will pivot. Take a shot at it,” Brian encouraged and I got in my stance. I kept my gloves glued to my temples and stared at the pads intently. I got my arm in position and hit the pad. Brian had me do it a few more times to get comfortable with it.

“Excellent, Jules. Now let’s go over one basic kick. The body kick. This is one of the most difficult but useful kicks in Muay Thai. You want to hit me right above the hips, into my side with your shin. Not your foot. I’ll hold the pads to the side and at an angle towards me. Think of it as if you were chopping me in half. With your left foot, step out a bit to the left. This way you have room to kick and it’ll give you some momentum,” Brian explained.

I got in my stance and decided to give it a shot. “Oh and also, make sure when you aren’t hitting or kicking anyone, always keep your gloves up to your temples. Otherwise someone could do this,” Brian said and I raised my arm to swat him away as he attempted to hit my face. “Good reflexes,” he laughed and I grinned. I tried the body kick and stumbled the first few times but soon I had the hang of it.

After we went over the basics he had me try a couple of different combinations with the punches and occasionally threw a few kicks in there too. “Sometimes we’ll either call out the names of the punches or the numbers of the punches. Jab is one, cross is two, and lead hook is three. Pretty basic, right? So for example if I called out one two… then…” Brian said, waiting for me to finish his sentence. “Then it would be a jab cross,” I said. “Brilliant. What about two three two,” Brian asked. “Cross lead hook cross,” I said and he nodded. “I think you’ve got it. And we can just call the lead hook a hook. We don't use the rear hook. Usually. And I digress. Anyway, let’s try some,” he said. He called out different combinations and I would hit the pads with whatever numbers he called out.

“Alright. That’s enough for now,” Brian said. I had to admit, this was kind of fun. I could see why Shelby would get into this. However I was still dreading the jump roping that awaited me in future classes.

We went back into the front room and Brian told me I could take off the gloves. I took them off and handed them to Shelby. “Well what did you think,” she asked, smiling at me. “It was pretty cool. A little scary at first… but really fun. I see why you do it,” I said and she was pleased with my reaction. “So you’ll do it?” she asked and I nodded. “Yay! And for that I’ll pay for your first month,” Shelby said happily and got out her wallet.

“Aw Shelb you don’t have to,” I sighed but her wallet was out and she wasn’t taking no for an answer. It was slightly embarrassing having her pay for me. It made me feel like a beggar. “So the deal is that our contract is for a year. So you’re trapped with us for twelve months,” Brian grinned. “Sounds doable,” I said and signed a few more forms and waivers. Paperwork was always the boring and tedious part with anything.

“Thanks Shelb. You’re the best,” I said, smiling at her. “You just take care of the next eleven months,” Shelby laughed. “It’s $125 a month. Just so you know. Cash, checks, credit. We take just about anything,” Brian informed me and I nodded, mentally budgeting myself for the next payment. I’d just have to pick up a few extra bartending shifts here and there.

“Alright well that’s it. Oh and here’s a copy of the schedule. We also have a couple other locations, but I figured this one is closest to you,” Brian said and I nodded as I took the paper, scanning it to decide which days I would be coming. “Thanks Brian,” I grinned. “Nice meeting you Jules. Welcome to Daddis Fight Camps,” Brian said, grinning back at me.

Shadows suddenly appeared and walked past us to grab a gym towel. His body was coated with a thin layer of sweat and again I found my eyes gazing down at his colored arms. “Hey Shads this is Jules. Meet our newest member,” Brian said. Shadows looked up and stared at me, sizing me up. His gaze was just as intense as the first time and I felt like he was doing a body scan. “Welcome,” he grunted in his deep and gravelly voice and left the front abruptly. Maybe it was just me but that wasn't exactly the most warm and inviting welcome I had ever received. Maybe the class was still going on and he had to hurry up and get back. Nope the students were leaving now.

“Well thank god he doesn’t do the intro classes,” I said after his departure and Shelby laughed. “Shadows is a little rough around the edges, but he is the best,” Shelby said, giving me a small shrug. “He doesn’t usually do the intro classes. He does teach one of the beginner classes but mostly the advanced classes,” Brian explained. “Well I guess we better go. I’ll see you around Bri,” Shelby said. “Bye ladies. Have a good night,” Brian said, winking at us and I waved goodbye.

“I’m so excited you joined! Now I have someone to go to class with! Rob already goes to LA Fitness so he didn’t want to put out anymore money,” Shelby explained. “So what class are you going to go to first,” Shelby asked as she pulled out of the parking lot. “I think the Muay Thai class tomorrow,” I said. I made myself a mental note to make sure that I went out to get my gloves and handwraps at some point before then. “Good choice. I think Shadows teaches that one too,” Shelby informed me. Fan-fucking-tastic.