by Unknown
[089]
He lowered his eyes a little when his line if vision met with Bunshichi's.
“Hi,” he said in a small voice that came from the back of his throat. He turned and grabbed a towel that had been hanging from a nail in one of the support beams. He wasn't wearing anything on his feet. This would be the first time that Bunshichi Tanba and Kajiwara Toshio saw each other.
Bunshichi turned his head downward and quietly entered the shower room, all the while keeping his gaze on Kajiwara, who was drying himself off. The tap stuck out of the wall. There was a blue vinyl hose hung from the tap. The hose was pinned up on the wall and at the end of the hose is what could only be described as the head from a watering can, which was kind of like a shower. Bunshichi figured that this wrestling club didn't have a lot of money. The ring that Bunshichi was looking at now was way below the level of the showy wrestling rings he had seen on TV. It had been built inside a mechanics workshop. The shower too. The place still had the smell of oil.
He looked at the shower. It was the shower that Kajiwara had just used. It was still dripping. It was a hand made shower. This was the first time that Bunshichi got that strange shiver down his spine from pro-wrestling. Bunshichi didn't know that east-west pro-wrestling had come about only a year ago. The president was a wrestler known as the Great Tatsumi, and he had quite the mainstream wrestling following and founded east-west pro-wrestling. It was a federation not linked to any television network or broadcasting commission.
Even Bunshichi knew about Great Tatsumi.
[090]
He could vaguely remember seeing him fight on TV. But even that was from when the Great Tatsumi was still in mainstream wrestling. He wondered if Tatsumi used this shower.
Bunshichi slowly got changed. Once changed he left the shower room. He was wearing just a loose pair of jogging pants with a supporter. Muscles bulged all over his body. But it wasn't the fruits of body building. They were muscles formed from had-to-hand combat, used for fighting. If he did start body building, then he would surely bulk up even more, with beautifully defined muscles, but bodies like those aren't suited for fighting. His body would become rigid and kill his dexterity. Bunshichi's physique was ideal for fighting. However, all over his body were marks that only could have been left by blades.
Bunshichi walked, barefoot, over to the punching bag. Bam. He hit the bag with his open palm.
“May I?” he asked. Kawabe nodded. All eyes were on Bunshichi. Kajiwara looked over with curious eyes as he noticed that something was about to happen. He had put on a T shirt and a pair of shorts. Bunshichi judged the distance between him and the bag, and closed in halfway. He put his left foot out first, put his strength into both his knees, and held his fists up just in front of his chin. He lowered his back a little and built up a fighting rhythm with his elbows and stomach before suddenly letting his right foot fly.
There came a heavy thud. The sole of Bunshichi's foot was perfectly stretched and was sitting burrowed into the punching bag at a level even higher than his head.
[091]
He slowly put his foot back on the ground. That kick would have been powerful enough to take a small child's head right off it's body.
“Hmm,” Kawabe mused to himself, “you know how to kick.” When Kawabe said 'kick', he was referring to a kick-boxing style of kick.
“You know about kick-boxing?”
“Just a little.”
“I've been in the ring a few times.”
“Very impressive.”
“Did you think I only did karate?”
“More or less.” As he spoke, he stared at the young men in the room. It looked as if he was sizing up an opponent for Bunshichi. “Kajiwara, you can go,” he said, spitting his words at the boy. Everyone turned around and looked. Kajiwara let everyone stare at him, without understanding what was going on.
“You're going to fight this guy.”
“Me?”
“He said that he wanted a 'match'. You're his opponent.”
“...” Kajiwara didn't answer, but was finally able to understand what was happening from Kawabe's words. He also realized that Bunshichi had come to challenge the wrestling club.
“You saw him kick, didn't you? I don't want to hear any complaints if he kicks you do death,” Kawabe said to Kajiwara.
“OK,” said Kajiwara before turning to face Bunshichi.
[092]
There was something in his voice, and his eyes were narrow and piercing. His head was tilted downwards, but his viper-like eyes stabbed up from below at Bunshichi. His wooden sandals sounded on the concrete floor as he walked over and pulled himself up into the ring with agility. He had left his sandals on the floor in front of the ring. He was barefoot in the ring. In just his T shirt and shorts.
“Are you ready?” asked Kawabe.
“Ready,” answered Kajiwara, lowering his vision.
“He's just right, ain't he? He's 24 years old. There shouldn't be that much age difference between you. He joined when he was 20, and had been training for 4 years before that,” said Kawabe.
“10 years all up,” said Kajiwara from inside the ring.
“The years before that were full of fights,” said Kawabe.
“What are the rules?” asked Bunshichi.
“Right, the rules. No kicks to the balls and no eye gouging. That should about do it,” said Kawabe casually.
“There are no rope-breaks and no ring-outs either,” said Bunshichi.
“No attacking a man when he's down. Just go until the other one stops moving or if you don't think you can take it anymore.”
“What about the agreement?”
“I'll write it in for him.”
“Make sure you write it properly. I don't want to hear any complaints after I win,” said Bunshichi as he silently pulled himself up into the ring.
[093]
The ropes vibrated. He took to the center of the ring and stared at Kajiwara's face. Snake-like yes were looking at Bunshichi from Kajiwara's lowered face. When their eyes met, Bunshichi felt a shiver run down his spine. Bunshichi couldn't tell if it was a shiver of a fighter, or a shiver of something else. His entire body began to burn red hot.
CHAPTER II
[093]
Kajiwara's body looked smaller than it did in the shower room. Bunshichi immediately knew why. It was because Kajiwara had been wearing thick wooded sandals. He wasn't wearing them anymore. The sandals had made him taller by just a little bit. Even so, Bunshichi was taller than Kajiwara. He looked to be around 185 or 186 cm tall. He was thicker than Bunshichi. His skin was a little loose around his waist. It didn't look as though he had all that much muscle on his body. His arms and legs looked small compared to his torso. His hair was so short it could almost be called a shaved head.
The bell hadn't sounded yet. They were just standing in the middle of the ring, facing each other. Kajiwara had thick, deep lines running across his forehead. The skin around it was different from the rest of his body. It was like a mandarin in the middle of summer. There were and uncountable number of dimples on his skin. Bunshichi wondered if his head was empty.
There are some in the Karate world who can break tiles with their heads. Smash twenty of them at once with a single blow.
[094]
There were some men in Taiwan who hit nails into wood with their heads. A hardened forehead could do a lot of damage if it is used as a weapon. And what else... Bunshichi continued eyeing up Kajiwara. He looked at his ears and his nose. Both were squashed. His nose had been flattened to one side. The cartilage in his nose had been completely destroyed and was now more like flesh. It would feel like jelly if you poked at it with your finger tip. His ears were like pieces of paper that had been crumpled up. He would have had to have taken a large number of attacks to the ear.
For a boxer this would have meant that he had poor defense, but he was wrestler, so that wasn't necessarily the case. Even if your defense is poor, there is a need to ready yourself for un
expectedly strong attacks. Either way, everyone has their own rhythm. It looked as though Kajiwara wasn't the least bit acquainted with Karate or kick-boxing. What he needed to be careful of, was his grappling techniques.
There are grappling techniques in Karate and Judo, but Bunshichi was unfamiliar with the grappling techniques of pro wrestling. There must have been different ways to get someone into a hold and apply pressure that were unique to pro wrestling. It also seemed, to Bunshichi, that there would be even more grappling moves in pro wrestling than in martial arts like Judo. But in order to get Bunshichi into a hold, they would have to catch him first. If all they do is defend, then there is no way they will be able to get anyone into a lock. In order to catch Bunshichi they would have to get ready to take any number of punches and kicks.
They both had a chance of winning. If he managed to catch him, Kajiwara would have the upper hand. But as long as he didn't catch him, Bunshichi would hold the upper hand. He wasn't faking it, but when Bunshichi kicked the punching bag before, it wasn't a full strength kick.
[095]
Bunshichi would have been able to get his foot to a higher point in less time if he had wanted to. The kick he made before was a kick-boxing kick. That doesn't mean it was a Muay Thai style kick. Bunshichi drew a clear difference between Karate, Kick-Boxing and Muay Thai. They are quite similar but also have subtle differences. In Bunshichi's mind, Kick-Boxing existed somewhere in between Karate and the Thai national martial art of Muay Thai. Muay Thai is called Thai Boxing, and there are people who think it is the same thing as Kick-Boxing, but strictly speaking they should be considered separate martial arts.
Muay Thai is a form of Boxing which allows kicks. Much like the Japanese national sport of Sumo wrestling, it is a martial art with a long history. However it is entirely geared towards actual combat. Just as it would be strange to call Japanese Sumo wrestlers pro wrestlers, it would be strange to refer to Muay Thai as Thai boxing. There are aspects which are particular to Muay Thai. Muay Thai kicks come up from the inner thigh.
When Kawabe asked Bunshichi 'If he kicks', he was referring more to Karate than Muay Thai. It was a kick which flew in a wide arc. If it were a Muay Thai kick, the kick would have come from the knee and moved straight upwards. The type of kick that Bunshichi planned to use in the ring were Muay Thai kicks.
[096]
Kajiwara tucked his chin into his chest and stood like a pole. He had lowered his face, and his scarred forehead was staring straight at Bunshichi. Those warm eyes from before had been replaced with narrow, staring eyes which glared up from under Kajiwara's forehead. They were like the eyes of a different person. They were piercing, and even more frightening. Those eyes looked like a snake that could slither out at any moment.
The bell finally rang. Neither one moved. They stared at one another. Neither of them were close enough to make a move. Taking a step forward and making a wide kick would close the distance between them, but in the time it takes to make the attack, the opponent could escape it. Nearly ten seconds had passed. Kajiwara slid is right hand up over his forehead. He had a cocky smile on his lips, the right corner of his mouth bent upwards.
He slowly began moving to his left. Bunshichi also began moving to his right as he raised both hands in front of his forehead and gripped them lightly. He was using rhythmic footwork. Kajiwara followed the left side of his jaw with the back of his right hand. Kajiwara jabbed in front of himself with his loosely gripped right hand. Bunshichi lightly clenched his palm. Kajiwara lightly opened his.
Bunshichi suddenly started moving in the opposite direction. He raised his right leg up of the canvas of the ring. It was a Muay Thai style kick which came from the knee. The sole of his right foot, the area at the base of his big toe, sunk into Kajiwara's stomach. There was a counter. The timing was incredible.
[097]
Kajiwara loosened up, lifted his entire body upwards and bent backwards. It was just as Bunshichi was pulling his foot away from Kajiwara's stomach that he felt weird sensation coming from the middle of his leg. It felt like what he had struck wasn't even human, more like some kind of reptile. It was like he had kicked a rubber coated cliff edge. It wasn't that hard, but it held some kind of odd strength. It seemed to have a number of layers. It wasn't made from muscle hardened by training. If it were hard, it would have deflected the attack with even more force. But the muscle that Bunshichi had hit was nothing like that. It was the type of muscle Bunshichi had never known existed. When he returned his foot to the ground, he closed in on Kajiwara. Kajiwara staggered as he guarded his head with both his arms.
A succession of hits came flying down from above. I have to take him down now thought Bunshichi. This may be my one and only change to take Kajiwara out. None of his punches directly made contact with Kajiwara's head. His defense was tight. Bunshichi began to tremble with fear as made his punches. He had realized that Kajiwara had already recovered from damage of his last kick to the stomach. It hadn't even been three seconds since he kicked.
However, even if he was guarding, we was still taking the punches. His head would have been taking damage to some extent. Bunshichi could feel something strange coming from inside of Kajiwara's body. Kajiwara suddenly dipped his head downwards.
[098]
An electric jolt ran up Bunshichi's back. Without thinking, he leaned his body backwards and brought his right elbow down on Kajiwara's head. Kajiwara tackled Bunshichi. Kajiwara's hands grazed past Bunshichi's sides.
He had an elbow lodged in his head, so if his speed was anything less than perfect, there would be no way that he could bring Bunshichi down into a hold. Even if he was unsuccessful in bringing Bunshichi down to his knees, the tackle would push Bunshichi's elbow backwards, making the blow lose around half of its power.
But even so... The kick was so powerful that it would have caused internal damage to someone without a well conditioned mid-section. Even if the hit was at half strength, Bunshichi's blow could have caused a concussion. This was all he could do, having taken a kick to the stomach and an elbow to the back of the head. That was the nature of pro wrestling.
Bunshichi groaned from his stomach. His opponent was still just a junior pro wrestler. Bunshichi and Kajiwara once again faced each other in the ring. Red lines came dripping down from Kajiwara's right nostril. It was blood. It trickled down to his lips. Kajiwara licked the blood. A wicked smile appeared on Kajiwara's face.
“Your face is turning white,” said Kawabe from outside the ring. But Bunshichi couldn't hear him. Fear had begun to spread through his body.
CHAPTER III
Kajiwara's face was swollen.
[099]
His forehead, cheeks and the area around his eyes were bleeding on the inside. His features were a mess. He had taken Bunshichi's fists and feet a number of times. He had been knocked over countless times, but had gotten back up. He could have attacked him from above once he fell, but it wasn't worth it. He would be caught in the attack and put into a sleeper hold. Bunshichi was the more frightened of the two.
Bunshichi kicked him over. Again he stood back up. Bunshichi kicked him over again. And again he got back up to his feet. He still had that smile on his face. It was like Kajiwara was amused by Bunshichi's kicks. But they weren't the kicks of an amateur. They were the kicks of a pro in the ring. Kajiwara wasn't very good at defending against kicks like that. Even so, he was defending to the best of his abilities. It was like a bad dream. It wasn't that Kajiwara had been getting an ass-kicking the entire time. Bunshichi's left wrist, left elbow and right shoulder seared with burning pain.
When Kajiwara fall to the mat again, he quickly propped himself to his feet and stood up with unbelievable speed. He mounted Bunshichi from the side. A wrestling hold. Bunshichi tried to dodge the attack. He couldn't. Kajiwara pinned Bunshichi's left wrist to the mat and lifted his left shoulder up off the mat as if using the power of Bunshichi trying to get away against him.
[100]
Bunshichi had no idea wha
t Kajiwara had done. He didn't even know how he managed to get his hands around his wrist. He noticed that his arm was folded. He was in pain. It was a technique called an arm-lock, something Bunshichi had never seen before. Bunshichi groaned. He 's broken one of my bones! Bunshichi thought of himself. A cry escaped his mouth. As soon as he did, the pressure on him relaxed. Bunshichi crawled away. His left hand wasn't moving. Bunshichi crouched down and looked at Kajiwara, blood still trickling down his face. His snake-like eyes had vanished, replaced with a look of concern.
Bunshichi kicked him in the face. It was out of fear. Kajiwara hit the mat with both of his hands. And then a succession of kicks came at him. Bunshichi wanted to cry. Don't get up again, he thought to himself. Kajiwara didn't understand why the hand of Bunshichi's attacks were shaking. Kajiwara rolled across the mat. He left the ring. Kawabe wrapped a large towel around him
“C'mon, don't give up yet,” he said. It was an unbelievable sight. Kajiwara was wrapped in a towel and looking up at Bunshichi. Kajiwara's T-shirt and shorts were splattered with blood. Kajiwara wiped his hands an the towel before getting back up into the ring.