Chapter 73: Wise Words, Mix of Light and Dark, and He Is Back (1/2)

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The link is also in the synopsis.

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[The chapter is edited by my Editor: Alan_Loo / AlanL]

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”Are you going to that place today as well?” asked Ms. Rosey as she saw Quinn off at the gate of the West manor. ”You have been going there daily.”

Quinn tied his shoes and replied with a single word, ”Yes.”

It was five-thirty in the morning, and Quinn was dressed in a tracksuit, ready to go out. He hadn't taken the magic dampening potion because he liked to take it sometime around noon, and that would last him till dinner time.

”Is fighting that much fun?” Ms. Rosey asked. She didn't like the prospect of Quinn participating in something so inelegant.

”It isn't the fighting I like, Ms. Rosey... Well, I don't dislike it, but I like the physical exertion that comes with it. I like my body responding swiftly to my commands when I am sparring against someone else. It gives me a sense of control.”

Quinn answered as he got up and spoke out, ”Polly, let's go.”

When he opened the door, he found the house-elf was standing there as if waiting for Quinn to get ready.

He turned back towards Ms. Rosey and informed her, ”I will be back before lunchtime.”

Polly raised her hand, and Quinn held it. The next second, both the house-elf and human disappeared with a pop.

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- (Scene Break) -

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Polly and Quinn appeared in a deserted alleyway, appearing with the distinct pop of elf-apparition.

”Thank you, Polly,” said Quinn letting go of the hand of the West family house-elf. ”I will call you when I'm ready to leave.”

Polly nodded and popped away, leaving Quinn in the alleyway.

The raven-head boy exited the alley, crossed the road, and walked for half a minute, and reached the destination he visited every day at the same time.

「Kaewpadung Gym」

It was one of the few Muay Thai gyms in Britain. Quinn had been coming here in the summer breaks since he had started Hogwarts.

At first, it was just for fun, and didn't take things too seriously, and just did it to remain fit because he thought that he had been spending too much time sitting. But, this year, he had been going there every day and had been spending many hours in that place before returning home.

Muay Thai was developed centuries ago as a form of close-combat that utilizes the entire body as a weapon. Referred to as the art of eight limbs, Muay Thai uses eight points of contact that mimicked the weapons of war.

The hands become the swords and dagger. Shins and forearms hardened in training transform into armor.

Fighters used the elbow as a mace or hammer. Legs and knees became the ax and staff.

The body acted altogether as one unit.

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He entered the gym and shouted ”Good morning!” as he walked inside.

”Morning!” ... ”West.” ... ”Kid.” ... ”Good morning!” ... ”Morning.”

Multiple shouts greeted him back as he entered the gym. He went to the back, deposited his duffle bag, and walked back out.

”When are we starting,” asked Quinn as he walked to the group of young adults and adults.

One of the guys in the group ruffled Quinn's hair and said, ”You should smile more, kid.”

Quinn sighed and swatted away the hand on his head. He had learned to portray fabricated expressions while under emotional occlumency. But even then, Quinn came out as a quiet boy.

”I will smile when I find something funny,” said Quinn as he stretched as he waited for the instructor to arrive so that they could start.

Suddenly a rather loud yell greeted the people present,

”Good morning!”

Instinctively, everyone responded back in unison.

” ”Good morning!” ”

The people who were sitting down or talking in separate groups gathered around as the man walked towards them.

”How is everyone today? I presume all of you are feeling well.”

There were lots of ayes and 'yes' in response, which made the man smile.

The man standing in front of the group of ten was Sken Kaewpadung. He was a British-based Thai Muay Thai trainer, fight choreographer, and fighter promoter. Sken decided to learn Muay Thai to avenge his father's murder, but in the end, was dissuaded from such a path to devote his life to teaching Muay Thai to anyone who wished to learn.

Sken Kaewpadung was the only person largely credited with bringing Muay Thai to the United Kingdom.

”Let's get started with a five-kilometer run to warm ourselves up,” said Sken as everybody nodded.

As everyone there was an adult, Quinn trailed behind the group and arrived a couple of minutes after them.

”Alright, fifteen minutes, skip-rope, three sets of five,” shouted Sken as he moved around the gym, instructing everybody. ”Boxer step, high knee, criss-cross, and show me some speed!”

The repetitive motions of skipping rope while staying light on their feet helped the fighter become fast on their feet when moving around an opponent in the ring. It improved coordination and timing; to jump a rope for a sustained period required coordination and timing, or you would keep snatching the rope with your ankles. Jumping rope was a highly energetic cardiovascular exercise that made it great for conditioning training for boxers and other striking styles. And finally, it was a great way to build stamina, keeping the intensity high during skipping.

After everyone was done skipping, it was time to do rounds of shadowboxing.

Quinn started his own drills of jab, cross, hook, followed by a knee. But just as he was about to get into it, he heard a shout.

”Quinn! Move after a rep. You don't want to stay in the same position after striking. Move to a different position,” Sken shouted from a distance. ”Build that into your muscle memory. I don't want to see you standing still. Move! Plus, give me a double-teep double-check after this. You are ignoring the legs.”

”Yes, sir!” Quinn replied.

”Louder!” shouted Sken.

”YES, SIR!”

”Excellent!”

They ended the shadowboxing session with burnouts and pushups.

After that was time on the bag. It was just more striking but against a heavy bag. Quinn repeated the same drills he did during shadowboxing.

Shadowboxing and bag-work complemented each other.

The heavy bag was great for developing power and explosive endurance. You were essentially punching the bag with a very high degree of force you can exert over time. But there were limitations to overworking the heavy bag. Generally, people tended to stand way too close to the heavy bag, at a distance where you would not stand in a real fight situation. This was okay when strictly working for power. But if overused, it could inhibit the perception of proper distance and striking ability at full reach of the fighter.

Shadowboxing helped with that as it forced you to focus on your own body movements and proprioception (awareness of your body with its environment) without looking for the satisfying feel or sound of striking. This was a good thing because people often strayed into poor techniques to hit harder or hear what they thought sounded impressive.

Heavy bags were for working more on the form while hitting a moving target. Fighters had to focus on speed, coordination, and power while also having to move to hit the target they wished to strike.

Shadowboxing allowed total freedom of footwork as you didn't have to position yourself relative to an apparatus like a punching bag. Plus, it also allowed unrestricted body methods as strikes weren't unimpeded by the unhuman-like dimensions of the heavy bag.

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Pad work is arguably the most representative and important part of training in Muay Thai. Unlike many gyms in the West, pad-holding is a task that is more commonly performed by a trainer and not a gym partner. It is a role that is taken seriously by the Thai trainers. Pad work was one of the most intimate moments in training. Where an instructor got to shape and sharpen the style of a fighter. Something that couldn't be achieved by only training with a partner.

Sken and other trainers made sure to point out things during pad work. Besides, pad-work at Sken's gym was intense as the gym's standard practice was to mimic ring action with three to five rounds of three to eight minutes. Quinn did four rounds of three minutes in one stretch of pad-work.

After that came the part of training that Quinn hated; clinch wrestling.

The clinch was defined as 'stand-up close-quarters grappling'. This is a position where both competitors are fighting for control to gain a dominant position.

What made the Muay Thai clinch so different from clinching in other striking combat sports like Boxing or Kickboxing was that the referee would not immediately break the clinch up. Clinch was allowed As as long as there was action going on in the clinch. Which meant that as long as either fighter was in a fighting position to get in strikes, the clinch was allowed to continue.

Unlike some other Muay Thai gyms in the West part of the world, Sken paid extra attention to teach clinching just as it was done in the combat sports' homeland, Thailand.

Afterwards, all the people in the group ended their session with warmup and stretches. All either had work or college, so they needed to go home to get prepared.

Quinn, who didn't have anything to do, just continued with his shadowboxing and heavy bag. He didn't have anywhere to go and liked to spend his time there because there was nothing much to do at home.

”Quinn, come, let's do some light pad work,” said Sken as he was free around this time. He would do with Quinn another session of pad work.

Quinn walked over and did pad work with Sken.

”No, not like that. You need to plant your other foot firmly on the ground to create ample force for a knee strike. Do it again.”

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”Don't flap your foot while kicking. Bring your knee up fully before extending it. You want to kick like you are stabbing something. Good, that's it.”

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”Keep your hands up and try to grab some kicks to counter. You need to take advantage of the openings.”

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Quinn kept on doing whatever Sken was throwing at him.

”So, Quinn. Why did you join the gym?” asked Sken as Quinn continued to kick and punch.

”Hmm... For fun, I guess,” replied Quinn between moves. He had other motives, but those motives were for the future.

”Why do you only come in the summer?”

”I attend a boarding school in Scotland,” replied Quinn. He wasn't lying as Hogwarts was a boarding school in Scotland. ”So I am not at home for most of the year.”

”Oh, why did your parents send you off to a boarding school? Have you caused trouble?”

Quinn fakely chuckled and denied it, ”No, my grandfather attended the school, so I also went there. It is quite fun, actually.”

”Hmm...” Sken hit Quinn with his shin, who wasn't able to dodge, and asked as Quinn punched in retaliation. ”But, you have been coming here daily this summer, and you have been working hard as well. Is it just for fun?”

Quinn didn't know where Sken was going. ”...Yeah, why?”

”Even though you don't show it in your expression or words, your strikes show great anger and frustration. So I'm sorry, but I can't believe that you are still doing it for fun.”

The student was surprised to hear that, and it showed when he was flipped over by Sken. Quinn went down with an 'oof.'

”So, tell me, what angers you so much?”