Chuckles

Chapter One: The Heart of a Blood Fighter

The crowd began to roar like a pride of lions as the drums that started the tournament began to beat. The ring was the center of every one's attention as two fighters stepped on to the large platform and stood in front of one another. The tournament was outdoors as a slight wind reemerged to the fighters. Behind the tournament, the plains were an out-stretched hand across the land.

After the referee had them bow, the fight began. The crowd quieted into nothing but tiny whispers among the wind. Calm determination was the only expressions upon each of the fighters face.

The one on the left carried a red gii-top and leggings. His hair was an amber brown as was his belt. The other fighter had an appearance completely different from the other. His body was covered by no shirt and his leggings were baggy and black. His head head had no hair, yet both still had the same look of the other.

The red-topped moved left, while the other moved right. They studied each other's precise movements before they moved in. As of now, the air of the match changed as the bald-headed stepped in. His movement was planned and precise as he tapped the right leg of the other and stepped back. This made the red top almost laugh, for he did not see the bigger picture.

This time, the red moved in and aimed a punch at the other's shoulder, only to be blocked. The bald headed did the same move as last time and tapped the back of the leg again. The red-topped was now bamboozled as to why his move was so weak. He then shot out another punch, which landed this time, and received another tap.

As moments rolled on, the taps became harder or though it seemed. Then with much force, the red-topped became angry and attempted to end the match with a swift left kick. Suddenly the bald man smiled and watched as the other attempted his kick.

As the foot raised, the right leg which wad received the tapping, collapsed. It was the bald man's victory the entire time and the red-topped saw this as his asleep leg and the rest of him fell. At this, the bald man waisted no time in finishing the match with three fast-paced strikes. Shocked, the referee jumped out and congratulated the match's victor.

Meanwhile, only a few yards away, came a man with fast pace. Sweat rolled down his folded hair and on to his forehead. His gii was the original white and his belt the grand brown. His focus was on the ring that glamored under the noon-day sun. This man stormed on the dried yellow grass with no shoes and no noticeable discomfort.

He stormed into the tournament area where he was greeted by a heavy man. His man wore a black gii and white leggings. His belt was black with three golden rings, symbolizing a third-degree black belt. Under this man's nose was an intimidating handle-bar moustache.

This man greeted the other with,

"You're late Katashi."

Katashi began to catch his breathe from running. However, out of respect, he waisted no time in replying.

"Yes, Sudoshi," he replied, "I'm sorry"

The Sudoshi then smiled and looked at him with proud eyes. Katashi was one of the best, and they both knew it. Yet, Sudoshi could see Katashi's doubt in himself and said,

"You'll do fine, trust me. Just remember, do not think; just do. Your body and mind must be one."

"Yes, Sudoshi," Katashi replied.

He then began to walk towards the participant's section of seating, when he was greeted by yet another familiar face. This man had relatively short hair and a goatee on his chin. This man's gii colors were exactly inverse of the Sudoshi's colors, for he had a white top and black leggings. However this man also had a black belt. Only his had one ring, instead of three. He greeted Katashi with a friendly tone,

"Looks like you finally made it!"

Katashi then smiled and replied,

"Yes, Sensei," he stated, "I guess I did."

The Sensei then smiled and walked over to Sudoshi, while Katashi began to sit in the the wooden stand. He watched as another round began and two new fighters entered the ring. Both looked like real competitors as each dodged and evaded the other's attack. Out of nowhere, a piece of paper caught Katashi's eye. He leaned to the left and lifted the paper to see the match schedules.

It was then that he noticed that his first round was next. This caused the feeling of doubt to tingle inside him again, but he fought it down and read on. He was to fight a green belt named Jurou. Katashi was sure it would be an easy-going fight, but as his betters have told him: he must not let his guard down.

Finally as the matched ended, it was his turn. He then began up the steps and the drums beated like his heart. His eyes began wandering until he saw what he had hoped for. At the spectator's seating, a woman sat on the third row. Her brown and blond streaked hair set her off as none other than Sandra. She gave Katashi a wink and pointed at her butt. Katashi couldn't make out what she said, but he knew where to kick his opponent.

Once Jurou entered the ring, the match was ready to go underway. In the anticipation-filled air, the wind had picked up once again and showed it's excitement with a cool noon breeze. The referee then ordered them to bow to one another. With a swipe of his hand, the battle had begun.

Katashi stood firm in a squared position. His right hand was held out a little farther than the other, and the left was tilted to the right to prevent an attack to his stomach. However, both hands were tucked at the ribs to cancel out damage to the ribs. Katashi's feet faced the opponent with the left foot back farther than the right. Meanwhile, Jurou stood in a side stance with both hands facing Katashi. His feet also pointed at the opponent.

Jurou's side stance was Katashi's all time favorite to attack. Now Katashi was sure of how fast the match would be. Without warning, Jurou shot his fist at Katashi with incredible speed. It got only inches forward before the fist was blocked to the side and grabbed by Katashi. Then, within one motion, Katashi's right foot shot up and administered a powerful round-house kick into Jurou's unprotected stomach.

The sudden force sent Jurou out of range and to the ground with a powerful thud. Yet, once he did, he rolled on to his right knee. However, Katashi was already in motion with a leaping front-snap kick. To Jurou's horror, the kick came in smashed him under the chin and caused him to back-sault on to his stomach.

With that, the match was over and Katashi felt relieved. He had made it to the next round, and his feeling of doubt had momentarilly disappeared. As he walked back to his seat, he was greeted by Sudoshi and Sensei. They both had a smile on their faces and each told him that he was doing great. Afterwords, Katashi, looked up to see Sandra wink and blow him a kiss, At that he blushed and sat to watch the next round.

This match was along one that went in favor of a man named Frank. Then came a rather exciting battle between the bald man of the first round, which after Katashi read the schedule was named Daichi and the victor of the round just before Katashi's round who name is Blaze. To Katashi, this match would prove to be at his benifit for he needed to see the way these two semi-finalists move.

Daichi moved leftwards and Blaze to the right. They both had the expression that studied the other. After a second of studying, Daichi moved forward and pretended to aim tap to the back of Blaze's leg. However, Blaze who had watched the first round, lifted his leg so that the attack would miss. Daichi then smiled and sent his back into the air and smashed Blaze in the chest. Now that Blaze was off balance, Daichi leaped in and took him down and finished the match with ease.

Katashi opened his mouth and shock as he stood up to walk to his next round against Frank. He saw how fierce the fight with Daichi would be, and the feeling of doubt crept back in his head. Yet he shook it off and entered his next match. Finally, after a few moves of fighting, Katashi sent Frank down and it was the moment of truth for Katashi.

After Katashi's second round, the noon day was now a cold evening and a chilling temperature kicked in. The referee signaled the final match. Katashi saw all his faliures arise in his head as he stepped into the ring. He remembered how bad he was defeated in his first sparing match he had ever had as he walked up each stone step and on to the platform. He kept trying to push it out of his head as the match begun, but it was too late. The referee sent his hand down and the final match had already begun.

Katashi looked into Daichi's dark black eyes and saw a repressed memory looking back. He remembered the terror he felt that day on the street and couldn't move. Suddenly Daichi shot out his first punch and all Katashi could do was watch as it slipped past his guard and struck his chest. Katashi tried to regain himself only to receive a kick in the stomach. Terror filled up inside as he felt as if R.K. was beating on him that day all over again.

Daichi saw his chance to end the match with little effort. He slid in and grabbed Katashi's gii and the bottom of his belt. Daichi was ready to begin an enormous throw that could end Katashi on the spot. Yet as suddenly as Katashi was grabbed, he reacted. He saw that moment that R.K. was lifting him off the ground knew what to do.

"No," said Katashi.

Suddenly Katashi rolled underneath Daichi and kicked his leg out. This caused Daichi to flipp mid-air and land with a thud on his back. When he did Katashi saw Daichi as if it were R.K. who laid on the ground and now that Katashi had faced his fear, he was back in the match with full vitality. Daichi then raised himself of the ground and looked at Katashi with a smile. He then did an acrobatic leap into the air and back-flipped as if he was on a trampoline. He landed back on his feet and reentered his fighting stance.

This time Katashi step forward with a palm stike aimed at Daichi's rib cage, yet with a outside block, the attack was avoided. Daichi then threw a round-house at Katashi's head. It was caught at a close distance and it was then that Katashi saw an opening. Without warning, Katashi dropped down to the ground and sweeped Daichi's leg out. This caused Daichi to plop down hard on the ground.
Katashi then ran in to finish off his opponent, until he saw what Daichi had in store for him on the ground.

Daichi had entered a snake stance and grappled Katashi's feet. This caused Katashi to begin a plummet into the ground until his hand reacted without thought and grabbed Daichi. He then rolled the second he made contact with the ground, causing Daichi to flip over head and smash back on the ground. Katashi then jumped twords Daichi and outstretched his hand in a mannor that looked like a punch, but did not follow all the way through.

This signaled the end of the match and the victor of the tournament. Suddenly, the crowd went wild and the chilled air felt warm to Katashi. Sandra, Sensei, and Sudoshi all ran up and congragulated Katashi on his win, yet all that was on Katashi's mind was how he had proved to Sensei and Sudoshi that he was ready to beome a black belt...

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