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The Lesson

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Offline howardcosell

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The Lesson
« on: February 12, 2013, 09:06:46 PM »
“The Lesson”

(By the way, any links you see in here, like certain words highlighted that are bringing up adds... I'm not doing that. So, if it's something the site does, let me know and if it's something the site isn't doing that I can somehow change, let me know. I'm not trying to post adds on this site)

“Keep your hands up, Tammy,” I say, even as she defies me again by dropping them, but landing a one two that smacks against Deborah’s headgear. Tammy looks at me and smiles; she’s trying to get under my skin. And there’s the flap of the blonde hair that makes me roll my eyes as Dan splits them apart.

“On your toes, Deborah,” I say. I know I’m looking more and more frustrated. Deborah’s one of my best students. She’s about 5’5”, chocolate brown skin and dark brown hair, hourglass figure. She was a project of mine when I saw her fighting outside the Good Will I was working at. She was on top of this blonde girl, pounding her and I decided to stop it. She felt my arm on her, swung at me, instinct took over and she was down on her butt holding her solar plexus from my punch. Turned out, the blonde was trying to steal Deborah’s groceries, but Deborah had already been racially profiled a couple of times before. She sort of knew she couldn’t beat me, and she started complaining that she was going to go to jail, no matter what. She went into a whole thing about this being Los Angeles and all these racist cops and so on. But I explained to the police what had really happened. And we had the cameras to back it up. I took her under my wing, gave her some private lessons on martial arts and self defense, and brought her to my martial arts studio.

Deborah’s head snaps back from a hard straight right from Tammy, “Tammy, we’re doing light contact. I keep telling you that. Light contact.” The tall blonde just looks down at me and smiles. Sometimes, I wonder why she’s even here. She comes and participates in the class and she’s already a red belt at another dojo. She insists that she’s ready to be a black belt, but martial arts is about discipline and respect, and Tammy doesn’t show much of either. She’s the type of girl I dreaded back when I was in high school. She’s about 5’10”, has the blonde hair and the blue eyes, the swimsuit model body. When she comes in, she wears fake eyeglasses because that’s in style for some reason and has her hair in a ponytail. Then, she’ll slowly take off the glasses and flap her hair. I admit; I’m a rock when it comes to my emotions in class. But she’s gotten under my skin on more than one occasion and she knows it.

As I watch Deborah tag her with a little jab to the nose that snaps her head back and wobbles her (didn’t take much), it’s her lack of respect that drives me. I’ve had all kinds of tough girls and wannabe fighters, goth girls and princesses come in here and try to intimidate me or tell me how things are going to go. I’m only 5’2”; I’ve got long dark brown hair and brown eyes. A lot of people say I’m a dead ringer for Nia Peeples, and that’s fine and ironic because my name is Sydney, like her character from “Walker: Texas Ranger.” Plus, she’s a martial artist too.

{alt}





“Uggghhh…” that was Deborah. Tammy just buried her fist into Deb’s stomach and I told her this is light contact. Deborah holds onto the blonde and I feel a twinge of sadness as Tammy looks at me and smiles again, driving another hard shot into the area just above the knot in Deb’s belt. I could say something right now. I could complain to her about how hard she’s hitting or how she doesn’t listen to me, but I told Deb about Tammy a while back. I told her that if Tammy tagged her hard, to tag her hard right back and send a message. This was out of my usual instruction, but like I said, Deborah is my project.

Deborah swings hard with a winging right and Tammy just moves her head, as opposed to blocking the punch, like we’ve tried to teach her. She lands a hard downward chop to Deb’s shoulder and my girl goes down on one knee. The body shots have affected her. I always tell her to throw straight punches when appropriate instead of telegraphing them. Deb gets back up just to take another shot to the stomach and she drops down on her hands and knees.

“Does this mean I win, Syd?” Tammy says with a smile at me as I curl my toes and narrow my eyes at her. The smiles gets wider because she knows she made me break my calm.

“Ms. Tolliver, how many times do I have to tell you that there is no winning or losing in sparring?” I respond, stepping in closer to her while the other senseis assist Deb to her feet. “And it’s ‘Sensei or Master Rockford.’”

“Well, I’ll be black belt soon,” she says, doing that annoying hair flap again, “So, we’ll be on equal terms. I was just trying to get used to calling you by your first name… Syd.”

She towers over me. She’s trying to intimidate me, but I’ve been through this song and dance and put down much bigger than her.

“Ms. Tolliver,” I say, taking a breath to calm my words, “You will address me as Sensei or Master Rockford, and you won’t get to be a black belt with that attitude. Attitude has a lot to do with the process. And by the way, the knot in your belt is supposed to be on your navel. It’s sagging down… and straighten your collar and close your gi. Your cleavage is showing and you‘re not presenting yourself as a lady.”

“And you did?” she says, “You weren’t always so ladylike yourself.”

“It’s not who we were and what we used to do that matters, Ms. Tolliver,” I say, trying hard not to give away how pissed I am at that comment, “It’s who we are and what we’re doing now. Remember that.”

I saw her go over and sit down on the floor with the others. I heard her tell Tisha, her brunette buddy, “She’s just mad because I beat her girl. That’s all. Bitch wishes she could fight me herself, but I’d beat her too and I’d be running this place, hee hee.”

I ignore that on the surface, but it sinks in a bit. I glance at some of the pictures of me on the wall, back when I was younger. I’m 30 years old, but I’ve been studying different forms of martial arts since I was 12. I had started as an amateur when I turned twenty back in 2003. I was the number 3 ranked female amateur kickboxer in the state of California at one time and was even up for considerable in the World Championships and Olympics. I was Sydney Rockford… aka “Rocky the Flying Squirrel.” I got that name for two reasons. I was known for showing a lot of heart when I was fighting, even though I was usually at a height and skill disadvantage. It reminded people of Rocky Balboa from the Sylvester Stallone movies. And I could do a lot of flips and spin kicks, wheel kicks, roundhouses, all that stuff. The fluffy brown ponytail and with my being short, “Rocky The Flying Squirrel” fit. For most of my career, brief as it was, I fought in weight divisions above my natural fighting weight. I weigh about 121 lbs and that’s been steady for most of my adult life, but I’d fight as high as 135 lbs. That meant girls who weighed 145-160, cutting off weight to make 135, then hydrating back up on the day of the fight.

Somehow, I was able to go on a winning streak. I used speed and precision. My background in ballet came in handy and so did my background in swimming and gymnastics. Fighting girls who weighed that much more than I did took a lot of poise and movement. I didn’t know how strong my chin was and I didn’t ever want to find out. That meant I couldn’t get hit. I even practiced capoeira, the Brazilian dance fighting style, but I was never that good at it and it didn’t translate well in the ring because it’s a patient style and you’ve only got so much time per round to be effective. I was on magazine covers; I got to travel all over the world with Team America, with Nikky Smalls, Alexia Paige, Tina Tubbs, Leslie D‘Amato, and the others, male and female boxers and kick boxers. I got small roles in movies and on television. It was great.

The media tried to make me a glamour girl, but truth be told; I was just a tomboy from Los Angeles. My Dad didn’t want me in sports and neither did my Mother, but they didn’t stop me. They encouraged me to do what I wanted to do, just as long as I could wear a dress and do a curtsy when I needed to, as long as I could cook a meal, do the laundry, and set the table when I was supposed to. I liked to play basketball and do things with the guys, which made it hard to express my feelings for the ones I liked, like Steve Dunn, trainer extraordinaire. Tall, light brown skin, young, fit, looked like Johnny Mathis, my Mother’s favorite singer. He was known as the best young up and coming trainer of fighters when I met him. We were both biracial and had that dual upbringing, so we sort of clicked. He was working with Alexia Paige, another sarcastic California blonde fighter who was supposed to be the next Siena Blaze.

If you know anything about female fighting, especially if you’re from California, you know who Siena Blaze is. She owns the world when it comes to that sport. Looks like Marilyn Monroe and acts like a pissed off Madonna. Greatest female fighter California ever produced and the owner of the biggest female fighting promotion in the world, OPW. But no matter how Alexia was blonde haired with crystal blue eyes like Siena, was 5’5” 140 lbs like Siena, wore red like Siena, or had an attitude like Siena, or fought in a similar style to Siena, Alexia wasn’t Siena and Steve knew that. I’d spend so many hours talking to him about Alexia, even though I didn’t want to. I just wanted to be near him because his mind was so deep and his presence was so soothing. I’d hit the bag perfectly and ask him if I was doing it right just to hear his voice. To make a long story short, I fell for the guy; we even kissed. But he put me in the friend zone shortly after. We’d make out and I just wasn’t sure what we were. I didn’t know what to think and he wasn’t clear if I was his girlfriend or not. He seemed distracted, so I pretended to understand and just was his friend. But I had strong feelings for the guy.

It was his commitment to Alexia that had messed things up. She was leaving Team America and didn’t want to compete in the World Championships. She was going to turn pro, win some fights, and call Siena out of retirement. She was frustrated by the hate she was getting in California for being a poor woman’s Siena Blaze. She’s from there too. She felt the only way she’d get their love is to beat Siena. There were plenty of times when I had to hold Alexia while she cried, as arrogant and intolerable as she was in the press, she was a big baby underneath. While the girl with the Sugar Ray Leonard hand speed and footwork, the Philly Shell defense, the Sanaa Lathan good looks and million dollar smile, Nikky Smalls was inspiring African American girls all over the country through her story of almost joining a gang in Milwaukee to winning three Olympic gold medals to go with the seven she already had, and three world championships… everything with Steve and I became how could he make Alexia a better fighter.

He was helping me too. Team America didn’t do too well at the Olympics. Nikky Smalls was the only one who took home gold. But I never got to fight. I was in love, or I thought I was, and when Alexia and Steve left the team, so did I. In fact, he admitted that he preferred to work with me over her, but Alexia had way more money to pay him and he was working with me for free. I paid him with my virginity. One day, I just flat out told him that I was in love with him. I didn’t know if I really was or not. I just did it. And he said, “Syd, I can’t. I just can’t. You‘ve got so much going for you and you deserve better than me. I‘ve got a lot of work I‘m doing and I‘m just confused. I don‘t really know if I even have time for a relationship.”

It was the second loneliest moment of my life. I wasn’t even interested in fighting anymore. I just wanted something more. He started training Alexia and I the next day like nothing had happened.

“Master Rockford… Master Rockford,” I snap back into the present and see Tammy Tolliver, all 5’10” of her blonde ambition, staring down at me.

“Yes, Ms. Tolliver?”

“Since we’re at break, do you mind if I have a word with you in the classroom down the hall?”

I wonder what this is about. She better not be trying to egg me on just for the sake of doing it, because I’ll just shut her down again. We reach the classroom and I go in first. She closes the door behind me and looks at me, moving in closer to wear her chest is almost in my face.

“I’m just wondering if you have a problem teaching me,” she says, with that innocence in her voice, but the same sarcasm.

“You brought me all the way down here to ask me that?” I say back. It’s hard with Tammy. She has been egging me on since she came here.

“It’s just a question. You said there were no such things as stupid questions, so I’m asking you if you have a problem teaching me.”

“I don’t have a problem teaching anyone,” I say and I could hear the frustration in my voice and it lowering in tone, but raising in sound, “You come in here and you haven’t shown the appropriate respect to anyone except Tisha. You disrespect me; you disrespect the other senseis; you hit your classmates way too hard. You would never get away with that in Korea or even some of the other dojos here. They’d force you to spar with someone more experienced, and you’d get a lesson in humility.”

“Master Rockford,” she says, raising her own voice and twanging that valley girl pageant queen accent up a few notches, “I think you are intimidated by me. I think you are upset because I am getting all the attention from the male students and male senseis.”

“What???” I can honestly say that the ‘attention’ she’s getting has nothing to do with anything, “You are out of line. This is why you haven’t made black belt yet. It’s your attitude. You are a true to form narcissist.”

“I don’t know what a narcissist is,” she says, “But I can’t help what I am. I am beautiful and I am good. Maybe you just have a Napoleonic complex and are jealous of me. I think that’s what it is.”

“I think you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“You wanted Deborah to win. You put me in against your girl, your buddy, your prized cow pupil and guess what? I beat her and it wasn’t even close. I beat your girl and you hate me for being so good.”

At this point, I want to slap her.

“This discussion is over,” I say and turn to walk away, but she puts her hand on my shoulder. I turn around and stare at her like “Umm, you’ve got two seconds” and she retracts her hand back to her own side.

“Why don’t you spar me yourself?” she says smiling, “You know deep down, you’ve wanted to punch me since I walked through that door. You look at me like I remind you of someone you know. Maybe a blonde like me picked on you when you were a child… or maybe a blonde like me stole your boyfriend.”

My eyes widen and I think back to the day when Steve left with Alexia. My heart was crushed, but we’d decided long before that I wasn’t relationship material for him. He has a woman in his life now and he’s married to her. I was at the wedding and so was Alexia. She was the bride. He was surprised that I showed up; both of them were. But back then, he told me nothing was going on between the two of them, but I could see it. It wasn’t going to be me. It’s never been me. So, I did the only thing I could do. I just kept on fighting and I turned pro, even though my heart wasn’t in it because Steve wasn’t my trainer. He had gotten Alexia a fight against Nikky Smalls, who had dominated the 135 lb boxing division and was moving up to 140 lbs to challenge Alexia for the title she had recently won. Alexia held the 140 lb title in boxing and one in mixed martial arts, but Nikky was strictly a boxer and would fight her for that title.

Nikky had already beaten the unretired Siena Blaze, and she made Alexia look silly. Nikky won every round of the fight with her hand speed and footwork, knocking Alexia down three times and barely getting hit, despite constantly dropping her hands. Alexia was a great offensive fighter, but if there was any knock on Steve Dunn, it’s that he’s not good when it comes to teaching defense. I had watched this unfold on my television screen. I really wished I could talk to Steve and try to help him. I was pretty fast; I could’ve imitated Nikky for Alexia and been her sparring partner. But I had my own career to think about and still, I was winning. I was fighting at featherweight, which is 126 lbs, five pounds above my weight limit. I was rising in the ranks as a boxer and mixed martial artist. I didn’t know hardly any submission holds and I’d be in trouble if I got put on my back, so my speed and combinations were even more important. But at least, I was fighting girls who were more my size. I was fighting sluggers, because the speed difference could be hard to deal with when you’re used to fighting much bigger opponents. I could slip and counter punches and kicks easier against wingers and sluggers than I could a tactical fighter with a wrestling background who could take me down or pin me against the cage. I was taking my time and being reasonable. That’s when I got the call from Alexia herself.

“You better get out of my face, young lady,” Tammy is leaning into me, her breasts in the pink top poking out through the gi. Her nipples are hard and her shadow is darkening the room.

“Sorry, Master Rockford,” she says, “You looked a little distracted by my breasts. I wanted you to take a closer look since you seemed a little lost in them. So, are we gonna spar? No one would ever know. They know we don‘t have a good history and they know we‘re having a long talk. You want to teach me a lesson? Go ahead and do it now.”

“Back. Up. Now,” is my response and she complies. We stare at each other for exactly five seconds before she launches a jab that I don’t even see coming. It’s like her hand is a blur as it lands just the knot of my belt.

“Mmph…” I bend slightly as she pushes her fist forward and I feel my legs weaken. It was the slightest punch, but it caught me off guard and hurt me. She knows it and pulls her fist back.

“Uhhh…” I try to keep my footing, but my legs feel like spaghetti. My hand goes to my stomach and I try to catch my breath as I look around and she her pedicured toes wiggling as I slowly stand up and look at her. All I get is a grin and what follows is a roundhouse kick to my solar plexus, knocking me off my feet. I feel my back hit the wall behind me and I fall onto my chest.

“Looks like the flying squirrel really can fly,” I hear her say as I moan in pain. Another shot that I didn’t see coming. I can’t breathe and I’m dizzy. Is she crazy? She’ll get kicked out of my school for this. I feel her hoist me up by the back of my collar and slam her knee into my stomach, right below my ribs and catching my liver.

“Augh!!” I cry out, but it’s not like anyone is going to hear me. She picked a good spot. I squat and hold my side. I’m still trying to figure out what’s going on and she kicks me in the left side with her right foot, knocking me onto my back. She stands over me, smiling.

“You’re going to make me a black belt,” she says, “Or else, I’m going to beat you as black as the belt you’re wearing.”

“Not going to happen, Ms. Tolliver,” I respond, though it’s painful to even talk right now

“Oh, the flying squirrel speaks? Still with your big talk, huh Sydney? Or should I call you Rocky?”

“Call me… Master Rockford!!” I say as I kick myself to my feet, catching her in her own stomach with my left foot. She lets out a “Whoooolllfff!!” and takes a deep exhale, looking at me with wide eyes as I raise my arms and bend my legs. I move in, figuring the shock and awe of me striking her combined with her loss of air is enough to take her heart out of the fight, but I never expect the front kick that drives the knot of my gi belt against my navel and doubles me over with a loud “OUGH!!” forcing me to sit down in the chair nearby.

“Now, I’m the teacher, bitch!” she says, moving in on me. I wait for her to get really close, then I jump from a seated position to standing on the seat of the chair, and front flip over her, hoping to land and attack her from behind. But she’s faster than I thought. I feel her hands grab the back of my gi and I’m slammed into the blackboard.

“Let’s wipe it clean, shall we!!” she rubs my face and body against the blackboard and the chalk writings from the after school tutoring lesson that takes place in this room are all over me. She turns me around, raises her arms and gestures for me, saying “Come on, Rocky Sydney, Sydney Rocky.”

A jab to the chin that snaps my head back. A jab to the navel that bends me and sends that shock of sensitivity through me, a thrust to the throat that has me reach up and hold it with both hands as she grabs my forearms and knees me in the pit of my stomach, dropping me to a seated position with a deep exhale. This can’t be happening right now…
« Last Edit: February 13, 2013, 12:09:32 AM by howardcosell »
"When people walk away from you... let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you... and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over."

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Offline howardcosell

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Re: The Lesson
« Reply #1 on: February 12, 2013, 11:35:14 PM »
Sometimes, we bite off way more than we can chew. I’ve learned this lesson several times in life and in love. I couldn’t believe that Steve, the first and only man I’d ever been in love with, had pitted his prized pupil Alexia Paige, against me in a “redeem yourself” fight to hopefully get her a fight against Siena Blaze. I was sitting on the stool in my corner. My left eye was swollen, my ribs were bruised, not as much as my ego or my heart, but they were hurting every time I tried to breathe as I stood up and the bell rang. I was taking a beating and it had only been four rounds. I was able to stun her in the first and even knocked her down, but it was more of catching her off balance. I had agreed to fight her in the 140 lb division, where she was comfortable, and I had tried to gotten up to 130 lbs for the fight. I did it the right way, but it was affecting my speed and my conditioning. She was repeatedly going to the body on me. Every round, pounding my stomach, waiting for my arms to come down so she could hit me in the face and end it.

A shot just above my tiny out sticking navel forced a groan from me as I put my arms around her shoulders and she continued to hammer away into the stomach. I remember the first time I got hit in the stomach. This big girl named Jenn was bullying a bunch of the other girls in the neighborhood and she knew I was a martial artist. She tried to bully me, but I played it off and didn’t do anything but try to ignore her. Then, she challenged me to a fight and I showed up behind the big hill. A lot of kids were there. I popped her a couple of times and she just couldn’t keep up with my speed. I wasn’t hitting her hard, but somehow, I was drawing blood from her nose. I figure she was a bleeder, looking back on it. I kicked her kneecap and she went down. I asked her if she’d had enough and I got a little too close. That’s when she nailed me, right on the navel. I used to wear kinda baggy jeans back then with tank tops that would be a twinge short. I’m big into yoga and chakra now and I know the Navel Chakra is control… fits because when she hit me there, it was like someone hit my “off switch.” I completely lost control of my bearings. I felt a shock go through my body and a pleasure I’d not felt before, then she slammed me on my back and stood over me. She knew I was beaten, but she was tired and I heard the kids chanting “Rocky!! Rocky!! Rocky!!” That was the first time that had happened. I got up, which shocked her, gave her a palm thrust right below her heart. It dropped her to her knees and set her up for the roundhouse kick that knocked her out cold.

With Alexia, it was different. I wasn’t dealing with a out of shape bully. Bullies are cowards on the inside. Alexia Paige wasn’t the greatest fighter in the world; she was no Siena Blaze or Rachel Apache. But she wasn’t a coward either and Steve Dunn was her trainer. I could see him over her shoulder as I held on, looking at her and not at me, yelling instructions.

“Be patient, Lex,” he was saying, “Stay on the body and the head will open up. She’s got heart, so you’ll have to be patient. Break her down.”

So, he acknowledged that I had a heart after all. My groans were getting louder and louder. It was as if I knew he wanted me to lose and I just couldn’t bring myself to fight back. I wasn’t Alexia at all. I’d sparred with her plenty of times and I’d gotten the better of it most of the time too. She could never deal with my speed. If Steve had been smart and let me spar her to prep for the Nikky fight, Alexia would’ve either have been better prepared or the fight would’ve been cancelled until she was. As she continued to hammer away at my stomach and ribs, my mind was drifting and thinking about all the time I spent on Steve, helping him with this girl and thinking that would make us closer. I wasn’t even considering how bad I was looking. I wasn’t fighting like The Flying Squirrel. I was fighting like a fly getting squashed or swatted all over the cage.

I still wasn’t giving her my face as a target. I dropped my arms and backed up, bounced on my toes a bit and gave her a little smile. She backed up a bit too. It caught her off guard and I caught her with a leg kick, but she blocked my roundhouse. She was surprised that even weighing almost ten pounds more than I usually did and after taking a bad beating to the body, I could still kick. My best weapons were still my speed and my legs and even though I was heavier, I was still ten pounds lighter than she was. I hit her with a hook to her stomach and she bent forward and stumbled back. The crowd started chanting “Rocky!!” and I was brought back to all those fights in the schoolyard and all those fights I’d won. I was brought back to Steve and the kiss, Nikky with the smile, my parents letting me be who I want to be and putting my career on hold and my love on ice for Alexia Paige, who never amounted to anything that they thought she would be because for all her talk and arrogance and million dollar trainers and training facilities… Alexia didn’t believe in herself. I started peppering her with punches to her face and she covered up. I drove a knee into her stomach and she squatted and coughed. I decided to take a glance at Steve and I grinned at him. He saw it, but I didn’t see Alexia’s shoulder drive into my stomach, her arms wrap around my legs… and she took me down.

I knew I was in trouble. Alexia was a true mixed martial artist. She could stand up and she had a solid ground game. She got her legs around my left leg and started pounding my left side and into my stomach with her right hand. I wasn’t quite on my back, but I was headed there. I was using my right elbow to keep myself off my back, but she was scooting up my body and making it hard. I didn’t know what I was doing or how to combat what she was doing. If I used my left arm to punch her, she’d be able to cross my body and I’d be open for punches and knees to it. If I used my right to punch her, I’d her to be on my back because I couldn’t sit up due to her positioning. That was what I was thinking and I know other more experienced fighters would’ve known what to do, but not me. I’m a striker.

A right hand to my mouth rattled my teeth and I did the only thing I could do… I tried to roll over onto my stomach. Maybe I could crawl out of this, but she seemed to allow me to do that while I felt her legs wrapping around my waist and tightening. A few more shots to the stomach and her arms wrapped around my neck. I felt her body roll and she had me. She was choking me out and I didn’t know what to do. I was thinking about Steve and how this was nothing but me having a name and Alexia fighting a blown up version of me to make her relevant again. I’d never lost a fight. I was undefeated. I knew I could be beaten, but I always tried to stay close to my comfort zone. That’s the thing about love. It makes you come completely out of your comfort zone and just like I knew Steve wanted me to lose, I tapped Alexia’s right thigh with my hand and submitted to her. After the fight was over, Steve asked me if I was okay. I just nodded and left to go sit in the locker room with the lights off. I couldn’t even cry. That was the loneliest moment of my life. Of course, Alexia lost to Siena Blaze too. So that was also a big waste of time.

“Hey squirrel, wake up!” Tammy was slapping me back to consciousness. I was standing and she was limping. I don’t know what was happening, but I must’ve blacked out. I saw her lip was cut and her gi was undone, her pink top still held her big breasts and her firm but soft stomach sported a bruised right above her deep set oblong navel.

“I rocked your little ass,” she says as she throws a kick at my head, but I duck under it and sweep her feet out from under her. She yelps as her big ass hits the floor. We’ve been fighting for a while. Apparently, I’ve been giving it back to her too, and I don’t remember though. I look down and see that my own gi is undone. I exhale and realize that I’m still a bit wobbly. She gets to her feet and comes right at me. Big mistake. I thrust a sidekick right at her solar plexus and I know that if it lands, the fight is over… but she catches my foot. No problem. I bring my other foot around to try and get her cheek, but she catches that one. Still, no problem. I do a push up and roll, yanking my legs back towards me and sending her stumbling into the wall while I am in a seated position, and I immediately get up.

“I’m going to beat your little ass!” Tammy says, wiping blood from her nose, “I’m going to fuck you up, you little bitch!!”

“You will address me as Master Rockford,” and I grab her by the shirt of her gi, pull it over her head, and send uppercuts into her face while stomping on her foot.

“After this is over, don’t ever come back to my dojo again,” I tell her, alternating between her face and stomach, “You’re not welcomed here anymore. This building may be old, but there are cameras everywhere, including in this room. I’m not going to press charges against you, because you’re no threat to me. I started studying martial arts the same year you were born. I’ve fought all over the world and I’ve been through more than you could ever imagine on a professional level and a personal one. I had a great life that I walked away from and now, I’m trying to help your ass and you think that you can get the best of me? I’ve been seeing girls like you all my life. Full of potential, but just rotten on the inside and with no heart, coming in here trying to frighten me like I‘ve never faced a challenge before. Tammy, I wasn‘t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I‘m not a coward or a princess. That‘s you.”

I snap out of it… oh man. I pull the shirt back down and she’s cut and bleeding from her eyes nose, mouth and eyes. I really got carried away.

“Tammy… I’m sorry. I got carried away. Think about what I said and get yourself together. I-I-UGGHHH!!!” she throws her hardest shot yet. It’s a straight right that slams a decimeter above my navel, doubling me over and sending me down on my side.

“Oh, I’m going to think about it for a long time,” she says as she continues to wipe the blood from her nose, “Starting now. But that’s not all. I’m going to sit down with my parents and our family lawyer and we’re going to think about all this together and probably, the cops too. We’re going to sue you for everything you fucking own! You hear me, you bitch?!!”

“The video is going to say something different,” I respond. I can barely move.

“Fuck that stupid fucking video!” she says, “You’re the teacher and I’m the student and you beat me up! You assaulted me! No matter who started it, you are more experienced than I am and you beat me up. I was talking to you and I was defending myself. The fault lies with you, bitch!”

“You threw the first punch,” I say and she starts towards me. She brings her foot back and slings it into my stomach… “Goolll”…I roll over onto my back and she stomps on my stomach eight more times. She mounts me, grabbing me back the back of my head and pulling on my brown curls, looking me in the eyes.

“I fucking hate you,” she says and spits right in my face, “I know what I want. You’ve got a big mouth on you, bitch. I want a submission from you. I want you to look me in my eyes and tell me that you have had enough. You’re going to tell me that I’m better than you and that I’m worthy of being a black belt. I‘m going to beat you until you do.”

“When this is over,” I say softly with a smile, “You’re going to be demoted all the way back down to white belt. Maybe I‘ll give you an orange stripe on it if you‘re good.”

“Maybe I’ll just bash your head into the floor until you change your mind!”

“I’ve got a pretty hard head… let me show you!” I send my head forward into hers and she gets her own spit in her face and our lips brush briefly. She yelps as I hit her with a solid right cross to the point of her chin, sending her off of me, but we both get to our feet faster than either of us thought. She knows I’m winded and I know she is. I stumble back against the door, looking at her weakly, my hands going to my aching stomach and her eyes widen as she sees detachment in my own eyes. She knows I can’t beat her. She knows this is her chance to finish me because she’s going to keep coming until she gets my respect. She charges and I look at her, defeat all over my face, waiting for the punch or kick, or knee or anything else that will seal the deal and force me to admit that she is simply better. She lowers her shoulders and I know it’s going to be a tackle. Her shoulder with hit the pit of my stomach and drive the fighting spirit from me. She will win and have a story to tell everyone and I will go home beaten and shamed. Here it comes… wait for it… wait for it…

I jump and do a split as her body goes right under me and her head hits the door, knocking it open as she tumbles into the hallway, semi-conscious. Like I said, I’m very, very fast.

“Game over, Ms. Tolliver,” I say as I pull my gi back together. The other instructors and some of the students come and I just look at them. I really have no explanation for what has happened. But Tammy is yelling that I attacked her and beat her up. Before long, security comes and so do Tammy’s parents. The cops aren’t even called. I go home and some smart ass sounding man calls me to tell me that Tammy’s parents want to settle this out of court. They don’t want me to lose my job or for the martial arts program to suffer because of my conduct. I mention the video, and he tells me flat out that he can and will make it irrelevant. I tell him to go to hell and an edited version of the video is on youtube the very next morning. It makes me look like the aggressor, but makes it look like Tammy won the fight.

Now, I’ve got my bosses asking for me to come in. I’ve got people like Nancy Grace and Kimberly Chaucer wanting to interview me and Tammy, her parents, and her smart ass attorney already doing interviews. They start calling me The Rabid Squirrel and citing me as some fallen martial arts icon or true Hollywood story. But worst of all, I have to explain myself to my parents and my younger sister. I have to tell them what really happened because they’ve been so defensive of me to the media. Tammy becomes a black belt at my dojo after I am stripped of my seniority there. I am present when she gets the belt, but I don’t make eye contact with her at all. I can feel her staring at me the whole time, trying to get an acknowledgment of her existence. That’s what they wanted, her lawyer and parents, for me to keep my job. They figured I was dumb and didn’t have any attorney friends who would challenge them. They were wrong, but I didn’t bother with it. I quit my job, say bye to the students and instructors because they had no role in this. I make a few phone calls and about a month later, I’m in her office.

“So, you were pretty hot shit back in the early 2000s,” Siena Blaze. 5’5” 140 lbs, crystal blue eyes, Marilyn Monroe curly blonde hair, Madonna sexual appetite and aggression. One of the greatest fighters of all time and the owner of the biggest fighting promotion for females in the world and all of its sub-territories. She stares at me like she’s expecting me to respond, but I really don’t know what to say.

“Yes, I guess,” I say to her and she takes her eyeglasses off. For a woman who’s 41 years old and mother of four, she doesn’t look any older than I am

“Tell me something, Rocky,” she says, “I could’ve used you back when you were in your early twenties, before you disappeared. You had a great look which you still do and you had a lot of potential. You’re thirty now and that’s right around the back end of your prime, depending on how you look at it. What would I want with a girl who, the last time I saw her, nearly got her head knocked off by Allison Payne in a fight she should’ve never taken, has no real name fighters on her resume who she actually beat, never actually went to the Olympics, almost eight years removed from her last professional fight, and was recently in the news because one of her own students kicked her ass? What could I do with you, other than make you a valet?”

Allison Payne. 5’8” 150 lbs. The number one ranked female mixed martial artist in the world and a redheaded Halle Berry looking goddess at that. After losing to Alexia, I decided the best way to impress Steve and get my “mojo” back was to fight the girl Steve had Alexia eying as a future opponent. Allison nearly killed me. I’d never been hit that hard or slammed that hard and she went on to beat Alexia, Siena, Nikky, and every else until losing to Rachel Apache two years ago. As a matter of fact, Steve and Alexia are now a part of Allison’s team. They all train together in New Orleans under General Cutter’s camp. After Allison beat me, I retired Rocky the Flying Squirrel and decided to take up volunteer jobs while teaching martial arts. It was over. I look at Siena and sigh.

“Mrs. Blaze--”

“Stop with the Mrs. Blaze shit. Call me Siena.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just being formal because--”

“You don’t have to be formal with me, Rocky. Or maybe I’ll just call you Sydney, even if I know you from your fighting days as Rocky.”

“Okay, Siena.” I honestly didn’t expect this from her. She’s looking right at me, all the beauty, but the presence of an Al Pacino character underneath a heavy layer of Madonna, ranting and cursing and hamming it up. I honestly don’t know how to handle this. I’ve seen Siena in person before and I’ve read enough and seen enough video. I know how wild she used to be and still is. But this is a different thing, interpersonal interaction with her.

“I tell you what I’ll do,” she says, “You need work, Syd. I like talking to Sydney, but in the ring, I need Rocky the Flying Squirrel. I need that warrior heart, that never say die attitude. That’s what I need. I don’t need this demure, too shy shy, hush hush shit. So, I’m going to open negotiations for a developmental deal that will sign Rocky the Flying Squirrel. Are you okay with that… Sydney?”

“Yes, Siena,” is my response

“Then I suggest you go out to wherever your old Team America buddy, Nikky Smalls is and train with her. She’s with us now too and she’s best friends with the girl who was OPW World Champion when you started out, Glory. They’ll be able to help you and teach you some things. They’ll pull Rocky out of you because it looks like when that blonde chick beat you, she took your heart. Go find it.”

And that’s the journey I’m headed on now. I’m coming back to the fighting world because I never really stopped loving it. A man just never loved me and maybe that’s not his fault. As for Tammy Tolliver, she’s a pro fighter now. I never thought she would go that route, but the video of her beating me up has made her some kind of reality star. She’s got her own reality show. It’s like Paris Hilton meets The Bachelorette meets The Ultimate Catfighter or something. Maybe we’ll cross paths again some day. The world of fem-fighting isn’t as big as people think and I’m a big believer in destiny.

I’ve learned a lot of lessons in my life and I remember the old Zen question of wonderment: Which is the real lesson? What the teacher teaches, or what the student learns? I think for me, the real lesson to be learned from all this is to never let anything stop you from achieving your dreams. I was a hypocrite because I told my students that all the time, but I didn’t follow my own advice. Never again. I’m going for it. This squirrel is going to fly again!

THE END?
"When people walk away from you... let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you... and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over."

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Offline howardcosell

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Re: The Lesson
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2013, 12:05:57 AM »
Thank you, Amber  :)

I hope you enjoyed the rest of it too. I greatly appreciate it anytime someone has anything nice to type about anything I type here. This is my first story here since early 2011. So, I know it's rough because I haven't done this "genre" in a long time.

By the way, to anyone who knows why... I'm seeing links in my post. Certain words are highlighted and are links to adds. I'm not doing that on purpose. If that's just something the site does, please let me know and if not, please let me know if there's a way to change that. I'm not trying to put adds or anything on here.
"When people walk away from you... let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you... and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over."

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Offline howardcosell

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Re: The Lesson
« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2013, 04:13:42 AM »
Thanks, Simon!

Nia Peeples kicks a lot of ass. I'm glad you liked the story and there may be more. I owe Laurie Breeze a story featuring her and that's coming soon.

I think what is happening is that this is something on my computer that's putting in links I can only see. Maybe it's something with the browser service I'm using. Thanks for letting me know you're not seeing them. And thanks again for those comments.
"When people walk away from you... let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you... and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over."

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Offline Laurie Breeze

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Re: The Lesson
« Reply #4 on: February 14, 2013, 11:08:06 PM »
Howard is back! Better than ever! So happy you're sharing yer awesome talent with us again, you've been missed. Terrific story, epic fight, everything works perfectly to make this a classic!

hugggzzz 'n xoxo   :-*

~L~ 
We're on a circuit of an Indian dream
We don't get old, we just get younger
When we're flying down the highway
Riding in our Indian Cars

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Offline howardcosell

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Re: The Lesson
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2013, 03:27:36 AM »
It's nice to be missed  ;)

Thank you so much for your wonderful comments, Laurie. I'm glad you enjoyed my work on this. I wasn't sure how it was going to come out. I'm trying to write myself back into shape to do this, because it's been two years lol. It means a lot and your story will be coming. I do owe you one and do intend to repay you. Thanks again <3 and Happy Valentine's Day  :)
"When people walk away from you... let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you... and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over."

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Offline Kayla

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Re: The Lesson
« Reply #6 on: February 15, 2013, 07:27:52 PM »
Some gut-punching action here & there - great to see you back, HC!  ;D ;)

Hugs
Kayla
Naughty - but oh, so NICE! :-)

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Offline howardcosell

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Re: The Lesson
« Reply #7 on: February 16, 2013, 04:34:55 PM »
Thanks, Kayla. It's nice to see you as well, and who knows? Perhaps you'll be a part of a last little thing I'm contemplating, after I tell two stories, one featuring Laurie and the other, reintroducing a really old adversary from the 90s lol. Stay tuned...  ;) :D :)
"When people walk away from you... let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you... and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over."

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Offline Jonica

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Re: The Lesson
« Reply #8 on: February 19, 2013, 03:34:39 AM »
Great comeback story, Howard!!  Nice to see you writing again!

J
xoxo
Bad (Bad) Blood (Blood)
The bitch is in her smile.
The lie is on her lips,
Such an evil child.

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Offline howardcosell

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Re: The Lesson
« Reply #9 on: February 19, 2013, 11:12:28 PM »
Thanks, Jonica and Jessika. I'm really thankful for the love and positive vibes, guys. It's been roughly two years since I last did a story about this sort of stuff. I think I have a couple more in me. I owe Laurie a story and there's a personality I want to reintroduce. If I'm still feeling it, I may do a tournament to tie up some loose ends.

Thank you so much for still caring  :)
"When people walk away from you... let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you... and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over."

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Offline Kayla

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Re: The Lesson
« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2013, 07:26:52 AM »
Aw, HC, it would be nice to be part again of one of your excellent stories. It's been a while (to feature in any story for that matter)!  ;D ;)

Hugs
Kayla

Thanks, Kayla. It's nice to see you as well, and who knows? Perhaps you'll be a part of a last little thing I'm contemplating, after I tell two stories, one featuring Laurie and the other, reintroducing a really old adversary from the 90s lol. Stay tuned...  ;) :D :)
Naughty - but oh, so NICE! :-)

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Offline howardcosell

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Re: The Lesson
« Reply #11 on: February 22, 2013, 10:01:47 PM »
Kayla, I have a feeling that a particular author who may have seen your response will beat me to that, but don't worry. You're going to be a part of the tournament.  ;) You are a dynamic story and you should be utilized more anyway.
"When people walk away from you... let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you... and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over."