"Green Neon" is the first of 20 volumes in my book series "The Right People".
Tom, a 15-year-old German, is spending the summer holidays at Christina's house in Athens in 1969 during a military dictatorship. His hostess is a lawyer who represents o...
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Georgios had watched Tom and Nikos out of the corner of his eye and now came up to them with the leader of his team. Spiros introduced Tom to his clubmate and cousin Michael. The cousins wanted to complete a training match.
"They need this," Georgios grinned, shaking his head. Tom was curious to see how his new friend would fare against an equal opponent. Michael was half a head taller than Spiros and a year or two older. Both were similarly fit and muscled, Michael perhaps a tad heavier.
Spiros took off his boxing gloves and explained the course of the training match to Tom. He gave Georgios a watch to time teach of five-minute rounds. The first round was wrestling, the second boxing, and the third a combination of both. In wrestling, there would be no win by fall, but a point scored if one of the opponents tapped. Georgios was supposed to keep score, but the fight would go on after a tap. In the boxing, a knockdown would score a point. Tom couldn't imagine how the third round would go - wrestling was almost impossible with the heavy boxing gloves, but without them they would risk injuring their hands while boxing.
The wrestling match was doggedly fought. Spiros had to tap twice because Michael choked him. For his part, Spiros forced Michael to surrender by twisting his arm painfully. Tom's respect grew with every minute. Both were good wrestlers and gave each other nothing. In the end it was 2:1.
Georgios knew the two boys well, but he didn't even begin to share their sporting ambitions. Spiros was his distant cousin who was in turn related to and friends with Michael. Tom assumed Georgios had seen them train before and asked him what would happen in the third round.
"It's actually not just a combination of wrestling and boxing. They do pankration like they did in Olympia. This is sometimes practiced in some boxing clubs. Everything is allowed that is allowed in wrestling and boxing, plus kicks like in karate - you know that?"
"It's from Japan, isn't it? And you can kick there?"
"Kick and smack with the edge of your hand. Pankration had no rules at all in ancient times, but of course that would be a bit inappropriate. Of course they won't hurt each other badly. But it's harder than just wrestling and boxing."
In the meantime the boys had begun boxing and Tom realized that in their earlier match Spiros had only toyed with him. Both Spiros and Michael each went down once over the course of the five minutes, each time prompting a brief pause during which Georgios stopped the clock. Several of the soccer players sat in a large circle around the fighters. The girls had also ventured a little closer.
After the boxing round, the two fighters sat panting in the sand. They took off their gloves and Michael spoke to his opponent, apparently suggesting improvements for Spiros' defense, because he showed him some poses, which Spiros then imitated.
Then it was time for the third round. Both studied each other like wrestlers until Spiros, who had a point to make up, swung at Michael, then lunged at him as he backed away, forcing him to the ground. A wrestling match ensued, but whenever one of the two was in an advantageous position, he punched at the other.
