Love At First Kick

1

'God, that was one hell of a class.' I am lying on the tatami floor, feeling more dead than alive. My hair is a sweaty, sticky mess from wearing the protective helmet. All the protective pads have cut into my arms and legs.

'I think my knee is gonna lock up again. It feels...not good.' Youji complains as she is rubbing her knee

My taekwondo class just finished. It's been pretty brutal today. Well, lately, in general. We are preparing for a tournament in Seoul that's happening in a month.
I've been training since I was 4, so good 16 years of fighting and competing. I've had a chance for the national team last year, but unfortunately, fate had other plans. Youji started off a bit after me because she wanted to be like Bruce Lee. We are both kind of obsessed with 80's and 90's martial arts movies.

'Rin, I think I might die one of these days. I don't think my body can move the way it did when I was 15. I'm ready for retirement.' Youji throws herself on the ground, spreading like a starfish. She didn't even take off her shield just yet.

I laugh at her. 'You are talking as if you are 50, not 19. You gotta stop slacking off. That's why you keep getting beaten up.' I tease

She flung her helmet at me, not even seeing where she was throwing it. 'It's easy for you to say. You have ligaments of a damn baby. I gotta stretch 16 times to get even close, and you wake up doing a damn split.'
She is kind or right. I've always been flexible. Ever since I was a kid, I've been doing weird contorsion things with my body. It used to freak out my mom. She often told me she would take me to an exorcist.

'I wouldn't stay like that if I didn't work at it. So come on, take the equipment off, and let's stretch before our muscles go cold and we end up in pain.'
Trust me, you do not want to skip the stretching out after an exercise. I've made that mistake more than once and hated it every time.

She starts groaning as I crawl over to her and start pulling off the pads of her legs. She turned and tried to crawl away, barely moving. She looks like a baby who just learned it has arms and legs.

'Again?' I hear someone sigh then chuckle

'Jungkook, assistance please.' Jungkook is another person in our class. He is a year younger than her. He only started when he was 15, but he is such an insane talent that he managed to get to the professional level in only 3 years. Plus, he is a really good-looking guy. Tall, muscular, with a strikingly handsome face. Although he often gets compared to a bunny because of his smile.

'We will need a crane in the gym one of these days.' He sighs, walking over. 'Up you go.' He lifts Youji off the ground, setting her on her feet, like she weighs nothing. I mean, she is in a low category, -44 kg, but still.
Unfortunately, this is a common accurance. Even our coach gave up on her. It's also a common thing that people in our class have to help her up all the time.

'I'm gonna start requesting payment for all this lifting.' Jungkook jokes

'I'll buy you some fried chicken.' I tell him

'Oh, how I wish I could. I need to lose 2 kg by the end of the week. I have a tournament this weekend.' He sighs

'What for? I thought you were preparing for the Seoul Open?' I ask

'I am, but I also have the last junior tournament. I figured I wanted to go out with a bang.' He smiles

This is quite a complicated sport to explain.
Besides the weight categories, there are also age limits in Taekwondo.
Depending on your age, you fight in different divisions with different round lenghts and rules. There are also groups divided by the belts, also having different rules. The sport itself has two versions, ITF and WTF. We are in WTF, which focuses on fighting. But if you prefer to compete in Poomsae, then you can go in either.
Poomsae is.. well.. the best I can explain it is that it's a little choreography showing off your technical skills. We have to learn them and perform them in order to receive our belt degree.