Riches Get Stitches

The Journey Begins

The next day, I went to the gym to train with Levi. Today, I wanted to see what he could do when it came to floor work, so I needed him in the octagon. He brought Shamus with him, which I was actually glad about. He had experience with sparring and knew how to use the hand pads. Levi wouldn't let me help him put the hand wraps on. He swore he knew how to do it, but after several attempts of trying it by himself, I ended up wrapping his hands.

"Alright. Today I want to see what you can do if you ever end up on the floor. I'll show you different things like leg and arm locks, defense and maybe an arm bar if you're doing okay." I say. "Let's go." I say, slapping his shoulder. Before getting in the octagon, he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the floor. I froze where I was and tried my best not to look like I wasn't fazed by his toned torso. He walked in and clapped his gloves hands like he was ready. I looked down at my white cut-off tank top and black MMA shorts. Wow, should have planned this better.

"What first?" Levi asks. I approach him and avoid his abdomen as best I can.

"First, I'm gonna show you how to defend yourself if you fall to the floor." I push him backwards and he goes falling. I kneel above him and square up, like I'm going to punch him. "What do you always do first?" I ask. He holds his arms up, apart enough so he can see, but close enough so he can keep his guard sturdy.

"Guard up." he says.

"Good. Now, if I go to hit your sides, move so it's harder to hit." I go to hit the left side of his rib cage and he moves to the left. The mistake he did was motion to hit my in the face. To teach him a lesson, I deflect the "hit" and hit his right side of his rib cage.

"What the hell?" he says.

"Never punch when you're in this position. Extending your arm will allow for more room to hit, and less chance for you to get back up." I say. I reach out my hand and he takes it. I pull him up and he rubs his side. "We'll work on that later. Just remember that you can kick them too. Just not in the balls, 'cause that's an illegal hit." He nods and shakes his hands. "Now I need to show you how to throw someone to the floor." I motion for Shamus and he steps in next to Levi.

"I have to throw him?" Levi asks, pointing to his cousin, who was a good three inches taller than him.

"Well, I'll throw him first, and then you have to try it." I say. I approach Shamus like it's nothing. It wasn't really. "It's all about momentum, not strength." I say. I square up with Shamus and move. I grab his arm, turn so that my back is to him, hook my left foot behind his, jerk my hip into him, left him ever so slightly, and jump, and spin so that I land on top of him with a loud crash. When I look at Levi, he has a look on his face like I'm crazy.

I spend the next half hour helping him work on that move. He even tried it on me, but he just wasn't ready for it. He kept slipping, or getting stuck half way. I eventually called it a night. I was tired, and Levi and Shamus definitely were too. "Alright guys. I'm callin' it. I'm hungry, hot and tired." We'll pick this up next time." I say. We exit the octagon and Levi grabbed his shirt, but didn't put it back on. He was drenched in sweat and it made his entire torso and arms glisten in the light. Secretly, I thought it was hot.

"Hey Ronnie. You wanna get some lunch with me?" he asks. I really wanted to take a shower, but I was hungry.

"That's sounds great, but I think I should at least shower." I say, gesturing to my own sweaty body. He waves a hand and smiles.

"No problem. You can just shower at my place. No one's there so you don't have to worry about my parents being weird or anything We have like two guest bathrooms." he says. That was a little weird him offering me to shower at his place, but I was hungry, and he offered, so, whatever. Right?