Agile

The Death Spin

- 2013 -

A teenager is sitting on a bench. Fully dressed with his taekwondo uniform. Adidas - sponsored, his favourite brand. At the back can be clearly seen a line that reads TAEKWONDO WTF. A black belt is tied firmly on his waist. Left hand fidgetting to a 100 plus bottle.

Eyes are focused on the movement of the water inside the bottle. He's sweating rapidly. Some drops of sweat falls down onto the floor. His hearts beats faster everytime he thinks about it.

Finals.

He is not usually scared. But he doesn't even know why that feeling suddenly comes rushing into his body. Sweat. Shivering. Rapid breathing. Maybe because this is his first time entering the finals of the World Class Taekwondo Tournament. World finals. Even when you hear it you feel proud. It's not easy for you to come this far. I will not let this chance wasted!

The cap of the bottle is twisted. He takes a deep breath to calm down. 15 to 20 minutes are filled with stretches and warm-ups. Jogging. Sprinting. The punching bag has also been punched by him many times. He's determined.

"Syahmi!" A man calls his name while entering the locker room. Sir David. "Ready?" asked him before sitting beside Syahmi.

"I was born ready, sir." Sir David chuckled. Syahmi smiled.

"I can see you're nervous."

"Well, I can't lie about that. Can I?"

"No you can't. I've trained a lot of people. Mostly worse. Not many people better than you. I know when you're nervous or not."

"Sir.. I've come this far. What if.. you know? I lose?"

Sir David laughed again. "Be yourself. Fight because you want to. Not because you have to. You've come this far. Winning or losing is just part of the game. Just do your best, okay?" He pats Syahmi's shoulder, giving support.

Sir David. Syahmi's coach for this tournament. Always have been a dedicative person. Always giving moral support to Syahmi especially in taekwondo. He knows Syahmi is talented. With Syahmi's talent, now they are in the final stage in the flyweight category 55 - 58 kilograms. World class. Excited. Proud. All of those are first time for them.

The semi finals are already challenging. When he can defeat his opponent seems like a dream came to reality. Something just like that.

Syahmi and Sir David came into the stadium after their name is announced. The viewers are cheering.

"Malaysia bolehh!"
"Malaysia! Malaysia! Malaysia!"

That's how they cheered. Some of them called Syahmi's name.

"Syahmi! I love yoouuuuu!" Syahmi turned around but Sir David pulled him back. "Focus!"

Syahmi nodded and smiled to himself. He walks towards the battle zone which is a square shaped platform. Sir David tightens Syahmi's chest guard. Then, both his shoulders are patted. Giving the final support. He's fully equipped. Chest guard, head guard, forearm guards, shin guards, mouth guard.

"Syahmi, don't forget the most important thing." Sir David gave Syahmi the groin guard.

"If you can't have a child, don't blame me!" Syahmi took it with a smile. He wears it. Now he's ready.

-----------------------

"You ready?" asked the coach of the South Korean team. His student nods. Lee Dae - Hoon.

"You know who you're about to face, Dae Hoon?"

"Yes, coach. I'm aware of that. He's just an amateur. Newbie. I can take him down." replied him while looking at Syahmi warming up.

"Don't get too confident. You see how he beat his opponent yesterday? He's the one you're facing today. We can't afford to lose this match, you get me?"

"Yeah, I'll do my best coach."

"No, that's not enough. You see this boy? His father went missing. A tragedy. Try to provoke him or something. Play with his emotions. Make him lose focus."

"But coach.."

"You don't wanna get humiliated, do you?"

Dae Hoon nods slowly. Accepting the fact he can't lose.

-------------------

Ema jumps onto the sofa. She tooks the remote and turned on the TV.

"Eh, that's Syahmi! He's blue! He looks fat in that outfit! Hehe!"

Syahmi's mum who is also watching the TV is proud of him.

Good luck , son.

--------------------

Fareez who is studying at a cafe is getting tired with all the numbers he needs to memorize. So , he decided to ask the staff to turn on the TV. He finally realised that Syahmi is in there. His final match!

Woah, good luck bro.

-----------------------

Sir Roslan is on his way back when he passes a restaurant filled with customers. To calm his curiosity , he decided to know what's going on. Little did he know, Syahmi is there on tv , for his final match.

You've come so far, Syahmi. Good luck.

---------------------

Bukk! Syahmi lose his balance. It hurts. But he takes that as motivation. Damn, why is this guy powerful? Syahmi tries to gain back focus.

"You okay?" asked the refree. Syahmi nods and the match is continued. But then the match ends because of the lack of time.

"It's okay." Sir David says. "I see you're doing your best there."

"I can feel the burden. The whole country is depending on me."

"Let's put it this way. Just do your best. Remember what I said. Relax. This is your fight. You decice. Fight because you want too not because you have too."

It's true. Why should he be worried?

The final round begins. Sir David gives his final support. Syahmi is now calmer than the last round. The match starts.

"Hei!" Dae Hoon shouts. "Come at me! Come on! What? You scared?! You're gonna go missing like your father?"

He doesn't know why in the loudness of the crowd , he heard that provocation.

"Yeah! Your father! I bet he's a chicken! That's why he ran away!" added Dae Hoon.

Syahmi's heart is pounding. Not because of scared. Anger. Dae Hoon saw the emotional changed on his opponent. This chance is used. He tried to kick Syahmi.

You wanna make mad? Well here I am! Mad as ever!

Syahmi avoided the attack. He avoided all the attacks until he finds his chance.

The 720° degrees death spin. His body is spun to the right to gain momentum. The right leg is stretched out. Before the leg reaches the head, he tightens his muscles to increase the impact damage.

Poww!
Beautiful.
The death spin.

Dae Hoon's head swung to the right , followed by his whole body. His mouth guard is nowhere to be seen. His head guard almost torn off. Eyes and mouth wide opened. But no breathing. No signs of life. The situation turned panic.

The refree calls the paramedics team. When checked. His dead.

Dae Hoon's dead.

Syahmi took off his head guard. Kneeled to the ground.

What have I done?

Mum , Ema , Fareez , Sir Roslan , Sir David , Malaysia. They all knew that was an accident. Nobody saw a heart filled with anger.

Only Syahmi and God knows.