Enter the Scorpion (King vs. Kien)
As usual, some persuasion was needed before Kien willingly trotted onto the empty basketball court with me in the wee hours of the morning. There, under the glaring spotlights, we fought like real men. Kien is a man because he did not chicken out, which is the kind of attitude that truly gains my respect. In a Thai boxing stance I started, and both of us were testing each other’s water, raising our knees mostly in order to protect ourselves. In the past, I would throw punches, but after not sparring for so long, my natural offences were kicks, turning and side ones mostly, trying to penetrate into Kien’s flawless defense. Then, a few attempts of modified uppercuts had only frictions with his midsection as the force of my punches was reduced by his guard. But I recall one that successfully caught his abdomen. Kien retaliated with a few straight punches, but were shielded by my arms. Kien, a former Taekwondo practitioner, unleashed some of his rusty kicks, but as Taekwondo practitioners attack with their feet, inevitably bumped into my jutting knees. My preference for using my shins, as Thai boxers do, however, saved me a few painful counters by Kien’s knees. Switching my stance interchangeably between wushu (praying mantis-style), Thai boxing and Jeet Kun Do/Wing Chun, I attacked most of the time while Kien defended. Kien started to sense my exhaustion and was prepared to charge, but I called for a break.
The second round was a match of submission wrestling. I interlocked the fingers of both hands in between his and was grappling for just a few seconds before I moved in to apply a headlock. With Kien struggling, I attempted a takedown, but all I could do was lowering the position of his body and slowly dragging him to ground level. Kien was fast to react, as he countered with a headlock. I was pressing against him from top with a headlock while he applied a headlock to me from below. Then, with my body weight still rendering him immobile, I released my headlock deliberately in order to remove his. Having done so, immediately, I grabbed him by the head again. This time, Kien rolled me over and reversed the pressure, being on top of me, even though my headlock was still intact. As both refused to give in, I called for a break as any referee would.
The final round was a boxing match. As we agreed not to attack the head, we commenced. Kien, like a Western boxer, with both arms guarding his midsection, swung to the right and left, as I stood sideways. Without further ado, I charged and started throwing punches, which created a lot of openings for Kien to step in, and bang! One point for Kien for hitting my stomach. Fortunately, the thick layers of fats drastically reduced the momentum; therefore, not causing too much pain. There I went again, this time attacking incessantly, forcing open his shield so that I could have a shot. A few punches probably messily landed on his midsection, but his counter was clear-cut, with another straight to my left abdomen. In no time, I threw one huge straight that got his left chest. Panting, we called for our final break.
This is one of the most satisfying sessions of spar that I ever had in my life as we both got involved in three different types of matches. Citing Fight Club, what is the point of living in or leaving this world without any scar? The notion of masculinity has, however, evolved or been redefined in this capitalist world – A real man is one that earns a large sum, gets laid all the time, and is good at computer. The archaic form of masculinity, that is, skills of survival in the wilderness or those of combat, has been obliterated. There is a shift of emphasis from physical prowess to mental acumen, with the latter being the ‘new’ type of masculinity. While certain movies such as G.I. Joe celebrate physical capabilities, masculinity is also related to one’s mastery in handling weapons and technologies. Fighting barehanded is the rawest, quintessential type of masculinity that boils down to courage and spirit. Furthermore, action movies may stimulate us, but they are after all fiction, and to orchestrate these in reality, the closest, safest and most convenient thing is sparring, although some may suggest joining the military or getting in a gang fight.
One can learn from his mistakes through sparring. Kien said that he should have been braver in attacking, not playing safe all the time. As for me, I know that I should really work on my stamina as my breath ran out pretty quick. Another interesting thing about sparring is that you need to read your opponent so that you can defeat them. It is important to address here that while mental acuity is indispensable in a fight, it is not an attribute of masculinity. This does not, however, mean that masculinity is all about brainless brawl among men. It is about having the audacity to go eyeball to eyeball with another man and engage in a physical contest. It is about possessing the intrepidity to get hit in the face, lose some teeth, spill some blood, break some bones, and still continue. Citing Rocky Balboa, it is about taking punches and still go on like a man. Nonetheless, as mentioned, intelligence is required to obtain success in a fight, and is the part where you predict your opponent’s move, seize an opportunity to attack and above all, learning on the spot how to break down or get around your opponent’s defense and at the same time, maintaining or strengthening yours.
From playing Street Fighter with Kin Foong, having Ken Loong break his promise twice to spar with me, to always talking too much with Ze Seng about sparring since high school (but the last time we sparred was during high school), all that dissatisfaction and disappointment vanished when I sparred with Kien.
