Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 88656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“Actually, it would be nice if you could tell my mom. She’s really excited and positive, but I can tell she’s dying to know the details.”
“Yeah, okay,” he said. “You want to call her now?”
I laughed. “No. We can do it later.”
Kage nodded and removed his shoes and socks. I followed suit, and then we made our way to the center of the gym.
“This is Marco, my primary trainer.” He indicated a shorter, balding man who was readying some equipment. “Marco, this is my intern.”
Marco turned around and gave me a sharp looking-over. “Pleased to meet you, Jamie,” he said in a heavy Brazilian accent, clearly already familiar with who I was. “Kage and I are very excited about what you’re going to be doing for him. He says you’re the man when it comes to these things.”
“Uh…” I faltered, but Kage thoughtfully swooped in to save me from humiliation.
“Marco’s main area of expertise is in Muay Thai, but he’s very well-rounded, so he works with me on pretty much everything.” Kage’s voice was full of pride for his coach. “Sometimes I work on boxing down and Ed’s Boxing Club. Then my Jiu Jitsu coach comes in on some afternoons. Just depends on his schedule. Other than that, it’s pretty much just me and Marco.”
“Don’t forget the sparring partners I’ve been bringing in for you,” Marco said. “You make it sound like I keep you locked away in a dark cellar. Whether your uncle likes it or not, I do get you exposure. It’s good for you to work with people rather than alone all the time.”
“Well, I’ve added another person, as you can see,” Kage told him. “Jamie is going to be observing us some.”
“Oh.” Suddenly Marco didn’t seem quite as pleased to meet me.
I figured it must be because he didn’t like to be scrutinized. I probably wouldn’t like it if Kage’s uncle started sending in some high school student to observe my intern work, so why should I expect this high level MMA coach to be thrilled for some college guy to be watching over his shoulder.
Still, the first day of watching Kage train was a revelation. First of all, I’d never imagined how long and grueling it would be. I was thinking back to the few karate lessons I’d taken in middle school. An hour a week, and that was it. So I thought maybe Kage trained an hour a day.
Boy, was I wrong.
Marco was on full-time salary. Most days Kage trained for three hours in the morning and two hours in the evening, in addition to his early morning three-mile run. That was just a regular laid-back day for these guys. Apparently, they trained even harder in the week leading up to a fight.
During training sessions, they wore safety gear— shin guards, sparring gloves, headgear, mouthpiece. Sometimes Kage shucked his shin guards and headgear and just wailed on Marco. I couldn’t imagine being a human punching bag for a living, but Marco took it like a champ, alternately barking out orders and taunting his eager student. “Good, good, great head movement,” he’d say. Or “You hit like a girl. Are you wearing pink panties under those shorts?”
Sometimes Marco talked such shit to Kage it was a wonder he didn’t just walk out. I kept expecting things to get serious, for the practice blows to become real blows, but the two of them just worked diligently at besting each other without either one ending up in the hospital.
Morning workouts included a one-hour warm-up and general strength and flexibility workout. Then they would focus on stand-up work, which included punching and kicking. Footwork and head movement were also honed to a fine art during these sessions, ensuring that Kage could confuse his opponent while dodging whatever strikes came his way. Sometimes they’d work punch or kick combos over and over and over, calling the numbers again and again, until I found myself chanting along with them. In the afternoon session, they’d take it to the ground for grappling practice. The end of each session was reserved for anything-goes sparring matches.
I was shocked at the amount of physical labor Kage did every day. No wonder he looked so damn good. What he did was a far cry from going to the gym for an hour three nights a week. Hell, I got worn out just sitting on the sidelines and watching him pushing and pulling the prowler sled the length of the gym, and that was only a fraction of one of his rigorous routines. I’d participated in countless basketball, football and baseball training sessions over the years, and this was more intense.
“I wish I had a good camera,” I said offhandedly to Kage as we made our way to the elevators after the first morning’s practice. “I kept thinking I’d love to take some action shots of you to use for promotion. You look amazing out there.”