บท 70: Chapter 70:

Ace wiped the graphene marks, and went to wash his hands. The drawing was now nearly finished, he only had to do the final touches, and then he would have to send it to a curator where it would be given the proper care so that the pencil and chalk did not fall off. It would also be framed, and would be ready for collection whenever he needed it.

It honestly looked amazing, and Ace was extremely proud of what he had accomplished, he just had to hope that Samantha would appreciate. He then wandered about what to do today, he felt like going to the gym, but it had been closed during the holidays. He was still thinking over his plans, when he got a call, he picked up the phone, surprised at the caller ID, "Hey Allison! What's up?"

"Not much, I was just wondering if you were up for some training today?"

"Cool! Where do I go and when?"

"Just come to the house, there will be quite a few people since it is an open training event, but everyone there should be pretty skilled."

"Oh, even better, what time?"

"Come in a few hours, see you then?"

"Of course, I'll be there.", Ace hung up the call and walked to the kitchen, all the while wondering about circumstances.

*************************

"Just go in through there sir, the dojang is that way."

Ace followed the instructions, and went down the little path, it was beautiful, it was covered by trees on both sides, and it looked straight out of a movie. And that feeling was only reaffirmed when he got to the dojang. It was a massive installation, done in ancient Korean style. At the middle, it also had the family's crest engraved in a large pattern.

There were already a few people around when he got there, and he spotted Allison talking to another girl, so he walked there.

"Hey, good morning!.", Allison had just finished her conversation when Ace approached her, she turned around and smiled

"You made it! Cool, I will say that this is meant to be a Tae-Kwon-Do training camp, but since we are going to be doing sparring without any guards, I thought I would call you."

"Ok, but I don't actually have a dobok or a belt…"

"It's fine, let's go, I will get you one, and as for a belt, you can just wear a spare white one. You will get looks, but it will be ok once we actually begin sparing."

'The hell did I get into, I am pretty sure this is a private event…', Ace shook his head and sighed, he should have known better.

He got changed quickly and then went out to the main mats to do some stretches, there were already some people there, and with the people outside he counted about 20 faces. He got some weird looks for his belt, but he ignored them. He did some light jumps to stretch out his knees and hip joints, and then stood around waiting for it to begin.

Allison came, and everyone began to crowd in a circle, the people at the front kneeling so that the people at the back could see.

"Ok guys, thanks for coming. So, our main focus for today is going to be fighting. Now, I know that most of you have learnt other stuff apart from Tae-Kwon-Do, so this is your chance to mix all your skills and use them in a fight. There will be no protection apart from a mouth guard, and all hits except groin hits are valid. Of course, no scratching, biting or pulling hair, but anything else is fair game. Please fight clean."

Then, the people sat in a massive square around a large mat where Ace assumed people would be fighting. He would be lying if he said he was not excited, most of these guys would probably use this chance to use some interesting and unorthodox moves, so he was hoping to learn as much as he could.

The first two people walked into the mats, two men, one looked slightly younger than the other, but they were probably in their mid to late twenties. They bowed, and then began, the one that carried the colour blue seemed focused on defence, and slapped away all kicks, he was placing his body in a way that even if he failed to block or redirect the kick, it would not do too much harm. This went on for about half a minute, and then, the person on the offence, wearing red, went for a quick barrage of kicks. He alternated between techniques and heights and it was pretty effective. Ace focused on his footwork when chaining the kick and integrated it into his memory. The defender sidestepped and backpedalled, but was done in when the other used his last kick as a feint, but then lunged and went for a jab. Reflexes and muscle memory saved him however, he grabbed the hand that was punching and then the shoulder, before throwing him over his shoulder.

It was a brutal throw that carried extreme momentum, and Ace winced. He could have been thrown on his head which would have broken his neck, but luckily the thrower was skilled and threw him onto his stomach. It still hurt and the fight ended, but he would be able to spar again today.

To Ace's surprise, the man was grinning, not looking hurt in the slightest, and he bro hugged the other fighter once he got up. They both left smiling.

After it was finished, people went around giving tips and suggestions. When it was Ace's turn, people looked on in curiosity to see what the white belt would say:

"It was a good fight, and red could have won, he should have fainted the punch as well, and used the momentum to do a reverse circular leg sweep. There was not much difference in body weight, so the power along with the momentum should have been enough. Once on the floor, it was over."

Once he finished, most people looked at him with curiosity. What he had said made sense, and playing back the fight in their heads, it would have probably been very possible to carry out.

The ball went around, and a few more people said something, but soon, another battle began. The process of battle and then feedback went for a couple of rounds, before Ace decided he was getting bored and wanted to fight.

As he stood up, so did another man, this one had not fought yet, but had given a few good tips already, so he must have been reasonably skilled.

Ace wanted to try a new takedown, and no one better to try it on than a kick practitioner. They bowed and began, Ace began to notice the man's feet and facial expression. Most would be able to learn how to mute telegraphing a kick, but if you were able to look at both things at once, you could get a pretty good guess.

This meant that when the man went for a snap kick to Ace's ribs, he was ready. Ace grabbed the ankle, and before the man could do anything, Ace pulled while moving to the side, Ace then went with the motion, and kicked to the back of the knee of the leg that was still standing. The man went down face first, and as soon as he landed on the floor, Ace stamped hard on the mat next to his head, and then stepped back, letting the man get back up, where they shook hands.

"Winner, blue!"

Everyone had seen the takedown, and knew that if the stomp had landed on the head, as it would in a real fight, it would have been brutal.

People looked at Ace in surprise, no one expecting this from the white belt. Ace removed the belt clip that signalled the colour, and went back to his seat.

Then, Ace was asked as was customary, to give any tips to the loser.

"Well, you telegraphed your kick, it was fast enough that in a combo I would not be able to do anything, but since it was the first contact, I had more time to get ready. Apart from that, you had a good attempt to get out of the hold, but you reacted too slowly, most likely because you had never seen it before. There are a few ways to get out, if you have ground fighting knowledge, you go to the ground along with the grabber. If you do not, you go for a hard strike to the ribs when the guy is sidestepping. It is harder to do, but it might even win you the fight if you hit hard enough."

Then, a few more people gave tips of their own, most focused on how to not telegraph as much. The man took them in stride and thanked every single person.

Ace had to say that the responses to criticism and feedback from the people here amazed him. No one seemed to be an egotistical asshole, and they all understood that others could help them improve. They were all young-ish, so that was pretty surprising.

Some more fights happened, and they had lunch, the fights continuing after that as well. Once they finished up, everyone was exhausted, and they offered Ace to go have dinner with them, which he agreed. Ace would meet up with Allison in an hour, and they would go together.

Ace went home and took a shower, then changed into some techwear trousers, and some black boots, finishing up with a white T-Shirt and a red and black checkered shirt. He put on the black armband Elene had gifted him, and then had the chauffeur drive him to Allison's house.

He waited for a few minutes and then she came, wearing some black and white Vans, a hoodie and some jeans. They then got into her car and drove to the place. When they got there, there were already a few people, and they had set up a massive round table where they could all sit comfortably, all 16 of them.

The place seemed to be some diner with typical burgers and fries and some milkshakes. As people got there, they sat and then began to order once everyone was there. Some ordered alcohol, but most just got a milkshake or a fizzy drink, Ace got both. The conversation flowed, and it soon got to the topic of why Ace did not have a black belt,

"So, how come you don't have a black belt? I mean with your skills, some combat dojangs would probably just give it to you for joining, hell, I would invite you to my own if it was in this city.", A few people nodded and Ace smiled.

"I never really thought of getting a black belt honestly, I started fighting for the fun of it and as a way to do exercise, so it was never in my plans to really join anywhere."

Most nodded as they understood, and then one spoke up, it was a large tan man with a mohawk, "Well, if you ever need to join a dojang for a competition you wish to go to, just call, I'll make sure to expedite the paperwork needed.", a few people dittoed that statement, and Ace thanked all of them.

As they finished up and said their goodbyes, Ace got into the car with Allison. "So, who the hell are they? Your future bodyguards?"

She smiled, "I swear, nothing gets past you. Well, I started this as a way for people that did Tae-Kwon-Do to practice and hone their skills in a real fight, most of these people are in private security or in the army, so this is a way to get a workout, while practising and also meeting like-minded people. It's not a large group because I am selective with the members."

"Well then, thank you for inviting me, tell me when it happens again, although I reiterate the question, bodyguards?"

"Well, so most of these people as I said are in private security and the army, but at some point, they will retire, so I hope that they will come work for me, either as security in the compound, or as bodyguards."

"Hmm, I would hire Elle fast, she is still young, so you might have a chance to get her now before she gets drafted into some special task force as I am sure most are part of."

She smiled, "Yeah I know, I invited her to meet me tomorrow, and I will probably make my offer, I hope she takes it. She is good at hand to hand, but her shooting skills are awesome as well."

"Good. She seemed kind and like she knew how to do her job."

"I am happy you agree."