Fighter's Brew – S2: E7 (Audio + LMA Transcript) (Patreon)

• Fighter's Brew

[Note: Read the manga images from right to left.]

"Match 52, lightweight division. Semi-finals." The announcer calls. "In the red corner, from Fighter's Brew, Meguru Takayanagi! In the blue corner, from Burnish, Takeshi Kagaya!"

Takashi looks on with curiosity.

"Is it okay if we go after Meguru's match?" Yudai asks Urasawa.

Furuya is with Meguru.

"Don't worry about Yudai," he tells Meguru. "Just concentrate and remember the plan."

"Right!" Meguru responds.

Meguru and Kagaya stare at each other from opposite corners.

"He's strong, but I have reach on him," Meguru thinks. "Remember the plan, jab and sidestep after I punch. Don't let him grab me; don't get into the range of his hooks. Low kick his lead leg so he can't pivot for the hook. If I get taken down, get back up."

"He should mid kick, right?" Maki asks Maria.

"Well, whenever he's tried, they either backed him up or grabbed his leg," answers Maria. "But what I'm worried about is Meguru-kun's stamina. He barely scraped by the first two rounds and has to be exhausted at this point."

"You think his stamina will hold up?" Take asks Furuya.

"It's gonna be tough," Furuya answers.

"I thought he'd be alright since he kept up with Nabe's intense training," Furuya thinks, "but he's still just a high schooler. And Yudai ended up making his injury worse. Am I really cut out to be a coach?"

Furuya squeezes the towel in his hand. "Damn it!" he thinks. "This is no time to doubt myself!"

The ref points at both fighters. "Fight!" he yells.

"I can't even clench my fists," Meguru thinks. "I can't feel my body. Wonder if I can last the round."

"Four minutes," Maria says. "These next four minutes will be unlike anything Meguru-kun's ever experienced. He doesn't have the stamina. On the other hand, Kagaya has been pacing himself to win this whole tournament."

"I'm always at a disadvantage," Meguru thinks. "What else is new? I just gotta go for it."

Meguru takes the lead with a one-two. Kagaya blocks and lands a low kick.

Meguru's leg buckles. Kagaya closes the distance with a wide hook. Meguru avoids the shot by leaning back. Kagaya follows up with a right overhand. Meguru blocks with his forearm but is still knocked off balance. Kagaya gets a takedown, but they fall off the mats.

The referee calls a break.

"Kagaya must be pretty confident in his clinch if he's willing to leave himself that open during a hook," Maria says. "Even if he misses, he can set the pace and go for a clinch. He won't let up on the pressure since he's confident in his takedown defense."

The fight restarts from standing.

"Meguru's already out of breath," Yudai thinks.

Kagaya fakes a double-leg tackle, then comes back up with an uppercut. Meguru didn't see the shot coming. Kagaya follows up with a wild right overhand.

[The problem with Meguru and Fighter's Brew's standard hand position is that it defends the outsides of the head but not the vertical center line, leaving the chin open for center attacks. It also relies solely on the arms to block rather than body position, which makes it difficult to defend and attack simultaneously.]

Meguru stands his ground this time. "I need to stop him," he thinks.

Meguru lowers his head and jabs. Kagaya runs face-first into his punch. Everyone, including Takashi, is stunned.

[Power shouldn't be the focus of a strike, but impact. Impact is a consequence of velocity and depth. Since Meguru is extending his jab while Kagaya is walking face-first into it simultaneously, there is mutual depth. Two forces driving into each other create a deep impact on Kagaya's face. However, since impact is mutual, this is also how fighters break their hand. Gloves and hand wraps protect the fists, but there is no such protection for the chin. Since the headgear protects the outside of the head, it makes even less sense not to protect the center of your face.]

Kagaya is down.

"That was a jab, right?" Maki asks.

"But he stood his ground and got him right in the jaw," Maria says. "That takes courage not to back up."

"Down? Me?" Kagaya thinks. "You gotta be kidding me!"

Kagaya gets up at four.

"This gym's fighters have surprisingly strong one-twos," Kagaya's friend thinks.

The fight resumes. Meguru tries to line up his jab, but Kagaya moves his head from side to side.

Meguru throws a low kick, but Kagaya blocks.

Thud.

Pain shoots up Meguru's already injured leg.

Meguru steps in with a jab, but Kagaya grabs him. Kagara tries several trips, but Meguru stays on his feet.

"Were his legs always that strong?" Maki asks Maria.

"He may not have flashy moves," Maria says, "but he's certainly come a long way."

Kagaya fakes an inside trip to reap to the outside. They crash to the mat.

Kagaya passes to side pin.

"Why does he always have to get himself in a pinch?!" blurts Maki.

"He's so heavy," Meguru thinks.

"You got a point!" Kagaya's corner yells. "Now submit him!"

Kagaya secures a double wrist lock grip and tries to lift Meguru up for the submission. Meguru uses the space to roll onto his knees. Kagaya takes his back.

"Stay calm, Meguru!" Furuya yells. "Fight the choke grip!"

"He even took Meguru-san's back!" Momoko exclaims.

"He's good," Yudai says with worry.

Meguru manages to get Kagaya's grip off his neck, but Kagaya stays on his back.

"Don't stop, Meguru!" yells Furuya.

"Kid is gassed. He's got nothing left," Kagaya thinks.

But Meguru keeps fighting.

"Find the ground with your back and peel him off!" shouts Furuya.

Meguru is breathing hard, but he's listening.

"This damn brat," Kagaya thinks. "He's tough."

Meguru keeps peeling the grip off of his neck and then finally reverses to get on top!

[Depsite Kagaya encircling Meguru with his legs and body, once Meguru removes Kagaya's hands, there's nothing holding Meguru in place. Meguru can spin in place without breaking the encirclement.]

"Watch for the triangle!" Furuya yells.

Meguru is caught in a loose triangle, but Meguru doesn't panic this time. "I can do this!' he thinks.

Instead of backing up, Meguru drives into Kagaya and yanks his head out, and pins him.

"Stay calm, Meguru!" Furuya yells. "Stabilize your position!"

But Meguru immediately progresses to the mount.

"Not yet!" Furuya yells.

Kagaya uses that opportunity to bridge and roll Meguru. But Meguru sticks with him and takes his back. Now Meguru is attacking Kagaya's neck.

"He's giving Kagaya a run for his money!" Takashi's teammate says. "But honestly, I'm still not sure what his strengths are."

Takashi looks on.

"I thought he was out of stamina?" Maki asks.

"Maybe he actually has unlimited stamina," says Maria.

"Like hell am I gonna lose to a high schooler!" Kagaya thinks.

Kagaya gets to his feet with Meguru on his back and flings him forward. With all the sweat, Meguru slides right off. Kagaya backs off.

[Meguru, like Kagaya before, has encircled his opponent. However, only encircling without friction will not hold the position. It only takes sweat and gravity for Meguru to lose the position.]

The ref calls for them to get back to their feet.

"Okay, let's start with a jab again," Meguru thinks.

Meguru throws a jab, but Kagaya times a right hook.

Boom!

Meguru is down.

[Another example of how you're open on the same side you attack from. This is why body positioning is critical. Rather than punching and blocking with his arms, if Meguru used his whole body to turn with every strike, his torso would have fewer targets, and his chin would naturally be tucked behind his shoulder with every punch.]

"What the?" Meguru thinks. "Why am I getting back up?"

The referee tells him to come forward and resumes the fight.

"I was too predictable," Meguru thinks.

"In round one--" says Take, but Furuya cuts him off. "I know. Meguru went down to a left hook. He's taken a hard uppercut already from Kagaya, too."

"Regardless of what happens," Furuya thinks, "if he gets hit hard again, I'm throwing the towel."

Meguru lands a jab to the head and then throws one to the body.

"He's varying up his jab," Maria thinks.

"Moving his head means his body stays stationary," Meguru thinks. "I should have aimed low from the start."

Kagaya throws a wide left hook.

"Here it comes!" Meguru thinks as he steps in to grab Kagaya's head.

[Going back to the concept of attacking to the center, since wide hooks come around from the side in a long arc, it not only leaves the person executing the technique open for attacks on the vertical center line but also to having an opponent step straight in to clinch.]

He flings Kagaya to the mat.

[Why the outside foot position is important from distance and even from clinch. With the outside foot position, Meguru obstructs Kagaya's ability to step in that direction. Meguru pulls Kagaya's torso in the direction Kagaya can't go and topples him over.]

Kagaya gets back to his feet and charges in with punches again.

"Meguru-kun plans to break his pressure with a clinch," Maria says.

"I get that, but it takes a long time to learn the clinch," Maki says. "But he's only been practicing clinch for six months, right?"

Meguru tosses Kagaya down again.

Kagaya returns to his feet and grabs Meguru for a body lock throw. Meguru counters with a knee to Kagaya's head.

[When knees and kicks are allowed to the head, head movements from boxing and wrestling become that much more precarious. Any lowering of the head can create deep impact with a kick or knee moving up. Dual forces colliding.]

Kagaya is stunned but holds on. Meguru throws a knee to the body, but Kagaya breaks the clinch and backs up.

"He's hurt!" Furuya yells. "Go after him!"

"I can beat him," Meguru thinks, "but why won't my body move?"

"This is his chance, but I think he's finally hit his limit," Maria says.

"I think he burned through his backup tank, too," Maki says.

"But Kagaya has experience and is using feints to buy time to recover and tire Meguru-kun," says Maria.

Kagaya blasts Meguru with a double-leg tackle.

"Kaoru told me Kagaya used to be on her team," thinks Maki, "but he left after injuring a girl badly. She told me he always said that if his opponent doesn't tap, he'll break their arm."

Kaoru is standing, worried for Meguru.

Kagaya is on top of Meguru. "I'm helping out at my friend's farm while training MMA," he thinks. "My dad wants me to become a businessman, but he turned his back on his community. He sold them out. I don't want to go to college by relying on my dad's money. MMA is my own way out. I didn't mean to hurt that girl. I just want to get really good and keep winning and show my dad--"

--Kagaya goes for an arm triangle.

"--That I'm not like him."

Kagaya passes and gets the choke.

"I can't breathe," Meguru thinks.

"Raise your legs and whip to the right!" Furuya cries.

"Why am I doing this?" Meguru thinks. "I'm just a stand-in. It's a miracle I made it this far. That's enough. I should just tap."

"You dumbass!" Yudai screams. "Don't give up now!"

Yudai's words hit Meguru like a bucket of cold water.

"How many times have you escaped arm triangles with me?" Yudai continues. "Show some damn guts!"

Meguru wakes up and whips his legs, and rolls into Kagaya.

[By whipping his legs one way and then the other, Meguru is able to create enough velocity to break Kagaya's seal.]

Meguru is out of the choke.

He jumps on Kagaya's back.

Kagaya crawls out of bounds before Meguru gets points.

The referee penalizes Kagaya a point for intentionally going out of bounds.

"Me? Running?" Kagaya thinks. "Screw that!"

"How much time's left?" Furuya asks.

"24 seconds," Take says.

The fight resumes.

"Meguru, think of one thing you want to do and go for it!" hollers Furuya.

Meguru is panting.

All Kagaya has to do is burn the clock, and he wins.

Meguru attacks with the one-two. He's wobbly but still chasing Kagaya. He lands a body jab.

"After all that practice, I have yet to throw a single mid kick." Meguru thinks. "Maki's gonna be pissed at me."

"I won't run," Kagaya thinks. "I'll stay on the offensive until the very end."

Kagaya shoots for a double leg tackle again, but Meguru throws a left middle kick.

[Like before, Kagaya lowers his head as a kick from Meguru rises up, creating a collision. Meguru was actually throwing a kick to the body, but that's the nice thing about kicking and kneeing to the body against a wrestler; there's always a chance they'll run face-first into them.]

Gadoosh!

Meguru's knee lands on Kagaya's face, but he still completes the takedown.

Kagaya is hurt!

"Keep moving!" Furuya screams.

Meguru secures a double wrist lock from bottom and extends the arm. Kagaya resists with brute strength. Meguru grimaces as he uses every bit of his remaining strength.

"Stop!" The ref yells.

Time runs out, and the match is over. Kagaya helps Meguru up and pats his shoulder.

There's blood on Meguru's chest.

"Meguru, is that your blood?" Furuya asks.

Kagaya removes his headgear, and his right eye is covered in blood.

The referee raises his hand. Kagaya wins by decision.

Meguru thanks Kagaya's corner and then collapses.