THE HAPPY DOJO - PART 2 (Patreon)

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Part 2: Personality Change

It's been many years since I've felt helpless like this again! Despite my struggles and screams, no one cared about me. Where is the respect for a martial arts champion for many years?! Why would my father accept such a transient offer? Not to mention, the suggestion of the big brother (senior) Chris just heard it and found it absurd. Dressed up as a girl to attract more trainees to the dojo? I suppose this plan is bound to fail!

But wait, why am I the one doing this plan? I agree that my body is more like a girl than a man. Even the face inherited from my mother makes my facial features more feminine than masculine. But the problem is not there! Where is the basic freedom of a human being? At least allow me to say no!

A series of thoughts constantly struggle in my brain, but things remain unchanged. They carried me deep inside the dojo and threw me in front of an elegant woman. She was my father's pride. Seeing the strange scene unfold before her eyes, she covered her mouth with her hand and exclaimed in amazement: “Oh… what is this?” My father explained: “You help him dress up as a beautiful girl! I want to attract more trainees to this dojo!”

I looked at my mother with pleading eyes, shaking my head repeatedly. My mother is looking at me, too. She tilted her head and put a finger on her chin in puzzlement. Then she smiled at me. I sighed in relief. I knew it right away, only my mother could be trusted! Unexpectedly, her next sentence made me cry without tears: “Okay! Just leave it to me!” Why?! I don't believe she doesn't know what I mean!

My father nodded in satisfaction, then led the trainees out of this place. My mother helped me up and brushed off some of the dust that had stuck to my martial arts uniform. Confused, I asked my mother: “Mom… why would you accept such an unreasonable request?” My mother froze: “Unreasonable? I'm okay with that! I prefer you to be gentle and sweet, rather than sticking to those fights all day long!” I was going to open my mouth to protest, but I didn't know how to say it. My shyness is hurting me!

Do you wonder why my personality is shy, almost as opposed to the qualities a martial arts practitioner needs? You may think that I am a shy person by birth. But that's not true! First of all, I want to ask you a question, do you believe that human personality can radically change as we grow up? Try to recall, are you in the past like you are now?

I used to be an unruly and insolent person! Well, back in my school days, what male student didn't want to act strong? Not to mention, for a guy who knows a little bit of fighting technique like me, it's even more obvious. When I was in elementary and middle school, school fights were commonplace. Although the damage and injuries caused by those fights were extremely low, it was also a school problem at that time.

Of course, at this point, I am not yet a martial arts champion nor am I aware of the meaning of martial arts. Back then, like any male student, I thought that martial arts was born to fight. In addition to the habit of showing strength, the male student of that day also had a bad habit of “despising female students”. To us, female students are just weak individuals, but they are always loved by teachers because of their diligence and hard work. That makes us hate girls even more. And so, the pranks were born.

Calling trivial behaviors such as hiding pens, hiding notebooks, messing up hair... as “bullying” is a bit heavy, but it is undeniable that they are quite annoying to female students. With their shy character, schoolgirls are only quiet when they are teased and disrupted by the boys. I'm also among those who enjoy harassing people. Well, basically, it's kind of fun. I once beat up a guy who liked to take care of other people's business. He stood up for the girls and told the teachers our wrongdoings.

It was because of this incident that I was forced out of school for a week. My father then spent a few hours shouting and constantly explained to me that “learning martial arts is not to fight”. Of course, there was no shortage of “special instruction” by a martial artist from my father, but because that element was so violent, I won't be able to mention it here. After several hours of tormenting me with sharp Karate blows, my father shook his head to leave the dojo because he realized… I didn't take his lecture seriously! My mother was also extremely bothered by me. She is a gentle woman. She never liked and supported things related to fighting. It can be said that marrying a martial artist like my father is the strangest thing she has ever done!

Everything changed when I was in 8th grade. On my way home from school, I came across a student who was standing up to prevent a fight between two young men. The two guys who were fighting were furious because they were stopped by a middle school boy. They immediately rushed towards the schoolboy like two hungry wolves rushed towards a feeble rabbit. I shook my head and prayed for that student. This is the end of people who like to get in the way of other people. But just a few seconds later, I pinched my cheek to confirm if I was dreaming.

Two tall young men were now lying at the student's feet. He looked like he just went through a small, insignificant incident. He picked up his schoolbag from the ground and turned his head to walk towards me. At this moment, we just saw each other's faces. I was even more surprised to see his face. I realized that this student was the one who was beaten by me last school year for defending the girls. Since when did he become so powerful?

Unlike my surprise, he only smiled when he saw me. I asked him: “You are so strong, why didn't you fight back when I hit you?” He shook his head: “I realize you're a martial arts practitioner. Martial arts are not born to fight, but this can only be realized by yourself. If I fight back, you lose faith in yourself. It's not easy these days to find someone who can learn martial arts. I can't make you give up martial arts.”

I gritted my teeth and said: “I don't believe it! Don't be ridiculous!” After saying that, I also rushed towards him with the same posture as the two young men from earlier. The martial arts match between me and him went on for a long time, but the more I fought, the more tired I became while he was very leisurely. After a while, I started to feel suspicious of myself. I was the son of a famous martial artist and learned martial arts at an early age, and now I'm in total failure to someone I once thought was a weak man. Although he did not use all his might to fight me, in the end, that student was still the winner. I sat on the ground.

I'm freaking out! Can you understand the feeling of long-held faith being crushed? For all this time, what qualifications do I have to consider myself the strongest among the male students? Faced with that student's absolute strength, I was just a chicken waiting to be slaughtered. When he came up to me, I even held my head in my arms as a natural reflex. He didn't do anything to me, just walked past me and left a sentence: “That's why I don't want to fight back! However, if you can make it through today, you will surely achieve great achievements in martial arts in the future.”

His words kept splashing in my mind. From then on, my personality had a great transformation. I became shy and less talkative. I stayed away from the nonsense I used to do in school and focused on practicing martial arts. The passion for martial arts has since begun to awaken in me. Every time I think about that fight, I still feel scared, but instead of hiding, I'm determined to overcome it. The reason I practice martial arts relentlessly is also so that one day, I can overcome this fear. But the more I trained, the more I realized that the power gap between me and him wasn't going to close.

Four years after that confrontation, I became the youngest MMA flyweight champion, and until five years later, I had never lost the title. However, my personality did not change again, because I realized how ridiculous my championship title was when facing that student. I spent many hours reflecting back on my blows and finally came to the conclusion that “I can't beat him yet.” As for that student, I never met him again. I tried to find him many times, but I didn't see him.

Reflecting on what happened in the past, I heard a gentle voice in my ear: “Here you go! This outfit I loved to wear when I was young!” I was startled to realize the current situation. She really didn't joke about helping me dress up as a girl!

PART 3 >>