Chapter 25: Sparring

Chapter 25: Sparring

After finishing their business, it was four o'clock in the afternoon. Seeing that there was still plenty of time, Gao Yun suggested they spar for a while.

The martial arts gym’s group classes wouldn't start for another half hour, and with no students having arrived yet, Liu Xingsheng agreed.

They each took off their shoes, did five minutes of warm-up exercises, and then fully armored themselves with boxing gloves, headgear, and shin guards. The two stepped onto the soft foam mat, ready to begin their practice.

Liu Xingsheng was 175 cm tall and weighed 75 kg. His frame was a size smaller than Gao Yun’s—well-proportioned, with smooth muscle definition, though not particularly bulky.

He had a classic "fighter’s face." His deep-set eye sockets protected his triangular eyes well, his face jutted out slightly, and his chin was broad and thick. His skin was fair and clear, and when he smiled, he looked polite and easygoing.

But the moment Liu Xingsheng put up his guard, his face went blank. A murderous glint shone in his triangular eyes, and his muscles, which appeared relaxed, were actually unified and taut. His balance was impeccable, leaving no openings for an opponent to exploit, and he radiated an immense sense of pressure.

Even though Gao Yun was taller, had a longer reach, outweighed him by 10 kilograms, and possessed far superior physical fitness, he had never been able to get the upper hand in any of their previous sparring sessions.

The first five minutes were, as usual, a guided sparring session. The two held back their strength completely, exchanging practical and sharp combinations—jabs, hooks, power punches, elbow strikes, low kicks, middle kicks, flying kicks, and clinches—touching and stopping immediately upon contact.

Gao Yun hadn't sparred properly in a gym for over two months. His combat training at Caesar Fitness had been limited to hitting sandbags and teaching basic punching techniques. He felt a bit rusty starting today, but after these five minutes of guidance, he gradually found his rhythm.

They traded blows, attacking and defending in turn. When the time was up, they bumped gloves by mutual agreement, and the real sparring began.

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a highly open competitive combat sport. It allows for stand-up striking as well as ground grappling, incorporating techniques from boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, wrestling, karate, and more.

Liu Xingsheng had spent many years drifting in different cities, learning a bit of everything, but he excelled primarily in boxing, Sanda, Jiu-Jitsu, and Muay Thai. Gao Yun had been taught by him, so he focused on these same four disciplines.

They stood on the mat, pacing and searching for flaws, their eyes locked on each other. Gao Yun attacked first. Relying on his reach advantage, he threw two consecutive jabs at Liu Xingsheng’s head.

Liu Xingsheng tucked his chest and leaned slightly forward, easily dodging the barrage. He countered with two jabs of his own and quickly followed up with a rear straight punch to Gao Yun’s abdomen. Seeing his attack land, he rushed in, looking to engage in close-quarters combat.

The straight punch lacked sufficient power, and Gao Yun, with his tough hide, was completely unfazed. Instead, his adrenaline surged. He stepped back to manage the distance and pushed Liu back with a straight punch.

After two seconds of pacing and staring each other down, Gao Yun leveraged his height and long legs to continuously land low kicks on Liu Xingsheng’s lower body, controlling the distance with a mix of kicks and punches, determined not to let him get close.

Although Liu Xingsheng was on the defensive, he wasn't impatient. This was typical whenever he sparred with Gao Yun; he was simply at a disadvantage in height, weight, and reach.

However, after taking two solid low kicks, Liu Xingsheng felt the sting even through his shin guards. He cursed inwardly, thinking that the kid’s power had increased again. *If I keep taking these low kicks, am I really going to let him take me down and drag me to the ground?*

Well, actually, he wasn't afraid of that. Even with a technical disadvantage, Gao Yun’s weight and strength were far greater than his.

Although Liu Xingsheng weighed 75 kg, his body fat was high. In actual competition, he fought in the featherweight division (62–66 kg), weighing in at 65 kg. Gao Yun weighed 85 kg, placing him in the light heavyweight division. His body fat was very low, and he couldn't cut much more. There were three weight classes between them: lightweight, welterweight, and middleweight.

So, no matter how skilled Liu Xingsheng was, crossing three weight classes was a painful prospect. If their stand-up fighting was a 1:99 ratio, it became 30:70 once it hit the ground.

Besides, it would be too embarrassing to be dragged into a ground grappling match by his own student, rolling around on the floor. He had to keep it standing! Liu Xingsheng hardened his heart—it looked like he had to show some real effort.

He waited for Gao Yun to throw a low kick. At the moment Gao Yun’s old momentum was spent and his new strength hadn't yet formed, Liu lunged forward at an angle, landing a hook to the abdomen, followed by two consecutive heavy punches to the liver area.

Fortunately, except for the first strike that caught him off guard, Gao Yun managed to tuck his chest and twist his torso to dissipate the force of the subsequent heavy blows. They didn't land flush; otherwise, he might have collapsed on the spot, losing all ability to fight.

From then on, they let their passion take over, but since it wasn't an actual match, they both kept their heads and held back twenty percent of their power, engaging in a stand-up exchange of fists and kicks.

"Bang! Bang!"
"Hiss, hah—"
"Hiss, hey!"

The sound of their breathing in sync with their strikes echoed through the empty gym, and the muffled thuds of gloves and pads hitting bodies and gear rang out, traveling into the hallway.

As a professional MMA athlete who had won championships in three countries, even if the scale of those competitions wasn't huge, Liu Xingsheng’s peak skill level, by systematic standards, was at least expert-tier, bordering on master-class.

Even after two years of being back home, smoking and drinking, slacking on training, and seeing his physical condition decline, he was still far beyond what Gao Yun, a combat enthusiast, could handle.

So, once Liu Xingsheng got serious, Gao Yun was on the receiving end of a one-sided beating. If he weren't wearing headgear, he would have been knocked out long ago.

Eighteen minutes later, they finished three full rounds.

Liu Xingsheng was drenched in sweat, but his expression was relaxed; it was clear he still had energy to spare.

Partly due to his intense fitness training earlier that day, Gao Yun felt completely drained. His head was spinning, his legs were wobbly, and every part of him—abdomen, legs, arms—ached.

But even after being beaten like this, he felt great. On one hand, his combat skill had risen from 2% to 10%. On the other, he genuinely loved combat—no less than he loved fitness.

The clever positioning, the defense, the counter-attacks, the offense—he loved the thrill, the adrenaline rush, the sweat, and the feeling of every punch landing on target.

After resting for a bit, they massaged and stretched each other out, applying medicated oil to their bruises. Gao Yun then said goodbye to Liu Xingsheng, went home to shower and change, and prepared for his colleagues' dinner party that evening.

Darya, who had been bored at home all day, decided to go along.

Since it was a gathering with colleagues and everyone was familiar with each other, dressing too formally would seem pretentious. Gao Yun threw on some casual Valentino spring/summer menswear, and Darya picked out an LV spring/summer women’s outfit that matched his style and color perfectly.

When they looked in the mirror after getting dressed, both models’ professional habits kicked in. They started hugging and posing in front of the mirror, flashing their professional eight-toothed smiles. After ten minutes of couple poses, Gao Yun took a short video of them, added some background music, and uploaded it to Douyin.

Seeing his filming skill increase by 1%, he felt satisfied.

Even the smallest mosquito is still meat—it felt great to be making progress anytime, anywhere!