Chapter 23: Teaching Boxing

“Thus, boxing revolves around distance, angle, timing, and balance.

So, what makes boxing special?

Unlike wild brawling, boxing is structured, technical, efficient, extremely fast, and dangerous for continuous combat. Every movement has a reason.”

Myles suddenly took the orthodox stance, the most common stance.

“You have to keep your guards up at all times. Move lightly on your feet.”

Myles bounced around—sideways, forward, and backward.

“Uses jabs to control distance.”

He threw a straight punch with a one-two combo.

“Slips or blocks attacks.”

Myles danced with his upper torso, seemingly evading punches, and, at the same time, closed his face and chest with his arms.

“Counters immediately.”

He suddenly executed a cross and an uppercut.

“Or combine punches into flowing sequences.”

He then performed a 1–2–5–2 combo—jab, cross, left body hook, and cross.

He said, “Thus, boxing is controlled violence.”

The Blood Knights were mesmerized by his movements.

Nyxara could not help but say, “You say it’s a martial art, but it’s like you’re dancing around.”

Myles smiled. “It does seem to be the case, but don’t you feel the weight of my punches?”

Myles threw a cross punch at her face, with her fist just an inch away from her.

She could feel a concentrated wind hitting her, causing her violet hair to flutter slightly.

Myles pulled his fist and said, “There are eight known stances of boxing.

The most common boxing stance is called Orthodox Stance.”

Myles lowered his head, causing them to glance where he was looking.

“Left foot forward. Right foot back. Left hand deals. The right hand is the power hand.”

Once he finished taking the orthodox stance, he said, “If you are right-handed, you can use this stance. It’s balanced, safe, and versatile.”

“Take note of each stance that I’m about to show. You have to pick the stance you believe is suited for you.”

Nyxara and the Blood Knights nodded, observing him attentively.

“Next, the Southpaw Stance—the mirror of orthodox. Right foot forward, left foot back, Right hand leads, and left hand is power.

This stance, best for left handed, is awkward and dangerous to face.”

“Next is the neutral stance. Feet almost parallel. Shoulder facing opponent. Used for close-range pressure fighting. It provides strong hooks, but weaker defense.”

“Next is…”

Myles introduced the remaining stances to them. The Peek-a-Boo stance, Philly Shoulder stance, the Long Guard stance, the High Guard stance, and the Low Guard stance.

After he finished, he gave them time to test each stance and made them choose the perfect stance for them.

Nyxara and the Commander chose the Peek-a-Boo stance. Meanwhile, most of the Blood Knights chose either the Orthodox and the Southpaw stance.

After they finally chose their stances, Myles introduced the basic punches with actions, inviting them to follow his movements.

“This is Jab punch. The fast, straight lead-hand punch. It is used for finding range, interrupting, and setting up combinations of punches.”

“This is the cross punch. A rear-hand straight punch. It’s used for the main power punch.”

“This is the hook. A side punch in a tight arc. Used for body shots and knockouts.”

“Lastly, this is the uppercut. A vertical punch upward. Used for close-range head or body shots.”

Myles paused for a while and contemplated on what he observed from them.

He concluded. I’ll teach them the proper way later. I have to introduce them to the basic defense, too.

“There is also the basic defense of boxing…”

Myles introduced them to the slip, bob and weave, parry, guard, and step back or footwork defense.

He smiled when he saw Nyxara struggling when she tried to perform each of the punches one at a time then followed by the series of basic defense.

He said, “You’re being impatient. I haven’t taught you that part yet.”

Myles took the orthodox stance and said, “Memorize the basic practice combos with defense.”

Myles then performed a series of drills: jab > stepback > cross, slip > cross, jab > slip > hook, parry > 1-2, bob > hook, jab > 1-2 > step out, block > hook > cross.

Obviously, he had to repeat them many times, so they could definitely engraved the drill in his mind.

He turned towards them, relaxed his body, and said, “I will observe each of you and will personally correct you. So, start the drill now!”

Nyxara and the Blood Knights nodded and performed the drill again and again.

Myles then observed each of them for ten minutes and finally walked towards each of them, starting with Nyxara.

He corrected her stance, her punches, her movements, and pretty much everything, causing him to spend half an hour before finally deciding to focus on the Commander.

The Commander was humble and accepted all the corrections Myles’ pointed.

Like other Blood Knights, they also humbly accepted all the mistakes that Myles’ corrected, making their teachings a bit easier.

The blood sun soon set and the crimson moon replaced it.

Night finally arrived, but the training session seemed to be far from concluding.

Nyxara was already filled with sweat. The Blood Knights, on the other hand, felt their body sore, despite having an immense advantage when it came to their physical adaptation.

Myles was also growing tired, too.

Even then, the fervent fire in their eyes continued to burn bright, causing them to barely take any breaks when it came to performing the basic boxing drills.

They never grew bored at all, seemingly becoming addicted to it.

He chuckled.

He said, “Boxing is good for duels. If you want to test your progress, it’s best to challenge others for a boxing match.”

“Boxing match…” Nyxara mumbled.

The Blood Knights were taken aback by his words, but instantly able to pair themselves to fight against each other.

Nyxara, on the other hand, didn’t have a choice but to settle with the Commander, but Myles said, “Violet, you will be at a disadvantage. Look at his reach.”

The Commander and Nyxara were surprised.

Nyxara was surprised simply because Myles expressed his concerns for her.

The Commander, on the other hand, was surprised by the way Myles addressed their Mistress…

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