As long as you are breathing

Ponhpaiboon's Weakness

“Thanks for the free lessons and all, but I really don’t have the time to do this,” said Kalil, “My friends are in trouble and they kind of need me really bad.”

“Oh, that must be very tough on you,” replied Ponhpaiboon.

“Thanks for understanding,” replied Kalil.

“But if you want to save them, you should finish me quicker,” added Ponhpaiboon.

“This is why I don’t like talking to profound persons,” said Kalil, “If you want to be my enemy, why are you giving me these free lessons? And if you want to be my friend, then why are you hindering my ways?”

“Things got rather complicated for you, hasn’t it?” asked Ponhpaiboon.

“Please be clear. All you are doing is giving me a mixture of emotions. One time I am angry with you, another time I am thankful, then again you make me feel hatred and again you make me feel friendly,” said Kalil, “Just state clearly if you are a friend or an enemy.”

“Can things be that easily classified my boy?” asked Ponhpaiboon.

“Huh?” Kalil expressed confusion.

“Friends or enemies? Are these the two only things there exist? Reality isn’t often binary. Mostly, it’s a spectrum. No work is purely good or purely evil. Every good that you do will have some negative effects. Similarly, every bad that you do will have some positive effects,” explained Ponhpaiboon.

“Man, you are so unclear about everything,” snapped Kalil, “Even this fight is unclear. Are we fighting? Training? Sparring? Having a casual chat? Or having a philosophy lesson? Everything about you is confusing.”

Ponhpaiboon smiled, “You think too much. Things are pretty simpler than that, at least for you. Because for you, all you have to do is defeat me and get back to your friends. Remove all the obstacles you have towards that, including me.”

“Fine,” answered Kalil, “Then let’s stop with the lessons.”

“Oh, you are the one who actually triggered it,” answered Ponhpaiboon, “You think I would be sharing these lessons if you didn’t show all the weaknesses that you did? All you have to do is not let me do whatever I want and do whatever you want and all I have to do is do whatever I want and not let you do whatever you want. Its. That. Simple.”

Kalil started throwing hard jabs again which Ponhpaiboon dodged. He suddenly countered one of them with a body cross.

Kalil took a few steps back but Ponhpaiboon followed it up with a knee. Kalil barely caught it and pushed back.

Ponhpaiboon landed safely. Kalil threw a careful leg kick and immediately pivoted after that hoping Ponhpaiboon would miss his jab.

But Ponhpaiboon isn’t the type to attack a target without seeing. He didn’t waste any energy and kept an eye on Kalil. Kalil back swayed.

“You are still too afraid my boy,” answered Ponhpaiboon, “You are so scared of getting countered, you don’t throw a punch. You are so scared of getting trapped into combinations, you always stay distant. A true warrior must be ready for death always.”

“Tsk. You are on with that again,” said Kalil. He then sighed and thought, “Well, I am in a hurry after all. Maybe I have to listen to the old man this time. Let’s see what happens. I don’t have the luxury to keep myself safe anyway.”

Kalil threw a barrage of hard jabs yet again. Ponhpaiboon dodged each of them like he always did. He then threw a hard cross.

Kalil would have dodged it usually by swaying back. But shifting in mindset made him less cautious of the hit. The cross managed to touch his cheek. But he rolled his head with the motion of the punch, minimizing the damage.

And along with the rolling motion, he was also throwing a hook which landed on Ponhpaiboon’s temple. Kalil buckled a bit but managed to maintain composure. But something happened that he could never think he would see.

Ponhpaiboon was on the ground.

“Cool,” said Kalil, “That position really suits you well.”

“Shut up,” said Ponhpaiboon as he was standing up, “Don’t get cocky with one shot.”

Kalil dashed in for offense. Ponhpaiboon threw a cross again, but Kalil ducked underneath the punch and sprung up with an uppercut. But Ponhpaiboon back swayed to spring back for another cross.

It almost hit Kalil but he managed to block it with his forearms. He again rolled with the punch to throw a spinning elbow.

But Ponhpaiboon backstepped. He then took a front step to throw a few short jabs. Most of them missed due to Kalil’s aggressive forward rush. At last, they both exchanged jabs with none of them landing clean.

Ponhpaiboon then threw a check left hook. But Kalil was still dashing forward and came too close to have any effect.

Kalil threw a left uppercut to the body. Ponhpaiboon hollowed his body causing the punch to have a lesser effect. He then threw a cross on Kalil’s left temple causing Kalil to fall down.

But witty Kalil threw a leg kick before falling back. This time Ponhpaiboon didn’t wait for a conversation and used the opportunity of downing Kalil to his advantage to throw a roundhouse kick.

Kalil tried to jump backward like a frog, but the kick still managed to hit his legs causing Kalil to fall on his ribs. Yet Kalil continued the motion by using a side roll to get back up.

Ponhpaiboon threw another hard roundhouse but Kalil checked it and threw a fancy spinning elbow. It hit Ponhpaiboon below the ear.

“Hmm…” thought Kalil, “Let us see.”

Kalil then jumped for a double roundhouse kick. The first one was a feint which Ponhpaiboon reacted to by dodging. But that made his head sway towards the direction of the real kick which landed on Ponhpaiboon’s temple.

He took a few staggering steps backward not out of physical shock but mental surprise.

Kalil feinted a forward step causing Ponhpaiboon to raise his lead leg.

Kalil then smirked at him, “I found your weakness master.”