Done resting, time for slacking/fighting. (open)

[Martin Tome]

Martin was not in a good mood, he had gotten yelled at by his mom for being late, and chewed out by his teacher for sleeping in class, at times like these Martin found that all that left to do was sit on the roof and slack off. Unfortunately Martin was unhappy and in this mood he could easily give way to violence to wards anyone who upset him anymore.
He pulled out a smoke and a lighter, it was a good breeze, unfortunate that it was so nice outside but he so unhappy. He had only recently recovered from a punctured lung from two guys, several days not being able to do anything also put him in this mood. He sat down and looked out at the sky. Was it just him or could he hear foot steps coming from the door leading to the roof. At this point he could care less. Then the sudden realization of what might happen came upon Martin, this could be one of those guys who left him with a punctured rib in the hall way, or worse, some one coming to bug him. 'Maybe its just another slacker coming up here as well! Yeah! tha'd be okay!' Martin thought to himself, the door opened and Martin sat up to look at who it was.

[jdmthe1st]

Antonio walked up to see how his friend Martin was doing. He didnt get a chance to talk to him after the ordeal with the three bullies (Tray said one sneak attacked us). Antonio looked to see that Martin popped up his head like a gopher coming out of the hole it hid in. Smiling he walked over but Martin didnt look too happy. Joking around he spoke and said

"Where have I seen you before? Oh yeah a couple days ago. Hows is everything Martin? Did you go see a doctor for the lung? I cant believe that happened to you. Even on my job I never had a punctured lung. You asked about the mask thing before but I never had a chance to answer."

Antonio tried to make the story short because it takes forever to explain to someone.

"In a nutshell I used to live in Mexico and I got an opportunity to make a name for myself in America. I took it but most of my people are mad and they want to hurt my family and I. If they find out who I am they might just do that since they know who I am to some extent. They wont recognize me with a mask on since I used to be a luchador over there without a mask. Who would suspect someone with a mask on? They would just think Im an idiot and leave me alone which is exactly what I want. The chance I have now is to wrestle with the LCFA and make people happy. People would die for a chance like that. Being a luchador isnt about the money. Its about the tradition, the people and the sport. If money comes before any of those, you are wrestling for all the wrong reasons."

[Martin Tome]

"hey whats up Antiono. Yeah i took care of that punctured lung... doc said if i had waited a little longer i could have seriously died."

martin grinned

"So people are after you eh? That's cool... oh wait... not its not thats bad."

Martin sat down again relieved that it was Antonio and not another problem.
"
So i hear allot about wrestling being a real dirty sport, but the way you say it, it seems like you are relay into it and not one of those 'fixers'."

Martin put out the cigarette.

"Say... why are you up here anyways? When I met you the other day, i didn't think you where the slacker type. I on the other hand am a first rate slacker!"

Martin's grin went from ear to ear now. Suddenly a new idea dawned upon him.

"hold up. If you are hiding from those guys... honestly i think that if i where looking for some one the first person i would check would be a guy with a mask on. Oh sorry i got off the subject so what are you doing up here?"

[jdmthe1st]

"Well its true that I have to fake it tuesday night but people actually like it better for some reason then real fighting. Maybe its because of the storyline I have. Friday night its real, not planned at all and 100% scary. Most of my techniques on friday are crap so I am still learning how to modify them. Very few of my luchador style techniques work and if they work its usually not effective unless my opponents are muscleheads. Then again they are on friday because they like to finish me off quick and not waste time. The reason why we fake it tuesday is because I know I could finish a match in 5 minutes under the right conditions but people arent going to travel from their homes to watch a 5 minute fight. They want to see it last at least 20-30 minutes. I try to give them about an hour if the guy Im fighting agrees on it. We give each other signals to tell each other how we are doing but almost nobody sees the signals."

Antonio pauses for a moment and a new question comes up.

"hold up. If you are hiding from those guys... honestly i think that if i where looking for some one the first person i would check would be a guy with a mask on. Oh sorry i got off the subject so what are you doing up here?"

"Actually Martin. Thats a really good question. But theres a simple answer to that. In my country it is extremely shameful to have a luchador take his mask off because the mask represents everything they stand for. It could be money, fame, women. My case its tradition, honor, respect and for the people. These people who are after me, well they wouldnt kill me but they would hurt my family and I because I dont think they could live with themselves being murderers. They wouldnt stoop low enough to take my mask off, yet alone suspect me at all because they would think Im some weird person and not a talented person at all. Also because every one of my people wheter they admit it or not like to stay with tradition and it doesnt have to be respectful or honorable. But in their minds they know its not correct to rip off a luchador's mask because they would feel bad themselves. Not physically but you mentally destroy them. You make them feel like they are nothing. Its almost as if the masks I wear are really my true face even though I have a face under the mask."

Antonio paused again and finished his answer

"When a luchador loses a mask match, he doesnt have many options. It represents his final match and he has to retire from the ring but if a luchador knows he gave his best, still lost and most of the crowd believed in that individual and takes his mask off, he might go on. Rey Mysterio did that when he was up against Kevin Nash I think. He took his mask off but he returned."

"But I came to check up on you because I had a feeling you would be up here. I dont know why but some people come up here to get away from everything. Wouldnt it be nice if we could have fun for the rest of our lives? I get to do that at work and at home but here in a school is an example of what a world outside fun is."

[Martin Tome]

Martin thought this over.

"Huh, well thanks for your concern, but I'm okay now. Heh you make going up to the roof almost sound poetic. So you wear the mask because without it you are disgracing yourself and your family? Heh pretty honorable eh?"

Martin smiled again.

"but you got one thing right, this place is great for getting away from things, i usually just come up here when I'm slacking off, but when i think about it, you are right, coming up here really clears my head."

Martin paused, there was some shouting below, 'another fight?'

"Looks like some commotion going on down there, sigh, i haven't been here for that long i can already tell this school isn't gonna be to great. Too many fights going on. Oh well, its a good way to keep up your skill eh Antonio?"

Martin pulled out another smoke, being around fights gets his nerves jumpy, he needed something to clear his head when he gets jumpy like this. He looked up at Antonio and held out a cigarette.

"You smoke?"

[jdmthe1st]

Antonio looked at the cigarette and he looked at Martin and said in concern

"Oh no Im not allowed to smoke. But thanks. Im 14 still. You shouldnt smoke if you are just recovering from a lung problem. Plus my company checks up on me with doctors every week and they say to me, 'no drugs, no smoking, no alcohol, no AIDS or HIV or else you are out'."

Pausing for a second hearing all the sound coming from the downstairs he turned his head to listen but didnt find anything worth hearing so Antonio turned his attention back to Martin.

"The only time I dont wear my mask is inside my home because nobody knows where we are. Not even the people who deliver our mail know where we are so we have the mailed delivered to my uncle's OTHER house. Taking off my mask doesnt mean I disgrace anyone if its in my home. If its outside my home............then yes it would be disgracing. As much as I would like to show you who I really am out here, I cannot. But I can invite you to my home sometime and if you need help learning how to defend yourself........well if your athletic enough I teach a couple simple luchador techniques that dont require backflips or anything like that. They just deal with leverage like judo people or jujitsu or even chin-na. Being a wrestler doesnt mean you dont know squat. But our memory is limited because we focus on the ring all the time. Its the only place you think."

[Martin Tome]

Martin grinned, but it wasn't one of his happy ones.

"I haven't gave a damn toward my health for a while now. Heh, maybe i should start thinking about it more. So you only take off your mask inside? Thats probably best right? I hadn't noticed that you and your family where that deep into hiding."

Martin paused and went on.

"My sister was put into a coma when i was around... I think... 12 or so. I had to work hard to help my mom pay the bills, i met some old dude who knew a guy who was giving fighting lessons on a style called Tai Chi Quan. He said if i cleaned up his shop I could get free lessons. So fighting is not really a problem for me, besides, You look like you are built for grapples and strong punches, I bet if we had a weight lifting contest i would loose pretty fast. I am built for speed, not strength, I've just been questioning myself about that since I got jumped by those two guys, If i truly know Tai Chi Quan, why the HELL did those two beat me down so fast, Tai Chi Quan is a style for countering any attack at any time and dealing back ten fold of what they gave me!"

Martin was getting angry with himself, his smoke was burning out the entire time and now burned down to his fingers, he noticed this and pushed it up to the tips of his fingers to stop it from burning him.

[jdmthe1st]

"My sister was put into a coma when i was around... I think... 12 or so. I had to work hard to help my mom pay the bills, i met some old dude who knew a guy who was giving fighting lessons on a style called Tai Chi Quan. He said if i cleaned up his shop I could get free lessons. So fighting is not really a problem for me, besides, You look like you are built for grapples and strong punches, I bet if we had a weight lifting contest i would loose pretty fast. I am built for speed, not strength, I've just been questioning myself about that since I got jumped by those two guys, If i truly know Tai Chi Quan, why the HELL did those two beat me down so fast, Tai Chi Quan is a style for countering any attack at any time and dealing back ten fold of what they gave me!"

Antonio knew how he felt. But Antonio wasnt a strength guy either and he was more like this guy. A speed guy. He was going to tell him something but he wasnt sure how Martin would react.

"Hey sorry about your sister. Dont put yourself down over life in general. I know how you feel somewhat. Honestly Im not built for strength either. Not power anyways. Honestly Im a speed guy. A luchador does high flying acrobatic moves and we have to learn to stay in the ring for a long time so we work on endurance. If I didnt have speed I would be a power guy. Your martial art style says you should be quick in a different way that I am quick. You are probably quicker than me in striking, kicking and stand up grappling if you have any."

Antonio tried to crack a joke here and said

"Im good at running. Thats basically it. I run and jump on people. My grappling only works if I really jump and run at the same time. Otherwise I have nothing because my standup stinks. But when we both truely know something it becomes a natural reaction rather than a thought. Like if you put your hand on a hot stove you dont need to think 'OUCH! THATS HOT!' because its a natural reaction. All martial arts eventually make a person use their training as if it were going to be a reaction like I said. Even though it looks like I have no problem with it I still have to think for a couple seconds and thats enough time for me to get knocked out. I just train myself to think at different times. I dont think beginning of a conflict, I only think after they are laying on the ground because it takes time for them to get up and that gives me time to think. But when you get it to be a natural reaction, you master it and you can be a grandmaster too if you know it better than a natural reaction. I dont know much behind those stories but ask whoever trains you."

[Martin Tome]

Martin thought all this over, letting it sink in.

((ooc: possibly my longest post... ever.))

"Mmmm, I think I understand what you meant about out speed, it seems like mine is a quickness of strike, trying to put the most punches in the least amount of time, yours seems... mental? Heh I think i just called myself stupid."

"But when we both truly know something it becomes a natural reaction rather than a thought. Like if you put your hand on a hot stove you don't need to think 'OUCH! THATS HOT!' because its a natural reaction. All martial arts eventually make a person use their training as if it were going to be a reaction like I said.

"I think i understand, you are saying that soon, it will be a force of habit that makes me react. Thing is until afew weeks back it was A natural reaction. I could move and attack without hardly a thought to it. But i started getting into more and more fights, I stopped practicing my style and started just attacking, i think it has made me rusty."

The smoke totally burned out and the still hot cinders landed on Martin's finger. He quickly pulled back and grabbed the finger. Then in frustration kicked the smoke off the roof, to the people below.

"Like if you put your hand on a hot stove you don't need to think 'OUCH! THATS HOT!' because its a natural reaction."

"See!? thats what you meant! I moved back simply because it hurt! I didn't need to think about how it hurt i just moved because it did!"

Martin jumped up, a wide grin on his face.

"I AM INSPIRED! I SHALL GO TO THE GYM AND SOON I WILL BE... no... BETTER THAN LIKE I WAS BEFORE!. Thank you Antonio for helping me back on my feet! Waaaait... I must do more than simply lifting weights. I must do my own kind of a work out..."

Martin rubbed his chin thought fully.

"I KNOW! this is a perfect example of my reaction time, the cinders falling on my fingers i meen, every day i will work on my reaction until i can dodge and catch the cigarette without it burning me or touching the ground. Mmmm but for this kind of training I'm gonna have to go some place suttle... i meen I'm gonna have to think about a place where i can set up my own stuff without being interrupted by too many unwelcome guests. The gym here will be too loud... the roof is a good idea but i will probably give way to slacking off if i stay up here and do it. The forest out side of the town is the best idea that I can think of... plenty of wood for equiptment... lots of open space, and who even goes to the forest that much anymore? Yep thats where it's gonna be! And i wont stop for anything except sleep, eating, and... uh... anything else i need to stop for! Heh, and if you want when school is out and you got some free time come to find me and we can spar for a while or help me train... hell, we could turn it into a frigging mini gym!"

Martin thought this new turn of events over and over around in his head.

"So! what do you think?"

[jdmthe1st]

"I KNOW! this is a perfect example of my reaction time, the cinders falling on my fingers i meen, every day i will work on my reaction until i can dodge and catch the cigarette without it burning me or touching the ground. Mmmm but for this kind of training I'm gonna have to go some place suttle... i meen I'm gonna have to think about a place where i can set up my own stuff without being interrupted by too many unwelcome guests. The gym here will be too loud... the roof is a good idea but i will probably give way to slacking off if i stay up here and do it. The forest out side of the town is the best idea that I can think of... plenty of wood for equiptment... lots of open space, and who even goes to the forest that much anymore? Yep thats where it's gonna be! And i wont stop for anything except sleep, eating, and... uh... anything else i need to stop for! Heh, and if you want when school is out and you got some free time come to find me and we can spar for a while or help me train... hell, we could turn it into a frigging mini gym!"

"Well theres a safer way to train than to catch cigarette ashes. Also I can get you one of my trainers to help you if you want. I mean all my trainers get paid to do from my family are to let me fight them in practice. As for a gym, I have a small place rented out thats pretty much a mini gym. It has everything I want in it so it will probably do well for you. I mean my uncle is rich because he kinda runs the job I work at. Theres another guy that my uncle takes orders from, thats my boss."

Antonio pauses and says

"But it sounds like a great idea. I will call you sometime later this week and we will think of something."

Antonio waits for a response then he will leave.

[Martin Tome]

"mmm, thats a better idea then burning myself with cinders every day... much better actualy... the guy who taught me my style in the first place may have this thing i could bring. its like a thick pole, with two other skinny poles on it's side, you hit one side and the other side moves toward then when you hit that side the first side comes at you, but faster this time , It sounds like A good idea to me! OK call me later in the week to tell me when I can go."