This is my first submission and I am wanting to improve my writing, so all constructive feedback is welcome. Thanks to FLSr5r for editing the piece.
*****
Ella opened the door and turned the lights on.
"Welcome to my dojo. I'll get you an icepack," she offered.
The throbbing pain in my cheek had eased but it still hurt to smile. I followed Ella inside. Foam mats covered most of the floor and the smell of stale sweat filled the air. I touched my face and wondered how swollen it was, how much uglier had I become since our date begun. There was a wall paneled with full length mirrors, and I started towards it to see.
"No shoes on the mats!" Ella shouted.
"Sorry." There was no way I was going to disobey a voice as stern as that. I kicked off my shoes and continued. I caught the icepack she lobbed at me then checked out my reflection.
Ella said, "It doesn't look too bad, considering how hard he punched you. If the bone's not fractured it will disappear completely after a day or two."
*
The night started so well. Dinner conversation was lively, we had so much in common. It was a first date but it felt like we had known each other for years. It went so well that we planned to go to her house for coffee, or watch a DVD, or whatever excuse we settled for, and headed to the car park. That's when we hit an obstacle. Two of them, in fact. Out of the darkness came a pair of burly men wanting our wallets. If I was by myself I may have just thrown my money at them and ran in the opposite direction, but with Ella there I convinced myself that I had to be a man. I had to be her hero. I put my fists up, they then put one of their fists in my face and I folded my way down to the asphalt. It took a few moments for my vision to unblur, but it was at that moment the first of the thugs grunted and joined me on the ground, clutching his ribs in agony. They had turned their backs on Ella, believing her to be small and helpless little girl. It was not a great move to make against a jiu jitsu instructor. Wearing a little black dress and heels, she held the second assailant in a sleeper hold. "Any more hands that attack us will be broken," she said. They pleaded surrender and stumbled away.
Ella looked me over with her round, brown eyes. "How much does it hurt?"
The emasculation of being saved from two bullies by my date hurt more than the blow. "I don't think anything is broken; I'll survive. I'm not bleeding, am I?"
"No, you're not. You told me at dinner that you were a boxer. I didn't see much boxing."
"I may have exaggerated my skills a little. I punch bags and mitts a lot, but I've never stepped in the ring. You on the other hand greatly undersold yourself. What you did was amazing, I wish I could do that."
"I'd love to teach you."
There we decided that the best time to start practicing was then, so we drove over to her dojo.
*
Ella rummaged through a locker that contained the traditional white uniforms. "I think you're probable a size 5," she said, "try this gi on." She directed me to a curtained changing room. "And tie your pants on tight, otherwise they might come off when grappling." I sniggered at the thought of two people fighting with their trousers around their ankles. The pants fitted me well, but the kimono-style top was new to me.
"Do I wear my singlet underneath this?" I asked through the curtain. I could hear Ella changing into her uniform on the other side.
"No, the rules say you wear it bare-chested." I hoped that rule applied to everyone.
I figured out how the strings kept the bathrobe in place, and pulled back the curtain. I felt unnatural in the clothing, it was loose in places where clothes aren't usually loose and the fabric was much starchier than anything I had ever worn before. It also had a deeply plunging neckline that showed off skin as pale as the uniform. Ella, however, looked the part of a seasoned warrior in her gi; it suited her perfectly. She had tied her shoulder-length brown hair tied up in a ponytail and wore a black belt around her waist to complete the look.
"Did I get this all right" I asked.
"You succeeded in dressing yourself, yes. Now for the belt. I suppose you don't know how to tie this" She held a white belt wrapped tightly in a coil.
"You suppose correctly."
"Okay, arms up." I raised my arms and she wrapped the belt around me twice, then knelt to tie the knot. I looked down to watch her tie it, but my eyes were drawn to what lay between her crossed lapels - a pair of well-shaped breasts pushed together in a lacy black bra. It wasn't the bare-chested dress-code that she insisted upon me, but it was nevertheless beautiful.
Ella adjusted the folds in the knot and gave both ends of the belt a tug to finish. "Thanks Mum," I said with a smile. Ella retuned with a spiteful smirk in return. Perhaps I should be more careful what I say, I might pay for it later.
"Now we're ready to get started." Ella said.
I walked onto the mats and put my fists up in a boxing stance.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, we need to take a bow first." She lined me up, facing the front of the dojo. "Just follow what I do. Oos." She bowed to the front.
I bowed as well. "Oos."
"And face me."
"Oos," we both said as we bowed to each other.
"Now that we have paid respects to those who came before us, and each other, we can begin. We'll start with some stretches. Turn your head side-to-side."
We moved our heads in all directions, and she took us through a set of exercises that worked through each of our joints from head to toe. My favorites, to watch Ella perform at least, were the hip exercises. Watching her rotate her hips as if spinning a hula hoop, then thrusting her pelvis back and forth, filled me with lewd thoughts of what else she could do with them. "Jiu jitsu is all about the hips," she lectured, "You will be surprised what a strong pelvic thrust can do."
"Alright, now sit on the floor and stretch your legs as far apart as they can go, then lean forward." Ella said and gracefully moved her legs to into side-splits. "I said, as far as they can go."
My legs were stuck at right angles to one another. I pulled one leg further back with both hands but that just sent the other one following it. "This is the best I can do," I said.
"I'm not very impressed, but at least you have room for improvement."
I sat there straining forward and struggling to keep myself from falling backwards, whilst she casually flopped forward and placed her elbows on the ground in front of her. Once again I caught sight of those beautiful bulbous breasts. I imagined my hands sliding under her top and kneading that soft flesh. She looked up and caught me mid-fantasy. She knew exactly what I was doing.
"I would usually wear a shirt underneath this, but I didn't have one here," she explained. She pulled the lapels together to try and cover up, but showed no embarrassment for herself nor irritation towards me.
"What? You mean the girls don't have the same strict dress-code as the guys?" I said.
"No, it's too distracting for the guys, as you have just proven."
"Well, I can't argue with that."
"That should be enough of a warm-up, now show me how good a boxer you really are," Ella said. I stood up, sunk back into my boxing stance, and showcased a few combos. Jab-cross-hook. Jab-jab-cross. Jab-slip-hook-uppercut.
"Interesting," said Ella. "That might work in a boxing ring with oversized gloves and a thousand and one rules, but fighting like that will make you very vulnerable in a street fight."
"I'm sure jiu-jitsu has its short-comings as well."
"Not in real-world fighting. Jiu jitsu, the style I teach at least, will stand up against any other martial art."
"I think we're going to have to put that to the test. It's just lucky for you that I'm a terrible fighter."
Ella laughed. "I've never sparred with a boxer before. Maybe there's something you can do that will surprise me. So, the rules are 'no contact to the head' and 'only light contact to the body.' All techniques are allowable providing that they can be performed without causing an injury; we want to keep this fun. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"So we pull our punches before they hit. Sure thing."
I reached out to touch gloves with my bare fist. Ella raised her palm to me and halted my approach. "No," she said, "we start with a bow from a safe distance apart."
Her dojo, her rules. We bowed and prepared to fight. Her stance was very different to mine, her back leg was some distance behind her front, and she had one open hand half-stretched out in from of her at head height whilst the other was low with the elbow at her hip. I had one leg a foot-length in front of the other with both my fists protecting my face. With only one hand defending her head, I was sure to tag her with a left-right combination, but I was very conscious to control any aggression, I wanted to impress her with my skills without knocking her unconscious.
I lunged at Ella with fists flying. She dodged effortlessly to the side and brought her knuckles half an inch from my bruised cheek. I understood the message and conceded the point, although I put it down to her taking the fight just a bit more seriously than me. I upped my speed to match hers and launched a flurry of attacks, but she once again dodged and countered. I tried a third time, I was anticipating that she would evade to the side and planned to intercept her. My arm was at full stretch pointing towards her face, but falling short. I saw no movement on her part but felt the wind squeezed out of my belly. I looked down and saw her foot planted in my gut. Stumbling backwards, I tried to regain my breath and pretend that it didn't hurt.
"Was that too hard?" she said.
"I'm okay," I said between shallow breaths. "You just winded me."
