"Hyyaaa!" Mr. Hyun gave a grunt as he threw out one punch in a rather empty dojo, martial arts school at the moment.
Some of the emptiness was a result of the various policies for social distancing, but the other part was more means of privacy that would let Mr. Hyun get some instruction without getting into too much trouble with the law in Animalia or exposing how little he actually knew about martial arts. There was the common perception that most people of East Asian descent had at least some basic skill in at least one form of martial arts because there were so many different styles and skills that had evolved in China, Japan, and Korea. However, that was not really the case, and while Mr. Hyun had long been a servant of the North Korean government, he had been more of a political servant, not a military man or some spy novel hero. In this, whenever Mr. Hyun had needed to "deal" with problems for his government, he was able to relay instructions to police or military forces to carry out the instructions. He'd never had to actually take on any sort of combat role, himself.
Of late, however, many of those situations had changed. For one, he had become a Korean Water Deer Animalian, to be with Ling and to protect her and had privately begun brain storming some way to keep Ling from being sold into some kind of slavery. In the past, Mr. Hyun had never necessarily had too much issue with those sorts of decisions, in that the people effected were either criminal or that the situation required it for the good of all. He'd been able to live with that because the people that got sent into it were not people he knew personally. Ling was different, for he'd known her even before she was uplifted, and after her uplifting she'd seemed to remain "close" to him. It wasn't quite romantic, at first, but it was something that Mr. Hyun quickly realized the more that Ling learned about American society, the less she'd support how his government did things. Once she learned that, the less likely she'd be willing to cooperate, and from what he knew of his government, the less of a chance she would be free. And over time, Mr. Hyun found his relations with Ling go from a political adviser/guardian to a more surrogate "parent," to a companion and friend, and eventually to actual romantic interest.
Once Mr. Hyun reached the point where he'd found that he loved Ling and became her bond-mate, he knew that his options would be limited, particularly given the status of the American government and its present leadership and the tight political race that was still ongoing. The best shot would be to allow for some kind of embassy colony that would either in a place with limited direct North Korean control or an easy window for escape and defection, possibly to South Korea. The full details there hadn't been figured out yet, and with the present pandemic going on and getting worse in America, there were times where Mr. Hyun figured he'd been forgotten or at least burried under other distractions. It bought him time, but he still needed to think and get a plan together. Then came a rival...
This rival was another man who'd apparently seen Ling and decided to become a Korean Water Deer to try and "put the moves on her" as the Americans would put it. Hyun and Ling had been at the Claw Coliseum to go jogging, as they often did for health, and had to wait until the pathway was clear enough to meet social distancing requirements when Mr. Hyun had caught this other male flirting with Ling. He could see some of Ling's unease with the situation on her face, and feeling a protectiveness that surprised even him, Mr. Hyun confronted the man to defend Ling's honor. Finding that this other man was slightly taller and far more muscular than Mr. Hyun didn't matter. What mattered was defending Ling, and while that hadn't lead to an all out brawl then, thanks to the intervention of Brett Horne, that hadn't meant that more formal match was avoided. It was that match that Mr. Hyun was training for, to defend Ling and take that smug look off the other buck's face.
"Much better form," the Rabbit Animalian that was presently serving as something of an instructor for Mr. Hyun commented, "though... it would strike me that you're still trying to set up for a blow designed to hammer away at this other buck in a direct head on clash. The punch is strong... but the stance is too wide. Meaning if this buck manages to sidestep you... or you miss, you will be off balance and out of position."
"He made Ling feel uncomfortable... and... well... he said I was inadequate for her," Mr. Hyun answered, "but her discomfort was the bigger thing. I want him to apologize."
"I can understand the reasoning," the Rabbit Animalian answered, "but given what you've told me about this other Water Deer Buck... he is already bigger and more muscular than you. In this, a straight up confrontation or boxing match, you would be at a severe disadvantage and most organizers wouldn't make the fight because of the physical differences."
Mr. Hyun followed the Rabbit Animalian with his eyes as the other Animalian re-did the same set of instructed techniques for Mr. Hyun to observe.
"But in terms of skill and combat... martial arts will not value size and power as the most critical element," the Rabbit Animalian said slowly, "you must also have speed and balance. That will help you react and land the key blows that will sap a stronger opponent's strengths. A large bulky figure may be imposing... but there will be some things that by its size it can't do."
And a lot of that made a great deal of sense, particularly when the other buck seemed to be stronger than Hyun was already. As such Hyun needed a way to neutralize that advantage the other buck had. He'd done some weight training to improve his strength, but the other buck already had an edge there and seemed to be focused more on that. As such, Hyun knew he couldn't win that way. He would have to find ways that would let him use the other buck's size advantages against him. Thus why he'd asked for some help with the martial arts schools, as it would give Hyun some means of knowing how to fight and take advantage of what he could do well, as that would be about the only thing that could help him. He'd gotten some agreement and was surprised to learn that the other buck wasn't doing something similar.
Mr. Hyun repositioned his legs so that they were more underneath him and then went through the training exercise that the Rabbit Animalian had performed with a shorter stride and a more deliberate motion. The punch the formed the last part of the sequence wasn't as strong as the earlier one, but at the same time, Mr. Hyun didn't quite feel the need to take another step to rebalance himself. And that had been one of the issues that the Rabbit Animalian had picked up on the most. As he finished, he looked to the Rabbit Animalian who gave a small smile.
"Much better," the Rabbit Animalian smiled, "and when you can... it will always be best to continue practice many of these base steps. For anything more complicated will actually build on what we've started with."
"I'll still be worried a bit..." Mr. Hyun gave a sigh, "mostly because they're looking at the match being something they could do in late June to early July... something that would give the UFC-A fans something to cheer about."
"From what I've heard this other Korean Water Deer buck is more interested in working out and posing than any sort of combat skill," the Rabbit Animalian answered, "which likely means he assumes that Ling's attention to you is because you are the only other male Korean Water Deer Animalian..."
"Thus by putting on a more impressive display he thinks he'll win," Hyun grumbled, and then clicked his teeth and irritation at the man, "strange given that the man was once Human and converted to become a Korean Water Deer Animalian."
"Humans are known for their displays to attract mates too, my diplomatic friend," the Rabbit Animalian answered, "it is not something that is unique to any one particular species. If you continue to train... you will have an edge that simple posing cannot counter. And as things progress... we'll see if we can arrange a sparring partner for you. Help you put things together and actually think out a strategy on how to deal with this buck."
Hyun nodded at that, "Hopefully it works... for I'd really want to wipe the smirk of his face... making Ling feel uncomfortable and think that she wanted him..."