3 The Result

After leaving the sauna, Mike took a cold shower to cool down his body and mind. Half an hour later, Mike entered the gym owner's office to cancel all his fights for the following two weeks. Learning a new skill set took time, and the sooner he established a solid framework, the sooner he could perfect it in actual combat.

Over the next two weeks, the technical sparring sessions increased threefold. During rests, Mike's tablet played professional fights of combat sports on repeat. Even while taking a shower or eating lunch, he'd review footage of his fights.

Time flew by, and soon the work done over these fourteen days resulted in a foundation upon which Mike could improve on. He had sharpened both his instincts and analytical skills. The ultimate goal was not only to have an almost instantaneous reaction but to accurately predict the opponent's moves.

A new unique combat system slowly came to life. This system's fundamental was not a specific strike or kick but the enhancement of the human cognition related to combat in all of its facets. For that, Mike consulted specialists in psychology, neuroscience, and sensory studies.

Apart from the five senses, namely sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch, Mike learned that the ability to sense temperature, balance, vibration or self-movement/body position was also considered a sensory modality. Mike designated them the Nine Pillars of Awareness and sought to understand and enhance them.

Throughout the months, working towards his goal, he made visible progress in his sparring sessions, professional fights, and underground bouts. Bear in mind that since Mike arrived in Thailand, he had never lost any of his legal or illegal matches.

Already considered one of the best, his performance in the latest bouts was even more stunning. During interviews, his opponents complained that fighting him felt like Mike expected all of their moves, and if they tried to mix it up, Mike's reactions made them feel like he was reading their minds. This ultimately led to him receiving the nickname of "the Seer."

Every idea, theory and thought Mike had about this new combat system was tested through hours upon hours of physical combat. Anything that did not bring positive results was filtered out, leaving only the most efficient training methods. Even after being filtered, the amount of research Mike had accumulated soon exceeded the amount he could process. It was time to write everything down and then systemize it properly.

Mike stared at the cover of a blank book.

"I should probably give it a name. Hm. Let's go with 'Art of the Nine Pillars'."

He chose that name in a nod to Lethwei, the Art of the Nine Limbs. As one of the most brutal martial arts in the world, it was one of the few that included headbutts, aiming to use every single part of the body to inflict damage. Just like Mike intended to use every single sense for combat.

Instincts could only improve through experience, but cognition relied mainly on the senses and the intellectual ability to process incoming information. This is why Mike called the human senses the Nine Pillars as they were the foundation to predict his opponents' actions.

The first chapter of the Art of the Nine Senses manual consisted of the most effective ways to train his instinct, senses, and mental processing speed. The chapter was further divided into two parts, the unconscious and the conscious.

The segment that dealt with the unconscious aimed at using the developed instincts and senses to detect every minuscule muscle and eye movement without actively searching for it.

On the other hand, the conscious segment used the enhanced senses and mental processing speed to analyze those movements and other influential factors. It then used the gathered information to calculate incoming attacks' probabilities and searched for the most effective countermeasure.

The second chapter covered the physical aspect of the body. No matter how well someone could predict movements or how quickly one could find a countermeasure to an incoming attack, the body had to be capable of following what the mind instructed. A flexible and athletic build was necessary. Almost every single muscle in the body had to be trained, while the core demanded particular focus and attention.

The third chapter was the most conventional part of the manual. It explained the proper way to throw a jab, a cross, a hook, a low-kick, and any strike or kick you could think of. It included not only stand-up fighting but also clinches, throws, and ground fighting. Apart from offensive techniques, there were also illustrations on how to dodge, move, and deflect.

The fourth and last chapter was a compendium of typical patterns and techniques of all known martial arts, whether armed or unarmed. Mike planned to update it throughout the years.

A little less than four years was the time Mike spent on improving this manual. Throughout that time, he rarely neglected the other aspects of his preparation. Reading was a way to improve mental processing speed, after all.

His body had gotten used to the torture he inflicted upon it. Due to his rapidly increasing skill, he got hurt less in his fights, and even the Sayeret Matkal and HEMA instructors found it challenging to land a blow on him.

Mike had reached a level where he sparred with both instructors simultaneously, sometimes even inviting other fighters around the gym to join their special sparring sessions.

<<Man, does it feel good not to get shocked anymore.>>

A grin of satisfaction the Joker would be proud of spread across Mike's face after another successful sparring session.

"Do you remember when I told you I did not feel good about beating you up every day?"

Alexander, the HEMA instructor, got annoyed at those dirty smirks and rubbed a blue mark Mike had left behind on his leg.

"Yes, why?" Mike wondered.

"I changed my mind. Let's go back to slapping you into a smurf instead of the other way around. Right now, if someone asks me for my skin color, I'll tell them blue instead of white."

The sword instructor had gradually gotten on the receiving end as time went on. As the Israeli emphasized simultaneous counter-attacks while dodging, Mike subconsciously dished out some hits in his HEMA training as well, even if that was not supposed to be part of that session.

Uri, the Sayeret Matkal instructor, was catching his breath on the floor two meters away and heard their conversation. While he was responsible for his co-workers' pain, shared pain was half the pain, so there was no regret at all.

"He's right! Yesterday I had to resolve some issues in Bangkok, and people kept asking me to perform for them. I told them I'm not a part of the Blue Man Group." Uri, the Israeli, joked.

The three started laughing so much, their stomachs started hurting. Even though Mike was their employer and paid them for their services, they spent four years living in a gym in Thailand with him.

If they did not like Mike nor enjoyed his presence, they simply would've gone back to their home countries, but his pure dedication and endeavor lit a fire inside them. It was not just about money anymore. They also improved alongside Mike and the development of the manual grew important to all of them.

"This is the result of my professional career as a fighter and my whole life in general. I know you think I am already as good as one can get, but I can feel that there is still more room for improvement. I want to expand my horizons and travel the world for the next year. Will you come with me?"

"Will you pay?"

As expected, Uri had his priorities straight, no longer joking around about getting beat up regularly; the payment was the first thing on his mind.

"Of course!" Mike affirmed.

There had not been a month where Uri and Alexander had not been paid. Throughout the months, Mike had gotten better with each fight. At one point, fighting multiple times each night had not proven problematic anymore, as he took almost no damage in each bout. The money saved up was enough for three people to travel the world for a year.

"Then why such an eloquent speech? Will you die soon? We have been holed up in this gym with you for close to four years. There is no way we would refuse to travel the world while getting paid for it."

That argument was irrefutable, and soon enough, the three and Saenchai, one of the F-Tex coaches, prepared and organized their travels throughout the world together.

Mike had another reason to travel the world. It was sort of a goodbye for him. He planned to see and experience what the world still had to offer for him to leave without ever looking back.