And finally, the day had come. The fateful day that Pancho had been preparing for, for what felt like eternity. The day of the fight. All his energies had been concentrated on this event, on making an imposing and successful spectacle of his victory over Superboy. Pancho felt fit. He knew he was fit. A lean mean fighting machine. His stamina was considerable and his technique had improved in leaps and bounds as one would expect of somebody with such dedication and limitless talent.
On Sunday he had still felt a nervous excitement in the pit of his stomach. It was his first fight and that in front of an interested crowd of people, with a name to defend and his honour at stake. But of course Pancho thought that that would be expected by what he felt were his endless masses of fans. Who wouldn’t think the first fight of a heroic character such as Pancho to be an immensely significant event in history of the world?!
This monday morning Pancho planned to take it easy. He had been allowed to skip school for the day. As if anything else would be acceptable to him, however he still had to go in for the formal bureaucracy of signing his name. So, he got up early (which was a useless futility to him) rode to school, signed his name, had breakfast and sat down at his computer to whittle away time. After lunch, he settled down for a restful nap and woke up in time to eat once again before he was due to join his student friend Porn, who was fighting too, for a warm up.
Pancho rode his bicycle to the training grounds, knowing that he would apply namman muay and not wanting to repeat the disaster of sweating before application.
And so Pancho, after having the oil massaged in by Porn and another helper, was quite relaxed. He felt the heat of the oil taking effect but was not in pain and got onto his warm up. This was followed by waiting for the hot water with herbal ingredients to be ready for a refreshing wash.
Sitting and standing there Pancho felt strangely at peace. The wind was blowing strongly and coolly from the north putting him in a mood similar to autumn back in Europe. It was a quiet feeling of accepting the slowing of nature to a virtual standstill before it rebounded with full life in the coming spring. And so Pancho felt as if he had come to the end of an excessively long road. He was quiet at peace with himself and no matter what happened not a bit of nervousness came forth. That famous calm before the storm.
After having washed and cleaned up the three fighters from Phunee (Pancho, Porn and a little kid who’s name he could not remember) went back to Porn’s farm hut for dinner. Pancho ate only a little as he had already had three meals that day and did not feel excessively hungry. Immediately after, they rode to the festival where the fights were taking place.
The festival itself was called Roy Kratong and is a lantern festival, where small floats with candles and incense are released onto the water for good luck. Pancho, Porn, the PE teacher called Math a very enjoyable and funny fellow, set out and joined the festivities.
On the way plenty of his students encountered Pancho and commented on the Thai boxing. Through this fight his fame in the area was reaching new proportions.
Finally they walked to the fenced off area of the fight. It was situated behind a wall of plastic tarp. Stepping into the enclosure Pancho was slightly surprised. There was a proper ring in the middle but no seats or any roof. It looked like actual fair ground boxing. Despite having expected something quite different Pancho really did not care. The surroundings were of little consequence, it was what happened in the ring that mattered.
The Phunee fighters and trainers settled down in a little hollow at the edge of the enclosure. Looking at the program, Pancho Wingchattour was listed as the 9th fight. It was already coming up to 8 o’clock and the events had not even started yet, so relaxed as Pancho was he lay down on their rice mat and tried to have a little nap. He was feeling just a tad tired.
On Sunday he had still felt a nervous excitement in the pit of his stomach. It was his first fight and that in front of an interested crowd of people, with a name to defend and his honour at stake. But of course Pancho thought that that would be expected by what he felt were his endless masses of fans. Who wouldn’t think the first fight of a heroic character such as Pancho to be an immensely significant event in history of the world?!
This monday morning Pancho planned to take it easy. He had been allowed to skip school for the day. As if anything else would be acceptable to him, however he still had to go in for the formal bureaucracy of signing his name. So, he got up early (which was a useless futility to him) rode to school, signed his name, had breakfast and sat down at his computer to whittle away time. After lunch, he settled down for a restful nap and woke up in time to eat once again before he was due to join his student friend Porn, who was fighting too, for a warm up.
Pancho rode his bicycle to the training grounds, knowing that he would apply namman muay and not wanting to repeat the disaster of sweating before application.
And so Pancho, after having the oil massaged in by Porn and another helper, was quite relaxed. He felt the heat of the oil taking effect but was not in pain and got onto his warm up. This was followed by waiting for the hot water with herbal ingredients to be ready for a refreshing wash.
Sitting and standing there Pancho felt strangely at peace. The wind was blowing strongly and coolly from the north putting him in a mood similar to autumn back in Europe. It was a quiet feeling of accepting the slowing of nature to a virtual standstill before it rebounded with full life in the coming spring. And so Pancho felt as if he had come to the end of an excessively long road. He was quiet at peace with himself and no matter what happened not a bit of nervousness came forth. That famous calm before the storm.
After having washed and cleaned up the three fighters from Phunee (Pancho, Porn and a little kid who’s name he could not remember) went back to Porn’s farm hut for dinner. Pancho ate only a little as he had already had three meals that day and did not feel excessively hungry. Immediately after, they rode to the festival where the fights were taking place.
The festival itself was called Roy Kratong and is a lantern festival, where small floats with candles and incense are released onto the water for good luck. Pancho, Porn, the PE teacher called Math a very enjoyable and funny fellow, set out and joined the festivities.
On the way plenty of his students encountered Pancho and commented on the Thai boxing. Through this fight his fame in the area was reaching new proportions.
Finally they walked to the fenced off area of the fight. It was situated behind a wall of plastic tarp. Stepping into the enclosure Pancho was slightly surprised. There was a proper ring in the middle but no seats or any roof. It looked like actual fair ground boxing. Despite having expected something quite different Pancho really did not care. The surroundings were of little consequence, it was what happened in the ring that mattered.
The Phunee fighters and trainers settled down in a little hollow at the edge of the enclosure. Looking at the program, Pancho Wingchattour was listed as the 9th fight. It was already coming up to 8 o’clock and the events had not even started yet, so relaxed as Pancho was he lay down on their rice mat and tried to have a little nap. He was feeling just a tad tired.
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