After the match with Go Kyung-hee, Yu Jung-ak's value rose even higher. Spirit FC was discussing an exclusive contract with him.
Spirit FC had a system in place where champion-level fighters could earn an annual salary of 100 million won.
Spirit was making an even better offer to Yu Jung-ak. They recognized his marketability.
Now just 19 years old.
He had no defeats and was showing remarkable growth in every match. After defeating Go Kyung-hee, Yu Jung-ak had firmly established himself as a force in the lightweight division.
It was now awkward to still call him a rising star.
With his good looks, he was also starting to gain female fans. In other words, his ticket-selling power was gradually emerging.
Spirit didn't want to miss out on such a big fish.
200 million won for 5 fights, excluding bonuses.
Not many fighters received such treatment even in CFC.
That's about 40 million won per fight.
Since Yu Jung-ak tended to fight frequently, it was also an opportunity to earn a considerable amount of money.
These terms were competitive even compared to famous overseas organizations.
However, Cho Yong-il and Yoon Chang-seon didn't give an immediate answer, saying they would discuss it.
"It's the highest level of treatment domestically. It'll get even better in the future. We're receiving a lot of foreign investment, and domestic fans are increasing too. Soon there will be people earning over 50 million per fight."
"But you didn't give an immediate answer because of the 5 fights, right?"
"I'm not sure, but he'll probably have a title fight within one or two matches, and if he wins and becomes champion, there's a problem. Title fights don't happen that often. In the worst case, he might only fight once or twice a year."
"So it's quite complicated."
"Yes. If Jung-ak's goal is to be the Spirit champion, he should take this contract. If it's beyond that, he can't take this contract."
"I mentioned senior Go Kyung-hee before, right?"
"Yes, you said he came on strong on purpose?"
"Yes. But that senior told me to aim higher than Spirit."
"CFC."
Cho Yong-il and Yoon Chang-seon said simultaneously. CFC. The world's top fighting organization that was growing in scale every year.
Complete Fighting Championship.
The winner of the recent featherweight title fight received over 10 billion won, showing the enormous scale of the event.
However, while some fighters earned such large sums, others in the organization received less than 10 million won.
In short, CFC was an organization where one could amass enormous wealth and fame if they performed well.
It was like a dream for all mixed martial artists.
"Yes. I want to become champion there."
"There's still no Korean champion, not even an Asian champion. There are mixed-race champions with Asian blood, but no champion from Asia."
"I know. That's why I want to try."
"Manager, Jung-ak's thinking like this, what should we do?"
"Coach Yoon and I were thinking the same thing anyway. Weren't we planning to send Jung-ak to CFC?"
"That's right. But CFC hasn't contacted us."
"They haven't yet. What offer would come for a fighter who's only had 4 fights? We need to wait and see a bit more."
"We can make them come. But if we refuse this offer, won't Spirit be upset?"
Oh Jung-ryong, who had been listening to the conversation, spoke up.
"We'll contract one fight at a time. If not, we'll go overseas. It's good to get experience with overseas organizations before going to CFC."
"We need to be careful about that too. Smaller overseas organizations often make ridiculous matchups. Some even claim contract violation if you refuse a fight they offered just two weeks before."
"We should avoid dealing with those with such a record altogether."
Cho Yong-il officially declined Spirit's offer. After the fight with Go Kyung-hee, Yu Jung-ak decided to increase his weight again after discussing with Oh Jung-ryong.
This time, 500g.
Increasing weight little by little like this was safer in many ways. Weight cutting puts a tremendous strain on the body, so carelessly increasing weight could lead to condition issues.
Even Yu Jung-ak, who managed his body meticulously, had struggled when cutting weight to featherweight.
That's why Yu Jung-ak was cautious even about gaining 500g.
His current walking weight was 82kg.
The goal was to reach 82.5kg by gaining only muscle, like before. Yu Jung-ak resumed his routine at the wellness center as before.
His boxing skills were becoming increasingly refined, but Cho Yong-il still hadn't taught him other striking techniques.
Instead, Yu Jung-ak was steadily learning kicks.
"Jung-ak, now that you've got your ID card, you should get a driver's license, right?"
"I was planning to attend a driving school."
"You don't need to attend the dawn classes. Go downtown to attend the school, and while you're at it, there's a Taekwondo gym nearby."
"Taekwondo?"
"Yes. Go there and learn the basics. Taekwondo is surprisingly helpful in fighting."
"But I'm already learning kicks properly."
"Yes, that's why I'm telling you to learn more. There's a place called Kang Ki-hwan Taekwondo. He's a junior from the national team, he'll teach you well from the basics."
"But MMA kicks and Taekwondo are different."
"Tsk. Do you think I wouldn't have considered that? Are you not listening to me?"
When Cho Yong-il frowned, Yu Jung-ak nodded while grumbling. Following Cho Yong-il's words, Yu Jung-ak found himself having to go downtown early in the morning.
"But uncle, there's no bus stop near here. Are you going to drive me?"
"Am I your chauffeur?"
"Then how do I get there? Should I call a taxi?"
"Why wouldn't there be a bus stop nearby? If you walk for about 30 minutes, you'll find a bus. But are you planning to take the bus?"
Yu Jung-ak's face contorted at Cho Yong-il's words. He had caught on to Cho Yong-il's intention.
"No way... right?"
"That 'no way' is probably right. You need to do some intense endurance training too. To build endurance, you need to push your body to its limits. But your current training is too relaxed. How effective do you think that is?"
"I can train hard here too."
"Kid, you need to vary your training. Don't you know about circuit training?"
"Come on, how is this the same as circuit training? This is just moving a long distance."
"The effect is the same, kid! As long as you build endurance, what's the difference? Haven't you seen Rocky? If you keep complaining, I'll tie a tire to you too."
"Ah, I thought things would get easier after evasion training ended... Ah!"
"With that mindset! You think you can go to CFC?"
Cho Yong-il stood up and shouted. Yoon Chang-seon just watched Yu Jung-ak and Cho Yong-il's conversation with amusement.
"CFC fighters don't train this brutally!"
Yu Jung-ak screamed and went outside. Cho Yong-il and Yoon Chang-seon looked at each other and laughed. From the next day, Yu Jung-ak had to run for 2 hours to get to the driving school.
After getting his license, he then ran to the Taekwondo gym. Yu Jung-ak's appearance, wearing a rash guard and sweat suit for fear of catching a cold, was quite a sight to behold.
For reference, the Taekwondo gym was even farther from the center. Every morning when he got dressed, Yu Jung-ak never forgot to grumble.
Yu Jung-ak had been commuting to the Taekwondo gym for over a month now. And his endurance training had become much more intense than before.
The reason was that he had to run over 2 hours to get to the Taekwondo gym. After finishing his kicking practice, Yu Jung-ak would run straight back to the wellness center.
The daily running routine was gradually making Yu Jung-ak's endurance even stronger.
Originally, Yu Jung-ak's endurance was such that he could run for three or four hours without breaking a sweat, not just two. What's important in endurance training isn't time but speed.
You need to move at a speed that rapidly depletes your energy for endurance training to be meaningful.
Running at a comfortably manageable pace is meaningless for an athlete like Yu Jung-ak.
After a month of running training.
Yu Jung-ak's arrival time at the Taekwondo gym was getting faster and faster. Yu Jung-ak entered the mixed-use building.
After briefly stretching at the building entrance, Yu Jung-ak caught his breath and pressed the elevator button.
Kang Ki-hwan's Taekwondo gym was there.
As usual, Yu Jung-ak arrived on the 7th floor and turned the corner. But it was different from usual. The gym door, which should have been open, was closed.
Yu Jung-ak immediately called Kang Ki-hwan.
"Yes, the gym door isn't open."
"Didn't you hear from Coach Cho? I said you don't need to come anymore. Yesterday was the last class. You've got the basics down, what's the point of coming? Just practice well based on what I've taught you."
At Kang Ki-hwan's words, Yu Jung-ak bit his lip.
"Ah, I see. Okay!"
Yu Jung-ak hung up with Kang Ki-hwan and let out a yell. It was clear that Cho Yong-il and Yoon Chang-seon had intentionally not told him.
"Damn it!"
Olympic gold medalist Kang Ki-hwan. He won the gold medal in the Olympic final with a spinning back kick counter.
Known for being strict, he was someone who emphasized the basics. That's why Cho Yong-il sent Yu Jung-ak to him.
To reach higher levels, it was important to learn kicks properly.
Whether punches or kicks, it's true that both are difficult to master properly, but in terms of mastery speed, kicks are much more difficult than punches.
All humans have more freedom with their hands than their feet.
Therefore, learning proper kicks is much more difficult than learning proper punches.
In modern MMA, kicks are often thought of as a one-hit knockout weapon.
So it was trendy to somehow put a lot of weight into kicks when attacking. Even now, some MMA instructors would tell fighters to put all their weight into a high kick and spin around once.
A kick thrown so powerfully that you spin around once.
Of course, if it lands properly, it guarantees tremendous destructive power. Enough power to make the opponent stagger even if it hits above the guard.
However, in recent matches, there were hardly any fighters who used kicks in this way.
MMA is developing at a frightening pace. Kicks with a lot of power loaded into them left too much room for counterattacks. To compare it to punches, it's like extending your fist as if throwing a baseball.
That's why the recent trend was to modify kicks to suit MMA.
Fighters trained to use kicks shortly and concisely for feints, and as a one-hit knockout weapon whenever the opportunity arose.
Taekwondo was an excellent exercise in that sense. In fact, quite a few CFC fighters used Taekwondo as their kick base, and some of them achieved KO victories with kicks.
Yu Jung-ak learned the basic posture from Kang Ki-hwan for a month. It was to correct the body swaying after kicking.
The biggest weakness of kicks is that the center of gravity is greatly disturbed no matter what kick you do. It was natural for the center to be shaken when a person standing on two feet had to stand on one foot.
Kicks are more difficult than punches.
If not learned and practiced properly, it's better not to use them in actual fights.
However, if learned and used properly, there's no weapon quite like a kick.
The feet are weapons located below the fighter's line of sight. If used well, attacks could be launched from the opponent's blind spot.
Kickboxing legend Peter Aerts was very good at using high kicks utilizing the line of sight.
Extending the left glove to slightly block the opponent's vision, then hitting above it with a kick.
When viewed from afar, it looks like he just extended his hand and then kicked, but the receiving fighter falls without even knowing what hit them.
That's how he earned the nickname "The Dutch Lumberjack".
Yu Jung-ak learned left kicks step by step from Kang Ki-hwan. In fact, Kang Ki-hwan didn't teach Yu Jung-ak anything but left kicks for a month.
The reason for teaching the left foot first was because Yu Jung-ak was right-footed. Once you can freely use your left foot, you naturally become able to use your right foot.
After learning the front kick from Kang Ki-hwan, Yu Jung-ak steadily learned the side kick. Then came the roundhouse kick.
The roundhouse kick wasn't that difficult.
It was just a slight modification of the kick Yu Jung-ak always used. The kick where you extend your leg straight is the MMA-style kick.
The Taekwondo style is kicking after bending the knee.
The Taekwondo-style kick was much faster, making it perfect for feints. Just because it's used for feints doesn't mean the kick's power is weak.
The kicks Yu Jung-ak felt through the mitt from Kang Ki-hwan had enough power for a KO. Above all, the recovery motion after kicking was fast, which was good.
"Proper kicking practice is important. It's boring, but if you get the posture right, speed and power will naturally follow. Don't try to kick high and hard from the start, take it slow. Feel how the power is transferred."
Yu Jung-ak carefully corrected his kicking posture as Kang Ki-hwan taught. Although it would have been understandable to complain about boredom over a month, Yu Jung-ak received lessons from Kang Ki-hwan every day without fail. While Kang Ki-hwan didn't praise him, he was secretly impressed by Yu Jung-ak's focus.
Thanks to this, Kang Ki-hwan taught him an unplanned kick.
It was the back kick.
"You kick the stomach or chest."
"I thought you'd teach something like a spinning back kick."
"You're underestimating the back kick."
"During a match, adrenaline is flowing so you don't feel pain well. It's hard to get a KO unless it's to the face."
"The back kick is different. If it lands properly, it's over right there."
"Nah."
To Yu Jung-ak who didn't believe him, Kang Ki-hwan smiled once and told him to wear protective gear.
"Wear three layers."
Kang Ki-hwan was about to demonstrate a back kick to Yu Jung-ak's stomach, who was wearing plenty of protective gear. Yu Jung-ak took a firm stance and tensed his abdominal muscles.
Kang Ki-hwan took his stance, turned slightly, and threw a back kick at Yu Jung-ak's stomach. It wasn't a full-power kick.
Thud!
"Oh."
Kang Ki-hwan's kick hit Yu Jung-ak's stomach. Yu Jung-ak lowered his head in unbelievable pain.
It felt like a spear had pierced through his stomach. A feeling like his intestines were rotting.
"How was it?"
"I feel like I'm dying."
"If you get hit properly, you're done. Though it's not easy to land it properly in a real fight."
Although Kang Ki-hwan taught the back kick, Yu Jung-ak couldn't quite use it. He could imitate it, but either the power wasn't there or his posture was wobbly.
It looked easy when watching, but in fact, the back kick wasn't an easy kick to learn. Unlike front kicks, side kicks, and roundhouse kicks, the back kick required quite a long time to master.
Kang Ki-hwan didn't just insist on Taekwondo kicks. He advised mixing Taekwondo-style kicks with bent knees and MMA-style kicks in actual fights. He said that alone could be a considerable weapon.
Yu Jung-ak was in a good mood, thinking about properly learning the back kick from today.
"Uncle!"
"Have you arrived?"
"What is this!"
"Kid. Isn't it good for endurance training? Wait there. I'll come and buy you a meal."
"No thanks."
"Kid, I have something to talk about too."
"What is it?"
"A title match has been set. The official offer just came in."
"Really? When is it?"
"You know. It's Gal Seung-hyun and Kwon Cheol."
"Wasn't the match with senior Go Kyung-hee supposed to be the contender decision match?"
"They're playing tricks because he didn't sign an exclusive contract. That bastard Jang Hyun-sung is getting worse."
"Then what about me? Am I out?"
"Well, that's right."
"Ah."
"Don't be too disheartened. I expected Jang Hyun-sung might do this, so I've been looking into other organizations. And I've already found organizations where you can have matches. Let's completely forget about Spirit now and move on to something else. Understood?"
"Oh. I understand."
"And wait there."
"What, we've finished talking, why should I? I'll just go in."
"This kid is really frustrating."
"What is?"
"What do you mean 'what is'? Today's your birthday, kid! The team members have been preparing to celebrate your birthday today. They're planning a surprise party at a restaurant near there, so just wait there knowing that. They all felt sorry for not doing anything last year, so just accept it with your eyes closed. The kids have been working hard for days."
"Ha."
Yu Jung-ak let out a big sigh at Cho Yong-il's words.
"Uncle."
"What?"
"Are you really my uncle?"
"Why, kid!"
"My birthday is on the lunar calendar, you know?"