After class had ended, Ryu headed to the gym. As he was walking, he planned out his new schedule. "Alright, so shadow boxing daily, and then I'll take a Thursday class on Muay Thai, doing that with my new supplements hopefully I'll be able to gain some strength and agility, as well as a few levels for my arts," Ryu thought to himself, he believed that his plan was pretty fool proof.
Although he was also thinking about his daily quest, it didn't include any XP and again required him to learn a new art. At this point, he felt as if the system wasn't adequately awarding him for his hard work. But, nevertheless, he had to work hard whether or not the system would reward him properly.
As he entered the gym, he walked over to Ken to talk to him about his plan. "Hey, how's it going Ken?" Ryu said politely as he entered the gym.
"Could be better, could be worse, how about yourself?" Ken replied, still looking at the desktop on his work counter.
"Well, I got challenged to a fight, it's supposed to happen Monday," said Ryu in response, slightly disheartened by Ken being engrossed in his desktop rather than their conversation.
"Damn, how'd you manage to get yourself into a fight," Ken said, slightly more interested in the conversation now.
"Well, I've been getting bullied at school, and my friend stood up to the bully, so he challenged me to a fight," replied Ryu, telling Ken the honest truth.
"Well, that will surely do it. You definitely can't back down, or else he'll just continue bullying you. So, are you coming to me for help then?" Ken replied, seeing right through Ryu's facade to his true intentions.
"Haha, yeah, I was going to ask for you to watch my form while I shadow box and give me some pointers," replied Ryu.
"Alright, whenever you're ready just come to me. We can't have you losing that fight now, can we?" said Ken.
"No, we can't, I'll be back after my workout," said Ryu, with that he waved to Ken and got into his workout.
Today, just as every other day, he was doing a full body workout. He had to because of his regeneration properties.
"Alright, let's go as hard as possible today," Ryu thought to himself, trying to get motivated for the gym.
After about an hour and a half, he finished his workout, feeling completely worn out. But his work wasn't over yet, he still had to go through a shadow boxing help session with Ken.
With his workout being over, he ran over to Ken.
"Alright, I'm ready to start, also can you sign me up for a Muay Thai class on Thursday?" said Ryu.
"No problem, I'll do that real quick and then meet you over by the bags," said Ken.
With that, Ryu departed from Ken and headed over to the punching bags in the corner of the gym.
He started shadow boxing by himself with the bag, he threw a one-two combo, then he dodged left, then started throwing a few more punches.
A minute or two passed before Ken approached him, ready to help him out. "Hey, I saw your form while I was walking up, you're looking a lot better, you've really improved," said Ken, in an honest tone.
"Thanks, man, I feel like I still need to improve, though," said Ryu.
"Haha, yeah there's always room for improvement, bro," said Ken, "Alright, just keep punching the bag and I'll point out any mistakes I see."
As Ryu started to jab, Ken noticed that he quickly pulled his hand down a slight bit, a movement that most normally people wouldn't find significant, but to a boxer this is an easy read that your opponent is going to throw a jab, before Ryu threw the jab Ken interjected.
"Yo, you're dropping your hand before you jab, that lets your opponent know that you're about to throw a punch, making it easier to dodge," said Ken.
Because of Ryu's lack of practical fighting experience, his actual form was good, but he gave a lot of tells and reads to his opponent because he didn't have enough experience to realize how important it was to hold a "boxing poker face".
"Alright, let me try again," said Ryu in response to Ken.
Ryu proceeded to throw a jab again, but this jab lacked any noticeable preparation and instead came quick and hard without warning.
"Nice stuff," said Ken, "Much better."
With that Ryu proceeded to throw a low jab into the bag, he kept the same stance as throwing a normal jab. This was incorrect form, and Ken didn't hesitate to point it out.
"Hey man, you have got to drop your hips when you throw a low jab, if you don't you make yourself vulnerable for a right-hand counter and you won't hit them with your full force, if you drop your hips, you'll avoid both of these things from happening," said Ken offering another piece of great advice for Ryu.
"Wow, I didn't realize how much was wrong with my boxing form," Ryu thought to himself.
With that he tried to fix the problem, it took him a couple jabs to really fix it, as dropping his hips was somewhat uncomfortable for him, but he finally got it down to a fluid motion, that way dropping his hips and jabbing was so in sync that the hip drop wouldn't give away his jab before he threw it.
"Hey, you've gotten a hell of a lot better in such a short time, even though you make a few mistakes, you've got great form bro," said Ken, appreciating the dedication he could tell Ryu had for boxing.
"Thanks man," replied Ryu.
With that Ryu continued shadow boxing for about another hour, implementing any tips and making sure to remember them.
At the end of the session, Ryu thanked Ken sincerely and told him he appreciated the help. After the training session, Ryu rushed home as he had spent 2 and a half hours at the gym.
As he walked home, he still wasn't done thinking about his training.
"What art should I learn today; I mean the quests are making me learn too many arts without getting better at them," thought Ryu. He contemplated what he should start learning and thought that today he would finally start learning a grappling art, and what better to start with than Judo.
So, once he got home, his mother still hadn't arrived as it was only around 5:45 at this point. He took a quick shower to freshen up a little bit from the gym, then changed clothes and went to his room to start learning Judo.