GRAPPLER BAKI- PART XIV

After Baki went ballistic on his old man, he managed to grab a rear naked choke. The spectators think that this might be the end of the fight, but Yujiro just flings the young boy into a fence. The fast-thinking Baki rebounds off the fence and back into laying into his father with every strike he can think of throwing. Unfortunately, Yujiro is all but invincible to the young Hanma's assault. Yujiro thanks the onlookers for helping in Baki's training and turns to fight.

Baki jumps in for a strike, but Yujiro counters by axe-kicking him into the ground. During the next split second, Baki is unconscious and, upon his waking, Yujiro tells Baki in the .2 seconds he was asleep that he was killed twice. In high level fights, it is the opponent who has his bell rung a little too hard that is danger of being hurt or killed by his unrelenting opponent. Baki experienced what can be referred to as a "flash knockout." A flash knockout is a loss of consciousness from which one quickly recovers. Baki backs off after this, using the technique he practiced against his swordsman friend. Yujiro comes down with a chop, Baki flips, but just as the kick connects, Yujiro, too flips and smashes Baki into the ground.

It's all pretty much downhill from here for the young Baki as Yujiro begins to pound the boy's face into the ground. Emi, freaky as ever, is looking on the event with joy. That is until she see's her only son's blank face and something finally snaps in her brain. She launches an attack on her "perfect man," but is brushed aside easily, before Yujiro snaps her back like a twig. The onlookers try to get Yujiro to turn himself in, but he demolishes the lot of them with ease. Baki, in a strange state of confusion, is found walking the streets by himself, dreaming of his lost mother.

With nothing left to hold him down in Japan, Baki decides that he will take two years to travel the world to train and fight as much as he can. At some point, all of us must leave our comfort zones if we ever hope to improve, in whatever it is we do.

There's not a lot to be said in terms of training in this episode. The only things that we might want to take from it are that: 1) If you get knocked out for a split second and are able to recover quickly enough, be ready to fight or run away immediately. Keep your fighting spirit strong the entire time, even if you are unconscious. That sounds a lot easier than it actually is, but it's really the state of mind you have before you are knocked out that helps determine your state right after the flash knockout. 2) When fighting someone who is more powerful than you, do not let up at all. You don't have the luxury of letting him even get in one strike or grabbing hold of you.

That's all for this episode of Baki. Until next time, good luck and train hard!