Limitless
July 21, 2010
The sound of the bell rung, I faced my opponent. It felt like an eternity, we circled around each other, waiting for an opening. I suddenly charged in, hoping to have the initial attack, we exchanged punches and kicks, going back and forth, thinking that I got the advantage. But I was wrong. My body started to drag along, and it was hard to move my limbs, it felt like they were made out of lead. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, I was flipped, the world went upside down and the ground was approaching fast.
May 19, 2009
The sand bag echoed throughout the gym, my knuckles bloodied, and my foot was shredded on the bottom from the countless hours of training. Why was I doing this? It was all for the upcoming martial arts tournament determining who is the best in state, and I was determine to earn that title this year, no matter what. Everyday consisted of training from basic techniques to footwork. I worked my self to complete exhaustion, every morning, every night; I know that all this training is going to be worth it in the end. But one day, my body started to drag around, my balance was off, my limbs were heavy and my body stiff. I thought it was no big deal, and I went on with my training, thinking that it was just fatigue. I continue to work my self to the point where I have to push my limits every single time, not giving a thought of the consequences that it might have on my body. But these are just limits that you have to break.
July 21, 2010

This daily training regime went on for three months, each day harder then the last, till finally the day of the big tournament arrived. During night before the tournament, I was to anxious to sleep, having excess energy with no idea what to do with it; I was up all night to doing basic exercise. The next morning, looking dead tired, having the hardest difficulty getting out of bed, I made my way to the tournament with some of my friends. During the journey there, I started to close my eyes, not able to think right, and I finally nodded off to sleep. After a long nap, we finally arrive at the tournament. I hurried over to register for and to begin my warm up for the tournament, thinking, “This is it! I’m going to win this!” Full of excitement for the tournament, and determine to win, losing was not an option. All of my training has led up to this point.

Anxiously waiting for the starting of the first match, I frantically moved around the rink I was going to fight in. I was waiting there, thinking where is my first opponent, and then out of no where, someone or something overshadowed me. I turned around and saw him. He was gigantic, enormous, and monstrous, I swear that he was Goliath, and I was David. It seemed almost unfair to fight him, but I didn’t care, I was going to beat him down despite the disadvantage! We both approached the middle of ring, showed our respect, and we were ready to fight. I stared at my opponent in the eyes; I lifted my hand up and began to taunt him:

“Come on, this is going to be quick.” signaling him to come at me. He soon got enraged like a bull and I was the matador, guiding him towards my red, velvet cape. As he was charging towards me, getting ready to take me down, I stuck my foot out, and his face ran right into it. I felt his nose making the impact in my foot, the feeling of his nose breaking went through my body, it was a knockout. I won my first fight easily, and the next rounds, I won them easily. The momentum drove me through the rounds, I felt unstoppable, and maybe this year, I’m going to win it all.

The final round approach, my final opponent was last year’s champion and I’m going to bring him down! Before the match, I started to feel tired, my body started to slow down, I knew this was not a good sign, but I completely ignored it and was completely determined to win this. My training is not going to be wasted. We met in the middle of the ring, gave our respects to each other and it was time to fight.

I was coming down fast, the surroundings were just blurs, am I going to lose right now? I felt my back hitting onto the ground, pain stretched through my body, but that was not the end of it. My legs were not flat, but instead twisted, my ankles were bent, and all I heard was a snap. In an instance, terrible pain ran through, and the emergency care rushed towards me. They told me that I have broken both of my ankles, and that I can no longer continue the match. I was devastated; all of the training that I have gone through was wasted.
After the tournament, I was laying on the hospital bed, thinking of all the training, I have gone through. All the opponents that I have fought and all the trials that I have overcome were not in vain. I realized that no matter what, I have tried my best, and that’s all there was to it. All of the training that I suffered through just proved that there are no limits, and that anything is possible. The limits were meant to be broken.