Girl Fighter

Part 1 Chapter 2

TOM AND ALIYAH

At six five Tom Jensen, owner and head trainer of the Battersea MMA Gym, was a giant, He weighed one hundred and ten kilograms on an average morning following a ten hour fast and dehydration. His Scandinavian origins were not only apparent from his height, but his pale white skin and light blue eyes. When Tom was asked where he came from, he'd always reply, Manchester—even though he was born and raised in a small town outside the big city. When Tom was asked why he was so tall, he'd say it was due to his Scandinavian genes. When asked why he had Scandinavian genes, which relation in his family came from the north, he'd answer, no fucking idea. What are you, a bloody genealogist? When a man of this stature lost his patience people stopped meddling.

By the time Tom was eight he was already over five feet tall. No one dared confront him in school and should anyone consider bullying it would take a pack of aggressors with serious attitude to take him down. However, no one ever had a reason to pick a fight with Tom. He was by nature a reserved man. With a placid demeanour and his oversized body people often assumed he was not bright. Yet he had always excelled in studies, particularly history and social science. He was interested in human behaviour on a macro and micro level. History told the story of people over extended periods; fighting showcased an enormous variety of 'fight, flight or freeze' responds in split second durations. Tom's uncle was an accomplished wrestler, though Tom's dad thought that a boy had no business being in such close contact with other boys and so had taken him to a boxing gym instead. There was never a need for Tom to defend himself in school or the streets, but he loved fight training since the first day he put on his gloves.

Tom moved to London for university. He studied history and anthropology in the School of Oriental and African Studies and worked a variety of jobs to support himself through his degree. While he enjoyed what he learnt at university, Tom realised his career options in his academic field were limited and it was likely he would not enjoy life working in an office as a historian or anthropologist. Moreover, he found academia stuffy; people talked shit and did little. So he decided to head in the opposite direction, in a career where people did a lot of shit and said little. In the late nineties he saw two styles of fighting that were growing in popularity and threatening to upset old school boxing and even wrestling. One was Muay Thai and the other was MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). He decided that it was good foresight to get into the business early. Once Tom graduated he worked a few jobs at a time, from bulky goods delivery to nightclub security. Eventually, he saved enough money and borrowed a chunk from the bank to start a martial arts training gym.

The first question he posed himself was what to call his gym. Many boxing or fighting gyms have names like 'Ultimate', 'Extreme', ''Danger' or similar masculine titles. He decided his gym avoid such clichés and simply named it after its locality. Battersea Mixed Martial Arts gym opened its doors in Spring 1998. By 2005 the gym had earned a reputation for having experienced and all rounded instructors and for students that were skilled in the art of fighting. The gym rated martial arts technique on par with pure fitness. It was an important distinction as many gyms focused too much on the fitness and therefore lost martial arts enthusiasts due to the lack of quality sparring partners.

When Tom first met Aliyah the summer of 2006, he'd never expected her to last. She was possibly the least enthusiastic person he had ever seen wandering into his gym. He still remembered that fateful Saturday morning when she strayed in from the streets. Finishing up with a Brazilian Ju Jitsu class, he noticed his receptionist Prue showing Aliyah the gym. Prue signalled Tom over and introduced them.