Day 27 - the man who could punch through bricks

the man who could punch through bricks 

Matthew Ryan Fischer

 

Reggie Burns might have been the best boxer I ever saw live and in the flesh. Quick, long arms, he had strength and speed and delivery. If need be, he had the endurance to go the distance, but the time I saw him, I saw him take care of someone quickly. No one punch or anything like that. Maybe 58 seconds. Maybe a minute ten. You throw enough punches, you throw them quickly, I have no idea what sort of brain damage that man could employ. I’m not saying I support brain damage or violent sports, but that man Burns could throw a punch.

I was a side show carnival event and I saw a man punching concrete blocks and breaking them in half. Everyone has seen some karate chop video where a man can snap wood beams or concrete tablets. I’m sure there’s some pressure point concept, where if you can hit something fast and just right, the propulsion of force will make it snap for you and you won’t go shattering your knuckles. Maybe any of us could learn to do it with training. Maybe. I doubt it. That carnival man could throw a punch.

I met a girl once who had tattoos covering her entire left arm. Why her left? Because she was young and made arbitrary decisions. She told me that her left arm held all the power. Was it magic, I asked? She told me wait and see. And she put on a show. Martial arts, sword fighting, whips and lassos. Entertaining, exciting. She did it all. But only with her left. I asked her later if she could do any of those same skills with her right. She laughed and smiled and winked as if to say I was a fool for asking and a bigger fool for needing to ask. She said she was an entertainer and the mystery of the gimmick was just as much a part of the show as anything else. I didn’t see it as part of her routine, but I am pretty sure that left arm could throw a punch on top of everything else it could do.

I don’t know who was stronger or the better fighter. Was punching through bricks and stones tougher than knocking a man out in the ring? I wonder if a martial arts master with only one powerful arm could compete with the strongest boxer alive. I wonder what daring feats I could achieve with a little bit of training. What walls could I build and then tear down? What could I blast apart with one punch? Or would I just break myself and every bone in my hand? I want to believe it’s a matter of will and determination. If I could think long enough, desire hard enough, practice often enough, then maybe I could achieve the unachievable.

Their memories haunt me so. Taunting mercilessly. Provoking me into action. One punch. One good punch. That’s all I’d need. I just need to be fast enough. Strong enough. One punch to show them all.