score a point But the roundhouse kick put Wyatt in the lead with two points Connor couldn't believe he had let Wyatt get him first He should've been ready for the counterattack But Connor knew he had to forget about getting hit and stay focused The rest of the round was a blur Switches Punches Kicks Wyatt blocked every move Connor made And Connor blocked everything that Wyatt tried too But Connor saw an opening after he blocked Wyatt's side kick Connor landed on Wyatt's And just like that Connor tied up the match at two The class cheering sounded like a roar The bright lights overhead blinded Connor And he couldn't stop replaying in his head the last time he had fought Wyatt in a tournament They had been tied up near the end of the match And Wyatt had sprained his ankle trying to land Wyatt's back kick had hit air when Connor moved out of the way Wyatt twisted his ankle when he fell to the ground Connor had won by forfeit But the match felt like an unfinished fight rather than a win Focus on this match Connor told himself to the head is my best shot An axe kick to the 6
head was worth three points And he wanted to go for the win The round was almost over It's now or never thought Connor He sucked in air Sweat beaded up on his forehead He was just about to strike Wyatt with an axe kick to the head But out of the corner of his eye Connor saw Wyatt's foot come up toward the side of his head Protect your head Master Park always said Connor's fists were already up near his head His left forearm was right where it needed to be to knock Wyatt's foot away Connor started to throw up his arm in a high block to protect his head KYA Wyatt yelled But Connor was too late Thunk 7
8 CHAPTER 2 When Wyatt's foot hit Connor's head the looked like it had tilted Connor lifted his head back up The training room went back to normal And time was up The match was over And Connor couldn't believe it What just happened Connor wondered Why couldn't I block the kick Wyatt got three points for landing on Connor's head Wyatt didn't hit Connor hard with the hook kick Just a tap to the head with his heel to show that he got him Wyatt won the match five to two Wyatt extended his right hand toward Connor for a handshake Wyatt's left hand was palm down under his right elbow The traditional Taekwondo handshake The last thing Connor wanted to do was shake hands with his archenemy But Master Park had taught him to always show respect in the And that meant shaking hands with an opponent no matter how the match went Connor looked Wyatt in the eye while shaking hands with him
Like Wyatt Connor put his open hand under his elbow Master Park had said an open hand showed your opponent that you weren't carrying a weapon At least that was the way it was back when the tradition started Connor left the ring and sat cross-legged on the floor next to his younger brother Luke The sparring matches started with the highest-ranked belts The next round started between two red belts Whoa Luke whispered to Connor Are you okay I don't want to talk about it Connor whispered back Master Park always said to focus on the match and nothing else Why couldn't I do that wondered Connor But he knew why Losing focus was always the reason 9
