VISION GRID SYSTEM: THE COMEBACK OF RYOMA TAKEDA - Chapter 416: Outside, Never the Middle

Chapter 416: Outside, Never the Middle

Back in Tokyo…

By midmorning, the street outside Nakahara’s gym is clogged with cameras and breath fogging the cold January air.

Reporters crowd the entrance, boots scraping against frozen pavement, voices overlapping as they shout Ryoma’s name, Sagawa’s injury, the OPBF title.

Nakahara steps out once. Just once.

“We’re on a tight schedule,” he says, breath steady in the winter chill. “If you care about a Japanese fighter performing overseas, then let him train. That’s all.”

He doesn’t wait for questions. The door closes, shutting out the noise.

Inside, the noise disappears.

Ryoma is already working, tethered to a resistance band, stepping in short bursts, shoulders tight as he drives compact punches into the pad.

The Palloff pull keeps his core locked, every movement controlled, every inch earned.

Sera stands close, stopwatch lowered, watching instead of correcting. Nakahara joins them at the edge of the mat, eyes fixed on Ryoma’s form.

This time, there’s no argument. Against a switch hitter, the safest rhythm is no rhythm at all, and that fight only exists in close range.

Nakahara watches for a while without speaking, long enough for the rhythm of Ryoma’s breathing to settle back into something even.

This work matters, but none of them pretend it’s the whole answer.

Because infighting has to be earned. No one simply walks into it. A switch hitter like Jade will keep angles alive, keep the door shut, force the fight to hover where reach and timing still matter.

Most of the time, Ryoma will be held in mid-range whether he wants it or not. And Ryoma is, at his core, a counter puncher. You can tell him to stay patient, to take no risks setting traps. But his instincts won’t disappear that easy.

So when the core work ends, Sera switches the drill. The band stays on, and the pendulum returns. Ryoma rocks lightly on his feet, then shadowboxing against resistance, letting rhythm breathe back into his movement.

Later, on the mitts, Nakahara calls combinations at mid-range; clean entries, measured exits, nothing rushed.

They don’t discard his other weapons. They just sharpen them, knowing the fight will decide when each one is allowed to surface.

***

After a long stretch of rhythm work on the mitts, Nakahara signals a break. Leather drops. Ryoma steps back, loosening his shoulders while his breathing settles into control.

“This is where habits get you hurt,” Nakahara says.

He steps in front of Ryoma and raises his left hand, extending it just far enough to mark space. His left foot slides forward.

“All of your fights have been against orthodox opponents,” he says. “Lead hand on the left. Power hand on the right.”

He shifts slightly to his own left as he speaks, drawing an invisible line on the floor.

“When you want to control distance, you move this way,” Nakahara continues. “Outside his lead foot. Away from his dominant arm, his right arm. You punch from an angle where his right hand has to travel farther to find you.”

Ryoma nods. This is familiar to him, comfortable.

Then Nakahara changes stance. His right foot comes forward this time, and his right hand lifts.

“Now look,” he says. “Southpaw. This is Jade before he switches.”

He taps the mat with his lead foot, and then steps in just a fraction, so small it almost looks harmless.

“This is where your body lies to you,” Nakahara says. “By habits, you do the same thing you always do, same step, same angle. And you think you’re outside.”

He shifts his shoulder, lining up his left hand.

“But you’re not,” he says. “You’ve walked into the middle. If you still move like he’s orthodox, you’re going to feed his strong side without realizing it.”

Ryoma looks down at their feet, adjusts his stance slightly. “Yeah, it’s like I’m coming to his dominant arm, asking to be punched there, while thinking I’m safe.”

Nakahara nods. “So you get it. But against a switch hitter, you don’t lose because you don’t know the angles. You lose because you trust them too much.”

Nakahara meets Ryoma’s eyes. “You can’t let habit decide where you stand,” he says. “You have to see it every time. If he keeps switching, then you have to keep adjusting with him.”

Ryoma shifts his feet again, slower now. His guard comes up, compact and ready.

“But still,” he says, “the best option is to close the distance and fight him inside. Right?”

Nakahara doesn’t answer right away. He studies Ryoma for a long moment, as if weighing whether the question itself is the problem.

“You know he’s not Ramos,” he says finally. “He isn’t fighting you in a prolonged anaerobic state. He doesn’t need a window to catch his breath.”

He steps closer. “Even in close range, he’s still dangerous. Maybe stronger than you.”

Ryoma stays quiet. He knows this is a whole different challenge to him.

He’s facing an OPBF champion, someone who doesn’t switch stances out of convenience, but because both hands are equally capable and strong.

There is no weak side to herd him toward, no obvious lane to exploit. Getting inside might erase the stance problem. But it doesn’t make the fight safe.

“I’m afraid you’ll be forced back into your counter,” Nakahara says. His voice stays level. “I can tell you not to. But I know you.”

He turns away slightly, reaching for the mitts again.

“So instead,” Nakahara says, “I’ll show you something else, a new form of counter you’ve never done before.”

He rolls his shoulders once, slow and deliberate, as if shaking old tension out of his arms. His elbows loosen, hands hanging easy at his sides.

Then his hips turn slightly, weight settling into the floor, stance narrowing just enough to signal intent.

Not instruction yet. He’s just doing preparation for his own body, as if he’s going to show something spectacular.

Finishes with that, Nakahara lifts his chin and looks at Ryoma.

“Up to now,” he says, “your counters all come from reading rhythm.”

He gestures with his hand, stepping forward once, sharp and decisive. “First one, the step-in counter. You step in as the punch misses. Dangerous. Powerful. You take space by force.”

Then he shifts into Philly Shell stance, shoulders rolling inward. “Second, the coiling counter from Philly Shell. You let the punch slide, stay compact, answer from defense.”

Then he steps back, weight settling, trying to mimic Ryoma’s pendulum step. “Third, the pull-off counter from pendulum step. You give ground, let him lunge, and meet him at the angle. Safe. Clean.”

Ryoma listens without moving. That’s the kind of counter Ryohei used in his latest fight. And indeed, Ryoma has done it a lot, both in sparring and in actual fight.

Nakahara finally raises one mitt. “But there’s another one,” he says. “This one doesn’t ask you to read the whole rhythm.”

He then asks Ryoma to throw a jab using his left first, then steps closer and taps Ryoma’s glove.

“Hold your left out,” he says. “Like a jab.”

Ryoma extends his arm, elbow loose, fist hovering in front of Nakahara’s face.

“Don’t pull it back,” Nakahara adds. “Just keep it there.”

He shifts his head a fraction to the outside, slipping past the line of Ryoma’s arm without touching it. The movement is small, almost unimpressive, until his shoulder rolls under.

“Right here,” Nakahara says. “The slip-outside uppercut.”

After slipping outside, his fist rises from beneath Ryoma’s extended arm, tight and compact, an uppercut traveling through a space Ryoma didn’t realize he’d left open.

“You’re not stepping in with this,” Nakahara says. “You’re stepping off. Outside the punch, and deliver an upper from his blind spot, from under his jab.”

He resets them, and then switches his own stance. “Against southpaw, it’s the same thing, but on the other side.”

He asks Ryoma stretching out his right arm like a southpaw throwing jab. He slips out again, the angle reversing, the counter still invisible until it’s already there.

Nakahara lowers his hands and meets Ryoma’s eyes. “You’re not fighting his rhythm,” he says. “You’re taking the space he gives you. He switches, you adjust. Only then do you earn the right to counter.”

Ryoma’s mouth curves into a small smile. “If I get caught in the middle,” he says, the answer forming as he speaks, “then I don’t back out. I go in. Fight him in tight space. Chest to chest.”

Nakahara gives a single nod. “Just makes sure you keep you guard tight until you finally get under his chest.”