Series: Kick of the Gods — the daily-life manga of ANCHORAGE, a kickboxing gym with 4 locations in Fukuoka, Japan.

About this episode: Episode 20, first published in Japanese on August 11, 2014, under the title "⑳ インストラクターのスキル" (Instructor Skills). Ryota and Kenta — childhood friends — are sparring, and Kenta keeps praising Ryota's straight: "Sparring! You've got spring in your step!" and "Wow — what a nice straight!" Ganesha, watching, points out that Kenta is good at praising, and that being praised that much gets the members motivated too. Ryota is convinced — "I see — you're good, Kenta. I should learn from him." The punchline comes in the fourth panel: Ryota copies Kenta and praises a woman member — but what he praises is her iliopsoas, so she recoils: "That's not like you either, Ryota-sensei." "Somehow scary…!" "Huh?!" The yellow box sums it up: Kenta is good at praise, Ryota is bad at praise — a well-balanced pair of childhood friends. Note: this episode is an August 2014 archive; the sparring and the way praise is given are from August 2014, not current instruction or programme information.

Ep. 20 — Well-Balanced Childhood Friends

Panel 1

  • Title card: "Well-Balanced Childhood Friends"
  • Kenta (speaker estimated from the bubble tails): "Sparring! You've got spring in your step!"
  • Kenta: "Wow — what a nice straight!"
  • Free text (kept as in the original): (Thwack! Thwack!)

Panel 2

  • Ryota: "Huh?!"
  • Ganesha: "He's good at praising, isn't he."
  • Ganesha: "That's Kenta for you."

Panel 3

  • Ryota: "I see — you're good, Kenta."
  • Ryota: "I should learn from him."
  • Ganesha: "When you praise them that much, the members get motivated too."

Panel 4

  • Yellow box (right column / left column): "Kenta good at praise" / "Ryota bad at praise"
  • Ryota (pink bubble): "Your iliopsoas is looking great today too!"
  • Woman member: "That's not like you either, Ryota-sensei."
  • Woman member: "Somehow scary…!"
  • Woman member (speaker estimated from the bubble tail): "Huh?!"
  • Free text near Ryota's thumbs-up (kept as in the original): (Guts!)

Notes

  • "スパラー" is kept as in the original in the transcription; it is read as a casual shortening of "sparring" and translated "Sparring!".
  • The "パスン パスン" (thwack thwack) of the mitts and the "ぐっ" (guts) by Ryota's thumbs-up are kept as in the original in the image.
  • "腸腰筋" is the iliopsoas (hip flexor); Ryota praising a member's iliopsoas is the punchline.
  • "けんね" in Ganesha's Panel 3 line is Hakata dialect for "からね" (because / you know).
  • The speakers in Panel 1 — both bubbles are Kenta's — are estimated from the direction of the bubble tails.
  • The speaker of "Huh?!" in Panel 4 is estimated to be the woman member, from the direction of the bubble tail.
  • The woman member in Panel 4 (brown hair, pink tank top, white gloves) is a new, unnamed character.
  • This is an archive episode from August 11, 2014; the sparring and the way praise is given are from August 2014, not current instruction or programme information.

Original Japanese version: https://www.anchorage.asia/manga/1262/

Next episode: Ep. 21 — coming daily.

Visit us in Fukuoka: ANCHORAGE kickboxing gym — trial lessons for visitors available via our inbound booking pages (Klook / ActivityJapan).