Chapter Seventy-Four: The Dance of the Butterfly

Though he looked like a bodybuilding coach, his muscles were dazzling enough to leave the team members gaping in disbelief.

Geng Haoshi ran a hand over his painstakingly developed eight-pack abs and thought, Compared to this Tony guy, mine are basically negligible.

Curling his lip, Geng Haoshi said, “Coach, we’re a basketball team. Why are we practicing boxing instead of honing our basketball skills?”

Manman Yu shot him a glare. “What do you know, you little brat!”

She swept her gaze across the team. “Do you still remember your crushing defeat against the robot team this afternoon? Do you know why you lost so badly?”

No one answered—except for Geng Haoshi, who piped up, “Coach, I made two baskets. The others only managed one at most.”

At his words, Manman Yu’s face darkened. Without warning, she gave Geng Haoshi a punch to the head. “What are you so proud of?”

She took a deep breath to steady herself and continued, “The reason you lost to the robot team was because your footwork wasn’t agile enough during dribbling, passing, receiving, and finding opportunities to shoot.”

“When your footwork is slow, it’s easy for the ball to be intercepted or stolen.”

“The main goal of your boxing training is to improve your agility.”

“Isn’t boxing just a contest of strength? What’s it got to do with footwork?” Geng Haoshi interrupted again.

Manman Yu rolled her eyes at him. “That’s exactly the kind of question an amateur would ask.”

“In the beginning, NBA players practiced boxing to become stronger and tougher in physical confrontations. But as the game evolved, NBA players started boxing not just to build muscle, but to develop nimble footwork—especially aspiring to master the butterfly step of champion Muhammad Ali.”

The butterfly step, also known as the Ali Shuffle, is famous for its graceful, gliding lateral and backward motions. With his height, reach, and agility, Ali’s seamless shuffle allowed him to outmaneuver slower opponents, darting in with lightning-quick left jabs at unexpected moments. In boxing, nimble and clever movement is both the most crucial and most captivating skill.

“The butterfly step, as demonstrated by Ali, allows for movement as light as a butterfly and strikes as swift as a bee—hitting precisely where you aim,” Tony added from the side.

“Is it really that amazing?” Geng Haoshi sounded skeptical.

Seeing Geng Haoshi’s doubtful expression, Tony assumed a boxer’s stance. “Let me give you a simple demonstration.”

With that, Tony began gliding smoothly across the floor—sometimes sliding sideways, sometimes backward, sometimes darting in with a sudden, lightning-fast left jab or right jab.

Geng Haoshi thought to himself, Well, to be fair, it does look pretty impressive.

Watching Tony’s demonstration, Manman Yu nodded in satisfaction. In fact, Tony was not only a professional boxer but also Manman Yu’s close friend; he often appeared as the boxing coach for teams under her guidance.

When Tony finished, Manman Yu addressed the team, “If you can master footwork like Coach Tony’s butterfly step, you’ll breeze past your opponents on the court.”

“Get past your defender, and you’ll have more opportunities to shoot. More shots mean more points.”

Her gaze turned sharp as she swept it over the players, raising her voice, “From now on, when Coach Tony speaks during training, it’s as if I’m speaking. You must absolutely obey! Understood?”

“Understood!” There was only ever one answer to such a question.

Manman Yu looked at Tony. “Tony, I’ll leave them in your hands.”

With that, she took a seat on the coach’s bench.

Tony stood before the players, hands on his hips. “Boxing may be the quintessential full-body exercise. Every punch and every parry requires your whole body to move in sync, and your footwork must be on point. This training won’t just make you stronger—it will make your reactions sharper and significantly improve your physical condition.”

“What’s more, after enough boxing practice, you’ll notice your whole-body coordination on the basketball court improve as well.”

“Boxing training doesn’t just boost the coordination between your eyes, hands, and feet; it also pushes your physical limits. Boxing demands explosive power, and if you can withstand this kind of training, your mental toughness will grow tremendously.”

“So, I hope each of you will become men of unwavering resolve.” Tony looked around at the team, smiling warmly.

Clearly, Tony was much gentler than Manman Yu.

Geng Haoshi mused, No wonder our lovely coach stressed absolute obedience—she’s worried he’s too gentle to command respect.

“Boxing training will be from 7 to 8 p.m. every night,” Tony announced. “The first ten minutes will be dedicated to footwork agility, followed by forty minutes of real boxing drills, and the last ten minutes will be core strength training.”

“Coach Tony, why not teach us the butterfly step first?” Geng Haoshi suggested.

“Is that what you all want?” Tony scanned the team.

Having just witnessed Tony’s graceful footwork, of course every player wanted to learn.

They all nodded enthusiastically.

“Very well—but to master the butterfly step, you first need to improve your footwork agility.”

“So, we’ll start with ten minutes of agility training.”

Geng Haoshi grumbled impatiently, “Ugh, what’s the point…”

Before he could finish, Manman Yu’s roar echoed across the gym. “Hey you! If you don’t shut up, I’ll have you castrated!”

No matter how many times he heard her shout, Geng Haoshi always broke out in a cold sweat.

Tony, ever the gentleman, said, “Don’t rush. If you’re willing to learn, I promise I’ll teach you.”

“All right, let’s begin our footwork drills.”

Tony led the team through one minute each of high-knee running in place, half-squat sprints in place, rapid side-to-side movement, quick forward and backward shuffles, and rapid crisscross footwork.

Though the exercises seemed simple, by the end of the set, the players’ legs were aching, their hearts pounding as if they might leap right out of their chests…