Coach Phillips has a trick... and Taylor tries to help him

Coach Phillips waded in, throwing short hard punches that Rot ducked sidestepped, slapped away, and took on his shoulders. Considering that the ex-Marine outweighed him by a good hundred pounds, a standup fight wasn't going to be a good solution. Coach Phillips kept his weight centered, throwing jabs rather than committing his weight, which reduced the opportunity to turn his strength against him.

In a Tae Kwon Do sparring match, Rot would use kicks to keep the bigger man away and wear him down. But in 1971, kicks were seen as cowardly rather than manly. It wasn't enough to win the fight, he had to be seen as winning it fairly or Coach Phillips would have him expelled.

But beating down a student wouldn't look that great for Coach Phillips, either. And the flicker in the coach's eye said he was planning something.

Rot dropped to one knee when Coach Phillips threw another head-hunting punch, and smashed an elbow strike into the coach's ribs, then tried to sweep his legs out. Coach Phillips oofed when Rot hit him but jumped back, then lunged for Rot's legs just as Taylor threw herself behind Rot.

That was when Rot remembered that Coach Phillips also coached the school wrestling team.