Pattern Theory

Contrary to the majority of Rafa’s experiences you have read, this one began on-camera. A faceless operator directed from behind a small digital handheld. Marion Payette stood in the foreground with a crisp blue dress shirt tucked into stylish pants and an awkward smile on his face. They were situated in a dark and dingy gym. Despite its rough interior and small capacity, the gym had an impressive array of training methods and tools confined within. For the past month it had been Rafa’s sanctuary.

Behind Marion there were two men sparing on an elevated canvas. Even with only rudimentary knowledge, one could piece together they were training in jiu-jitsu. The bigger man shot in for a double-leg takedown but was fended off nicely.

“In the 1980s NASA’s E.J. Groth developed an algorithm to track and recognize star patterns in the cosmos above us. More recently, that algorithm has been adapted to track individual whale sharks by recognizing the markings on their back.”

While Marion told his bizarre story, the bigger man again attempted, and this time successfully executed, a double-leg. He stumbled as he attempted to pass guard and the defender was able to get his legs into a dangerous position around the attacker’s neck.

“Our universe and everything in it are thought by some to be subject to the law of chaos. ’What we call chaos is just patterns we haven’t recognized.’ Creation isn’t at the mercy of chaos, it’s at the mercy of pattern.”

As Marion spoke, Rafa and his sparing partner struggled on the mat for control. The man on his back nearly had Rafa in a triangle. Rafa gave up trying to gain leverage and instead began raining blows down on top of his opponent. The smaller Japanese man went limp after the second of Rafa’s tree limb-sized forearm strikes caught him flush in the temple. A trainer and two other fighters jumped into the ring and pulled Rafa off, screaming at him in Japanese. The sparing sessions were not supposed to be at 100% intensity. They weren’t even meant to throw strikes.

“For a select few who look for them and recognize them, patterns are a powerful set of keys,” Marion trooped on through the drama unfolding behind him. “Patterns were everywhere in the football world, both on and off the field. We took advantage of those patterns and it allowed Rafa to dominate on the field and I to dominate the business. We assumed that football must be an anomaly. We assumed the patterns wouldn’t be as obvious in other elite professions. We were wrong.”

The spare fighters pulled Rafa from the ring, allowing the trainer to revive his ‘sparing partner’. Rafa was left shadow boxing by the far wall, his testosterone levels still clearly out of control. Marion had seen Rafa unleash this beast many times before, particularly when he was at his best in the League. During these moments Rafa would run through a brick wall if it gave him a look he didn’t like.

“The patterns are just as obvious in Lion’s Road and Max Japan,” Marion turned his attention away from his client and back to the camera. “When you see how things play out time-and-time again, when you see the same mindset in every fighter, when you see the patterns of booking, and the hallmarks a champion… we take that information and use it instead of ignore it like most. They are the keys to Kingdom.”

The trainer had finally helped the poor, concussed fool out of the ring and was attending to him in a small managerial room. Rafa got back in the ring and began challenging the two fighters who had pulled him off his opponent. He bounced around on his feet, barking insults, questioning the men’s manhood in coarse American English.

“The pattern that occurs when Rafa gets into the ring is that fighters get smacked, and then they are spiked into the mat. It’s certainly a pattern that Masanori Kawada has been familiarized with.”

Marion smirked arrogantly. The two men Rafa had challenged sulked away sheepishly, upset they wouldn’t get their practice time today.

“Rafa vs. Kawada cannot yet be defined as a pattern, considering the two have only ever seen each other in the ring one time. Regardless, if a star predicting algorithm can be used to identify whale sharks, we certainly know enough to predict Mr. Kawada’s fate on Sunday.”