But Thea also knows judo, how could she be caught so easily? Wing Chun is known for its tight defense. She spread her arms outwards, blocking Barbara's arms and aiming for her centerline.
Although Barbara hadn't seen this style before, she reacted quickly, immediately switching to freestyle fighting and launching a series of rapid attacks to regain the initiative. However, what started as an exchange of blows became a one-sided onslaught. It seemed intense, but in reality, she gained no advantage.
In less than a minute of sparring, Thea has already roughly figured out Barbara's martial arts routine. It's unfair to say her close combat skills are weak. While she seemed to have put effort into practicing, her moves were quite limited, consisting mostly of karate, judo, and freestyle fighting techniques, which were quite effective against the average person.
But dealing with Thea, who could spar hand-to-hand with Lady Shiva, was a bit problematic.
Firstly, her techniques were problematic against opponents larger than herself. Just like the Killer Croc earlier, using throwing techniques would have been disastrous, something Robin knew all too well. It was only because both combatants were female and had similar strength and physique that they could exchange blows for a few rounds.
Secondly, her experience in unarmed combat was lacking. She wasted a lot of energy unnecessarily, perhaps from her past experiences with a whip where frequent footwork wasn't required. But facing Thea's strong attacks now, she could only use up a lot of energy dodging Thea's close-range assaults, trying to create distance.
Lastly, and most importantly, she had never seen Wing Chun before. In theory, Batman should know this martial art, as he was said to know 127 different martial arts. However, perhaps the master himself, with his robust physique, didn't favor this type of close combat technique. If he didn't like it, he wouldn't use it often, and Barbara, who hadn't seen it in use, had very little experience against it. Combined with her lack of experience against opponents like this, she was already struggling after just over a minute.
If this were in the past, Thea would have taken her down immediately. The 1.0 version of Thea was not modest, and in this world, the concept is to use as much force as possible. Showing mercy could lead to one's downfall.
But the situation is a bit special now. She was fighting away from home, against an ally. Most importantly, this ally's father is a prominent figure in their faction. Making her look too bad could easily damage the relationship between the two sides.
But she couldn't just give up, that would be too fake. She inwardly sighed at how weak her opponent was. She hadn't even used many of her moves yet. With no other choice, she abandoned the advantage of Wing Chun and switched to karate as well, engaging in a slow and methodical exchange.
Robin was initially anxious seeing his girlfriend being outmatched. He wanted to call off the fight, but he knew neither of them would listen, especially not the competitive Barbara.
As he pondered how to resolve the fight without hurting his girlfriend's pride, he suddenly noticed Thea changing her tactics. He hadn't seen Wing Chun before and had only noticed its fierce and overwhelming offensive style. If he were to face it, he would probably lose.
But now, seeing her switch to karate, a style he was familiar with, his hope for his girlfriend's victory rekindled. It seems Thea was not as familiar with karate.
Thea didn't know she was giving others the impression that Barbara could win or counterattack. To be honest, she hasn't practiced karate much, just like Batman doesn't practice Wing Chun. It's not that she can't, it's just not suitable for her.
Now, for the sake of the act and to buy time, she had to resort to using this rarely practiced skill.
Though Barbara didn't understand why Thea changed tactics when victory seemed assured, she didn't dwell on it during the fight. Taking a breath, she refrained from rashly charging in again and calmly engaged Thea in combat.
As the fight dragged on, Thea's initial lack of proficiency gradually disappeared, and her formidable martial arts foundation began to shine through. Over the past few months, she had been training under Lady Shiva, constantly engaging in combat. At times, she even wondered if Lady Shiva was simply unable to find a sparring partner and used her under the guise of training.
Bruises and swelling were commonplace, but every bit of effort put in yielded results. Thea's combat skills had greatly improved. Despite some awkwardness, she was gradually gaining control of the rhythm of the fight. The level of physical exertion for her now was comparable to a regular jog.
In contrast, Barbara was still immersed in the fantasy of winning, launching one aggressive assault after another without considering her defense.
But under Thea's calm and composed response, her stamina rapidly dwindled.
At this point, everyone on the field can see the problem. Thea wasn't even fighting her seriously; she was just fooling around. Robin was anxious seeing this, while Catwoman didn't really care. She had already noticed Barbara's exhaustion and even felt that Thea was giving them some face by holding back.
With labored breaths, Barbara finally realized the gap between them. She was drenched in sweat, while Thea seemed unaffected. It was obvious that Thea was holding back, and Barbara felt the urge to concede defeat. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to say it.
Since she couldn't admit defeat, all she could do was buy time. At that moment, she hoped desperately for Felicity to find her father, which would put an end to the sparring. At the same time, she wondered where her father had gone. Was he not at the university?
Filled with anxiety, Barbara's fighting spirit dwindled even further. What started as an aggressive stance shifted to a defensive one. Thea, realizing Barbara's reluctance to fight, also refrained from attacking. The two women tacitly engaged in a defensive battle, a scene so pitiful it couldn't be described as anything but dismal. It was as if two plants were fighting—slow, light, and devoid of strength and speed.
Another ten minutes passed, and Catwoman grew bored. She went to observe the ice block alone, leaving only Robin silently cheering on his girlfriend. His encouragement wasn't about winning or anything like that; it was simply a plea for her to endure.
Barbara had expended too much energy in the initial stages of the fight. Although she managed to reduce her consumption later on, stamina was something that once depleted, would take some time to recover. While some martial arts experts could maintain a balance between expenditure and gradual recovery, Barbara was not among them.
As she continued to pep herself up, refusing to admit defeat, she desperately hoped for her father to arrive. 'Come on, Dad! Hurry up and come back!.'
Finally, she heard Felicity's voice in her earpiece.
"Hey, everyone, I've brought Commissioner Gordon, let's get started officially." The voice in the earpiece sounded a bit rushed, indicating that she had run around a lot to find Commissioner Gordon.