From the edge of the striped mat I watch Lola Mello show off her bare soles: sweet face, strong legs, and an urge she has been holding back all week. Her training partner today is Fabi. Lola, in denim shorts and a pink top, pulls her in, wraps her legs around her and squeezes, one strict scissor hold after another, each tighter and longer than the last, against the brick wall. It is hard, it is intense, almost too much, and Fabi melts deeper into those legs with every round. Training has never felt this good.

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