• You know how many times I’ve been called a peacemaker?
    Do you know how many times I’ve been called a hero?
    You know how many people have fallen in love with me?
    And do you know how many people look up to me?

    The answer to those questions
    Is far too many to count.
    But, here’s another riddle for you;
    How many of those people have seen the real me?

    As I stand before my opponent,
    My adrenaline begins to run.
    I can feel my eyes narrow,
    I can feel my fists clench.

    My mouth turns into a wide grin,
    My legs become restless.
    Ready to serve my body’s command.
    Ready to charge the enemy in front of them.

    My opponent takes the time to stretch out,
    But it’s not necessary for me.
    Feeling the instincts flow now,
    I’ve already begun to imagine what he’s capable of.

    What if all those people who look up to me,
    Who love me, who miss me,
    What if they could see me now?
    Would their hero be gone, and in place a villain?

    Or would they just call me an animal?
    The name fits, you see.
    Fighting is the one passion, my greatest instinct,
    The one that has total control over me.

    Just like an animal.
    I’m just like an animal.

    My opponent’s ready now, a bit too late
    As I’m already shuddering with excitement.
    My stance erupts instinctively,
    My trusty old Shotokan Tiger.

    We charge one another,
    Fighter versus fighter.
    But here’s the difference, you see,
    One of us thinks humanely, reasons humanely,

    While the other behaves just like an animal.

    I cannot help it, this is my passion.
    Just as skateboarding or fishing,
    Just like reading and drawing would be.
    My passion is simply different.

    The kicks and punches fly,
    The blocks and counters roar.
    The fights fully underway now.
    Not too much longer, I can already feel it.

    We two champions move with the expected speed
    All serious martial artists should have.
    A champion in Shotokan, versus a champion in Taekwondo.
    What more fun could there possibly be?

    We’re of the same skill, I could tell.
    But the dog in the fight is not what matters.
    Ask any one fighter, and you will be told,
    It is the fight in the dog.

    My round house flies,
    And with it, a ki-ai* of excitement.
    His block was just in time,
    But his eyes are no where near as excited.

    The beast inside me is uncontrollable now.
    It reigns over humanity until the fight is over.
    What if you could see the hero now, I ask of you.
    Would you agree, and call me a beast?

    My opponents kick came faster than expected.
    It caught me in the chest, made me stagger backwards.
    Good, the instinct talked to me. That was a nice move.
    Now, my eyes gleamed. Let’s show him something better.

    Like the Tiger I was trained to be,
    I charged him with the animals insanity.
    Inhuman strength, inhuman reflexes, inhuman speed.
    That is what martial artists are trained to be.

    What would you say if you saw your peacemaker now?
    Would you be in shock at the real me?
    Would you still look up to me if you saw me now?
    Would you still call me a hero?

    ‘Cuz you see, the real me,
    Is just like an animal.
    The real me enjoys a fight.
    The real me lives for a fight.

    The real me conditions every day for this passion.
    The real me dreams about this passion.
    The real me is not the hero you all desire.
    The real me is an animal you would all fear.

    I’m just like an animal,
    One which fights to survive.
    From a young age I was raised a Tiger.
    So, can you blame me?

    The two of us move with incredible speed,
    But our mentalities remain different.
    Our determination can only take us so far,
    But it’s the thrill that keeps us going.

    That is what the animal inside me feasts upon,
    The thrill of the fight.
    The thrill of pushing itself to and beyond its limitations.
    The thrill of the fight, all for the thrill of the fight.

    I am not the hero you’d look up to.
    I am not the peacemaker you love.
    Both are just a cover, just a mask
    Of the real animal inside me.

    My fists fly and I’m reminded
    Of the beast I really am.
    The excitement soars, and I’m reminded
    Of the thing I really am.

    I’m just like an animal.
    It’s true, if you ever see me in a fight
    You wouldn’t recognize your so-called hero.
    Gleaming eyes, wild grin, perfect insanity.

    I’m just like an animal.
    Just like an animal.